Volunteers are running the camp, and all expenses are paid with the tuition boys pay.
RUSSELL — Boys in one cabin hammered red-hot metal into shape, another nearby group practiced CPR on a dummy and across the woods Evan Garber learned leather making – something he always wanted to try – and talked about plans to try sailing.
Boy Scout camp is back in business at Horace A. Moses Scout Reservation.
“There is so much to do here,” said Garber, 12, a member of Troop 138 of Chicopee. “I was heartbroken when Moses closed.”
Citing severe financial difficulties – the camp had amassed a debt of $90,000 at the same time the Western Massachusetts Council was struggling financially – organizers announced last year it would close the resident Boy Scout camps last summer. Other programs such as Cub Scout day camp continued.
The announcement that the long-established program was closing sent a spasm of regret and anger through leaders. After the dust settled, adults mobilized and began raising money and figuring out ways to restore the camps.
This year the camp is running for two weeks, instead of its traditional five. It started July 23 and will end Aug. 5.
But the biggest change is the only paid employees are the kitchen staff. The rest, from the director and nurses to the instructors and teenage counselors, are volunteers.
Each boy pays $295 for a week. The money funds the kitchen salaries, insurance, supplies and other costs.
There are 17 volunteers, the majority of whom are spending all 14 days at the camp. Some, like camp director Daniel Shea, are teachers, others are retirees and some are using vacation time.
“I thought finding the volunteers was going to be hard, but it was the easy part. The hard part is getting the scout troops back,” said Shea, of Westfield, a teacher at Gateway High School.
An average of 70 scouts are attending each week, which is less than half of what the camp can handle. Many others are waiting to see how to changes are working, Shea said.
Those who have returned are happy. Ryan Leveillee, 15, of Springfield, is serving as the leader for his Troop 90, of Longmeadow.
“I’ve always been here. It’s my home,” he said, adding he can’t remember if it is his fourth or fifth year at Moses.
Leveillee’s troop had planned a trip to South Dakota in lieu of camping last summer but he couldn’t go. With Moses closed it gave him few other options and he never went to camp last year.
“One of our concerns is over 50 percent of the scouts (from Western Massachusetts) did not camp at all last year,” Shea said, explaining troops can attend any camp in the country.
Leveillee said even the one-year break has changed camp. He said he misses some of the Moses traditions, but applauds additions such as mountain biking and is anxious to see construction completed on the new climbing wall, which will be at least 40 feet high.
“Even just taking a year off, it is like starting a new camp,” Shea said.
Troop 90, of Longmeadow, is one of the biggest supporters of reopening. With 19 scouts, they brought the largest group for the first week and spent hours at the reservation helping to prepare the camp to open.
“The camp is in better shape than it has been in a while and the mindset now is the right one,” said Andres Gottzmann, the scout master for Troop 90.
Many troops have volunteered hours to help the caretaker, Jason Boyer, who technically works 20 hours a week at the reservation but puts in a lot more time. Hiking paths are improved and even the potholes have filled making it easier for troops to move in gear, Gottzmann said.
One of the complaints some scouts had was the camp never upgraded, so this year volunteers are offering new activities and new merit badge courses. For example the blacksmith shop expanded is offering merit badge in metal work for the first time in years, Shea said.
The camp has kept its popular programs. One of its highlights is the waterfront where scouts can earn as many as six merit badges in subjects such as small boat sailing and can become certified lifeguards. Volunteers are trying to add kayaking to a merit badge course, Shea said.
One key to improving the camp is ensuring consistency. Paid or not, Shea said he promised to serve as director for five years and others have pledged to remain.
Ronald Zissell, of South Hadley, a retired astronomer, has been involved with the camp since he was a Cub Scout in the 1950s and said he wants to pass the scouting opportunities he had to the next generation. He teaches six merit badge courses including leather making, wood carving and astronomy.
“I’m retired. The pension still comes,” he said. “If you have a chance, you should pay the young staff.”
There are young staff who gave up summer jobs to be at the camp. Jon Reardon, 17, of Southwick, is an Eagle Scout and is volunteering for the two weeks.
“I wanted to bring the camp back. I grew up here,” he said.
Byron Izyk, a Springfield High School of Commerce teacher, who is teaching in the blacksmith shop, echoed that.
He has been offered paid positions at other camps, but Izyk said he believes Moses is too valuable to let die.
“Troops come here on weekends and camp or just hike. If we close there won’t be a place nearby where they can do that,” Izyk said.