Northern New Jersey Council


The Northern New Jersey Council was formed in January 1999 as a joint venture between the independent councils of Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties as an effort to better serve the Scouting communities encompassed in these areas. By drawing on the strengths of each of these individual councils and merging them together, the Northern New Jersey Council has committed itself to offering the finest Scouting programs, increasing membership and providing strong, supportive leadership.

Organization

The council is divided into three districts:
Northern New Jersey Council currently operates six camps:
Camp Alpine , located in Alpine, New Jersey, is a great place for weekend camping and hiking the Palisades Historic Trail. Primarily a low-impact camping experience, the camp has minimal facilities to allow units to use their camping skills to the fullest.
Activities:
Dow Drukker Scout Reservation is in Cuddebackville, New York and consists of Camp Turrell and Camp Kluge.

Floodwood Mountain Reservation

Floodwood Mountain Reservation is over forty years old. The Rollins Pond Canoe Base and the West Pine Pond Backpacking Center form the Reservation, both located in Altamont, NY between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, and near many lakes and the High Peaks of the Adirondacks. With rock climbing, waterskiing, archery, and many day hikes and paddles available, Floodwood offers a great program in camp as well as on trek.

History

Floodwood Mountain Reservation was acquired by Bergen Council, BSA on November 22, 1963. Over the next year plans were drawn up for a rather ambitious camping reservation with multiple camps on different parts of the property. As a first step, an outpost camp was established at Rollins Pond for the summer of 1965. Since the concept of wilderness camping offered by a local council camp was a new idea, attendance was by invitation and only units with the required depth of adult leadership were considered.
The initial experience was successful and for the next four summers the program was continued and expanded. Problems with water supply led the Council to explore other areas of the reservation for a permanent camp site.
The initial expansive plan for multiple camps was already being reconsidered, and in the end West Pine Pond was chosen for development. It is at this site that units have camped since the summer of 1970, while they have continued to use Rollins Pond as the launching point for canoe treks and for the water skiing program.

Camp Lewis

Camp Lewis is located in the Hibernia Section of Rockaway Township, Morris County. It is open for weekend camping throughout the year and is also a Cub Scout Resident Camp during the summer. It is also home to the council COPE course.
History:
Camp Lewis was originally donated to the Bayonne Council by the Rosenthal family when their son, Lewis Rosenthal, drown while swimming on vacation. It was donated under the agreement that:
  1. The camp would be named Lewis to memorialize their son
  2. The camp would teach young boys how to swim
  3. The camp would serve kosher meals in the dining hall
Program Areas:
After Program Activities:
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, also known as NoBe, is a Boy Scouts of America camp located in Hardwick Township, New Jersey, owned by the Northern New Jersey Council. It opened in 1927.
No-Be-Bo-Sco is in session from July–August each year to Scouts and includes dozens of merit badge classes and activities throughout its 6 weeks. The camp is currently run by Bob Johnson, Camp Director since 1988. Each year at camp has always included a new theme for each summer.
NoBe also operates a year-round program. Heated cabins are available for troops of all sizes to be rented for weekend use. The camp serves as a launching point for a hike along the Appalachian Trail, or exploring the Delaware Watergap Recreation Area.

History

Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco lies on the shores of Sand Pond at the base of the Kittatinny Ridge, approximately southeast of the Walpack Bend in Hardwick and Stillwater Townships. Originally, the surrounding Paulins Kill watershed region was inhabited by the Tohockonetcong Band of the Minisink Tribe. It is unlikely they had a permanent settlement in this valley at the headwaters of Jacksonburg Creek due to its inhospitable terrain and shortage of potable water.
Over 500 Boy Scouts attended the first Summer Season in 1927. The first Camp Ranger, Elmer Baker of Maine, was hired in 1928. Lance M. Parsons of Englewood supervised Baker and a crew of men. They built the Camp's log cabins between 1928 and 1931, beginning with a building to house themselves where Price Lodge stands today.
In 1930, the Cable Line was built through the camp and over Sand Pond. In 1964, they were connected to a Cable Line in Yards Creek.
Unlike some camps, No-Be-Bo-Sco stayed open during World War II. The war effort made supplies scarce, so Scouts brought their rations to summer camp. The war arrived at camp in a much more tragic way on February 22, 1944, when a B-17F Flying Fortress crashed into the west face of the Kittatiny Ridge.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service collaborated during the 1960s on a project to build a proposed national recreation area along the Delaware River that would have been built in conjunction with the controversial Tocks Island Dam project. The Tocks Island dam was proposed to provide water to the region and improve recreation. Many camps along the river were purchased or condemned by the federal government, and in 1970 they bought the mountain from Bergen Council, reducing Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco to approximately. The sale agreement provided Camp access to the proposed lake, but the government abandoned the project due to a large change in public opinion. The resulting Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area provides Camp direct access to over of federal parkland.
In 1979, the camp was forever immortalized as an important location in horror film history for being the filming location of the first Friday the 13th film released in 1980. The film was the beginning of what would become a multi-million dollar franchise with a very dedicated fan base so much so that the camp holds events and tours for fans of the film.
In 1988, Bergen Council hired Bob Johnson to direct Summer Camp. Though Bob had never been to No-Be-Bo-Sco, he had sixteen years of camp staff experience, and quickly revitalized the program. Among other things, Bob has since united the staff in the Camp’s first centralized staff area, supervised outfitting the Dining Hall with a world class kitchen, and crafted a signature summer camp program unique to No-Be-Bo-Sco. His non-stop, high energy program is renowned for its enthusiastic staff, excellent food, and original campfires. Bob Johnson still serves as Camp Director and 2007 is his twentieth summer at the post. He is the longest tenured Camp Director in No-Be-Bo-Sco history.
While Bob Johnson attracted new units, in 1990 a group of Overpeck District volunteers led by Jim Africano started the Weboree. The increased summer and winter attendance bolstered Camp’s finances, and the Weboree helped restore Scouter enthusiasm. Soon No-Be-Bo-Sco was bursting at the seams year-round, yet again.
Current ranger Tom Rich was permanently assigned to No-Be-Bo-Sco in 1995. The same year, volunteers led by a Scout, Steve Kallesser, undertook a major dining hall renovation. Two years later the same group converted the Protestant Chapel to an all-faiths facility and built an outdoor chapel; the first new camp structure in almost 30 years.
Shortly after, the Northern New Jersey Council began a camp improvement campaign between 2008-2010 that involved the renovation of a majority of camp cabins and facilities.

Themes

Each year, the camp has a theme for their summer camp program, involving a cast of theme-related characters and a story-arc that progresses week-to-week throughout the summer. Typically, NoBe also has the Scouts try to find an item that is hidden somewhere around camp, based on the theme using clues given at the meals. Recent themes have been:
Sand Pond is a watershed that flows directly out of a Cedar Swamp. The No-Be-Bo-Sco waterfront offers small-boat sailing, rowboats, canoes, kayaking, and 3 swimming areas as according to ability:
The waterfront has had some updates, most recently a new dock and a new lifeguard tower. Also, a renovation to the Waterfront Cabin was completed by June 2011.

Program Areas

First Class Adventure
Trail to Eagle
The OcSoBeBon

Campwide Activities

A wide variety of campwide activities are available for a troop at camp.
While the specifics of many of the activities are designed through the creative energies of the Camp Staff and the Senior Patrol Leaders Council, each summer there is a “theme” that influences the daily activities.
Individual Activities
Camp provides many activities beyond merit badges that a Scout or a Scout and
his buddy can work on. Here are a few of them:
Camp Yaw Paw Camp Yaw-Paw is a tract of land in the Ramapo Mountain Range. The camp offers a winter camping program from September till May. Camp Yaw-Paw is NNJ Council's Cub Day Camp during the summer months.
Activities:
Order of the Arrow Lodge: