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Summer Camp 2006
Camp
Raven Knob, June 25 – July 1, 2006
Bob De Contreras, Scoutmaster
“It’s
All About The Boys”
Sunday…
We
met at the Apex Crossing parking lot at
8:30 AM, collected last minute
medical forms and payments, formed-up
and headed out for the three hour
trip to Camp Raven Knob. As planned, all
were present at the camp gates
at 12:30 PM and Scoutmaster, Bob De
Contreras found 2nd
place in the check-in waiting
line. Camp check-in was complete
in
just a few minutes and we were off to
the medical check-in. No matter
how much we try this just seems to be a
tougher test each year. We
wanted to beat our three hour wait from
last year and we did –
but only by half an hour. The camp
changes to have the camp medical
staff distribute all Scout medication
must have been the culprit.
We can hope that next year will be
better. After medical check-in
our camp guide led us to our camp sites
– Ponka and
Cherokee. These were new camp
sites for us and a change from the
sites we have used for the past nine
years. We were told that the Ponka
site would be big enough to hold us all,
but it was not and we were put
on the two sites. The sites are
new and still under construction.
When we got there Sunday there was no
wash basin in the latrine and a
few other necessities were in need of
correction. By the time we
left all was in order except the hot
water heater for the showers. So,
it was cold showers (the norm in the old
camp site) or a long hike down
the hill to a shower with heated water.
Shortly
after getting to the camp site it
started to rain. We had to get
plastic sheets over the canvas tents
(standard drill for tents at Camp
Raven Knob). That done the Scouts headed
off to the lake for the swim
tests that are required for those who
plan to go in the water.
Spaghetti was the main course for dinner
Sunday evening, which was
served at 6:30 PM each night.
After dinner (still raining) the
Scouts were gathered under the large
shelter we had in the Ponka site
playing cards or chess and some just sat
and talked or read a book.
Lights out was at 11 PM each
night. It rained all night.
Monday…
We
were wet, wet, wet. We had a half mile
hike to and from the mess hall
for each meal and the route also
included a steep climb down the hill
from Ponka and then up the hill to the
mess hall. So, we all got
some good exercise. That’s the
good news. The bad news is
that we had to do it in mud and
rain. Those conditions led to
soaked tennis shoes and socks by the end
of the day. In some cases it
meant two pair of soaked tennis shoes by
day’s end. NOTE TO SELF: water
proof hiking boots are a better choice
for summer camp – where it always
rains.
The
Scouts were off to their classes that
started at 9:00 AM. All
Scouts had a buddy for the walk to and
from camp (well… most of
the time they returned with their
buddy). Because of the thunder and
lightning, the aquatics classes were
canceled for most of the
day. Since Ponka is a new camp
site, there was mud
everywhere. But, it’s only Monday
and we had high hopes of
sun for tomorrow – spirits were
high. For dinner we had
chicken pot pie for the main course.
After dinner the Scouts were under
the shelter playing cards and talking.
Some felt that they needed to
head for the Trading Post for a snack or
soft drink and a look at the
stuff for sale (t-shirts, caps, cups,
etc.).
Feeding
1,500 Scouts and leaders at the same
time is a sight to behold.
The process starts off with a table
assignment for each person.
The table you sit at on Sunday night is
the table you sit at all
week. Then, each day campers
rotate their seat at the table one
place to the left. This is because the
two Scouts at the end of the
table are the assigned “waiters.” The
rotation allows for a
rotation of waiter duty. The
waiters arrive at the mess hall ten
minutes early and set out napkins,
utensils, glasses, drinks, fruit,
and condiments for their table. The
waiters also stay after the meal to
clean up. Then the campers are
assigned one of four serving lines
to enter for the week. As the
campers are lined up they pass
salad bar, peanut butter and jelly,
fruit, cold cereal, and other side
item stations that change based on the
meal. Believe it or not,
everyone is seated and eating in less
than ten minutes.
It’s still raining – as much
as two inches per hour in some periods.
Tuesday…
Wet,
wet, wet – mud, mud, mud! We were dry in
our tents and under the
shelter, but not much elsewhere.
We had many Scouts with wet
clothes (because they kept “forgetting”
their rain gear
– if you can believe that) and wet socks
and tennis shoes.
Did I mention that the Scouts really
need to have water proof hiking
boots? Today some of the Scouts
had been through their weekly
supply of socks because of multiple
changes per day to get out of wet
socks.
Today
several Scouts make the climb to the top
of Mount Raven Knob.
That trip earned them a beautiful view
of the area and a Raven Knob
strip for their uniform patch. Classes
are going well. Aquatics
is still getting cancellations here and
there. And, it finally
stopped raining at 1 pm. Yea! The
sun came out for a few hours.
We are seeing leather work and basket
weaving projects in camp as the
Scouts do their homework. For
dinner we had Salisbury steak as
the main course.
Evening
activities are the same in camp with the
card games and conversations.
Several of the Scouts are out of camp
walking and visiting the trading
post. We finally have clear weather and
can have a campfire. Mark K.
had the idea to play a fun campfire word
game. One Scout would say the
first sentence of a story and then the
next Scout in the fire circle
would say the next sentence in the story
and so on until we had gone
all around the circle. With each Scout
picking his own story line, we
ended up with some very interesting and
funny stories. The
younger Scouts really enjoyed the time
talking around the campfire.
Wednesday…
Yea!
It’s dry out and it was dry all night
for the first night in
camp. We started seeing some small
injuries – Matt C. with
a tick bite, Chris T. with an infected
ingrown toe nail, and various
small cuts and bug bites. We
started work on our service project
for the camp. We were assigned the job
of making improvements in our
Ponka camp site. We had to level
some ground and shovel gravel to
cover the dirt so we would not have so
much mud in camp when it rains.
This
is the day that parents of local Scouts
come to camp to visit.
For that reason the camp delivers us our
lunch in our camp site.
We had cold cut sandwiches with lettuce
and tomato, chips, fruit,
juice, and granola bars. We also
have the option of eating in the
mess hall for dinner or eating in our
camp site. This year, like last
year, we chose to eat in camp and we
ordered in Pizza.
That’s the good news. Just before the
pizza arrived the rain
started again and it was coming down at
the volume of two inches per
hour and it was vertical rain. We had to
put up a tarp at the side of
the shelter to keep the rain out so we
could have our pizza dinner. We
had a couple parents join us who brought
up some water melon and adult
leader Tom Brawn made three fruit
cobblers in Dutch ovens. One was
apple, one was peach and one was a mix
of several fruits. There was a
break in the rain after dinner and all
headed down for the Order of the
Arrow campfire down at the amphitheater
by the lake. Unfortunately, it
started raining again and the ceremony
had to be canceled at the
amphitheater and moved to the mess
hall. Several Scouts
didn’t make it to the mess hall because
they got caught at the
porch of the trading post to get out of
the rain. You see they
“forgot” their rain gear again. We had
at least three
Scouts come back to camp in their class
“A” uniform soaked
to the bone (just in case you are
curious they were not the younger
Scouts – it was the older, they should
know better, Scouts).
As
Scouts returned and we gathered to talk,
we heard that the Scouts
really enjoyed the pizza dinner in camp
along with the nice desserts.
In these discussions a new issue came to
light. Several of the
Scouts said that their parents had
packed their foot locker and so the
Scout could not find things. One newer
Scout was heard to say,
“That’s the last time I let my mom pack
my stuff – I
can’t find anything.”
Thursday…
We
woke up to sun again for the second time
at camp. The sun and warm
weather held for the day. We had five
Scouts doing the one mile swim
today – two in the morning and three in
the afternoon. That
required two leaders to row in a “chase”
row boat for each
Scout.
Several
Scouts continued on the service project.
Spirits are very high as we
think we are going to have sun for the
rest of the week. Today,
and earlier in the week when it was not
raining, the game of choice was
frisbee. Mr. D. had brought five
Frisbees just in case the Scouts
wanted to play on the new frisbee golf
course in camp. The Scouts just
played in our camp site in groups of
five to ten and there were
Frisbees flying in all directions and
randomly hitting things and
people. It’s fun when you randomly
hit things and people.
For
dinner we had pot roast, mashed
potatoes, green beans, fruit, and
juice. After dinner two scouts, Dan K.
and Dan M. helped Mr. D clean
and wax the outside of the Troop
trailer. Later in the evening two
Scouts, Chris T. and Dan M. cleaned and
reorganized the inside of the
Troop trailer. With these Scouts and
others working on this and that,
adult leader “Ranger” Rick Myers brought
out a reward of
Pringles and granola bars for the Scouts
to snack on.
The
Patrol Leaders Council (PLC) met today
after lunch in the first of two
sessions to plan the Troop’s program and
calendar for
2006-2007. This is where the
Scouts decide on their goals and
objectives for the new year and then
plan for a theme for each month
with supporting merit badge
opportunities and finally decide on what
outings fit with the goals and program
themes. These decisions
were initiated but not finalized. One of
the Scouts, the Scribe, will
document the results of the meetings and
the Assistant Scout Masters
and Committee Members will review and
approve the final plan later in
the summer.
Friday…
Another
sunny day – but bah humbug, we go home
tomorrow. Friday we start
to see the Scouts in camp more during
the day as many of the classes
are letting the Scouts out early because
the work is complete. In
the next week or so the results will be
published and sent out for your
review. Awards, merit badges and camp
patches will be distributed at
the August Court of Honor. Each Scout
was given a camp T-shirt.
Unfortunately a few Scouts chose to
leave their shirt in lost and
found. I have two smalls and one medium
in my possession. If you want
to claim one, it’s first come, first
served. I also have one of
the new Troop T-shirts that has the
label removed, so I don’t
know the size but I guess it’s a medium.
For
dinner we had pizza for the main course.
After dinner Scouts returned
to camp to find that Tom Brawn had made
more cobbler. After dessert it
was packing and off to the closing
campfire at the OA
amphitheater. Mike B. was named
the honor Scout for our Troop
– the Scout who had most exemplified the
Scout oath, law and
promise while in camp. Scoutmaster, Bob
D. was given an appreciation
award for teaching archery shooting all
week. Our Troop earned
the Honor Troop award for having
completed a list of 12 requirements
while in camp. These were things
like passing daily camp
inspections, adult leader participation
at camp, service project, more
than 50% of the troop attending camp,
and more.
After
returning from the closing campfire, the
Scouts started a campfire in
our camp site and sat around for the
last night at camp and talked and
told stories. We attempted to get
Scouts to claim items in the
lost and found, but we had little luck
because we had to dispose of
several pair of socks and other items.
Saturday…
Yes,
it’s still sunny and we had a dry night
again. We got up
for breakfast and then back to camp to
clean, finish packing, and wait
for the camp ranger to check us
out. Parents arrive and we go
home or off on our July 4th
vacation trip.
The
Scouts look back and say to themselves,
“I had a good time at
camp. I earned a couple of merit
badges. I enjoy Boy
Scouts. I think I’ll come back next
year.”
The Wrap-Up…
Thanks
to all the adult leaders who had as busy
a schedule as the
Scouts. Bob D. taught archery all
week. Dave T. and Tom Bl. got
the Scouts to the health lodge for daily
medication treatments and
dealing with medical issues and
treatment. Tom Br. for the great
cobbler, service project leadership,
Knob hikes, and back-up leader to
Bob D. Dave D., Rick M., Dave W. and
Chris C. for running errands,
keeping track of wayward Scouts, running
activities at our camp site,
handling medical emergencies, and
maintaining the required two leaders
at our camp site at all times.
Thanks to Chris C. for pulling the
Troop trailer there and back.
We’re
comfortable saying that we didn’t have
any home sickness –
a first for our Troop. We didn’t
take any visits to the
hospital – another first for our
Troop. The only
significant medical issues were Brian K.
who got stung by three bees,
Sam H. who got 2nd degree sun
burns on his shoulders (he
refused to put on sunscreen), and Chris
T. who had an infected ingrown
toe nail. We had a couple of upset
stomachs, a couple of headaches, and
applied a lot of mole skin for blisters
on the feet (a wet feet
problem).
It was another great year at
Camp Raven Knob Summer Camp.
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