Boy Scouts' Camp Melita Island abuzz with activity

By JACOB DORAN / Bigfork Eagle

The Boy Scouts' Camp Melita Island was abuzz with activity, last week, with ten individual troops on the island—including troops from Bigfork, Florence, Helena and other parts of Montana, as well as Washington and Colorado.

And who wouldn't traverse land and sea to spend a week in the heart of the Flathead, in the midst of one of the cleanest lakes on earth—not to mention the largest one west of the Mississippi—surrounded by water and a breathtaking panorama framed by mountains in every direction? Ask anyone who's ever camped on the island and you'll hear the same thing: Melita possesses a magic that is difficult to reproduce anywhere else.

It should come as no surprise that, in its first three weeks of operation for the 2008 camping season, the camp hosted nearly 40 individual Scout groups, including 26 troops from Montana, representing 24 towns in the state. The camp is now in its fourth and final week of camp activities, having been preceded by a week of staff preparation.

By the end of the week, Camp Melita Island, along with 56 staff members, will have served 325 youth and 89 Scout leaders this summer—a total of 460 campers, in all. But staff members say that, with all that Melita has to offer, it is sure to become one of the most sought-after camps in the country in the years ahead.

Even so, Camp Melita Island is far from a free ticket to paradise, and each of the campers earned his stay on the island by making some kind of contribution to the camp itself.

Among the projects undertaken this year campers consructed trash bins to keep wildlife out of the garbage, a platform for the camp's field kitchen, a bell tower, a separate entrance for the first aid station, shelving and interior renovation for the camp's trading post, and performed initial work on a playing field and other service projects. Ramps were also constructed for certain buildings to make them handicap-accessible.

Other improvements were made by staff members and Scout volunteers, most notably a new and expanded swimming area with floating docks and professional race lane ropes, and a $92,000 dock system to serve the camp's growing fleet of motorized boats.

Although the cost of the dock was originally quoted at $92,000, the camp was able to save $45,000 by having the wood milled on the island. The portable sawmill—valued at nearly $30,000—was donated to the camp by a group of Scouts who camped on Melita Island in their youth. The group, known as the Phoenix Patrol, organized in 1999 to reestablish Melita Island as a world-class Scout camp and eventually proved instrumental in the island's purchase by the Boy Scouts, in December of 2004.

With volunteer labor, steel pilings for the dock system were driven last fall and downed trees from the island were milled during the winter. The dock itself was built in the spring of this year.

The 30' aluminum dock that formerly served as a base for both the camp's boats and swimmers was moved to the north end of the island, where it now serves a separate, wake-free swimming area.

Florence Scout Master Dale Hamilton and committee chair Eric Rolsholven, both of Troop 115, were among those who utilized the camp last week and were awed by the extent of the improvements made since the troop's first excursion to the island, two years ago.

"They've made huge improvements," Hamilton said. "The great thing is that there is still tons of potential, and things can only go up from here."

Along with the physical and structural improvements to the camp, Camp Melita Island has expanded its offerings as well. At present, the camp offers more than 30 program areas, including archery, six different types of boating, six different nature studies, five outdoor skills merit programs, three swimming merit programs, three varieties of handicrafts, first aid and emergency preparedness, radio, sports, Trail to First Class and an Advanced Camper Experience (ACE) program.

Other improvements are either underway or in the planning stage with the ultimate goal being to make Camp Melita Island one of the premiere Boy Scout camps in the country. Yet, some things will never change. As Scout leaders who camped here in their youth are quick to point out, "The Scout Law still guides Melita."

Although he served his first year as camp director for Melita Island this summer, Jack Sherick is no stranger to the island's charms. After all, he was introduced to Melita and its power to captivate as a Boy Scout in 1956.

Sherick went on to pursue a career in the nuclear and energy industry, eventually becoming president of Mountain State Energy, Inc., and manager of the Magnetohydrodynamic plant in Butte. When he had accomplished all that he could in the field, he retired and became a professional Scout, realizing that he still had much to offer.

"It's so neat to be able to come back into a profession where I enjoy every minute of what I do, because I know what it's accomplishing," Sherick said. "I take pride in knowing that there are a bunch of kids who have gone on to become Eagle Scouts, and I had a part in helping them to stay out of trouble and make good decisions for their lives."

Sherick had continued to be involved in Scouting since his youth, first as a Scout, then as a Scout leader, which he is excited to be able to do full-time at this point in his life. And, with a warmth and contagious personality that adults and young people are immediately drawn to, he seemed the perfect choice to head up Melita Island's camping program.

Thus, more than a half-century after his first experience on the island, Sherick returned to help introduce other young boys to the magic of Melita. Incidentally, he was thrilled to learn that one of the Scout leaders on Melita last week, who came with his son, along with a troop from Helena, was one of his own Scouts back in 1984 and wanted to impart the Camp Melita Island experience to yet another generation. Sherick described the reunion as "very fulfilling."

"I actually had a Scout Master tell me that he has been camping for 50 years and this is the first time he didn't want to go home," Sherick said. "This island has a mystique about it. It's the only camp in the U.S. that the Boy Scouts own that is an island, and it's just so beautiful here. From the crystal-clear water and the wildlife that roam the island to the constantly changing sky, there's something about Melita that gets inside of you and you just don't want to leave.

"It's just a magical place, and it's an ideal environment to instill some great values today's youth. They need a place like this, where it's just them and nature."