Vovcha Tropa: 50 years, 10,000 campers, countless adventures

EAST CHATHAM, N.Y. - The largest Plast campground in the United States, "Vovcha Tropa," or Wolf's Trek in English, this weekend celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special program marked by a reunion of campers who, at one time or another, enjoyed summertime adventures here.

Over the course of five decades, more than 10,000 campers and 200 camps have been hosted at this campground near New York state's border with Massachusetts in picturesque Columbia County. According to the compendium "Plast's Journey in the U.S.A.," released on the occasion of the scouting organization's 50th anniversary in this country, the 350 acres of land on which Vovcha Tropa is located were purchased in 1953 from Francis Chilson for $35,000.

Situated between the Catskill and the Berkshire mountains, the estate once was owned by Sayre family, a fact that is reflected in the address of the camp: Sayre Hill Road. It was the the Sayres who built the historic "Chervonyi Budynok" (Red Building), as it is known today, to serve as the family's mansion.

The name chosen for the Plast camp, Vovcha Tropa, actually dates back to the 1700s when, as noted by Sonia Slobodian in a 1994 article in this newspaper, the area was known as Wolf's Trek because its thickly forested hills were roamed by packs of wolves. (At least one little girl swears she heard the howling of those wolves as late as 1962, when Vovcha Tropa hosted the first International Plast Jamboree to be held in the United States - one that marked the 50th anniversary of the founding and beginnings of Plast back in Ukraine in 1911-1912.)

During Vovcha Tropa's first year of operations in 1953, 580 campers enjoyed the summer at Plast's newest site. (The organization's first U.S. campground, Novyi Sokil, in the vicinity of Buffalo in North Collins, N.Y., was purchased in 1951.) Successive generations of Plast members attended camps there in the decades that followed.

In addition, Vovcha Tropa has hosted countless "Sviata Vesny"/"Sviata Yuriya" (literally, Spring Feast/Feast of St. George, dedicated to the organization's patron), numerous conferences of Plast sororities and fraternities, many counselor training courses, and four International Plast Jamborees (1962, 1972, 1982 and 1992).

Through the decades Vovcha Tropa has undergone many physical improvements - e.g., new barracks were built, existing buildings were upgraded, a Hutsul-style wooden chapel was built, sites were cleared for additional camps - but the beauty of its natural surroundings has been a constant. Thus, the campground today continues to boast of forests, meadows and streams, and remains the beloved summertime home for hundreds of Plast youths each year.

Photos in this series by Dr. Mykola Kuzmowycz, V. Lischynsky and Roma Sochan Hadzewycz; and from The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda photo archive.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 20, 2003, No. 29, Vol. LXXI

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