Camp Nawakwa celebrates grand opening with ribbon cutting
Cornell, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Camp Nawakwa, a Girl and Boy Scout camp, had their grand opening Sunday afternoon after undergoing new ownership by the non-profit organization “Our Nawakwa.”
Board Treasurer, Carolyn Ede, said they couldn’t have gotten the camp back without the community support.
“We just really want to thank the community for supporting us. This happened because of the passion of many people and because the community came out and said ‘if you are willing to invest your time and energy in making this happen, then we’ll support you,’ and we really appreciate that and we thank everybody who has been part of this journey with us,” Ede said.
A ribbon cutting took place in celebration of the camp reopening.
“As you can see, many people care about it and the fact that people wanted to do all the work to buy it so that we could keep it a natural space, I think it has a big impact on local people, but also far and beyond, just because it’s been around for so long now there are people who live all across the country and all across the world that care about this camp,” Board Member, Violet Kilmurray, said.
Our Nawakwa bought the camp after the Girl Scouts of the NorthWestern Great Lakes Announced that they will be selling it.
“Since then it’s been about ‘okay, what’s next?’ and we’ve started getting some renters in here and talking about our next steps to continue fundraising and get the camp in use,” Kilmurray said.
The camp has been around for 88 years now, and Ede said it’s important to keep it up to code, asking for anyone willing to volunteer their time to the mission.
“Whether it comes to helping build, repair, paint, help with the financial pieces, or help with building processes for the business, everything that it takes to run a business is a need that we have. So we’ve got a great team behind us but we are always welcoming new people to join us and share their talents,”
Around 200 people attended the Camp Nawakwa ribbon cutting.
The event included informational tables that had maple syrup making, the Ice Age Trail Association, the DNR, and a table centered around getting kids outdoors and preserving Nawakwa.
If you would like to volunteer and help Our Nawakwa renovate their camp, you can find more information here.
If you would like to donate to help create a secure future at Camp Nawakwa for Girl and Boy Scouts, you can do so here.
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