History of RYLA 5830

In 1995, Rotary International District 5830 District Governor John Childs approached Tyler Rotarian Guy Martin to learn everything possible about a Rotary program called Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). In early 1996, Martin formed a partnership between Rotary, the local Boy Scout Council, and Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience (COPE) to host the first RYLA Camp at the 700-acre George W. Pirtle Boy Scout Camp. The camp was located near Carthage, Texas and well-equipped with tents, cots, a mess hall, and a well-designed ropes course.

From the beginning, it was understood that Rotary 5830 would take the lead in administering the annual camp and the mission would be to develop leadership skills in high school juniors from District clubs in east Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and southwest Arkansas. The leadership skills prioritized would be communication, decision-making, self esteem, problem-solving, trust, teamwork, leadership, and planning. In 2017, ‘leadership’ was replaced with ‘integrity.’

The first camp was held in the early spring of 1996 and included 72 campers from the 46 clubs in the district. Rotary had decided that the camp would be co-ed and each club would be guaranteed one boy and one girl at the camp, with larger clubs being allowed more campers based on the number of high schools in the area. After the first year of camp, a board of directors was elected among the 5830 RYLA leaders, and by-laws were adopted.

In only a few years, the camp became a phenomenal success with 100 campers, 20 Rotarian leaders, and as many as 40 non-Rotarian leaders. There have been no paid staff in the program since its inception. In 1999, leaders realized that an annual training camp would greatly enhance the Rotarians’ ability to stay current in their knowledge and skills, so a training camp was set two weeks before the regular camp session each year. As camp continued to grow in 2001, the board decided to invite several outstanding campers each year to return the following year as team facilitators. That program became an immediate success and has produced the current camp operations team as well as a large staff of strong, experienced facilitators.

Following the 2002 camp, team leaders and board members were invited to meet in Gilmer to discuss the pros and cons of the most recently completed camp. Ideas for improvement were abundant, and “Rehash” became an annual event. Ideas like “Aircraft Controller,” various enhancements to the campsite, and inviting expert speakers like Tim Reger (Mind Reader) were adopted.

In 2003, the camp had become very popular, and the number of campers had increased to 130 or more each year. It was obvious that the camp was maxed out, and it was imperative that the board schedule an additional session. Clubs were divided into North Zone and South Zone, and in 2004, the current program of training camp, two RYLA camp sessions, and rehash was solidified. An innovative new piece of the program called Alpha-Omegas (AOs) was formed in 2007. This group was made up of RYLA alumni in their first year out of high school who volunteered and were selected to serve in the setup, cleanup, and other operational areas of camp, eliminating a substantial amount of work from the administrative staff.

The 2015 year was a big one for RYLA 5830 because the Board of Directors decided to move the camp to Clements Scout Ranch in Athens, TX where the camp is held to this day. After 19 years of sleeping in tents, campers would now stay in heated cabins, a great added benefit to camp.

In 2016, “Radical” Ridley Briggs wrote a “RYLA Creed” that was adopted by the board at Rehash that year. The Creed continues to be an impactful part of the RYLA program.

In 2019, we made history the first operations team to be entirely made up of RYLA camper alumni including the camp director, registrar, staff coordinator, and COPE director. In 2021, we made history again with the first fully female operations team in our history, also made up of camper alumni. That team faced extra challenges with the outbreak of Covid-19 which led to our first virtual RYLA experience, held entirely online.

As RYLA 5830 continues to grow and change, we reflect on our history and look toward the future!