2011 Summer Camp
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Fri 7/15/2011 - Summer Camp Update
Friday Morning We have reached our last day at camp grimes 2011 summer camp. It has been a very fun week for all. The boys accomplished much on merit badge classes as well as rank requiements outside of classes. The group has really come together and has functioned very well as Troop. The first year boys have REALLY REALLY impressed. Going into camp this week, I had several preconceptions about who would do what and how a boy would react to challange and praise. Often times I would have been correct, but many times I would have been wrong. These boys have really shown great attitude and perseverance throughout the week. You would all (for the most part ;-) ) be very proud of your boys and how they conducted themselves this week. With that said, as there will always be, when you take 41 boys into the woods for a week, there has been some need to address issues at various times about a range of issues. I believe that when this was required, it was taken as a chance to grow with the boys in their understanding of expectations about behavior and what it means to live the Scout Way. Overall the group has performed well and with very small exceptions the leaders and camp staff have been quite impressed by Troop 65. Several items of note: Nathan S successfully completed the Mile Swim!!! This is a very big deal, swimming a mile is not an easy task, fantastic job Nathan!! ASM Roger Hagy and Scout Ryan Hagy served as spotters for the swim cheering Nathan on from a Canoe safely on TOP of the water. One challenge of the week has been ensuring the boys are picking up after themselves, especially in regards to trash. We have worked and educated the boys on why trash is a problem and that they should always have an open eye for trash and pick up anything they see. One scout, Dimiti Hunt, took this to heart. He came back to camp with TWO POCKETS full of trash that he had picked up on the trail, great job Dimiti!! The polar bears finished their final swim today, it was much cooler and rainy this morning, but all 10 of the boys popped up and make the trek down to complete the week long task. Great job to all that participated!!! Jack C, Ethan D, Trent M, Brandon H, Payton G, Jorden K, Nathan S, Chris L, Glenn L, Nick R. Zack K completed his Brotherhood ceremony for the OA last night, supported by his fellow brothers, Sean F and Clayton J. Congrats Zack! Many boys have completed a large number of Rank Advancement Requirements this week. They have worked very hard with older scouts to complete and get signed off requirements. We have several that are ready or very close for the next scoutmaster conference. Troop 65 has a waterfront legend as part of the Small Boat Sailing class. Glenn L has been given the nickname "Tiny" and has completly impressed his instructors and classmates. From reports, Glenn who is far smaller then anyone else in the class has the quickest (by a long shot) time in getting a Sunfish back upright after it has gone over. It is reported that he can do it in less then 30 seconds. This is a task that is taking others several min to complete. He has earned a reputation and respect from this group and the word "Legend" has been used to describe his feat... All the boys taking Rifle have successfully completed all of the Rifle Shooting requirements for the badge. This include 10 different accomplishments including getting 3 shots inside the diameter of a quarter and 5 shots inside the black bullseye... Great job to all the boys taking Rifle this year!! Yesterday was a much cooler and beautiful day at camp. Much nicer to move around and enjoy the camp. We had a movie night last night that many of the boys attended. Other boys worked on class homework which has been quite extensive this week. We had another contingent of Sleep Under the Stars last night, we were fortunate that the rain did not start until AFTER wake up call, so no one got wet. We have also completed our week on campsite inspection and have gotten our recognition for orderly campsite for the week. We had the pleasure of having morning assembly in the rain this morning, it was actually a bit cool and I saw sweatshirts and rain jackets, a drastic change from the early part of the week. Dining order was determined by Troop Spirt today and Troop 65 was FIRST to eat!!!! Great job boys!!! Eat first and out of the rain, no better than that... That is all for now, not sure if this will be last post or not, but if so, everyone should know that the troop did great this week. Summer Camp is such an important part of the scouting experience. I can literally see boys growing and gaining confidence in themselves and their abilities by the min. Every boy will experience summer camp differently, but I can tell you for some (especially the younger ones), this has been a real growth opportunity. Dont be surprised if you see something different about your son post summer camp as it truly is a transformational experience.... Thurs Mid Morning - Quick update Another good night. Nathan S represented Troop 65 at the Vespers event. Only got a few drops of rain in afternoon, lots of storms around us, but none right at camp. OA Ice Cream was a big hit. Everyone did well with staying hydrated yesterday, we had a couple boys not feeling great last night, but got them re-hydrated and all were back on their feet. Lots of rank advancement work at camp last night. Several boys worked to get requirements signed off with older boys including many completing requirements for next rank and ready for Scoutmaster conf. Some groups formed to work on Scout Skills including First aid and Axe Yard activities. We had another sleep under the stars evening last night, about 10 boys moved thier cots outside to enjoy the nice weather and stars. Polar Bears made their morning jaunt down to the waterfront at 6:20am, reports are water is warm at that hour. All boys seem to be doing well with the food, no one is complaining about being hungry and no cases of food poisioning... ;-) We had a nice visit from Eileen Fox at camp last night, I am sure her boys were glad to see her. Lots of work on MB class homework last night by many boys, you would all be proud to see them doing the ourside work at camp and working hard on it. Couple items of note: Sean Fox successfully got up in waterskiing!!! Great job Sean! Today he is working on getting in and our of the wake!!! Skyler H has gotten 5 out of 5 in shotgun every day!!! Several of the troop have already completed the rifle proficiency requirements, great job boys!! Remember, parents are invited to attend the closing ceremony Friday evening. Come up to camp in the afternoon and let your boys show you what they have been doing all week. They are serving BBQ rather than the traditional (and less than stellar) Hots and Hamburgers tomorrow, so we are hopful for a good meal. If you want to eat at camp, let me know and it will be $5. Please check in at admin building at front of camp when coming in. We are in campsite 8 large. Lastly, I want to call out a few boys who have really impressed this week for thier attitude and perseverance. They are on this list for various reasons and it does not matter why, I just wanted to call them out as really getting into the camp experience and having a great week. Jacob P, John A, Dimeti H, Juan C great week for all the boys, but these boys have really stepped up and shined at camp. Wed Afternoon - One word for today HOT! It is hot, but so far scouts of Troop 65 have been on thier game, no incidents of heat issues, all boys drinking lots of water... Way to go boys!!! Another good day yesterday for merit badge classes. Several session 7 activites including some boys heading over to Blacksmith (alllll the way over at Frontier, be sure to ask your boys how fun that walk is in the heat!!!) and others went to open swim. Also, there was a Swimming Smorgasbord last night at 7:30 at the water front, the lake was opened up late in the evening for some swimming and water ultimate freesbie fun!!! Our own Clayton Johnston who is taking BSA Life Guard class this week got to show what he has learned, his class served as Life Guards in training for the Smorgasbord event, word is he only lost a small number of boys under his care.... just kidding, nice work Clayton!!! There is a Jewel of Grimes hunt going on where every meal we get clues about an object that must be located around camp. Serveral of the older scouts have been out looking a number of times, but no luck to date... Keep looking boys!!! Senior Patrol Leader Tommy Quist and ASM Chris Johnson participated in a "Turkey Shoot" competion including shotgun, rifle and archery. Dont have the results, but they said they did well and had fun... (nice way of saying they did not win ;-) ). Also, I forgot to mention that Skyler H has gotten 5 out of 5 during shotgun class 2 days in a row, great job Skyler!! Some of the boys have had field trips the last two days as part of MB classes. Several boys got to go and visit a Jail and another a farm. All had fun and made it back safely. We scored 11 out of 12 on our site inspection today, and the 1 point was not our fault as we are co-located with another troop who left an ice bag on the ground after our final morning inspection... bummer, but the boys continue to do a good job keeping things picked up and the camp in a orderly fashion, good job troop!!! This afternoon for session 7 there are boys going to ranges to shoot rifle, shotgun and archery. Nathan S is representing Troop 65 at Vespers tonight. Lastly there is an Order of the Arrow Ice Cream and Open Mic tonight, should be interesting! The boys continue to do well and have fun!! Tues Noon - We had a good evening last night, boys all completed the classes for the day successfully. Lots of good reports from the classes. We had open "session 7" time in the afternoon. Many boys went to the lake for open swim. Some others went to the "COPE" area for some climbing fun. Other stayed back at camp to relax. Several boys got a card game together, including Scoutmaster Billy, who I hear was the big loser of the evening... At assembly last night before dinner, one of our own Scouts, Trent Merrell lead the entire camp (650+ people) in the prayer.... Great Job Trent!!! After dinner we had some relax time around camp. Boys enjoyed the evening by going to the camp store, getting ice cream, or just playing with friends at the camp site. Later in the evening we even had the chance to spot something very rare and not often seen at Boy Scout Camp, we saw scouts going to take showers!!!! A very unique and rare thing to observe at camp for sure... Food so far has been good. Three squares of the served food, plus Salad bar, PB&J, Fruit at every meal, so no body should be hungry! Several boys took advantage of the great weather last night and had a "sleep under the stars" evening. We had roughly 15 (or more) boys sleeping on their cots ourside under the stars all night!!! Tough to get them settled down at sleep time, but they all made it thru and had fun. There was even some comments about it being "chilly" in the middle of the night, which is humerous given the temp here, funny to hear "chilly"... Speaking of the temp.... It's HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are expecting close to 100 today with a heat index of close to 115!!! Lots of discussion and preperation for this heat wave throughout camp. All of the boys have been instructed on staying hydrated and about the dangers of the high temp. Lots of discussion... saftey is everyones #1 priority. There are accomdations being made for some classes that involve high levels of physical activity. All camp personal are on high percaution. We have 10 boys who are participating in the annual Polar Bear challenge. This involves getting up before the rest of camp (6:20am) to get on your suite, walk down to the lake and jump in for a brief morning swim!!! Great way to start the day!!! Our polar bears for this year are Jack C, Ethan D, Trent M, Brandon H, Payton G, Jorden K, Nathan S, Chris L, Glenn L, Nick R (missing the other two, will publish when I have the list in front of me later) This morning was much more efficient and organized then first day as everyone now has the classes and the routine down. Wake up and breakfast was very organized and the boys are now off to classes for the day. We have a daily camp site inspection, Day 1 we got 10 out of 12 (not bad, but we can do better), today we did 12 out of 12!!! Nice job Troop 65!!! During a free Session ASM Johnson worked with Casey Fuller to help complete his almost all of his Tenderfoot requirements, way to go Casey!!! We have SEVERAL! boys competing for MESSIEST tent award... it is a large and highly competive field, but some boys are really going all out to seperate themselves from the field... We will keep you updated... ;-) Overall the boys are doing great and having fun (dispite what they will say when they get home... :-) ) We have had some minor home sickness (VERY minor) but everyone pressed on and everyone is learning how to work through the feeling of being away from the comforts of home and parents. (Other boys don't seem to even notice they are not at home...) We have also had the usual scratches, cuts, bumps, bruises, and name your favorite poision plant encounters... but nothing serious and all treated without any trips to the medical center. Camp is truly an amazing place (!!!) for a boy to come and learn about themselves, how to be out in the outdoors and away from their everyday "world". They are all growing in their independence by the day and really showing what they are capable of when challenged... Lastly, camp allows us to see our boys and troop in context of others, whenever this happens, I continue to be impressed and amazed by our group. We have a great collection of boys that really live the Scout Law, and as parents you would all be very proud... Update Monday 1:00 pm - Just saw the group as part of camp wide fire drill. All the boys are doing good and getting settled into "camp routine". First day is about finding all your classes which can be a challenge given a place this big, but all have made it to their classes so far!! Talked to several boys who have had swimming, first aid, geology, space exploration, rifle, leatherwork,... already today and reports are classes are fun!! ASM Chris Johnson even got to shoot at the rifle range this morning. Staff here is great and boys are having fun dispite the heat!!! We are headed to lunch now and 2 more sessions this afternoon. This afternoon during fee time, we are headed to the climbing tower for "COPE", Repelling and climbing free sessions. Monday 10:00 am Great trip up yesterday, we arrived safely at 2:15. Check in and medical went smoothly. Camp was set up and we ate dinner. Evening went well and all the boys got a good night sleep. Up at 6:20am, 11 boys got up for Polar Bear Plunge this morning. Boys are doing well, they are off to thier Merit Badge Classes. It is HOT and HUMID!!! Everyone is doing well and we off to a great start!! Thurs 7/7/2011 @ 1:30pm - Summer Camp Update Parents!!! Please do not leave the scout hut on Sunday drop off until you and your Scout have checked in. We need to be sure we have everything we need from you for the week!!!! 1. Change in meeting time Sunday 7/10/11 - Please plan to be at the Scout Hut at 10am on Sunday 2. Updates will be posted on this page several times during the week, so keep an eye out for updates 3. We will be using a call in voice mail to post statuses about our return times for Sat 7/16/11. The number to call to check our progress is 704-516-0483. We will begin posting updates on this line after 10 am Sat with periodic updates as we make our way back to Scout Hut. 4. There is a closing ceremony Friday night at camp that parents are invited to attend. If you would like to join us, please email [email protected] to let us know you are coming up and get more details about the event. "Friday Invite the families to come out for the Friday evening cookout and campfire. Meal tickets can be purchased for $5 per person. Afterward the Order of the Arrow hosts the final campfire for the induction of youth and adults in this honored camping organization. All guests need to park in the main parking lot." Emergency Contact information for the week: Contacts: Billy Hawkins Bob Donaher Scoutmaster ASM, Troop 65 Summer Camp Coordinator 704-309-3359 704-516-0483 [email protected] [email protected] Bill Johnston Roger Hagy Committee Chairperson Assistant Scoutmaster 704-241-4074 704-882-9834 [email protected] [email protected] Camp Grimes Office: 828-652-3923 Camp Grimes Ranger (year round): 828-652-8592 Mecklenburg County Council (Charlotte): 704-333-5471 MB Classes and Required Kits to Purchase Following is a list of classes that require kits to be purchased as part of the class. Please ensure that you have gone to the online trading post and purchased your kits in advance, or are bringing money to camp to purchase at store upon arrival. Thanks! Online Trading Post Site: https://www.mycampgrimes.org/tradingpost/tradingpost.phtml Classes Requiring Kits Purchase & Helpful Hints: Archery - Arrow Build Kit Basketry - Both Round and Square Basket Kits should be purchased Indian Lore - Any of the Kits will work for class Leather Work - 1 of wallet, knife pouch, bag, Tabasco holder, moccasin, or cell holder Space Exploration - Viking Rocket and one (1) a8-3 Engine Wood Carving - Any of the offered kits will work * Use Week 4 July 10 - July 16th when entering Scout Information Archery Ben Cawthorn Ryan P Hagy Aidan Joseph Fox Skyler D Hollenbaugh Nicholas J Sharrett Basketry Jacob Casey Fuller William Brandon Hawkins Indian Lore Jack Chernewych Payton Graham Jacob Casey Fuller George J Spiros Leather Working Jacob Casey Fuller Jordan Kinney Nathan J Sharrett John Allocco Maxwell J Loelius Logan Springer Jack Gilmore Nicholas Rossi Cameron Snyder Space Exploration John Allocco Juan Cuartas Jack Gilmore Payton Graham Jordan Kinney Wood Carving Juan Cuartas Payton Graham Swimming MB Clothes Needed Please bring long shirt and long pants for the Swimming MB Scouts Signed up for Swimming MB: Juan Cuartas Jordan Kinney Cameron Snyder John Allocco Jack Gilmore Payton Graham Banks Grubbs Skyler D Hollenbaugh Dimitri Hunt Christopher J Lizarazo Nicholas Rossi Ethan Donaher Daniel P Gallimore William Brandon Hawkins Trent M Merrell Jacob Pearson Helpful Hints from other Scouts!! I took this at camp. They say to bring a button down long sleeve shirt. That’s what I brought and had the hardest time keeping air in it. My brother just completed the swimming merit badge last month and he used a long sleeve pull over (t-shirt style) shirt and it worked much better. Also when you bring pants make sure they don’t have holes in them, lol |
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6/14/2011 - Summer Camp Annoucement
Please remember to get your medical forms completed and turned in as soon as possible. No scout will be allowed to attend summer camp without a recent (12 months or less) medical form. |