A western Massachusetts summer camp and four others in the state will no longer be affiliated with 4-H. That's because a longstanding agreement between the camps and UMass Amherst was not renewed. A university spokesperson said it was a difficult decision made in part because of staffing issues.
Ed Blaguszewski, the director of strategic communication at UMass Amherst, said the decision is based on “UMass Extension’s lack of staff who can collaborate directly with the camps.”
He said going back to the late 1990’s, staff capacity has diminished gradually over time, as state 4-H funding was cut significantly when county government was eliminated.
"Decreases in federal funding and increased operating costs have further reduced resources over the past two decades. As a result, last year UMass Extension concluded that it could no longer authorize use of the 4-H name and emblem by the camps since UMass Extension has very little involvement with these independent entities," Blagusewski said.
Together these summer camps serve more than 10,000 youth ages 5 to 18 each year.
Collin Black, of Williamsburg, Massachusetts, grew up attending 4-H camp in nearby Goshen, every year and said, “to not have the clover and the 4-H's be part of camp, I think we would suffer a little bit."
Black, who attended a camp session more than three decades ago said his family has a long history of participating in and supporting Camp Howe. His father, Ralmon Black, served on the Camp’s board of directors for decades, and mortgaged his house in the 1980’s, to give the camp a much-needed infusion of funds. Collin said camp in Goshen was a special place for them, and he, along with all of his siblings, attended 4-H Camp Howe each year.
He said the memories of 4-H Camp Howe are still vivid. He can still recite the 4-H pledge by heart.
“It’s so beautiful,” he said, “It's all about encouraging kids to continue to learn and to give them the tools so that they can continue to learn throughout their life and love to learn. And it's like ‘I pledge my head to clearer thinking,’ you know what I mean? Like, there's like that piece of it.”
He skips ahead in the pledge language to summarize by saying, “‘For my club.’ That’s like us, ‘my community,’ that’s the bigger us, ‘my country,’ that’s a still bigger us. And then to draw the circle around the whole atmosphere of ‘our world.' It’s like to have inclusion be part of our daily ‘what I live for,’ you know, that's that feels like."
He said to him, the meaning behind the 4-H pledge called for active involvement.
Each of the Massachusetts camps, spread across Massachusetts say they will still operate — but without the 4-H affiliation. They are Camp Farley, Camp Howe, Camp Leslie, Camp Marshalland Camp Middlesex.
Terrie Campbell, the director of Camp Howe said it was the first 4-H camp established in the state, created to provide a camp experience for 4-H youth. Over the following 95 summers, 4-H Camp Howe has evolved to offer life-changing experiences and opportunities for all youth to gain life skills.
In a statement, Campbell told campers that “despite the change, we want to assure all our families and community that our mission, ideals, and many of our traditions will remain unchanged this summer.”
Camp Howe will continue to offer the farm animals and diverse camp staff from around the world, and Campbell is “excited to take this opportunity to create new traditions for our campers, families, and the community at large.”
We should note, the license for NEPM’s main radio signal is held by UMass.
