Réserve scoute Tamaracouta Scout Reserve

31/01/2022

We would like to thank all volunteers who spend a portion of their weekend at Tamaracouta to help with snow clearings from decks and roofs!

18/01/2022

With the major snow falls this week we are looking for volunteers who are willing to help with snow clearing efforts on Saturday, January 22nd.
There are limited spots, so if you are interested please leave a comment below or send us a message. In order to be eligible, you must be over the age of 18 and be a fully registered member of Scouts Canada.
Thank you!

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A cause de toute la neige qui s'est tomber cette semaine, nos recherchons des bénovoles qui pourraient aider avec nos efforts de déneigement sur Samedi, le 22 Janvier.
Les places sont limité donc SVP laisser un message si dessous, ou nous envoyer une directe. Pour être éligible vous devrez être au moins 18 ans et une membre enrégistrer avec Scouts Canada.
Merci!

02/01/2022

Happy New Year!
To start our year off right we have commenced our snow clearing efforts. Roofs are not too bad just yet, so we began with shoveling snow from porches and decks!

20/12/2021

Hello everyone,
In order to keep you all up to date with Tamaracouta's on goings, please see below for an update from Scouts Canada regarding camp.
The final decision of what will be done is yet determined so we ask you to please be patient with the process chosen and have faith in it. As more information is available it will be shared.

If you have any questions of any kind, please message us to discuss, or you can contact the lead of Properties, Jeff Schaffhauser (email within the announcement). Please read both the announcement and Q&A's.

Dear Scouter's & TSR Supporters...//Chers supporters de la RST... SAFETY | VOLUNTEER SUPPORT | GROWTH | ELEARNING | PROGRAM The Future of Tamaracouta Scout Reserve Dear Scouter's, The future of Tamara

18/10/2021

As of today, our summer-long project of updating our front yard fence comes to completion. After many long days of work, the brand new, hand-made fence is built.
Posts were made from fallen trees, which were reclaimed from the back field. Fence slats are fresh 2x6, secured together with dowel pins. Not a single screw or nail hold the fence together.
Many thanks to each and every volunteer who made this project a reality. It could not have been done without your hard work!

Given Tamaracouta's current situation, little work is allowed to be done, but this fence is our first step towards a brighter future. We are still currently awaiting decisions on what Scouts Canada wishes to do with Tamaracouta, but we are permitted to complete maintenance as well as small projects.

In the coming months, trail clearing efforts will come to a close, and snow shoveling will be in full swing. We will soon be searching for volunteers who are able and willing to come offer their time and energy to our camp.

Please feel welcome to reach out either in the comments below, or privately message, if there is anything you would like to discuss regarding Tamaracouta.

11/10/2021

Hello everyone,

I would like to take the opportunity to introduce myself to the community. My name is Bradley Cohen, and as of a few days ago, I am the new chair of the Camp Committee.

Like many of you, Tamaracouta is a very special place to me. Many memories and friends have been made, with certainly more to come. I have been camping at Tamaracouta for the better part of my life and have experienced much of what the camp has to offer. I was fortunate enough to have been a part of the summer staff of 2015 and 2016, and a very regular volunteer since.

Over the past several months, I have been working with Tyler Coleman along with the many members of countless committees to aid the camp and formulate a business plan for Tamaracouta. All the hours of work done by every last volunteer is showing how important our camp is. Tyler alone has spent innumerable hours working on so many projects for Tamaracouta. I hope that I will be able to commit so much time and energy to this cause as the new Chair.

The future of Tamaracouta is yet known, but our outlook is bright. With so much effort on so many people's behalf I am optimistic of Tamaracouta's future and will do my absolute best to help uphold the Camp's legacy.

Please reach out to me with any and all questions or concerns you may have regarding Tamaracouta. If I do not have your answer I will look for it.

We as a community will push for the best future possible for Tamaracouta. And I sincerly hope that I will be capable of providing the suppport and information needed as Chair.

Thank you,
Brad

08/10/2021

Hi Everyone,

For those of you who may not know, my name is Tyler Coleman, and for the last 8 years Tamaracouta has encompassed the majority of my life. From 2013-2015, I worked as a summer staff for the Maintenance team. From then on I helped with various projects on weekends till 2017 until I was invited to be part of the Tamaracouta Camp committee, and what would eventually evolve into the Steering committee. Since 2018 to present I have been privilege to be the Chair of the TSR committee while managing all social media fronts of Tamaracouta. If you have spoken to someone on Facebook or Instagram, you were more than likely speaking with me, and as always, it was a pleasure speaking with you!

Despite all of the long hours, late nights, and energy I had exhausted in keeping up the property, Tamaracouta has repaid me more ways than I would ever be able to elaborate. The most important lesson, or gift rather, that the camp has provided was the ability to accept and enjoy the person I was while simultaneously challenging me to become more. Not in the sense that my purpose was to give my very being to the property, but in a manner that encouraged me to stretch past my boundaries and evolve as a person, to grow and become a stronger more capable version of my previous self. Much of which I associated to its Scouting heritage as I continuously admired its program for similar qualities.

Throughout every uphill battle, every trial and tribulations, every challenge, setback, hurdle, obstacle, or difficult situation that I have had to confront or endure since 2013, every moment has had a foundational impact which resulted to the person I am today. Again, no words would ever be able to explain how much appreciation I have to have had the opportunity to experience everything that the camp has offered to me. It has given me lifelong friends, memories that will forever be cherished, and experiences like none other. It has given so much, and I have done my best to reciprocate it, which is what makes this one of the most difficult challenges I have yet to endure…

As of today, I will be stepping down as the Chair of the Camp committee, and will no longer be part of the committee altogether. This decision has come after long and restless nights of contemplating and envisioning what the next chapters of my life look like. Where I want to be, and what I would like to do. I have grown as much as I can within this position and it is time that I step aside to allow someone else to experience what I have had the privilege of experiencing.

This may come as a shock to many, especially those who know me personally, but it is a decision I have decided I needed to take for myself for multiple reasons. Change is difficult, as it invites uncertainty in what was once an understood system. Please know that I am not leaving you empty handed, and I would not be departing if I did not have confidence that my replacement was prepared to fill the position as Chair of the Camp committee. In the coming days a new post will be uploaded where the Chair will introduce themselves to the page so you all can be acquainted with them.

It has been a tremendous pleasure serving this community for as long as I have, and I look forward to interacting with you all as part within this forum and community. As always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please feel free to contact me personally, or you may leave a comment down below and I will respond to you as soon as possible (with my personal account of course!).

Best regards,
Tyler Coleman

24/08/2021

Another great weekend has come and gone up at Tamaracouta! The TSR Camp Committee would like to thank Daphne Phillips, Parker English, Bill Steben, and Glenn Bradley for all of their work in getting the remaining of our fence posts ready for installation.

All is set to give this project a final push and we hope to have it completed over the next two weekends. Even with only one section completed, it already makes a difference and we cannot wait to see and share the final product! See photos below for the progress we have made.

20/08/2021

Took us a while to advertise this work project but better late than never! On July 31-August 1, a group of dedicated volunteers tackled a project that, everyone on the camp committee, never thought would be dealt with.

Over the span of the two days, the 5 volunteers took on the challenge of reorganizing and cleaning the camps maintenance shed. They began by removing all of the materials, tools, equipment and various loose items that were scattered on our main floor of the garage and then organized everything as it was put back in. Several piles were made from things that were useful to keep, things we had multiple of and could possibly donate, and a pile that was simply garbage or damaged items beyond repair.

Now I know, some of you may be thinking why we are making such a big deal of this, or how bad could it have actually been? Speaking from experience, this is a job that should have been completed well over a decade ago... (See pictures below after reading!)

I am sure many can relate, but the camp began slowly keeping things because of an adopted mentality of, "We will need that one day!". The camp also had a tendency of accepting donations that, sometimes, we really had no use for and should not have accepted in the first place. It came to the point where we had equipment that had not been used in 15 years, collecting dust and not ever operable anymore or a dozen of one tool, and were running out of room to store them. Items quickly began piling up and we eventually lost control of our shop due to a surplus of materials and equipment... With all of that said however, we have always been and will always be grateful for those who reach out and offer things as donations. It is because of all of you that we have been able to build up our inventory of tools, equipment, and various materials that have allowed us to operate past 100 years, and for that, we will eternally be grateful. Moving forward, although TSR may not be able to accept certain items, we have contacts of other camps that may need what you are trying to donate and we will do our best in finding your donation a home.

Now how bad was our situation you may ask? Well! The building itself has a floor space of about 1000 sqft, where maybe, 100 of that was "useable" space, where we still needed to climb or walk over things to get to. Having a clean workshop is extremely important for two main reasons; safety, and efficiency.

Safety being number one as it will always be our number one priority when doing anything up at camp, and having equipment and materials scattered over the floor will create tripping hazards. Having shelves that are overflowing with materials may cause falling damage which is as, or if not more dangerous than tripping.

Having a clean workshop also plays a huge part in how efficient our operations are. There have been more times than I can count where I have spent more time looking for tools and materials to do a minor job or project than the time it takes to do the work... nothing is more frustrating than that!

As I said before, this is a project that we did not think would ever get done, and realistically, if it was just us on the camp committee, it never would have been. So on behalf of the camp, and its committee, we would like to thank Racheli Platt, Bradley Cohen, Bill Steben, Sean Lerman, and Parker English for their service they provided on that weekend. It is because of dedicated people such as them that we have been able to sustain what we have during our temporary closure while slowly catching up on needed to do work. A sincere and extremely heartfelt thank you for everything!

(Pictures include three before, three after, and the last is a photo of all of the garbage that was being stored inside the garage)

08/07/2021

No ATV, no Truck. No problem, no excuses. We will not take this opportunity to get work done for granted, even if it means working harder rather than working smarter.

07/07/2021

Although I may have finished my job early, there’s still work to be done up here. Slowly but surely we will turn Tamaracouta back to the gem it once was. There’s other work to be done besides cut grass, but currently that is our task for today. Hope everyone is having a good week so far!

16/06/2021

In order to move a mountain, we must start by lifting a single stone. Last weekend a group of our volunteers completed the first section of the fence that incloses the area in front of our main office.

We knew it was going to look better than the former, but we were not expecting it to look as well as it does. With the onboarding of a new camp committee member, we will be attempting to have more workdays throughout the summer and hopefully progress further in our to do list.

If you’re interested in helping out on projects such as this, or others, check out our volunteer post that is pinned to the top of our page.