Scouts Find Joy and Learning at Orion’s Camp Agawam
(July 31, 2022)
Orion Township, MI – Cub scouts from across southeastern Michigan returned to Orion Township’s Camp Agawam for Day Camp in late July, more than doubling the attendance of the event in 2021.
“This is a milestone to be proud of as we build this thing back up after COVID,” Keegan Springfield, a field director for Scouting’s local Michigan Crossroads Council, said.
Over 100 elementary-age youth participated in this year’s “wild west” themed camp, along with their siblings and parents. Twenty-four older youth staff from the Scouts BSA program also supervised the games and activities. Many have volunteered to put on the program for years.
“I like to staff Day Camp because I get to meet people from different troops in the area,” Nick McKinnon, 14, said. “I remember when I was a Cub Scout, and the staff made Day Camp a lot more fun.”
Scouts learned how to make paper, shot BB guns and tried to “herd” beach balls. Other summer mainstays like swimming and fishing also featured. Several scouts caught their first fish on Tommy’s Lake, and one excited youth attested that a large fish had snapped his pole.
The increase in Day Camp attendance coincides with a marked growth in membership of the national organization during 2022. With 35,789 more youth in the summer of 2022 than the previous year, the Boy Scouts of America is outpacing its own projections. The growth is most apparent in the Cub Scout program, which experienced a spike of 15.5% more active youth.
Cub Scouts teaches young people grades K-5 perseverance and develops their problem-solving abilities, according to the Boy Scouts of America. It allows youth to develop foundations in leadership, citizenship, and personal fitness through fun activities involving parents and guardians
To learn more about local Scouting, visit beascout.org or call the local office at (947) 886-5736.
