| In July 1945, the Massillon Area Boy
Scout Council purchased the F. C. Nydegger property near Beach
City, Ohio for $3,000 and, in 1946 the property was dedicated and
formally named Camp Buckeye. The summer of 1946 was the first
season for camping by the Boy Scouts. Through the remainder of the
decade, the camp was also used by the Massillon Girl Scouts, the
Massillon Boys Club and as a training camp for the Massillon Tiger
Football Team.
In 1954, a central dining lodge became a reality with the
construction Hunsinger Lodge. The following year, the Massillon Area Council held its first Ox Roast
fund-raiser at Camp Buckeye.
In 1958, the camp became the property of the newly-formed Buckeye
Council, when the Massillon Area Council and the McKinley Area
Council merged. From 1959 to 1978, the Buckeye Council operated
separate summer camp operations at the sister camps of Camp
Buckeye and Camp Tuscazoar. Initially, Scouts camping at Buckeye were bused to Tuscazoar
for their Pipestone
camp honors ceremonies. Later, Pipestone ceremonies were
conducted at Camp Buckeye as well.
Camp Buckeye played an important role in the formation of the Sipp-O
Lodge, the Order of the
Arrow lodge within the Buckeye Council. Sipp-O
Lodge was officially chartered in January, 1948. The lodge's
first members were inducted in the summer of 1947 by a ritual team
from Marnoc Lodge of the Akron Area Council. That first
ceremony took place in a newly-constructed ceremonial ring in the
northeast end of Camp Buckeye. Most of the charter members
and those of the next several years were taken from the Camp
Buckeye staff and Explorer Post 1.
In the early years,
membership in Sipp-O Lodge was small but active. The first years of the
lodge were so tenuous that it was reorganized in 1951 at Camp
Buckeye. In 1953, the lodge held its first Brotherhood
Ceremony, again at Camp Buckeye. The lodge's early service
to Camp Buckeye included assisting in the construction of a
swimming pool, showerhouse and Hunsinger Lodge (the camp dining
hall). The lodge also planted thousands of pine
seedlings and set up and stored camp equipment.
After the Massillon Area Council and McKinley Area Council
merged in 1958, the newly-formed Buckeye Council
retained the Sipp-O Lodge.
When Camp Buckeye was closed in 1978 after its 33rd season,
summer camp operations were consolidated at Camp Tuscazoar.
Several new campsites including Logan, White Eyes, Mingo, Pueblo
and Blackfoot were added at Camp Tuscazoar to accommodate the
increased attendance for the 1979 summer camping season.
Camp Buckeye was eventually purchased in 1984 by Grassroots
Ministries and remains a popular weekend camp for area scouts.
Source for much of this material: Challenge and Opportunity: The Buckeye Council Story by
Kirk T. Albrecht |
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Hunsinger Lodge Dining Hall - 1967
Activity field and tower - 1966
Camp entrance - 1969
Camp flag retreat ceremony - 1966
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