My youngest son went on his first summer camp with his Scouting BSA troop. I went as an adult leader to help supervise and keep things organized (and have a little bit of fun too). We went to
Broadcreek Memorial Scout Reservation. The reservation is divided into three different camps. Ours was Camp Saffran, also home of one of the lodges for the
Order of the Arrow.
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| Camp Saffran welcomes you! |
We had a typical camp site with a bunch of tents. The site (called "Conowingo") also has a cabin with a kitchen, tables, and bunk beds. The scouts all slept in tents. The adults had the choice of tent or cabin. I opted for the cabin.
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| View of tents from cabin |
The cabin had a little more temperature control than the tents. The first night's temperatures fell into the 50s so the tent people woke up cold. The cabin didn't get as chilly. Later in the week the daytime temperatures skyrocketed into the high 90s and low 100s, turn the tents and cabin into ovens. The tents cooled off more quickly at night. I never slept inside my sleeping bag (on the bunk bed) after the first night. The cabin retained too much heat! One ceiling fan and open windows did not provide enough circulation to make it comfortable for sleeping.
The camp ran the usual schedule. Morning and evening flag ceremonies were followed by breakfast and dinner, respectively. Announcements were made after the flag ceremonies and after lunch. Our scouts participated in one of the evening flag ceremonies, retiring the colors for the night. That happened later in the week, so the scouts were not required to wear Class A uniforms--the brown shirts and green pants that can get warm. Class B involves wearing a more casual Scout shirt, typically a t-shirt with the troop information or from a summer camp or other Scout activity.
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| Refreshing on what to do for the flags |
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| About to lower the flags |
The flags were at half-mast while we were there to commemorate the death of
U. S. Senator Lindsey Graham.
The troop usually brought its own flag to the ceremonies. A scout then had to carry it to the meal. Hopefully someone would remember to take it back to the camp site at night.
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| My son with his troop flag |
The camp director presided at the flag ceremonies, though she was open enough to allow for troops to do silly things when they reported their status. The typical report would be, "Troop 1250, Conwingo, reporting all present and accounted for, ma'am." A humorous one would substitute something, like "...reporting all present and happy as ducks," with the scouts quacking like ducks. Once, our Senior Patrol Leader (the scout in charge of the troop) traded duties with the camp director, leaving the director holding our flag while the SPL finished the roll call.
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| Promotion or demotion? |
One of the big things at summer camp is working on merit badges. My son took the classes for First Aid, Communications, and Camping. The Communications badge requires participation in a debate, which happened after dinner one night, so I attended. They debated whether the water front or the pool was a better location for aquatic activities.
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| My son makes a point in favor of the water front |
The camp grounds includes a climbing tower, a rifle range, an archery range, and a shotgun range so scouts can work on badges which they may not have the resources for back at the troop's sponsoring organization.
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| Climbing tower |
Those locations also had "open hours" during the week where anybody could come, though priority was given to scouts working on merit badges who needed to make certain achievements that they didn't have time or the practice to complete during class. I went to the archery range to try it out. Archery is fun but not a core skill of mine.
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| Bow and quiver of arrows |
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| My first set five arrows (only 4 hit the target) |
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| My second set of arrows (still only 4 in the target!) |
I also did the "polar plunge" at the pool. A couple of mornings the pool was open before breakfast for early risers. Morning flags were at 7:45 and the pool was open from 6 to 7 a.m. The pool water was already quite warm, like high 70s or low 80s, so the morning air temperature the first morning was colder than the water! Maybe it was more of a "safari swim" than a "polar plunge."
The food was typical for camp. That's not the focus of the week, so they provided just the basics. The camp counselors would form up by the lines of waiting diners (sometimes long lines) and sing camp songs while the campers waited to get their food.
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| Pasta and meatballs with sauce only on the meatballs! |
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| Pulled pork sandwich with 4 fries (but also ice cream) |
The camp didn't restrict its activities to the scouts. Some classes were offered for adults. I took IOLS, Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills. First Aid was also available. Two social events happened too. First was a "beer and brats" afternoon gathering where the chief executive for Broadcreek gave us a pitch to come help out or donate. He also asked for feedback on the campgrounds and the program.
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| The beer they served with the brats |
Later in the week, they had an root beer float social which was supposed to be followed by a belly flop contest at the pool. By that point the temperature had gotten too high and the smoke from Canadian wildfires had come too far south for the contest to be held.
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| The other beer on offer |
Thursday, the smoke from Canada descended on the camp, making the sky hazy and the air less than ideal. The early sun looked red in the sky, almost as if we were camping on
Krypton. A lot of scouts left early to avoid the hazardous heat and air, including about half our troop.
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| The haze over another campground |
I was lucky enough (or vigilant enough with bug spray) not to get any ticks on me. I did catch one crawling up my leg before it put the bite on me. I plucked it off and tossed it away. I guess I should have killed it. Our campground had a lot of insect visitors, including this lunar moth.
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| On the white board |
The campout was a great experience and I would definitely go again, though the troop tends to rotate through other campgrounds. Look forward to a report from next year, dear reader!
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