I worked my last days on the payroll at Bear Paw almost 13 years ago now.  Every year since, I have visited during the summer camp season for at least a couple of days.  For the first couple of years, I was a returning hero.  I had tons of friends who were eager to see me.  I spent the whole week yucking it up and having a blast.  As years passed there were fewer and fewer folks who knew me.  It was very difficult for me to visit a place that meant so much to me and feel like such an outsider.  It remains one of the most difficult transitions I have ever made and still smarts to feel like a foreigner in my own land.

Well I have finally resigned myself that Bear Paw is the same place it has always been, just a little different now.

The lesson learned is pretty simple.  Bear Paw is not really a place, but an idea.  It is not about acres or buildings or trees or anything physical.  It is about the place that is made special and unique by all who inhabit it.  Every season as time goes by, the faces change and the landscape changes, but Bear Paw remains the same.  Once I learned that lesson, I discovered that you really can go home again, and again, and again.

To each one of you who is Bear Paw, keep up the hard work.

And as I plan my annual pilgrimage (this would be consecutive season number 25 had it not been for a one year gap for which my mother will not likely be forgiven soon) I look forward to meeting each and every one of you.  Tell me your story and I am sure I can tell you mine.

-Webmaster

As I began to develop my philosophy for camp and staff, I realized how much Scouting has impacted my life. I started out in Tiger Cubs, continued into Cub Scouts, and then onto Boy Scouts. I earned my Eagle, two palms, and had the opportunity to work for two Scout Camps- one being the High Adventure National Sea Base in Florida. I gained a reinforcement of the values my parents taught me. I also developed character and leadership qualities that have helped me be a good son, husband and worker. It wasn’t surprising to me that I felt a pull back to Scouting. I received so much from my Scouting experiences that it was only natural to return and give back.

I attended a Bay-Lakes Council Camp Committee meeting for the first time and met more than fifty volunteers who had been involved in all aspects of Scouting for the Council. Their hard work and dedication resulted in the Bay-Lakes Council being rated as “Quality Council” for 2006 and this again humbled me. Volunteers are the backbone of Scouting and without their commitment we wouldn’t have all the quality Scout Camps with which we are currently blessed.

Camp staffers are the “rock stars” of Scouting. They are the visible representations of the Boy Scouts of America. For nine weeks, they get to spend a summer teaching merit badges, singing songs, and having fun, even though there is hard work involved in staff positions. I ask for all of us (myself included) to remember the Duty we have to Scouting. We owe it to the millions of Scouts, Leaders, and Volunteers who have strived to provide us with one of the worlds most recognized and respected youth organizations to continue to work hard and enrich the lives of the Scouts who look to us as the role-model of what it means to be a Scout and how to live by the Scout Oath and Law. These are the rewards of service as a staff member and the challenge of our Duty to Scouting.

Mike Gabrys – Scoutmaster

My relative youth makes bizarre the prospect of me planning a farewell tour of places and people and things that are special to me. Yet, it all was driven home when I learned that one of those pilgrims was a Scouter who greatly influenced my Scouting experience and my Bear Paw experience.

Hundreds and thousands of Scouts over decades have come to Bear Paw, to share this special place. Countless skills and friendships and memories and lessons are forever tied to a time in so many lives….and one place.

So, as we prepare to celebrate sixty years of Scouting at Bear Paw, forget not that the oldest stories in our oral tradition are rapidly becoming more quiet. When you see that old man with a smile on his face, and a spring in his step and maybe a small tear in his eye trekking across camp, be sure to stop and say hello. The opportunity to pass along one more little bit of Bear Paw will make a tired Scout’s day, and strengthen the bond we all share.

One thing is for certain, Bear Paw will continue to live in the hearts and minds of all who make her. If you are lucky, one sunny afternoon, decades from now, you will be able to tell the tale of your days on Bear Paw Lake.

Webmaster

May the Great Scoutmaster of all Scouts, be with us ’til we meet again. And may we follow the
trail that leads to him. Good Night Scouts.