Summer camp at last! For the first time, we’re returning to a camp we’ve been to before. Back in 2019, for our first summer camp ever, we went to Heritage, and now we got to return! The nostalgia hits hard.
We really loved summer camp – our site guide, Fern, was really great; he was friendly, enthusiastic, and fun to be around. The other councilors were really amazing, helping us get our Merit Badges with support and understanding.
This summer camp had a cool schedule where we had Merit Badge classes for two days, then rotated classes for the next two. Friday was reserved for patrol activities and makeups for unfinished requirements. We had scouts do badges like Canoeing, Swimming, Nature, Citizenship in the Nation, Camping, Wilderness Survival, Water Sports, Pulp and Paper, Basketry, COPE, and so much more. We had so much fun learning all these new skills!
We also had evening programs every night after dinner. These could include things like Open Aquatics, where you could swim in the lake, and even take out boats. Open Climbing had climbing walls and different challenges in the trees, including a zipline. There was a Vespers service, a non-denominational religious service where you talk about having gratitude and respect for the world around you. There was an Order of the Arrow callout ceremony, with ice cream social afterwards. We had a movie night, where we watched Shrek 2, and we had a night where our camp and another camp on the reservation both hung out in a place called ‘The Hub’. We were able to climb on the tower, try out open shooting, play field games, make a bluebird house, have some popcorn, get different items branded, and more. These evening programs were one of the highlights of our days.
Another thing we did while at summer camp was a service project – to get Honor Camper, Patrol, and Troop awards, we had to participate in one. What that ended up being was that during the free time we had after lunch, we’d spread gravel in the area near the Camp Trading Post, to level it out and make the hill the emergency vehicles go on more of a flat drive. We even had some scouts from other troops come and help us out! It was pretty great.
On Thursday, we had a different type of meal than usual. Instead of a meal that they cooked up at the dining hall, they prepared ingredients for a Tin Foil Dinner that we cooked at our own campsites, with steak, potatoes, carrots, onions, and good food. Our scoutmaster had even prepared a dessert for the Dutch Oven contest going on. Those brownies were heavenly.
Friday was really fun too – we had our customary glitter warstripes, for the vibes, and that day there was a bunch of activities that weren’t available in the first few days, or that you had to perform qualifiers to do. We had scouts participate in things like a Polar Bear Plunge and a Mile Swim, in addition to playing Inter-Troop games like GaGa Ball.
In the afternoon, there was a Patrol Challenge called the Courage Quest. This was a 6.2 mile hike around the lake the reservation was based around, with 10 stations around it that you had to go to and participate in. After the hike, you report to the Program Hall to say that you’d finished. Some of the stations included activities that had you guide a blindfolded member through an obstacle course, naming a bunch of knots, flipping a tarp over while on top of it, getting though an ‘electric fence’ without touching the ropes, and more. There were a few stations that were shut down because the camps went on thunder watch, but that’s okay. The trails got a little hard to follow at times, but we were able to collaborate with some other patrols to keep ourselves on track. Lots of our scouts particularly likes getting to walk across the Dam, because it gave a great view of the lake, and had a much needed breeze.
Eventually, the week had to come to a close though. Similarly to the Opening Campfire put on by the staff earlier on in the week, we had a Closing Campfire Friday night, run by the scouts, with skits and songs, and generally a fun time. The perfect last thing to do as a camp before leaving the next morning. We had a great time at summer camp this year, and we’re so glad that we were able to have so many scouts come. It’s always such a joy to be there with the scouts every year, and this year was no different. Already looking foreword to the next campout.
