SW Michigan Scouters Bid Farewell to Rota-Kiwan

Many local Boy Scout leaders say they’re disappointed in the Michigan Crossroads Council. The council owns and operates the scouts Rota-Kiwan reservation near Kalamazoo. The reservation has been home to hundreds of thousands of scouts from around Michigan who have attended overnight and day camping programs there year-round for decades.

But the governing body is deciding its time has come and gone.The council decided earlier in the year to move camping programs from Rota Kiwan to other scout reservations and camps around the state, effectively closing Rota-Kiwan.

The local leaders have been trying to come up with a plan to keep Rota-Kiwan in action but to no avail and they’re pretty much throwing in the towel.  Many Southwest Michigan Scout Leaders and scout families got together at the reservation over the weekend for one last campfire at the reservation’s fire bowl arena. Local Scout Leader Anthony Dugal was among those attending the Rota-Kiwan farewell and posted many photos from the event on his Facebook page.

The long-term future of the reservation remains clouded. The council has made no announcement about its plans. So far the reservation has not been offered up for sale by the scout council.