Owner Boy Scouts of America Founded July 1, 1993 | Country United States Defunct August 14, 2012 | |
The Great Sauk Trail Council is a defunct local council of the Boy Scouts of America which was based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan serving Livingston County, Washtenaw County, Jackson County, Lenawee County, Hillsdale County, Monroe County, Eastern Calhoun County, and the city of Flat Rock, in Michigan.
Contents
History
The Great Sauk Trail Council was a result of a merger in 1993 between the Wolverine Council and Land O'Lakes Council. The new council was known as the Wolverine-Land O'Lakes Council until the Great Sauk Trail Council name was decided upon later that year.
In 2012, the Great Sauk Trail Council was merged with the Southwest Michigan Council to form the Southern Shores Field Service Council as a part of the Area 2 Project, which created four Field Service Councils in the lower peninsula of Michigan, under the Michigan Crossroads Council.
Organization
The council was administratively divided into districts:
Camps
Camp Munhacke is a 120-acre (0.49 km2) camp located roughly 15 minutes north of Chelsea, Michigan, located on Bruin Lake. Camp Munhacke is a camp for the Southern Shores Field Service Council, hosting Cub Scout Resident Camp during the summer. The camp features four cabins, 33 campsites, three pavilions, Dining Hall with industrial style kitchen, archery range, rifle range, fire bowl and waterfront. It also borders the Pinckney Recreation Area and connects to the Potawatami Trail. The camp host 2,000 campers in a 6-week season, and approximate 15,000 through the course of the year.
This is a year round facility used for Cub Scouts Resident camp in the summer and Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts camping/events at other times. Events include Cub Scout/Boy Scout Training events, Shooting Sport events, hosts many events for the District and Order of the Arrow and weekend camping.
Camp Muscootah is a 40-acre (0.16 km2) camp located five minutes west of Hillsdale, Michigan. The camp offers 13 campsites, an open pavilion, and a large fire bowl.
Camp Teetonkah is a 210-acre (0.85 km2) camp near Grass Lake, Michigan. Opened in 1912, it is the second-oldest Boy Scout camp in America. The camp can be found on Jackson County's Big Wolf Lake and features a new dining hall, three cabins, four Adirondack shelters and seven campsites.
Camp Teetonkah is one of the oldest Boy Scout Camps still operating in the United States. Originally, the camp consisted of about 50 acres (200,000 m2). Teetonkah has operated on the same land since 1913 but the land was owned privately until the Jackson Council took official title in 1917 stated in the deed to the camp. The Jackson Council held its first summer camp operation in 1913 and continued to do so for the next eighty-plus years. The facility now operates as a weekend camp. According to a 1921 news clipping, the name "Tee-Tonk-Ah" means "Big Lodge"[1]
In 1913, the Jackson Boy Scout Council held its first summer camp at Teetonkah, and continued to hold summer camps for 81 years. In 1994 due to the lack of Scouting unit support as evidence of less than 150 participants, for the whole few week season, and continuing financial loss the summer camp operation closed.
Today, Teetonkah is available for use by all BSA Groups. Groups can use the facility for more than a weekend camp-outs. Training events include "National Youth Leadership Training" and "Wood Badge", Advance Adult Leader Training, Outdoor Leadership Training, Jamboree Shakedowns, Multiple Training Groups, Shooting Sport Events.
In 2006 and 2007 a dining hall was built complete with an industrial kitchen, 14 unisex showers, adult male, female, and youth boys bathroom and 250 person dining room. The building also has seating area for additional 250 people underneath a pavilion attached to the dining hall. In 2008–2011 the camp undergone through lumber selected harvest in accordance of a forestry plan put into place. This also allowed the creation of seven new camp sites. In 2009, water was reactivated to two cabin areas and one campsite, as money permits the camp plans to have running water in all camp sites. In late 2011 oil was discovered on the property providing a much needed revenue for the property. In 2012 a new shooting range was installed for 100 yard high power rifle, pistol, and five stand shot gun range as well.
On December 12, 2015, the Michigan Crossroads Council Executive Board voted to close Camp Teetonkah and cease all operations no later than the end of the 2016 calendar year.
Order of the Arrow
Manitous Lodge served at the council Order of the Arrow lodge. The name is translated as "Mystic Lodge" in Ojibway, and the lodge totem is the medicine wheel. The four chapters in the lodge, Munhacke, Teetonkah, Tecumseh, and Allohak, correspond in location with their respective districts. The names come from the original lodges found within the council, prior to council mergers.
The lodge annually held four events: Spring Ordeal, Fall Fellowship, an April Work Day and Winter Banquet.