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Roots In Past; A Stake In Future

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2007

KEYSTONE - Jack Chamberlain walked a beaten path along Rainbow Lake. Stopping at a small, woodland campsite, he pointed to the pavilions lining the water.

"This is our place here," he said. Chamberlain, Scoutmaster of Tampa's Boy Scout Troop 70, is one of a small number of caretakers for Camp Brorein.

The 64-acre site at 16901 Boy Scout Road is home to one of the oldest Boy Scout camps in the country.

On weekends and throughout the summer it is home to Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts as a safety and camping training facility.

The boys learn compass training, knot tying, first aid, swimming, fishing and sailing.

"We're teaching them what school doesn't - how to survive in the real world, without the microwave, without the Game Boy," Chamberlain said.

The camp celebrated its 85th anniversary in November. Chamberlain has been teaching Scouts on the site for 33 years. "It's all about the kids. We're nurturing the future leaders of this country in this," he said.

Its roots go back to the early 1920s, when William G. Brorein, president and founder of Tampa's Peninsular Telephone Company - which later became GTE, then part of Verizon - donated the site to the Boy Scouts in memory of his nephew Owen, who died in a dynamite accident on the site. It was a gesture of goodwill to the community and the scouting program in the area.

It has since evolved alongside the Boy Scouts of America.

Founded in 1910, the Scouts are the largest youth organization in the United States, with nearly three million members.

Over the years the camp has hosted activities of the Gulf Ridge Council of the Boy Scouts. The 88-year-old council covers eight Florida counties and comprises 460 Cub and Boy Scout units and adventuring crews.

The Boy Scouts organization turns 100 in 2010. "As a child I went to the 50th anniversary in Colorado," Chamberlain said, "and I'm really looking forward to the 100th anniversary."

These days the camp shows signs of its age, of suburbia's encroachment. Opposite the camp, houses line the once-uninhabited shores of Rainbow Lake. On weekends Jet Skis buzz past the camp sites.

"Back in the '20s, if you came out it was a half-day trip to Brorein from downtown," Chamberlain said. "The roads were all dirt out here."

The pines have thinned over the years, victims of lightning strikes and storms. The 2004 hurricanes proved especially destructive, altering the landscape more than decades of use ever could.

Volunteers are now working to repair the run-down docks on Moon Lake, which has dried up substantially over the years. "It's a work in progress," Chamberlain said. "We're constantly fixing, renovating, moving things."

Some of the earliest members of Camp Brorein represent the first in a line of generations.

Former scouts bring grandchildren to events. Retired lawyer and former Scout Jim Farley brought his son Sean to Camp Brorein in the 1980s; now he brings his grandson Christian, a Cub Scout.

"It's been a great camp for all these years," Farley said. "It's a convenient location. The facilities may be old, but they're great."

For all the ways the camp has changed, some things remain. Swed Hall, the venerable wooden meeting place, has been here since Day One.

"And it's still quiet at night," Chamberlain said, walking the dirt trail to Camp Beard, one of the property's 11 campsites and pavilions. He passed the outdated kitchen, now closed. A capital expenditure program is in place to build a new, million-dollar facility. Events such as the recent 85th anniversary fish fry raise proceeds for the reconstruction projects.

The work is done mostly by volunteers in fits and starts. "We're slowly hammering away at this stuff," Chamberlain said. "It takes time and money."

Frankie Marion is the camp's resident ranger. He lives on the property, working to maintain the camp.

"When I arrived four years ago the camp was in disarray," he said. "We've tried to rejuvenate it. We're getting there."

He said that during the cooler months, 600 Scouts can stay at one time.

A lifelong Scout, Marion serves as a Scoutmaster for his two boys. He considers Chamberlain a father figure. "He's part of our family," he said.

Chamberlain is quick to emphasize Brorein's potential to be one of the country's premier camps. "If you go to Bert Adams Camp in Atlanta where they have permanent climbing wall and pirate ship - we aspire to that," he said.

The yearly budget is low. The camp survives because of its volunteers.

"As long as you have enough of them, the camp will never shut down," he said.

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or at shammill@tampatrib.com.

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