Tinton Falls Cub Scouts Kicked Out Of State Park Due to NJ Govt. Shutdown

OLD BRIDGE, NJ — It was supposed to be a night of s'mores and sitting around the campfire. Instead this Tinton Falls Cub Scout Pack were told to pack up and leave Cheesequake State Park Saturday due to the ongoing New Jersey state government shutdown, now about to enter its third day.

Cub Scout Pack 124 had been planning their big, end-of-the-year camping trip for months. It wasn't limited to just the Cub Scouts; their siblings were invited, too, for swimming and nature hikes during the day and two nights of sleeping under the stars in one of Cheesequake State Park's many campgrounds.

"We had 15 families with 25 kids total, with kids in first through fourth grades," said den leader Andrew Spears. "There's a significant amount of planning that goes into something like this. All the families had paid in advance and we had reserved a campsite months ago for their big trip. We already bought all the food, too."

By 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon, most of the group showed up at Cheesequake. Spears and fellow pack leader Jatin Patel had been nervously following the news all week. Would Gov. Chris Christie and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson/Bergen) really follow through with their shutdown threat?

"We were keeping an eye on it," said Spears. "We thought it'd be resolved by 5 p.m. So when there was no shutdown by five o'clock Friday, we thought we were in pretty good shape."

They let the boys set up their tents and had a campfire and a cookout. But come Saturday morning, a park ranger showed up.

"He told us that the park was closed and we had to be out by 11 a.m.," said Spears. "The boys were disappointed. They have no concept of budgets and government shutdowns and I don't blame them. They just thought it was a little unusual a park ranger would kick us out of a park on a beautiful summer day. It just didn't make a lot of sense to them."

It wasn't just the Cub Scouts, Spears said. He saw dozens of people kicked out of the family campground areas, including cars from out of state.

"Cheesequake is a really nice park and people come from far away to visit there. I saw one couple from Idaho packing up. I saw a man try to come in for his morning walk and he was turned away," said Spears. "It's perplexing when you see people try to enjoy their public parks and being turned away at the gate."

The boys packed up camp. Spears took them to Big Brook, a county park in Marlboro Township, where they rounded out the afternoon playing basketball. But their second night of camping was gone.

And as far as the New Jersey state shutdown goes, no end appears to be in sight. Christie and legislators met Saturday morning and again Sunday, but have still not agreed on a budget. Some legislators, such as Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer/Hunterdon, refused to come back for the Sunday session, saying Christie was not negotiating in good faith.

"We'll be back out," vowed Spears. "We're talking about another camp-out at the end of the summer so make up for the abbreviated weekend. We love our state and county parks and we'll be back out again."