ROYAL PALM COUNCIL 1925 to 1937 (Fort Myers)
MERGED WITH SUNNY LAND COUNCIL 1937
CAMP ROPACO
CAMP ROPACO 1925 to 1937
Royal Palm Council was established in 1925 for the youth of Lee, Collier, DeSoto, Charlotte, Glades, and Hendry counties, having been part of South Florida Area Council in Lakeland. The name of the summer camp program came from the first two letters of each word in the council's name, ROyal PAlm COuncil. For five years before the council was created, the local Scouts in the area had a property that was made available to them for camp programs, called "Junglewild", near the community of Olga in the Caloosahatchee River. In 1927 and 1928, the Camp ROPACO summer camp program was held near Lake Placid, on Lake June-In--Winter. The summer camp of 1929 began to be held at the Junglewild site, with upgrades such as cabins and a dining hall on the leased property. In February 1935, a brush fire destroyed dining hall, power plant, and towers, leaving the cabins intact. In 1936 the camp program was forced to move back to Lake Placid, on the shores of Lake Childs, due to dredging of the Caloosahatchee River fouling the water supply. That would be the last summer camp under that name, as the council succumbed to their poor financial straits, and was merged into Sunny Land Council, in February 1937.