“It costs money to fix the damage, and that takes more money away from doing projects for the kids,” he said. “The lock and the gate are not cheap.”
Murdoch is the Northeastern Nova area commissioner for Scouts Canada, which owns the camp in Sunny Brae.
He said sometime earlier this week, the gate was broken, and a lock and a sign stolen from the camp’s entrance. RCMP visited the site Wednesday to investigate.
Murdoch said the camp itself wasn’t damaged, and he believes the perpetrators just wanted access to the site. “It seems like somebody got mad because they couldn’t get in.”
He encourages people to use the camp, but said they need to have permission. “All they’ve got to do is call if they want to rent the camp.”
While years ago the camp didn’t have a gate, he said it’s now required by Scouts Canada, and the gate is on the organization’s land. Before the gate was installed, people would use the camp without approval, often leaving behind a huge mess, with garbage, bottles and dirty diapers lying around.
“The cabins have locks for insurance purposes, but there’s nothing of value to steal.”
Several years ago, about $5,000 in damage was done to the camp, and since that time volunteers have worked hard to make repairs, including fixing the road, adding a new floating dock and installing metal roofs, new siding, windows and doors on the cabins. “We’ve fixed it up a lot.”
Murdoch said many other organizations use the camp, such as 4H, cadets and church groups.
For information about renting Camp Roderick, contact 922-2805.
