Girl Scouts to reopen Camp Telogia

Break out the Thin Mints and the Do-si-dos. The Girl Scouts are reopening their campsite in Parkland.

The nonprofit youth organization on Tuesday announced, in an email to Girl Scout membership, that Camp Telogia is expected to be back in business in January. Despite an outpouring of support from the community, the camp officially closed in the summer of 2017.

“It was really important to me to get girls back outside,” said Lisa Y. Johnson, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida council, which covers Broward, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River and Okeechobee counties. “The desire from our membership ... was part of the driving force.”

At the time of closing, the Girl Scouts council cited a high cost of maintenance and lack of use as the reasons. The camp had overnight cabins that were decades-old and cost-prohibitive to maintain.

Since then, the Girl Scouts have added more outdoor programming, so Johnson believes there’s a newfound need for the camp. She said membership in her six counties is about 10,000 girls, from “Daisy” kindergartners to 12th-grade “ambassadors.” “We believe usage in the future will support the decision made. There is so much interest in doing outdoor” activities, she said.

Additionally, Johnson said, the campsite will not be used for overnight activities, but rather for day programs and campfires, so the new plan calls for the construction of “simple pavil-

ions.”

Other future improvements to the Telogia campsite will include the installation of a new gate and bathrooms. The organization will “work toward having it serve as a fully functioning day program site within three to five years,” she said.

Because the improvements could top $1 million, the Girl Scouts will be “working at the speed that the funds allow,” she said.

Telogia, the only Girl Scouts campsite in Broward County, operated for 56 years. The county had given the youth organization 9.5 acres of land in 1961, and the group bought another 3 acres on an adjacent parcel on Holmberg Road. Those 3 acres were sold for $560,000 last summer.

Under the deed restrictions attached to the county’s donation, property that lies unused for two years reverts back to county ownership.

“Telogia has been such an important part of Parkland’s history. I’m happy they made the decision to continue,” said Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky.

Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, who is also Parkland’s former mayor, also expressed his support. “I’m really excited about that because it’s good for the area. It’s good for the Girl Scouts. Plus, it will stay green and open. Let them keep operating the property for future generations of Girl Scouts.”

The decision was “the right thing for us to do,” Johnson said, and not part of the bigger squabble making national news: The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. has been in a public, contentious feud with the Boy Scouts of America for membership.

Earlier this month, a lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court, with the Girl Scouts arguing its brand would be damaged after the Boy Scouts announced plans this year to drop “boy” from its name as it recruits girls to join.