Connecticut Yankee Council

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Connecticut Yankee Council
Connecticut Yankee Council CSP.png
Owner Boy Scouts of America
Headquarters Milford, Connecticut
Country United States
Founded 1998
Website
http://www.ctyankee.org
 Scouting portal

The Connecticut Yankee Council of the Boy Scouts of America is located in Milford, Connecticut. It is council #072 and serves 37 towns and cities in Connecticut, located in Farfield County, New Haven County, and parts of Hartford County.[1]

The present council was formed in 1998 by the merger of Quinnipiac Council (#74) and Fairfield County Council (#68).[2]

Owaneco Lodge is the Order of the Arrow lodge that serves this council.[3]

Organization

Connecticut Yankee Council is divided into the following districts:

Camps

Connecticut Yankee Council operates five camps: Camp Sequassen in New Hartford, Deer Lake Scout Reservation in Killingworth, Hoyt Scout Reservation in Redding, Camp Pomperaug in Union, and Wah Wah Taysee in North Haven.

Camp Sequassen

Camp Sequassen is located at 791 West Hill Road in New Hartford, Connecticut. It is a Boy Scout camp operated by the Connecticut Yankee Council and is mainly used for summer camp. During the summer, it becomes a Boy Scout resident camp for over 2,000 boys from across New England. Troops from around Connecticut and neighboring states stay at Camp Sequassen for a week. While staying there, Scouts are able to work on rank requirements and take merit badge classes while being instructed by well-trained staff members.

All three meals are served at the English Dining Hall near Clark Field. Here, the Scouts are served breakfast at 8:00, lunch at 12:30 and dinner at 6:00. At open program from 3-5 and 7-8 or in between classes, Scouts can stop at various fun and enjoyable places.

One of these places is the Trading Post. This is a small scouting store operated by Sequassen staff. It is well known for the slushies and candy sold there, but also offers other merchandise such as Sequassen frisbees, shirts, hats and patches. At the waterfront, scouts can go swimming or take boats such as canoes, kayaks and row boats out into West Hill Pond. Also, Platt Field, located in North Sequassen, is where Scouts can participate in rifle shooting and archery. Very close to Platt Field, shotgun shooting is available for older Scouts near Scout Craft. There is also a handicrafts center near the waterfront where woodcarving, paintings and metalwork is possible. At the Nature Center called "Eco" (located in Cohen Lodge), Scouts can enjoy creative, fun and educational programs such as catching insects at the "Bug Wall" and learning about glaciation in "Tasty Geology".

No one is allowed to cross over West Hill Road to get from one half of the camp to the other. Instead, all Scouts, staff and adult leaders use the Godfrey-Morris tunnel that goes under West Hill Road.

John Sherman Hoyt Scout Reservation and Training Center

John Sherman Hoyt Scout Reservation and Training Center is located in Redding, Connecticut. The reservation was donated to the Alfred W. Dater Council by Alice B. Sanford in 1966. The 174 acres (0.70 km2) of wooded property is located in a rural area of Connecticut on the western end of the Connecticut Yankee Council.

The reservation is named after John Sherman Hoyt of Darien, Connecticut. Hoyt was a wealthy industrialist and dedicated scouter. Hoyt was involved with the scouting movement since 1910 as one of its founders and later served as National Council Vice President for Finance, a member of the National Council Executive Board and Advisory Board. Hoyt donated 18 acres (73,000 m2) of land in 1947 to the Alfred W. Dater Council, which became the Five Mile River Camp. The first building built at the new camp was a training cabin, which was dedicated to General Arthur Carter.

The reservation has been operated by three different councils. Alfred W. Dater Council merged to form Fairfield County Council in 1972 and merged again in 1998 to form the present Connecticut Yankee Council.

Camp Pomperaug

This is a Scout camp located in Union, Connecticut. Currently (2006) it is owned by the Connecticut Yankee Council and leased to the Ct Burn Foundation as a summer camp for children with severe burns. It has since been changed back into a Scout camp.

This camp has had a long history, first, as boy scout camp located on Lake Zoar as part of the Housatonic River system.[4]

Deer Lake Scout Reservation

Deer Lake Scout Reservation is located around Deer Lake in Killingworth, Connecticut. It was originally owned by Central Connecticut Council until the merger with Quinnipiac Council. It is currently being upgraded to run the Connecticut Yankee Council's Cub Scout Summer Resident Camp.

Wah Wah Taysee

Wah Wah Taysee is located partly in North Haven and partly in Hamden. The land was donated to the Quinnipiac Council in 1971 by the late Ned Greist. According to the attorney who drafted the deed, Mr. Greist chose the name 'Wah Wah Taysee' for the campsite, which he said was the name of the firefly in the poem Hiawatha. The property is situate near the base of [Sleeping_Giant_(Connecticut)|Sleeping Giant], a.k.a Mt. Carmel. Mr. Greist's family was one of several families instrumental in earlier successful efforts to save the area from aggressive quarrying, and devoting it to what is now the Sleeping Giant Park. Mr. Greist was an avid hiker and an active volunteer in the Scout movement. He was also the President of the Sleeping Giant Park Association for several years.

Order of the Arrow

Connecticut Yankee Council
Founded 1998

Owaneco Lodge is the Order of the Arrow (OA) lodge for the Connecticut Yankee Council. The Order of the Arrow is Scouting's National Honor Society. The lodge's name comes from a chief’s name of the Mohegan Tribe and its totem is Owaneco.

The council was formed in 1998 by the merger of the Quinnipiac Council, which hosted the Arcoon Lodge; and the Fairfield County Council, which hosted the Tankiteke Lodge. When it was announced in 1998 that Arcoon and Tankiteke would merge to form a new lodge in 1999, a steering committee was set up to discuss the merger between the two lodges. After five meetings between February and September 1998, all details regarding basic structure, committee responsibilities, name of the lodge, bylaws and first lodge event were discussed and finalized.

On October 4, 1998, the first meeting of the memberships of Owaneco Lodge occurred. The lodge membership approved the lodge name, number, bylaws and the first group of lodge officers was elected. During the lodge’s first year, the executive committee worked to mold the new lodge program. Several changes were made to combine the traditions of Tankiteke and Arcoon and adapt a new lodge program. In 1998 the Ockenuck Chapter renamed itself to the Arcoon Chapter.

During 1999, Owaneco lodge achieved honor lodge status for the first time in its short history. Owaneco repeated this achievement in 2007.

The 2003 Section NE-2C Conclave was held at Camp Sequassen and hosted by Owaneco Lodge.

The Quinnipiac Dancers, which started out as the Wulihan Chapter Dance Team in the Arcoon Lodge, celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2004. The dance team has garnered dozens of awards.

Owaneco Lodge actively practices the OA principles of Cheerful Service. For many years, the lodge is engaged in collecting soda can tabs for donation to the Masonic Tabs for Tots program, which uses the tabs to raise funds for the Shriner Hospitals for Crippled Children and Burn Victims. In 2011, Owaneco donated close to 100 pounds of tabs to the Connecticut Masonic Scouters Association.[5]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ctyankee.org/about/whoweare
  2. ↑ http://www.ctyankee.org/about/historicalinfo/hist
  3. ↑ http://www.owaneco.org/
  4. ↑ Boy Scout Troop 64
  5. ↑ http://www.owaneco.org/news/?archive=11%2C2011&category=000033

External Links

See also

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Connecticut_Yankee_Council&oldid=392626"