About the OSA

This site is dedicated to the mission and goals of the Owasippe Staff Association (OSA). Please read on to learn about our group and what we do.

The OSA is a non-profit staff alumni organization that was established in 1978. We are comprised of past and present staff and friends of the Owasippe Scout Reservation, America’s oldest Scout camp in continuous operation.

We do not own or operate Owasippe, but we do help support it. We raise funds and provide volunteer labor for major service projects at Owasippe. Our goal is the continued improvement of the camping experience of Owasippe’s Scouts and families.

We also host numerous social events for our members to maintain and strengthen the bonds of friendship formed at Owasippe.

Our Mission

The Owasippe Staff Association, Inc (OSA) is organized to provide assistance in the maintenance of facilities and in service to the program of the Owasippe Scout Reservation in Blue Lake Township, Michigan, as is deemed necessary and/or feasible by the Owasippe Staff Association in cooperation with the ownership of that facility.

Consistent with this mission, the OSA:

  • preserves and promotes the bond of friendship forged through Owasippe;
  • offers time, talents, resources and assets of the Association and its membership to Owasippe;
  • provides, wherever possible, for the continued experience of both campers and staff of Owasippe.

More about who we are …

The OSA comprises present and former staff and friends of the Owasippe Scout Reservation. Owasippe, America’s oldest Scout camp in continuous operation, has been running summer program since 1911. Owasippe is owned and operated by the Pathway to Adventure Council, Scouting America and encompasses approximately 5,000 acres of woodlands near the city of Whitehall in west Michigan.

Many of our over 400 members have joined out of love for the camps they worked at. The OSA provides a way for members to stay involved in the camp and all that it represents when they can no longer dedicate entire summers to working on staff. It is also a means for us to both strengthen and maintain the bonds of friendship created while working at Owasippe. In short, we work hard and we play hard.

We are not a particularly wealthy organization from a capital standpoint, but we are extremely rich in experience, resources, volunteer skills and loyalty to Scouting and the Owasippe Scout Reservation. We raise funds and provide labor for major projects throughout the camp like re-roofing staff cabins, designing and building rifle ranges at all four section camps, and constructing the craft pavilion at Blackhawk and shower houses at Blackhawk, Robert Crown and Wolverine. Though some of the projects in the past have been completed with Council-supplied materials, most are designed, financed, managed and completed by the OSA. We adopt projects that improve the program and experience for the Scouts and campers.

The OSA is not an official part of Scouting America but is a unique alumni organization which includes members from all professions and areas within United States who share a common bond, Owasippe. Through the generous donations of time, effort, and materials, we have had positive effects on the outdoor Scouting program. The OSA does not seek any monetary profit in its operations nor compensate directors for services.

The OSA is an Illinois registered non-profit corporation. Chartered in 1978, the OSA is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and Section 331 of Chapter 48 of the Illinois Revised Statutes.

Accomplishments

Since our inception in 1978, the OSA has completed COUNTLESS projects (big and small) to benefit the thousands of Scouts, Leaders, and families who camp at Owasippe.

Here are just a few of the projects funded, built or renovated by the OSA:

  • Camper Shower houses at Camps Wolverine & Robert Crown
  • Staff Shower house at Camp Blackhawk
  • Shooting Sports Pavilions at Camps Blackhawk, Wolverine, Robert Crown & Carlen
  • Ongoing renovation and maintenance of the Owasippe trail system
  • Re-roofing every staff cabin
  • Matched funds to build the Charles F. Nagel Memorial C.O.P.E. Base
  • Matched funds to build the Christopher Hill Memorial Climbing Tower*
  • Purchased the storage shed at C.O.P.E.
  • Refurbished the firebowls at Camps Blackhawk & Wolverine
  • Construction of footbridges, two at Camp Blackhawk & one near Paradise Valley
  • Renovation of Grey Staff Village cabins 9 & 10
  • Renovation of the Cook’s cabins behind Food Prep
  • Purchased camp trucks, tools & program equipment
  • and so many more

*The Christopher Hill Memorial Climbing Tower is dedicated in memory of Christopher Nicholas Hill, a former Owasippe staffman and teenager who passed away in 2001. All donations that were made in Christopher’s name were given to the Owasippe Staff Association by his mom, Monique Tripp. The OSA matched Ms. Tripp’s generous donation. The OSA also received valuable assistance from the Owasippe Conservation Club that was instrumental to the project’s completion.