The 2025 Eager Beaver Weekend is in the rearview mirror! Read the recap
CAMP READ ASSOCIATION
Eager Beaver Weekend 2025
Another Eager Beaver Work Weekend has come and gone. Once again, it was an all-around success. A tremendous amount of work was done in a short period of time, all thanks to those who attended! Our preliminary work weekend (May 16-18) and OA Induction & Service weekend were crucial in laying the groundwork to get camp ready to host National Camp School (NCS). A big thanks to all of those who attended either of those weekends! Your hard work and dedication put us in a great position to take care of the last big push before people from all over the country arrived ready to learn about summer camp. And pass on what they learn to the next generation of scouts.
Most people arrived Friday night ready to hit the ground running Saturday morning. Camp Ranger Kris O’Connor kicked off the weekend by welcoming everyone back home, assigning work crews, and enabling crew leaders to get started right after breakfast.
The largest work crew was led by Liam Montgomery and Dan Murray in setting up tents. Thankfully the previous weekends were able to set up all of the tents required for camp school to open so they were able to get a good head start on the rest of camp. They were joined by Troop 72 Marlboro as well as a few scouts and leaders from other troops (4031 Montgomery, 70 Saratoga Springs, & Pack 1071 from Milford, PA). To those of you who helped and are attending Read as campers this summer, we hope that as you’re having a great week with friends you’re able to take pride in your part in making such a memorable experience happen. For you and many others!
Former Assistant Ranger & Summit staff member Zach Parks led a crew in replacing the roof on the double-wide trailer located near Boland Lodge. The roof was damaged by a fallen tree during the offseason. Thanks to the efforts of Zach and his loyal crew, volunteers and visitors will have a safe and dry place to stay while at camp.
Bailey Pitonza, Tom Holl, & Keith Lauria installing roof flashing.
Owen Landrey & Matt “Porch” Decker beginning to remove the old roof.
The finished roof. Additional thanks to Tim Haag, Ron Green, Jonathan Hall, & Tom Dietz for replacing the windows and installing new trim inside and out during our May work weekend!
Greg Pitonza, for the 3rd year in a row, skillfully led a team in the construction of two metal carports in Camp Waubeeka, in Haystack and Avalanche campsites. These function as permanent coverage for cooking and eating meals in Waubeeka. Thanks to their efforts, we are one step closer in completing the transformation of Waubeeka’s patrol cooking facilities.
The Carport Crew (Greg Pitonza, Charlie Uchetel, John Hradsky, Tom Stafford, Gregg Dick, Tom Liberati, & Jonathan Hall)
Mike “Tripod” Tripodi was instrumental in heading up the crew assigned to any and all aquatics tasks. Camp Buckskin’s waterfront was set up prior to the Eager Beaver weekend. All ready to go for camp school’s aquatics section to use in the training of their waterfront directors. So the morning was spent moving and setting up sailboats at the Waubeeka waterfront. While NCS primarily operates within Buckskin, they take some time for sailing instruction, which can only be done on Waubeeka Lake. By lunch the waterfronts were collectively ready for the first day of school. The afternoon consisted of bonus waterfront work– getting the Waubeeka docks put together.
A special shout out to those of you who braved the cold lake water to help get this done!!
Tree Work (by Bill Daley):
An important part of getting camp ready for the summer season is clearing out dead or dangerous trees from areas that are used by the Scouts. Keith Wiggers (Durland Camp Ranger) made his annual pilgrimage to Read to help with that work. I arrived on Thursday afternoon and was instructed to meet Keith and his crew at Summit Low Cope Course area. The course was going to be used by National Camp School the following week and needed some trees to be cleared up before that.
It wasn’t hard to find the crew as the buzz of the chainsaw and the distinct sound of the woodchipper led me to the site. Upon my arrival, they were cutting up some large pine trees that had fallen in the area. Keith expertly manned the huge chainsaw, effortlessly cutting through 2’+ logs. After donning ear/eye protection and gloves, I helped the Pre-Staff crew of Dan Murray (Buckskin Program Director) and Greg (Waubeeka Commissioner) load branches and smaller logs into the chipper. Meanwhile, Mark Costanza (Volunteer Extraordinaire) was operating the backhoe/loader, helping Keith position the logs for cutting then moving them into the chipper. Any logs too large for chipper were loaded on the dump trunk operated by Shain Krutz (2024 Assistant Ranger) for transport to the wood dump.
Tree crew hard at work on Saturday.
The crew continued clearing trees throughout the weekend (as the weather permitted) making the camp safer for all. Even on Sunday morning, as most workers were departing, the crew was hard at work taking down a large pine tree near the Summit parking area. This time Ranger Kris O’Conner was “on the levers” of the John Deer (he didn’t want Mark to have all the fun). Thanks to Keith, Mark, and all those who helped!
Additional tree work at Summit Base Sunday after breakfast.
Latrine Work (by Bill Daley):
You would think that the phrase “too many Chiefs and not enough Braves” would apply if put together a work crew of the CRA President (myself), the Immediate Past President (Tim Haag) and a GHV Council Board Member (Jim Holderman). That wasn’t the case, as we were able to use each of our individual skills and work as a team. Truth be told, I’ve worked with Tim many times before and Jim was an absolute pleasure to work with.
The task at hand was to rebuild part of the Teheco Campsite Latrine (In Camp
Buckskin) that had succumbed to water damage. Prior to arrival, the bottom half-log
boards of the back of the latrine were removed, exposing the damage. The bottom of the studs and the sheathing have rotted from the water damage. Fortunately, the sill plate was still in good shape as it was made of pressure treated lumber. We decided it was a good idea to shore up the wall prior to cutting out what was left of the studs. Further investigation revealed more water damage to side walls. We removed the half log siding as needed from either side to expose the damage to those areas. Once all the rotting wood was removed, pressure treated 2x4 lumber was pieced in next to existing stubs and screwed in place. The job was done for now as it was the left to dry out prior to installing new (waterproof) sheathing and siding.
This was the first of many latrines that built around the same time that would need this work. It is going to keep us volunteers busy for a while, but I couldn’t think of a better crew to do it with.
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A very special thanks is owed to Alban Plotkin and his team, including Rob Wall, for cooking all meals for the weekend!! It’s been said that “food can make or break a camp” and we were certainly in great hands. Even in the midst of carrying out hard work, spirits were high thanks to the amazing food that kept us all going. Thank you, Alban and all who helped with cooking and cleaning up!
Once again, the Association’s motto of “many hands make light work” was proven true. Nearly 70 people were in attendance and camp is in a much better position because of you all. In a few short weeks, campers will arrive. And Camp Read will host nearly a thousand scouts with the goal of providing them with an unforgettable week full of fun and excitement. Some may learn new skills that will stick with them forever, some may discover new interests, hobbies, or even a career, and some may even find lifelong friends. Countless hours go into this place in order to make that happen and it could not be done without all of you and the hard work you put in at Eager Beaver. You’ve made a bigger difference than you may ever know. On behalf of the Camp Read Association, thank you all very much for taking the time to give a hand.
Yours in Scouting,
The Eager Beaver Committee
For generations, summer after summer, scouts have been making memories at Camp Read. In 2020, the pandemic may have forced regular activities to pause, but campers from years gone by are sharing their stories here in an effort to fill in the gap. Read on to get your fix of Camp Read hijinks until we can safely fill a parade ground once more!
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