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Boy Scout Camp Celebrating 100 Years

WHITEHALL, Mich. (CBS) -- A Boy Scout camp that has meant summer fun for hundreds of thousands of boys from the city of Chicago celebrates its 100th birthday this weekend.

As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, Owasippe Scout Reservation, near Whitehall, Mich., has been owned by the Boy Scout Chicago Area Council for its entire 100 years.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports

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Council member Joe Sener has fought to keep Owasippe open for Chicago scouts, and now, an average of 800 scouts and leaders from the city per week visit the camp over six weeks during the summer.

"There was a time when it was 3,000 a week, and that was back when I was a kid and we had 12,000 acres and seven section camps, so it's down appreciably from then, but so is the population of kids from scouting," Sener said.

Many former scouts remember Owasippe fondly, including Tinley Park Mayor Ted Zabrocki, who said he went there in the late 1950s.

To learn more about the camp and its 100th anniversary, click here.

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