The Cincinnati Post
Tuesday, February 8, 2000

Fort Scott memories circulate
in cyberspace with Web page


BY STAN SULKES
The Cincinnati Post


It's odd how a trivial decision can shape the course
of our lives.

Allen McConnell journeyed to Cincinnati in the
Summer of 1986, hardly guessing the ripples he was
setting in motion.

He came because of a job as a camp counselor at
Fort Scott, but though the camp has been closed for
a dozen years, Allen keeps its memory alive on his
Web page.

Fort Scott has a kind of cult status for many
Cincinnatians.

It was founded as a Catholic church camp in 1922
and served about 150,000 campers before it closed
in 1988.

The buildings still stand in the northwest corner of
Hamilton County, near New Baltimore.

According to McConnell, countless people met and
later married there.

He himself formed friendships so deep that he
promptly transferred from Ohio State University to
the University of Cincinnati, where he majored in
psychology.

He created the Web site to allow campers and
counselors to maintain contact with one another.

Through several out-of-state teaching jobs,
McConnell has kept his memories alive by
expanding the Fort Scott Web site.

He's had more than 6,000 visitors to the site, many
contributing photos, memories and camp songs.

Here you will find archived news clippings about Fort
Scott, a newsletter, as well as e-mail addresses for
120 people associated with it.

McConnell, now Dr. McConnell on the faculty at
Michigan State University, visits Cincinnati six or
eight times a year, mostly for Fort Scott
get-togethers. Last year, their St. Patrick's party
drew more than 100 people.

''I'd love to return,'' he says. ''I regard myself as a
Cincinnati exile.''