The following is the In Community column written by Rev. Michael Tutton, who is a former national journalist who is now an Anglican priest in the Parish of Fall River and Oakfield.
A group of 14 Scouts and Cub Scouts recently gathered near Cabin No. 8 as the evening’s golden light unfolded and marsh grasses shimmered in the breeze along Miller Lake.
I sat on a granite rock talking to Monika Campbell, one of the six scout leaders on duty, about their quest to restore the flaking paint, missing windows and failed roofs of this abandoned structure that was once used in the network of scouting shelters.
“The cabin represents hope for us,” said the 63-year-old volunteer, as Cub Scouts dipped sticks in the rippling water.
Do you recall childhood sanctuaries where you created adventures in the daylight hours and whispered secrets after lights-out time?
Cabin No. 8 is evolving into such a refuge, though hope often moves in lockstep with discipline. “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything,” wrote St. James, describing how faith comes to fruition.
The 1st Enfield pack’s journey of perseverance started after access to their original cabin on Dollar Lake ended and then a tree fell on the structure. This came after a gradual decline in membership in their region in recent decades.
Seeking a replacement last year, Hugh Campbell remembers the first visit she and fellow leader Robyn Fennell made to Cabin No. 8, located on a spit of land protruding into the lake.
The interior was strewn with damaged furniture and sodden insulation that had fallen from rotting rafters in the addition. And yet, this place felt right. “The fall colours were stunning and the water was still,” recalled Campbell.
Fellow leader Hugh Campbell (no relation to Monika) took me through the cleaned-up rooms on June 11, explaining how the adult volunteers donned protective equipment to remove and bag the waste before it was carried out by the scouts and parents.
The restoration saga also included the transport of a donated woodstove which was hefted into a pickup truck and dragged by leaders across the frozen inlet to its new home, as winter winds howled.
Sponsors have been helping, including East Hants Lions Club, Wesco, Ryson Construction and the Municipality of East Hants.
But the expensive part lies ahead.
The roof on the addition must be replaced, leaks in the main cabin roof need repair, an outhouse is also on the to-do list.
It can be done in stages, but for a lasting rebuild the bill may be about $23,000 for labour and materials, the leaders estimate.
You can find out how to help by inquiring with Fennell at scouterrobyn@gmail.com. Donations can be made at scoutstracker.ca/hello/1stEnfieldNovaScotia. Click on the fundraising link.
Outside the cabin, Alanna Gollop, 12, is involved in the effort, explaining why it’s better than simply inheriting a ready-to-inhabit facility.
“This will be different,” she said. “This will be our own cabin. We want to have our own cabin to have our own adventures.”
Scouting has long been a movement where achievements unfold over time. Stages and milestones are at the core of its conception and design.
In this institution, you learn to pitch a tent first. Then you can graduate to outdoor camping and so on. Eventually, there are compass skills and long hikes and plant identification courses. There are badges to recognize each milestone along the path.
There are also rituals of transition. When these Cubs graduate to Scouts, they may enter a darkened cabin one by one and light candles, symbolizing their collective shift to a new stage of life, said Fennell.
Last winter, The Journal of Public Theology put out a special issue with a series of essays on the topic of “Why Institutions Still Matter,” that argued for these structures and rites in an increasingly unstable world.
The core of the argument is this: institutions provide the scaffolding within which both rites of passage and moral formation can take place.
Making Cabin 8 into a place where children can find some meaning away from corrosive digital distractions is precisely part of this growth process.
And, like life away from the lake, there are challenges to overcome, together.
One of their recently installed windows was mindlessly smashed by a vandal. Now, the scouts must gather up the shattered glass, fix a punctured wall and not become discouraged.
Thus the march towards hope continues, and a goal beckons. “I would love to see the Fire Marshall sign off (with a roof completed) by October this year,” said Hugh Campbell, ever the quiet and effective optimist.
As a priest, I found myself reflecting on the Genesis creation story, where the universe unfolds first as heaven and earth, and then sky and ground, and then animals and finally us. Step-by-precious-step, God created, followed by rest.
It seems we humans were made to carefully, gradually create virtuous structures– including cabins – within which we grow, and where wiser elders teach us how to progress.
That sounds complicated.
But maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s as simple as having a quiet place to be in relationship with one another, and to look up at stars in the sky above smoky campfires, as light overcomes darkness.
As I left, cubs cooked hotdogs cut into slices over a fire. Sparks rose, lived and died in the air and laughter drifted upwards as dusk settled in.
Rev. Michael Tutton is a former national journalist who is now an Anglican priest in the Parish of Fall River and Oakfield.