Lake Sawyer
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Sea Scout Ship A.B. Newell

Lake Sawyer, also, Sea Scout Ship A.B. Newell. ⚜️. , Lake Sawyer. Lake Sawyer was built in the 1934-36 time period by the Federal Government as a WPA project. The ten acre lake was hand dug about eight feet deep one shovel at a time and moved one wheelbarrow at a time. The dirt from the hole was placed where Camp Miakonda's Parade Field now exists. About 1,000 men dug and moved an estimated 1.1 million wheelbarrows of dirt to create the lake during the two year project. They also built three islands within the lake and a dam was constructed to flood the area with water. The lake was named after the civil engineer who oversaw its creation. Charles "Buck" Sawyer who was also the Toledo Council Commissioner at that time and later served as the Toledo Area Council Scout Executive. A dedication ceremony of the new lake was held in 1936 and included Chief Flaming Arrow, a Pueblo Indian who was on staff that year. There were many W.P.A. and F.E.M.A. projects that took place at Camp Miakonda during the Great Depression years. The creation of Lake Sawyer was by far the largest, most complex and costliest of them. The lake had a waterfront for many years that offered fishing, canoeing, sailing and other nautical training during the summer months. In 1948, Ten Mile Creek flooded and brought thirty-six inch long pike into Lake Sawyer which made fishing very popular that summer., Sea Scout Ship A.B. Newell. A large ninety-six foot long Sea Scout training ship was constructed in 1934 on one of the three islands in Lake Sawyer by the Federal Government. Designed by architect Paul Robinette, the ship was named the “A.B. Newell”, after a Toledo Scouter who was the Sea Scout Commodore of Region 4. It had two masts and was built on a concrete foundation. The ship had living quarters within it that could house about twenty boys, Scouts learned fundamentals of sailing while on the facility. When it was dedicated in 1936, a bottle containing water from two oceans and several major rivers around the United States was broken against its hull by the Council President's daughter, christening it in a typical nautical ceremony. Aubel B. Newell was the President of the Toledo Terminal Railroad which built the large footbridge in 1930 that spans the first ravine into camp from the parking lot. Mr. Newell was the first Scouter in our Council to be presented the Silver Antelope, award, receiving it in 1944 for distinguished service to Scouting in Region the Sea Scout ship A. B. Newell burned down in the 1960's. The ship's bell still exists and is on display in the Miakonda Scouting Museum along with pictures of the fabled ship. Sea Scouting first started in the Toledo Council in 1918 at their summer camp which was held at Vine- yard Lake in Michigan and was a very popular program here for decades.