To the Membership of Greater Hudson Valley Council:
The attendance at Camp Read this summer has not been what we expected. We currently estimate that we will have around 1000 campers this summer. That is 300 down from 2022. I am personally very disappointed. We did more outreach this fall then we have done in years and I think we increased awareness, but we were not able to increase attendance. We will be working on a major outreach program within the Greater Hudson Valley Council for 2025 and beyond.
Due to recruitment issues during the COVID Pandemic the Council’s membership dropped and those missing Cub Scouts are now Scouts BSA and are effecting the Camp Attendance. This is year 1 of a COVID bubble that will last for 3 or 4 years. We have to find ways to get though the bubble and help our Scouts BSA Troops increase membership and thus Camp Attendance. That will be a major project for the Council in 2025 and beyond. We will have more to come on those plans.
This year, we have under 50 Scouts signed up for Week 6 at Camp Read. This has to do with Week 6 being a traditionally small week and that due to the change in the NY School Regents Schedule, we had to move camp a week later. Our hope was that we would be open and other camps would close and we would be the only option. Well, that did not happen. Due to the lower number and the fact that we have plenty of room in the other 5 weeks, I have decide to close Week 6 at Camp Buckskin this summer (we only open Buckskin Week 6).
I am disappointed and frustrated that I had to make this decision, but it means we have a task and mission going forward. We operate a wonderful camp and we need to get more Troops from our Council to attend.
Richard Stockton
Scout Executive & Reservation Director
