Talk:Cachalot District

Structure

The structure was donated by the Fall River Rotary Club.

• CORRECTION* The Covill Chapel was donated by Ray Covill and his sister in memory of their Father, Ray Covill.

There is a plaque in the mess hall that states the Rotary Club donated the chapel. I can believe this was for an older chapel and not the present structure. There isn't, however, anything posted that says the current chapel was named for someone. If someone can give a bit more history on the subject, that would be helpful. Sahasrahla 01:33, Sep 22, 2004 (UTC) Cachalot_District#Cachalot_Scout_Reservation

CORRECTION: the Covill Chapel

The plaque in the dining hall is dated 1970, two years after the Covill Chapel was completed. This also is 2 years prior to the merger of Massasoit and Cachalot councils, before Fall River was part of the Moby Dick Council. I've discussed this with several individuals involved at the time of the merger, and this plaque is most likely from the chapel at Camp Noquochoke.

In any case, the plaque affixed to the altar in the Chapel itself states the date of dedication, the fact that it was dedicated to Raymond Covill, and that the memorial was paid for by his children.

I've also updated other building information somewhat, based on documentary evidence from the 1948, 1950, and 1951 summer camp reports and on photographs of Cachalot dated to 1949 and 1956, which are currently in the Alumni Association's archive. --Cachalotalumnicurator 04:44, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

Now that you mention it, I do remember the plaque at the chapel itself. I was only thinking of the plaques in the mess at the time. Thanks for clearing that up, and sorry about before! Sahasrahla 07:01, May 29, 2005 (UTC)

---

Struck a few recent changes related to ownership of the camp and other camps in the Narragansett Council. All council properties except Camp Cachalot belong to the Rhode Island Boy Scouts, which continued (and continues) to exist after their merger with the Boy Scouts of America in the early part of the 20th century. The Rhode Island Boy Scouts today is a trustee organization that mostly holds these properties, and has a board which significantly overlaps with the Council's, but they remain separate. I verified this with the Narragansett Council today.

I also struck a few inaccuracies/unprovable statements related to the pre-1946 state of the property (it has never served as a POW camp), and related to the fire in 1964 and the recovery from it (the fire was large and well documented in the New Bedford Standard-Times on and soon after May 25th, 1964.) Djwtwo 20:59, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Major structures

Just got back from a week at Cachalot this morning. Based on what the boys encountered, I'd like to propose the following changes (or something similar to them) to the "Major Structures" section (additions in bold, deletions in italics):

The Trading Post Handicraft is a cement-block structure covered with a pine façade. A prior, wood-framed trading post/administration building on the same site burned in the late 1980s. Across Tom Cullen Field are the rifle, shotgun, and archery ranges.

The Silver Fox's Den is a lounge for Scoutmasters, recently completed by longtime Cadre Scoutmaster "Big Al" Langlais (it was originally the camp showerhouse.) Nearby is the former Camp Commissioner's Corner, which is now a maintenance shed. This building was originally used as a trading post, and predates the 1964 fire.

would be replaced by something along the lines of

The Trading Post occupies the former camp showerhouse. For a time, it was known as the Silver Fox's Den and was a lounge for Scoutmasters, recently completed by longtime Cadre Scoutmaster "Big Al" Langlais. The Silver Fox's Den name still applies to the pond-facing side of the building, which has coffee and picnic tables. Nearby is the former Camp Commissioner's Corner, which is now a maintenance shed. This building was originally used as a trading post, and predates the 1964 fire.

The Boathouse is a large waterfront structure in the parking lot, near the 21 Club. In the summer it hosts Handi-Craft Nature, the Cycling Center, and the Welcome Center.

Some names popped up among staff and campers for the new areas (Silver Fox's Trading Denpost, Nature-Craft, Handipost) which if they last another year or two might be useful, but I'm not suggesting them now because they're far too new. Sahasrahla 20:14, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

The suggested changes sound reasonable to me, although I personally dislike associating most program areas with buildings since program areas tend to move around a lot. Historically, Scoutcraft, Nature, and Handicraft have moved roughly every 3 years, sometimes into buildings, sometimes not. The only program areas that I'm aware of that have never moved from their original locations are the waterfront (or Aquatics, depending on the whim of the current staff) and possibly the rifle range. I suppose it on whether the article takes a mostly present-day or a mostly historic bent. The current Trading Post/former Silver Fox's Den is being rededicated to Jerry "Silver Fox" Sylvester this coming Labor Day, so there's likely to be a new "official" name that comes from that. I need to do some digging, but I believe that the former Trading Post/admin building was actually dedicated to someone in the late 80's/early 90's. It would be nice to have an "official" name there as well, but as you mention, failing that, two or three years of colloquial use is just fine, too. --Djwtwo 22:58, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

This is where my relative new-ness comes shining through! I first went to Cachalot in the summer as a camper in 1998, and as far as I can remember this was the first time they'd changed where the major programs (Handicraft, Nature, etc.) met since I'd been there. I remember taking Art at the boathouse and Mammals at (the now-old site of) Nature, both in '98. I think you're right in terms of not associating the buildings with their programs, though, seeing as though they move relatively easily. Sahasrahla 03:45, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

expansion request

In compliance with Scouting WikiProject policy on sub-council entities, I propose the expansion of this article into a larger Cachalot Council article, with information added from Scouting_in_Massachusetts#Cachalot_District. Local articles really need to be council level rather than by camp or lodge. Examples of good Council articles include Cradle of Liberty Council and Chester County Council, all others have been or are stubs, and we really are trying to avoid sub-council articles. Chris 01:25, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Rename

The council information was moved to another article. This article should be renamed to reflect the new article. ----evrik ^(talk) 17:21, 25 June 2007 (UTC)