February 11, 2004
Scenic Trails celebrates new service center
5,000-square-foot facility includes Scout store and conference center
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
With a snip of scissors Friday morning, members of the Scenic Trails Council officially opened their new Scout Service Center in Traverse City.
The 5,000-square-foot facility is situated in the Peninsula Business Park. The stand-alone building more than doubles the size of their former home on US 31 North, which the council had occupied since 1966.
Council staff began moving into their new offices just before Thanksgiving. Friday they threw open the doors for an all-day open house. The building includes a Scout Store and conference center and the walls are lined with photographs and council memorabilia, including a display of annual Camp Greilick badges dating back to 1945.
The spacious Oleson Conference Center will be used for training and other meetings; a $50,000 grant from the Oleson Foundation funded it. A smaller conference room is also available for board meetings or classes.
"This has been a long time coming but we've finally gotten moved in and settled," said Pat Curtin, president of the Scenic Trails Council. "It is a growing program and that is why we needed a new facility."
"This gives us the ability to hold training and gives us a store and the space so our professional staff can do their jobs," he added.
The Scenic Trails Council began in 1926 and currently serves 4,000 scouts in 13 northern Michigan counties. In addition, more than 1,200 adults are also involved in scouting as leaders and volunteers. Approximately 2,500 of the scouts are Cub Scouts, 1,000 are Boy Scouts and 500 are Venturers, young men and women completing high adventure activities.
The council employs four full-time professionals and four full-time support staff, noted Tom Stoeber, scout executive for the council. The new facility will allow them to expand Boy Scout programs throughout the region.
"Scouting is on the upswing in the area," Stoeber said. "Just last year when we announced that we were going to take a contingent to the Boy Scout Jamboree, which is held every four years in Fort AP Hill, Va., within about four or five months, we had a full roster."
Stoeber also pointed to the council's high number of Eagle Scouts, an elite rank that requires the Scout complete a community service project. This project demonstrates their leadership and organizational abilities as they draw on other Scouts, adults and the community.
"This last year we had 57 Eagle Scouts," said Stoeber. "That works out to about five percent of our scouts achieving Eagle rank, compared to a national average of two percent."
Some other council outreach efforts include working with Ron Hoth, principal of Traverse City High School, and building a ropes course at Camp Greilick, the council's permanent camp.
"The ropes course will be a challenge and team-building activity," Stoeber said.
State Senator Jason Allen was on hand for the ribbon cutting and presented Scenic Trails Council staff with a flag that flew over the Michigan State Capital building.
An Eagle Scout since 1977, Allen remains involved with the organization as an adult and serves on its board as a member at large.
"This is a continuation of the tradition that has been developed in northern Michigan," Allen said. "The scouting movement has had a dramatic impact on the lives of many young men. The greatness of the scouting program is that it allows young men to get a broad background in many things."