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Members of Tesuya Council of Camp Fire have voted unanimously to preserve a 73-year tradition of service to the youth of Johnson County.
Faced with financial difficulties as well as a decline in both youth participation and adult volunteerism, the current board of directors called a special meeting June 1 to advise members it no longer meets minimum requirements to retain a charter with Camp Fire USA. The board presented its options, which were – in the extreme – either to dissolve the council and be absorbed into another council or to restructure it through a process outlined by the national office of Camp Fire. All members attending the meeting raised their hands in favor of restructuring, and many of them volunteered to serve on the board of directors or in other volunteer positions. "We are very happy and excited about the results of the meeting, especially in light of the tremendous amount ofwork that is ahead of us," said Tolin Navarrete, board president. "This restructuring needs to be done so that our council can keep its independent status. This is exactly what we had hoped for, and now we want everyone to know we are not going away. We are going to continue offering our programs to all kids in our community." Navarrete called a meeting Thursday (June 11) to begin the restructuring process, which includes introducing the new board and filling vacant officer positions as well as discussing the volunteer staff that will be needed to run the office."Even though we will be creating a new board of directors," explained Navarrete, "most of the volunteer members are not new to Camp Fire. They are either current or past leaders or board members, or they are Camp Fire Alumni. Their knowledge and experience of traditions from the past, along with the objective opinions of those volunteers who were not in Camp Fire, will make for a great group to lead this council in the proper direction for today’s challenges and to help build tomorrow’s leaders." Navarrete praised the board of seasoned Camp Fire volunteers for helping him keep the council together until its status with the national office and its options could be presented to the membership. Joining him in making the presentation were Rita Bonin, secretary, Brenda Patrick and Madelyn Atkins, leaders’ representative.The meeting came on the heels of a session of Camp Tesuya, the name the council always uses wherever it camps. Patrick reported on the success of the camp held at Glen Lake in Glen Rose. "Our strength has been in our traditional club programs, and we want to draw on that strength in the future," she said, noting that staffers were taken by the interest among campers in the outdoor activities such as fishing. On a personal note, she thanked the membership for its vote of confidence. "I have a four-year-old granddaughter that I want to be in this program." Others speaking at the meeting included Donna McDonald, a co-leader along with Debbe Prater, of the Wa on spe Ti Tan yan (Know How to Live Well) group. The members, all spring high school graduates, had recorded messages expressing what Camp Fire meant to them for the ceremonial held in their honor. McDonald read excerpts from their messages that affirmed the importance of the vote to restructure the organization.This restructuring needs to be done so that our council can keep its independent status. This is exactly what we had hoped for, and now we want everyone to know we are not going away.
– Tolin Navarrete, board president, Tesuya Council of Camp Fire
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