Camp Yawgoog will have a special guest this summer.

Gillian Clay, granddaughter of Lord Baden-Powell, will be a part of the Homecoming Weekend festivities being held from July 29 to July 31. Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts in England in 1910, and after the organization moved to America, Camp Yawgoog was started in 1916.

Camp Yawgoog’s first week of the summer season began Monday. Located in Rockville, R.I., the camp will be running for its 100th year, and the 1,800-acre reservation has some special events to offer their alumni.

Friday, July 29, will feature a cocktail hour at Chelo’s on the Waterfront in Warwick. Here, alumni can gather and share memories, catch up on old times, and watch or participate in a series of presentations.

The cocktail hour will feature guests including Paul Choquette, the Chairman of the Alumni Association, as well as Gillian Clay. Clay will not only be at the cocktail hour, but she’ll be in Rhode Island for a week, including a night in a tent at Camp Yawgoog.

Saturday, July 30, will be a “Family Fun Day,” where alumni can come to camp and participate in various subject areas, such as canoeing and kayaking. There will be a barbeque in the afternoon, where alumni will get the opportunity to meet and visit with Clay. At night, there will be a catered dinner and the weekly Saturday show, where staff stage performances and parodies of recent events for the campers and family members.

Sunday, July 31, alumni will be invited to Sunday worship at 9 a.m. There will be a Catholic, Jewish and Protestant worship and afterwards, another barbeque will be held around 12 p.m. After that, alumni and family will be invited to watch the dress parade, where the scouts will march through camp in their uniforms and hold a flag-raising ceremony.

“It will give the alumni an opportunity to get together and experience it all again,” said Kaitlyn Curtis, who handles the Public Relations for the Narragansett Council, Boy Scouts of America.

The Narragansett Council, Boy Scouts of America says that in 1916, a total of 250 scouts were in attendance. This summer more than 6,400 scouts are expected to attend Camp Yawgoog. In particular, many local troops will be at the camp during different weeks.

Troop 9 of Cranston is attending the first week of Yawgoog at Camp Sandy Beach. Next week, Troop 1 Conimicut of Warwick will camp at Camp Sandy Beach, and Troop 22 Cranston will bunk at Camp Three Point. Week 3 will be welcoming Troop 63 Warwick and Troop 7 Buttonwoods of Warwick in Camp Three Point, and Week 4 will have Troop 1 Warwick in Camp Medicine Bow.

Troop 20 Johnston will be in Camp Sandy Beach for Week 5, along with Troop 4 Gaspee Plateau of Warwick in Camp Medicine Bow and Troop 49 Lakewood of Warwick in Camp Three Point. Week 6 will host Troop 66 Garden City of Cranston in Camp Medicine Bow. Finally, Troop 6 Cranston will be in Camp Sandy Beach and Troop 1284 Warwick will be in Camp Three Point for Week 7.

And there’s more to it than just being a campground.

“Yawgoog has a long and storied history in Rhode Island,” said Tim McCandless, the Narragansett Council’s Scout Executive/CEO. 

“The camp has not only inspired many young men over the years, but 100 years later it still continues to be a place where young men learn lessons about life and leadership that will serve them well in the 21st century,” he said.