END OF AN ERA
Local scout camp Boyhaven slated for closure, sale
MILTON, N.Y.>> One last summer’s activity is planned for a nearly century- old Boy Scout camp that’s slated for closure this fall.
Twin Rivers Council is seeking a buyer for 300acre Camp Boyhaven located between Middle Grove Road and Route 29 in Milton, about 10 miles west of Saratoga Springs.
The site, founded in 1924, was previously owned by the Schenectady County Council, which merged with Twin Rivers in 1991.
“The thing I remember most was the overnights,” said Schenectady native Dave Roberts, currently of Schuylerville. “We stayed in bunkhouses with old iron stoves. It was tremendous fun. We would go up even in winter. It was just a great time.”
Roberts, 72, belonged to Troop 1 in Schenectady during the 1950s.
“I’d say nearly 70 percent of the boys in Elmer Avenue School from that era were in Boy Scouts,” he said.
While lamenting Boyhaven’s demise, he also understands how times and young people’s interests have changed.
Since 1991, the camp has been for Cub Scouts and Webelos only. Last year, it was limited to day use as overnight outings were discontined following the 2015 season in the wake of declining numbers.
Competition from more conveniently located townand city-run day camps and recreation programs has taken its toll on Boyhaven, said Richard Stockton, Twin Rivers chief executive officer. Fifty or 60 years ago, Boy Scouts and Little League were the two main things boys could join.
Today, there are many more sports and activities to get involved with, he said.
“This is not something any of us are looking forward to or want to do,” Stockton said. “We’re trying to make the best of it.”
The council has not set a sale price, but will entertain offers from parties, he said.
Plans call for using whatever revenue is generated to improve two other scout sites, Camp Wokpominee on the east side of Lake George in Fort Ann, and Rotary Scout Reservation in Poestenkill.
Twin Rivers Council issued a request for proposals for Boyhaven on April 15 and will accept bids through May 31. However, the roughly 40-member council board, which meets again in July, must approve the site’s sale.
Council Vice Presi- dent for Programs Drew Chesney, of Rotterdam, said there’s already been interest in the property. But he declined comment about possible future uses.
Kayaderosseras Creek runs through the mostly forested site, which has two small ponds, athletic fields, a large dining hall and dozens of smaller buildings.
Former Ballston Spa Troop 2 Scoutmaster Patrick Miter said he was surprised to learn of the camp’s proposed sale.
“It’s nice and quiet up there,” he said. “It would make a great campground. The state ought to buy it and make it another park like Moreau Lake.”
Former scout council board member Larry Gordon, of Wilton, visited Camp Boyhaven quite often as a properties committee member.
“It was a very pleasant place, just like Camp Sara- toga,” he said.
Gordon said he remembers when the council sold Camp Saratoga, which is now part of Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park. Money from the sale was used for upgrades at Camp Boyhaven. Now the same thing is happening at Boyhaven.
“It’s sad that another resource has to go down to the promise that money will be used to make someplace else better, whether it’s Wokpominee or some other camp,” Gordon said.
Chesney, Boyhaven’s former camp director and property manager, plans to organize a last hurrah for Camp Boyhaven, a day-long September barbecue and outing, when any alumni can come back to walk the grounds and reminisce.
“We all would love to see the camp remain like it is,” he said. “But at the end of the day, economics being what they are, it depends on the buyer.”