GimletBlog

The Gimlet’s report from this year’s week at Scout Camp. See the entire photo album in the Gimlet Gallery.

Hello Mudder, Hello Fadder, here I am at Camp Pigott. So it doesn’t rhyme. It didn’t rain and we had fun.

Early Monday morning we met at the church. As Scoutmaster I have to make sure the boys who are going to camp have their physical forms. One boy didn’t and his father had to drive him home to get it. When the Assistant Scoutmaster showed up he had the physical. Ooops! After we got that taken care of we drove to camp. We had to take our gear to our campsite, change into swimsuits, and then wait in line for the physical re-check. After the re-check, we were in line again for the swim test. Then we had lunch. The boys did not know what to think when the staff began singing the “Announcement song.” The “Announcement Song” began the same way each meal, but a new section was added for each subsequent meal.

After lunch was a frenzy of merit badge sign ups and then immediately the boys took off to their first three hours of classes. Then dinner and after dinner the last class. We had the opening campfire after the last class. The boys complained that the day was really long.

On Tuesday the normal class schedule began and the boys seemed to enjoy themselves. Before dinner Thing One (Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, and acting Senior Patrol Leader because the SPL was not there) signed up the Troop for Archery before dinner. After Dinner we went to the COPE (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience) Course.

The first event was a web of ropes. The entire group had to get through the web without touching the rope, and each hole could only be used once. If the rope was touched, we had to sing “I’m a Little Teapot” to lull the spider back to sleep. We had a great time doing it.

The second event was a giant wheel that we had to go over. Again success. The third event was a tire and a high column. We had to pick up the tire and put it over the top of the column and then take it back off. We made pretty short work of the first part and got the tire over the column. Getting it off again was another matter. Finally success. Tuesday was one of the boys’ birthday and I had brought Twinkies for the occasion. While they were enjoyed, the boys especially liked the cupcakes the boy’s mother brought to camp and delivered just as we were finishing the tire and column challenge. It was nice to have a witness to the good time everyone was having.

Wednesday was spent with more merit badge classes. Thing One did not have as good of luck with troop sign up this day and we ended up with a nature hike. As my back-up adult that day has a PhD in Botany, we decided to have our own kind of nature hike: picking berries for a berry cobbler. The botanist helped us find wild huckleberries (red), mountain huckleberries (blue), salmon berries, and vine blackberries (native). Wednesday was cook in your camp day, so we enjoyed cooking our berry cobbler just for ourselves.

Thing One needed a buddy for his canoeing merit badge on Thursday. Since I taught canoeing at a scout camp in my day, I thought this would be a cinch. We swamped the canoe (on purpose) easily, then emptied it of water. Then I had to get in. Thing One entered easily. I couldn’t get in. It was really embarrassing. I had to go to a log and climb up on it and then get in the canoe. Age stinks. That evening was the Polar Bear Shoot. I did well on the rifle shooting, (87 out of a 100) hit the wrong side of the tomahawk against the target (A real opponent would have been knocked out, but the score only happened if you made it stick.); and did okay with the archery. Unfortunately, the Scoutmaster who was also a retired Master Sergeant got a 98 out of 100 in the shooting.

Friday was the day to finish merit badges and then join in the camp competition. The morning was uneventful. As the troop was willing to do the relay race, but not the patrol competition, we stayed in camp. After an hour and a half in camp with nothing to do, I was ready to find things for the boys to do! The relay was fun, but the troop came in 2nd to last place. The key to the relay was a good rowing person. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the size in that area. The final campfire finished off the last full day of camp.

On Saturday I got up extra early and packed my pack. Since I was up, I decided to haul some gear to the car. I joined a parade of Scoutmasters taking stuff to the cars. I commented to one that the boys claimed to be excited to go home, but none of them were awake, and most of the Scoutmasters were there. Nobody is more excited to go home than the Scoutmasters! After cleaning camp we collected the merit badge cards for the boys and headed for home. The parent helping drive took all the boys in his car, including Thing One because they wanted to watch a movie in the back seats of the mini-van. I enjoyed my solitude in my car.

When we got home, we unpacked and I washed the car. When I went in for my shower, I finally looked in a mirror (No mirrors in the shower room at camp). I saw a huge bruise on my chest and under my arm. The attempt to get into the canoe had left their mark. (Editor’s note: The bruises were bright red and purple and unbelievably huge. The Gimlet has forbidden any links to the commemorative photos which are, at any rate, not for the squeamish.) Scoutmaster is not a job for wimps!

It was a really great camp experience. The boys all enjoyed themselves and successfully completed merit badges. For me, the pay-off has been that after a year and a half as Scoutmaster, the boys are beginning to really advance in Scouting. The camp merit badges made it possible for nearly all the boys to move up a rank. Of the seven boys who attended camp, two finished the requirements for Life Scout (including Thing One!); one finished his Star Scout, and one finished First Class Scout. Even the boys who aren’t interested in advancing enrolled in merit badge classes and had a good time. It is really gratifying to see the boys progressing, interested in participating, and having fun together as a group.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 12:43 pm and is filed under scouts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.