Letter to the editor: Girl scout camp, with ties to Lexington, to sell for luxury housing

As the Camp Menotomy Trust continues to add high-powered real estate lawyers in their effort to sell the former Girl Scout camp along Lake Winnipesaukee for luxury housing ($18 million), I find myself remembering how the camp long served as a joyous meeting ground for girls from across Eastern Mass. I think this was intended, as the two women and three men who donated the camp cooperated across town, city, and even state lines. Original Trust members came from not just Arlington, but also Belmont, Lexington, and Acton (https://mernia.org/camp-menotomy-docs). The Trust also included a member from Laconia, NH. The Trust demonstrated common intent across state lines to save land that had long been a camp for boys, known as Camp Waukanagit.

Look more closely and we find out Arlington campers never seemed to be the sole purpose of Camp Menotomy. The Camp brochure from 1944 included a registration page offering weekly rates for Arlington residents ($12.50), non-Arlington residents ($13.50), and non-Scouts ($15) (https://www.lwhs.us/camps/menotomy/index.php) . In the 1950s, the Girl Scouts started the “Green Umbrella” movement to move from isolated troops into consolidated councils. The Green Umbrella emphasized serving every girl across the United States. Prominent councils desegregated their camps. When my daughter and I attended family camp, we had campers from the City of Boston as well as all over the eastern Mass area. I didn’t have a name for it, but the effects of the Green Umbrella movement could be seen in the integrated environment of Camp Menotomy.

And what about camp memories and impact? I spoke with a mom of Scouts just last week at a community event on the South Coast of Massachusetts. She told me that her child left scouts in middle school. However, this young person came home from a regional sports competition as a high school freshman and told her how many athletes they knew from years of scouting. She told me that scouts learn how to build friends beyond their hometown.

As a Gold Award Girl Scout, I encourage decision-makers to consider the legacy of the original Trust members and the Arlington Girl Scouts, who set a great example of openness and collaboration in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Arlington Girl Scouts honored the Green Umbrella movement and made camping widely available. The Trustees – themselves from two different states and five different cities and towns – recognized the long camping tradition at the Camp Menotomy site and sought to place it in trustworthy hands. Just because the Covid pandemic created a temporary downturn in camping shouldn’t mean that this century-old camp is lost forever. Camp Wauganakit served boys. Camp Menotomy served girls and families. Now the State Attorneys General of Massachusetts and New Hampshire can ensure that going forward, the camp can serve boys, girls, adults, and families – and that means all of us.

Susan Cournoyer