William H.

Pouch Scout
Camp
Through Our Gates Pass the
Leaders of Tomorrow
The intent of this presentation is to educate the
public with some general knowledge regarding
Pouch Camp and efforts to save it.

We will cover the following topics:

 Overview of the Camp and Facilities
 Overview of the Camp Activity Areas
 Groups the camp services
 Summer Day Camps
 Memorial Garden
 Community Programs
 The Committee to Save Pouch Camp
 Our Goal
 How you can help save Pouch Camp
Overview of the Camp and Facilities
 William H. Pouch Scout Camp, located in Staten Island, is New York
City's only Scout Camp.
 Pouch Camp is open year round for Scouting activities.
 Tens of thousands of Scouts and visitors utilize the camp each year.
 The camp is approximately 143 acres (Including lake Ohrbach)
 Pouch offers a number of camping options for scouts and has 7 full
service cabins (2 with electric), 55 leantos, 20 tent sites, Chapel
and a low-impact Camp-O-Ree field with an adjacent Amphitheater.
 Pouch also offers 5 picnic groves for outdoor BBQ’s and gatherings.
Map of Pouch Camp
Overview of the Camp Activity Areas
The camp offers 19 program areas for visitors
 Aquatics – The waterfront offers a wide
range of activities. You can Swim, Canoe,
fish and row boat in beautiful lake
Ohrbach
 Scout Skills – This area is utilized by units
to strengthen their outdoor skills.
 Shooting Sports – The Archery range
allows scouts to practice their Robin Hood
skills safely.
 Computer center – Allows youth to learn
about technology and work on their Merit
badge.
 Nature Lodge – This facility offers a wide
range of animals for our scouts to study.
 Field Sports – You name it, children can
play it! From Basketball to soccer.
 Fishing – This area teaches scouts the
proper ways to fish. Lake Ohrbach is one of
the best fishing spots in all of N.Y.S.
 Mountain Biking – This area teaches the
boys/girls the proper way of Mountain
Biking. It mixes challenging hills with skillful
turns.
 Climbing – The “Wall” offers some of the
biggest challenges in all of NYC. It is a great
team building exercise.
 Chapel – The Chapel offers a great
area from private prayer for all faiths.
 COPE – This Team building area is great for
Scouts and corporate training. These
outdoor challenges will test any team!
 Jolly Rodger Hunt – Come and look for
history with Pouch’s Jolly Rodger team. This
team uses metal detectors to unlock the
treasurers of the past.
 Lumberjack – Come test your AX and
Sawing skills. This area is perfect for
teaching scouts ax/knife safety.
 Geo Lab – Scouts learn and discover
different things about geology.
 Handy Craft – This area teaches Scouts
Leatherworking and basketry among many
other things.
 Services QM – The full service
quartermaster offers all the gear a Scout will
need for an outing.
 Campmasters – These volunteers assist
the ranger and the campers each weekend
and offer programs for Scouts to participate
in.
 Beaver Society – This group of volunteers
help with the upkeep of the facilities
 Web and Newsletter - The
communications team helps keep everyone
informed online and in a monthly newsletter.
 Groups the Camp Services
 All Boy Scout Units – Cubs, Venture scouts, Exploring and
traditional Boys Scouts. This includes units from across the country
that come to visit NYC.
 Girl Scout Units.
 Military units Active and Retired.
 Religious Institutions.
 Inner city Children.
 In- School scouting.
 International Scouts.
 The general public during our open events
 Summer Day Camp Programs

 The Camp supports 2 different day camps

during the summer months.
 The first camp is a day camp for GNYC.
 The second is run by the YMCA.
 Each camp utilizes all of the camps
facilities each day.
 They service over 1000 youth each day
 Memorial Garden
Resting in the shadows of Irving Berlin Lodge is the Memorial Garden
titled "Until We Meet Again”. In the Garden, Pouch Camp honors
Scouts, friends and family that have gone before us. The Garden is
open to all who wish to visit.
Pouch also pays Special tribute to our service Organizations. These
Veteran organizations have placed monuments in the garden paying
tribute to our service men and women who have given their lives for
our country.

The memorials include:

 POW/MIA Memorial
 Military Order of the Purple Heart
 Jewish War Veterans
 KIA Memorial
 Anzio Beachhead Memorial
 War Dogs Memorial
 The Scouting Obelisk
 The catholic War Vets
 Community Programs
The Camp and its staff offer a number of annual programs for the Staten
Island Community to come and enjoy. The programs are designed for
people of all ages!

 Annual Flag Retirement Ceremony – Pouch is proud to be the home of

this wonderful event that is run by Troop 43. This event honors our country
by properly disposing of old and ripped US Flags. Each year Pouch retires
over 10,000 flags that have been collected all over the borough, city and
country. This ceremony usually draws over 1,000 people.

 Annual Holiday Celebration – Each year the camp decorates the

memorial garden, walkways, Berlin lodge and entrance to camp. Staff
invites the whole community in which they sing Holiday songs, honor our
veteran groups and have a special visit from Santa. Staff lights a menorah
to honor Hanukkah followed by the lighting of the Christmas tree. All of this
leads up to the big countdown to the lighting of the Garden. The garden is
usually decorated with over 200,000 lights and 50 inflatable's. The 1,000+ in
attendance from all over the borough and city enjoy this festive event.
 Pouch Camp is a natural beauty, making it more unique than any other
privately owned parcel of property in New York City. From its wetlands to its
woodlands; waterfront to the cliffs, the William H. Pouch Scout Camp is
worthy of preservation.

Besides the countless people that utilize its camp grounds and hiking trails
every year, Pouch Camp is home to unique geology, flora and fauna.
 The Committee to Save Pouch Camp
 The Committee to Save Pouch Camp, formed 2009-2010
 The Committee to Save Pouch Camp was founded and formed by Eagle Scouts
Dominic DeRubbio, Brandon Linker and Alex Zablocki - all Staten Island
residents.
 The Committee's mission is to raise awareness of the possible sale of Pouch Camp
and to bring all stakeholders to the table to formulate a solution to save Pouch Camp.
 The Committee consists of dozens of community leaders and groups, including:
 Clove Lake Civic
Friends of Blue Heron Park
Friends of Pouch
Grant City Civic Association
Greenbelt Conservancy
Jewish War Veterans Post 80
Lighthouse Hill Civic Association
Natural Resources Protective Association
New Dorp Central Civic Association
Protectors of Pine Oak Woods
Richmondtown & Clarke Avenue Civic Association
Richmond County Ancient Order of the Hibernians
United Staten Island Veterans Organizations
Where to Turn, Inc.
www.SavePouch.com
Website
 Committee Actions to Date
 Rally held at Pouch Camp in December, 2009
 Over 1,500 people attended
 Organized a petition drive and collected over 15,000 petitions which
were delivered to elected officials
 Founders Dominick DeRubbio and Alex Zablocki spoke with Mayor
Michael Bloomberg personally about the Pouch Camp issue
 Started a lawn sign campaign across Staten Island with over 500
signs out in the community
 Showed continued support to save Pouch Camp at the SI St.
Patrick’s Day Parade on Forest Avenue
 Organized over 100 scouts from across the five boroughs in a march
to City Hall
 To raise awareness of the issue, holding more events, including
hikes, in the future and raising money
 Nearly a dozen community groups have signed on to the Committee
Past events
 Our Goal?
 Raise awareness of how important Pouch Camp is to the
borough of Staten Island and New York City as a whole.
 Work with elected officials, open space groups and the
GNYC-BSA to finding viable funding options for either an
outright purchase of the property and/or a conservation
easement.
 Protect the integrity of the camp, to ensure it can be utilized as a
Scout Camp, yet protected from development and sale.
 Protect the integrity of the Greenbelt but ensuring Pouch Camp
cannot be destroyed by development.
 Protect Pouch Camp once and for all so future
generations aren’t faced with the same fight years from
now.
 How you can help
 Join our Facebook page, which has nearly 7,000 members!
 This is the best way to stay in touch with Committee
 Sign a petition and get petitions signed
 Petitions can be printed at the Committee website
(www.savepouch.com) and mailed to the Committee mailing address
 Request a lawn sign by sending an email, with your address, to
info@savepouch.com
 Attend an upcoming event and consider donating money to help with lawn
sign and printing costs
 Write to the Staten Island Advance to show support of our efforts as well as
our elected officials
 Engage your neighbors and other civic groups not only on Staten Island, but
all of NYC – Pouch Camp is important to all New Yorker’s.
 If you have a legal background or would like to perform research and/or be
directly involved with our efforts, consider coming to one of our bi-monthly
meetings.

www.SavePouch.com