BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer
SAYREVILLE — For the first time in over a decade, area Boy Scouts will camp at the 471-acre Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve on Bordentown Avenue this weekend.
Their return comes in the midst of an ongoing effort by borough officials to rehabilitate and revitalize the land, which had long been neglected.
“It’s what we always wanted to do,” said Councilman Stanley Drwal, who last year reformed the Sayreville Conservation Corps to clean up borough lands including the preserve. “Traditionally, [the nature preserve] was where these Sayreville Scouts would go.”
Drwal noted that as the land continued to be unkempt, illegal activities began taking place at the preserve, including dumping and the use of all-terrain vehicles.
Last weekend, five dirt bikes and two personal vehicles, all from residents of Staten Island, N.Y., were found on the preserve and impounded, the latest in a series of ATV seizures and rider arrests.
Since cleanup efforts began last year, more and more people have begun to use the park for activities including hiking, bike riding and, starting this weekend, camping.
“We always hoped to bring [the Scouts] back,” Drwal added.
Thomas Tighe, the scoutmaster for Troop 97 in Sayreville (the troop that will be camping this weekend), said the idea to come back began when he spoke to Drwal about letting his Scouts lend a hand in the cleanup efforts.
Like Drwal, Tighe said he could remember when he, as a young Scout, would camp out at the preserve. Tighe said the Scouts will now make their presence felt by rehabilitating the same campgrounds long since unused.
Prior to this weekend, Tighe was taking his 37 Scouts to Thompson Park in Monroe and Jamesburg.
“Why should we drive down to Jamesburg when we have a beautiful park right in our back yard,” he asked. “It will be a great opportunity for the boys and for the borough. If people start using it for hiking, fishing and earning merit badges, it’s not going to be a hangout for undesirables.”
Tighe said that allowing his Scouts to participate in cleanup efforts can help with their transition to possible employment with the Conservation Corps at some point.
He added that other scouting troops in the area are encouraged to make reservations to camp at the preserve as well.
“The message we keep trying to enforce is to get people to come and use it,” Drwal said. “The more people we get out there with good activities, the less people we’ll get doing illegal activities.”
“We’re basically taking it back for the citizens,” he added.
Tighe said he and the Scouts are looking forward to camping out in Sayreville again after so many years away.
“There’s a lot that can be done right in our back yard,” he said. “I think it will be a match made in heaven for the youth of Sayreville.”