Camp Allatoona Aquatics Base
Celebrates 50 Years of Service
(2001)

50 years ago...
It was 50 years ago when the Atlanta Area Council was located on Walnut Street and Camp Allatoona was an undeveloped rustic camp that would first greet its new youth inhabitants.  Access was limited by traveling on old Highway 41, winding through Marietta eventually onto Bells Ferry Road, then simply following the signs "Explorer Camp."

Camp Allatoona Aquatics Base opened in 1951, just one year after the Army Corp of Engineers created the 12,000 acre reservoir lake.  The original lease was for 188 acres on the peninsula near Victoria Landing.  This camp was the first in the southeast specifically dedicated to Exploring – a program that was itself only two years old at the time.

The camp was designed to be primitive with no permanent structures, in part because of the "rough it" nature of Explorer camping, but mainly because the council did not have the funds to develop property it didn’t own.

First Summer Program
Camp Allatoona conducted its first summer program in 1951, with the usual Scout waterfront activities plus motor boating, aquaplaning, sailing, fishing, archery, skeet shooting and hiking to nearby points of interest.  The first camping season almost didn’t happen because of the difficulty of having an adequate water supply that would meet BSA standards.  The council had to drill down 240 feet at a cost of $1,200.  Today this well continues to serve the needs of the Scouts.

The water problems delayed the publicizing of the first Explorer Camp until May.  Consequently, only 41 Explorers attended the camp its first season.  The largest attendance year was 1956 when 185 Explorers came to camp during its five week season.

Dig your own...
The rough-it nature and lack of facilities may have played a part in the number of Explorers who participated.  Bill Barber, a participant in the first Explorer outdoor training there, remembers, "you had to clear out the woods just to have a campsite and you had to dig your own latrine.

The director of the Explorer camp was then Cobb District Executive, Monty Calhoun.  Most the staff was from Troop 175 in the Dekalb District.  Ben Woodworth, an Eagle Scout and Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, was the waterfront director.  He supervised the swimming and boating activities and took care the boats.  Ben later went to take care of bigger boats as a captain in the US Navy.  Scoutmaster Hal Jones and ASM George Stevenson, also of Troop 175, were weekend staffers who taught water skiing and aquaplaning.

Initial Fleet
The camp’s aquatic fleet included eight aluminum canoes, three 8-foot Optimist sailing prams, and two small boats with outboard motors.  The camp also made arrangements with the Atlanta Yacht Club to have Explorers receive instruction on some larger sailboats.  The camp waterfront consisted of a roped-off area and a small, square float dock secured to the shore.

Each Explorer crew operated under the supervision of its own advisors.  After check-in, the crew would pick all of its equipment from the camp quartermaster and go to their assigned site to pitch camp.  The issued equipment included 2-man Explorer tents, a dining fly, cooking gear, and 50 clay pigeons and 50 shotgun shells for each Explorer.  Food was issued from the quartermaster prior to each meal and prepared in the campsites.  Each day the crew followed the schedule it made out at the start of the week.

In the spring and fall the Council held "Explorer Regattas" featuring a full range of water sports and a beauty pageant for visiting sisters and girlfriends to select a Regatta Queen.

Acreage Expanded
In 1956, the Council expanded the camp to over 500 acres to fill a new role as an overflow summer camp, and help ease overcrowding at the old Camp Bert Adams in Vinings.  For four summers the Allatoona Base hosted 200 Boy Scouts a week for the nine weeks of summer camping.

To accommodate the number of campers, the council built a few latrines and brought in Army squad tents for a field kitchen and dining hall.  The new Bert Adams Scout Reservation opened in 1961 at its present facility near Covington, and Camp Allatoona Aquatics Base no longer needed to serve as a summer camp.  The new Bert Adams also included an Explorer outpost on the Yellow River.  The Allatoona Explorer Camp was never revived.

For the next thirty years, Camp Allatoona served as a short term camp for Explorer Posts, Scout Troops, district camporees and training courses, and Sea Scout activities -- but offered no specialized programs.

Study Result
In 1966, the council’s property management committee performed a study of all the council camps including Allatoona.  The camp acreage was listed at 526 acres.  A survey of facilities listed one well pump in the center of the camp, three campsites with latrines, and a padlocked gate at the camp entrance.  A unit had to obtain the key to the gate from the council office prior to going to camp.

The study recommended improving the water supply, erecting signs on the main road for

directions, adding more campsites with latrines and building a small shelter near the gate.  While the shelter never materialized, four additional campsites were cleared in 1968.  The Cobb District, including volunteers from Ship 277, held a work weekend in 1969 completing two more campsites.

Tornado Damage
All the hard work that was done to improving the camp was wiped out in April, 1974, when a tornado swept through the camp knocking down hundreds of trees and destroying or severely damaging all of the shelters and latrines.  The campsites would soon be restored, along with the latrines and shelters, as part of a capital campaign that would also finance a new summer camp in the mountains.

Ranger in Residence
Encroaching residential development and increased public usage of the lake in the later 1970’s caused some concern over the security of the camp.  In response, the Council built a house for use as a caretaker’s residence.  The caretaker, in exchange for a rent free home, would look after the property and see to the needs of the occasional campers.  Other improvements included digging a new well and regrading the road, which was so rough that many troops would hike into the camp rather than drive.  By early 1979, all the work was completed.

Today, the council still maintains a house for a ranger/caretaker and it remains a volunteer position. In recent years, Camp Allatoona has had five volunteer ranger/caretakers.  Jim Bishop was succeeded by David Barron, who now serves as a full time ranger at Bert Adams Scout Reservation who was succeeded by Gary Bramlett. The current ranger/caretakers, Tom Lyon and his wife Janet, are at the camp throughout the year assisting campers and helping with aquatic activities.

Specialized Training Initiative
By 1988, the Atlanta Area Council began an initiative to increase usage of the camp by offering specialized programs and training opportunities not available at the other Scout camps.  Coordinating the young program concept was Al Friel, who served as the first committee chairman.  But it wasn’t until 1992 that a program plan became a reality when the Council added a floating dock, a boat ramp, boat shed and large pavilion.

New spring through fall programs began their first season in 1993.  With leadership from Ray Warren of the Council’s Property Committee and a new volunteer chairman, Pete Huber, along with a small contingent of anxious volunteers, Camp Allatoona Aquatics Base now had a program mission and men of vision.  Joining Huber as the administrative vice chairman, and later to serve as program vice chairman, was Bill Hall.

A Man of Vision
It was Bill Hall who took the all-volunteer aquatic program concept beyond the early dreams.  His vision soon became a contagious one.  It wasn’t long before additional volunteers were needed to meet the ever growing program demands.  By 1995, Hall began a vigorous recruiting drive for new volunteers, Scouters who saw the vision of serving youth in a new program environment. There were Scouting volunteers, like Daryl Miller, Jim Tankersley and David Denault who assisted in mapping the plan for the future.

Under Bill’s leadership and direction as chairman (1994-2000), the all-volunteer staff grew to more than 60 Scouts and adult leaders.  Allatoona Aquatics Base now provides an 8-month program offering all of the aquatic Scout Merit Badges, Scout Lifeguard courses, CPR training, adult certification courses in Safe Swim Defense & Safety Afloat, and Small Boat Sailing.  In addition, the Aquatics Base provides preparatory training for the National High Adventure programs in canoeing at the northern tier lakes of Minnesota and the Florida Sea Base for sailing the Keys and Bahamas. Bill was succeeded by Bill Bennett (2000 - 2006). The current chairman is Charlie Pineo who continues the tradition started by a few "dreamers"

Volunteers are Key
Of the original 18 individuals who worked on the early program development at the Aquatics Base, six remain active today: Bill Rockey, Jan Wullschleger, Dick Prange, Chuck Brooks, Terry Wullschleger and Bill Hall, who now serves as an advisor to the current Chairman Charlie Pineo.

"Volunteers remain the key to a continued successful program," explains former chairman Bennett (2000 - 2006).  "We not only need instructors but those who can contribute a weekend or two throughout the year by assisting with building projects, helping repair power boat engines, and maintenance on our sailing boats.  Other volunteers can contribute by providing their camp cooking expertise to feed our hungry staff," adds Bennett.  If you are interested in being an instructor, helping with projects or food preparation, contact the Council Service Center for a Volunteer Application.

Today we are...
Presently under development are hiking trails to backpacking wilderness sites and walking trails along the lake shore.  The camp now has 12 improved campsites, some extending to the water’s edge on the peninsular.  A campfire lakeside amphitheater is also available for units.  In addition, an archery range site is under review along with other camp developments.

Current schedules, maps, and registration forms can be easily downloaded from the web site – www.campallatoona.org.

The programs at Camp Allatoona Aquatics Base have become very popular for Scouts, Venturers and Explorers as well as with other Scout Councils in surrounding areas.  A yearly program guide booklet is available at the Council Service Center.