5,000 feet of cable later, lights back on at Boy Scouts' Melita Island

MELITA ISLAND When the Boy Scouts left their camp on Melita Island last fall, someone turned off the lights.

But then a short took them out completely.

Fixing an electrical problem on an island can be a tad more challenging than simply summoning an electrician.

In this case it involved laying 5,000 feet of new cable across the bottom of Flathead Lake, and six figures worth of money.

But the Boy Scouts announced this week that power to the island has been restored, thanks to a lot of volunteer help, not to mention the generosity of a contractor, a supplier and a utility company.

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The problem, according to Mary Matelich, vice president for public relations for the Boy Scouts of America Montana Council, was in the power cable that stretched from the mainland to a transformer near the Melita Island lodge.

Installed in the early 1970s, it had already lasted twice as long as had been expected when it first went into use.

When Scout leaders boated out to the island in October to do routine maintenance work, they discovered ice cream oozing out of freezers, and lights that wouldnt turn on in the lodge.

Initial bids to replace the cable came in at $325,000 to $350,000, Matelich said. Thats when Peter Jones, program director for the Montana Council, took a different approach.

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5,000 feet of cable later, lights back on at Boy Scouts' Melita Island