Day 4
Hello and again Parents -
Compared to yesterday, today was an enjoyably uneventful day. We scored perfect again in our Camp inspection, our boys continued to have a great amount of fun and as I write this, are all visiting T19 for movie night and enjoying their comraderie.
But today too was a day of discovery. Your Scouts discovered that they can achieve more than they thought they could, that they can build things with thier hands they thought not possible and that they have leadership skills, a voice to share them with others, the confidence to step up as leaders and the ability take center stage.
They discovered that they can be comfortable without mom and dad, that they can overcome being homesick, that their independence allows them the opportunity to grow and they discovered all the great things the outdoors provides.
And it was not just the Scouts that had discoveries. The leaders discovered too (confirmed) that our Scouts are on par or ahead of many of their peers, we discovered that our Scouts are much more resilient than we give them credit for, and we discovered that our Scouts, all of them, need us a little less than we want them too; but are very proud to have made that discovery. They have all matured just a little more this week and all is good.
Our younger Scouts who were homesick found a way to overcome, our older Scouts took time out of their days to mentor the younger Scouts, all ages were involved in all the games / competitions together, and all learned and developed new skills. We are extremely proud of them.
We will be raising the flag for the Camp tomorrow morning, a big honor on the final full day of Camp and know our Scouts will leave the Camp with a great example of how to perform a proper flag ceremony - let's consider it T65's gift to all the other Troops.
We hope to see parents tomorrow night at the family dinner starting at 6p -though parents can come earlier in the afternoon if they wish to tour the Camp, etc. so you too can discover Grimes and discover the excitement in your Scout's voice as they tell you all about their week.
I will write a final entry tomorrow night in summary of the week; and I know that I speak for the other leaders who were given this great opportunity to spend the week here at Grimes with all of your sons - we will be taking away so much more than we have given. It has been a pleasure in getting to know your fine boys a little bit better. I am extremely proud of all our Scouts and leave knowing that our Scouts gained the respect of all they encountered. The T65 reputation continues to be one to be honored.
And we should all be extremely proud - we deserve it. We have done well. We have raised incredible young men.
Until tomorrow -
YIS,
Kurt
Hello and again Parents -
Compared to yesterday, today was an enjoyably uneventful day. We scored perfect again in our Camp inspection, our boys continued to have a great amount of fun and as I write this, are all visiting T19 for movie night and enjoying their comraderie.
But today too was a day of discovery. Your Scouts discovered that they can achieve more than they thought they could, that they can build things with thier hands they thought not possible and that they have leadership skills, a voice to share them with others, the confidence to step up as leaders and the ability take center stage.
They discovered that they can be comfortable without mom and dad, that they can overcome being homesick, that their independence allows them the opportunity to grow and they discovered all the great things the outdoors provides.
And it was not just the Scouts that had discoveries. The leaders discovered too (confirmed) that our Scouts are on par or ahead of many of their peers, we discovered that our Scouts are much more resilient than we give them credit for, and we discovered that our Scouts, all of them, need us a little less than we want them too; but are very proud to have made that discovery. They have all matured just a little more this week and all is good.
Our younger Scouts who were homesick found a way to overcome, our older Scouts took time out of their days to mentor the younger Scouts, all ages were involved in all the games / competitions together, and all learned and developed new skills. We are extremely proud of them.
We will be raising the flag for the Camp tomorrow morning, a big honor on the final full day of Camp and know our Scouts will leave the Camp with a great example of how to perform a proper flag ceremony - let's consider it T65's gift to all the other Troops.
We hope to see parents tomorrow night at the family dinner starting at 6p -though parents can come earlier in the afternoon if they wish to tour the Camp, etc. so you too can discover Grimes and discover the excitement in your Scout's voice as they tell you all about their week.
I will write a final entry tomorrow night in summary of the week; and I know that I speak for the other leaders who were given this great opportunity to spend the week here at Grimes with all of your sons - we will be taking away so much more than we have given. It has been a pleasure in getting to know your fine boys a little bit better. I am extremely proud of all our Scouts and leave knowing that our Scouts gained the respect of all they encountered. The T65 reputation continues to be one to be honored.
And we should all be extremely proud - we deserve it. We have done well. We have raised incredible young men.
Until tomorrow -
YIS,
Kurt
Day 3
Hello Parents -
Let me start off by apologizing for the delay in my post, but as you read on, you will hopefully appreciate the reasons behind the delay. I do preface the info below by saying we have an incredible group of Scouts that were all collectively and individually able to overcome the obsticles you are about to read and they continued on as though these were all (and were) minor bumps in the road of their Camp Grimes fun.
All in all the day went very well and the Scouts had another great day at Grimes. Nathan S was recognized for his marksmanship in the shooting competition last night, our camp inspection received a perfect score, all the food served today was recognizable for the most part and the port-o-johns in our site were cleaned out today and we ended the day with hand churned, made from scratch ice cream at our site; so how bad could it be......now on to the 'discoveries'.....
Discovery #1 - there appeared a new type of fowl in Grimes. A type of chicken not welcomed, yes, Chicken Pox. A Scout from Charleston and possible a couple more from Etowah District (Meck County area) have confirmed cases. PLEASE MONITOR OUR SCOUTS OVER THE NEXT 14 DAYS for bug bite-like bumps with white puss tops - tell tale signs.... We do not believe any of our boys came in contact with the Pox Scouts, but the Camp is overly precautious and we even had to send one of our Scouts home (Jeremy) with what was most likely chigger bites but they could not 100% rule out Chicken Pox.
Discovery #2a - Super Glue + eye = not good. While trying to superglue their rocket, the glue decided to act like a rocket and shot all the glue out of the back end of the tube directly into the eye of Kyle M. Like a true T65 Scout, Kyle casually made his way to the First Aid office where he had the glue removed with alcohol wipes and minor scrapping. Most of his eyelashes and brows are still intact.
Discovery #2b - Super + Sock = loss of skin. Not to be outdone, Nicholas S attempted to separate the sock which stuck to his skin when some super glue dripped only to find out the sock is tougher than the skin. He was able to free to sock, but to the loss of a few layers of skin. He too shrugged it off and casually limped back to the campsite to get a bandaid and to put on more comfortable footware.
Discovery #3 - this was a discovery of the leaders and a few Scouts upon arrival on Sunday and well used on Monday. It was only today that a few more Scouts discovered this, while many are awaiting to discover this on their own on Friday. We have a SHOWER in our campsite. Great daily benefit if taken advantage of, however many of our Scouts are opting to wait until Friday to shower so that they can come home clean. Hate to be the one washing the clothes of those Scouts.
All in all a typical day at Grimes but what made it extraordinary is how the Scouts handled and overcame the events. Very proud of them all but sad to have had to send Jeremy home.
A huge thanks to Jonathan P for his transportation services today.
And remember - Camp ends Saturday when we return to the Scout Hut and unload. Though parents are welcomed to visit Friday, we do not allow Scouts to leave early with their parents. All realy departures needed to be pre-approved (and with valid reasons) prior to departure.
Thanks and tomorrow is always another day! Looking forward to what adventures the Scouts have in store for us.
YIS -
Mark L, Kurt P, Jonathan P, Gabe S
Hello Parents -
Let me start off by apologizing for the delay in my post, but as you read on, you will hopefully appreciate the reasons behind the delay. I do preface the info below by saying we have an incredible group of Scouts that were all collectively and individually able to overcome the obsticles you are about to read and they continued on as though these were all (and were) minor bumps in the road of their Camp Grimes fun.
All in all the day went very well and the Scouts had another great day at Grimes. Nathan S was recognized for his marksmanship in the shooting competition last night, our camp inspection received a perfect score, all the food served today was recognizable for the most part and the port-o-johns in our site were cleaned out today and we ended the day with hand churned, made from scratch ice cream at our site; so how bad could it be......now on to the 'discoveries'.....
Discovery #1 - there appeared a new type of fowl in Grimes. A type of chicken not welcomed, yes, Chicken Pox. A Scout from Charleston and possible a couple more from Etowah District (Meck County area) have confirmed cases. PLEASE MONITOR OUR SCOUTS OVER THE NEXT 14 DAYS for bug bite-like bumps with white puss tops - tell tale signs.... We do not believe any of our boys came in contact with the Pox Scouts, but the Camp is overly precautious and we even had to send one of our Scouts home (Jeremy) with what was most likely chigger bites but they could not 100% rule out Chicken Pox.
Discovery #2a - Super Glue + eye = not good. While trying to superglue their rocket, the glue decided to act like a rocket and shot all the glue out of the back end of the tube directly into the eye of Kyle M. Like a true T65 Scout, Kyle casually made his way to the First Aid office where he had the glue removed with alcohol wipes and minor scrapping. Most of his eyelashes and brows are still intact.
Discovery #2b - Super + Sock = loss of skin. Not to be outdone, Nicholas S attempted to separate the sock which stuck to his skin when some super glue dripped only to find out the sock is tougher than the skin. He was able to free to sock, but to the loss of a few layers of skin. He too shrugged it off and casually limped back to the campsite to get a bandaid and to put on more comfortable footware.
Discovery #3 - this was a discovery of the leaders and a few Scouts upon arrival on Sunday and well used on Monday. It was only today that a few more Scouts discovered this, while many are awaiting to discover this on their own on Friday. We have a SHOWER in our campsite. Great daily benefit if taken advantage of, however many of our Scouts are opting to wait until Friday to shower so that they can come home clean. Hate to be the one washing the clothes of those Scouts.
All in all a typical day at Grimes but what made it extraordinary is how the Scouts handled and overcame the events. Very proud of them all but sad to have had to send Jeremy home.
A huge thanks to Jonathan P for his transportation services today.
And remember - Camp ends Saturday when we return to the Scout Hut and unload. Though parents are welcomed to visit Friday, we do not allow Scouts to leave early with their parents. All realy departures needed to be pre-approved (and with valid reasons) prior to departure.
Thanks and tomorrow is always another day! Looking forward to what adventures the Scouts have in store for us.
YIS -
Mark L, Kurt P, Jonathan P, Gabe S
Day 2
Hello Parents -
Half way through Tuesday and still no chanting of 'Camp Granada' so all is well.
The trading post is soon to be open, though a secondary market has developed with some of the Scouts. This will impact the Scoutmasters' abilty to create a monopoly so it was quickly squashed. I am happy to report the Scoutmaster Trading Post Monopoly is again alive and thriving.
Now that the Scouts have gotten accustomed to their schedules, many have ventured off to the Session 7 events - mostly opting to hit the lake to cool off - mid 90's today. With these temperatures even the lake is heating up. The Polar Plunge has now been renamed to the pool temperature plunge since the lake water temperature is in upper 70's.
Mr. White and Mr. Ligon are also into Day 2 of the Cooking merit badge and all involved, including 3 racoons at 4a, all seem to very much enjoy their works of culinary art.
We also have some citings of Troop 65 serving in the dining hall at lunch and mopping the floors after - pictures to prove it to (don't remember Billy nor Bob telling us about that!!) . So parents, when the Scouts baulk at helping in the kitchen, refer to the visual evidence that they did it at Camp (great job Alex B and Cameron L) .
The Chess and Cornhole tournaments are well into the second round brackets with a few upsets - we will not have a repeat chess champ and the new Scouts are stepping up strong. Tim C hit 7 3 pointers in Cornhole in a row - a tough competitor who is looking to take down more opponents tonight.
It cooled down nice last night and everyone enjoyed a good night's rest. We are hoping for the same tonight as tomorrow is shaping up to be the hottest day of the week.
More to come and please refer to the Troop 65 website for picture and more commentary (thanks to Bob Donaher for continually loading the pictures).
All for now from NEBO, NC - CAMP GRIMES
YIS -
Mark L, Jim W, Kurt P, Jonathan P, Gabe S
Hello Parents -
Half way through Tuesday and still no chanting of 'Camp Granada' so all is well.
The trading post is soon to be open, though a secondary market has developed with some of the Scouts. This will impact the Scoutmasters' abilty to create a monopoly so it was quickly squashed. I am happy to report the Scoutmaster Trading Post Monopoly is again alive and thriving.
Now that the Scouts have gotten accustomed to their schedules, many have ventured off to the Session 7 events - mostly opting to hit the lake to cool off - mid 90's today. With these temperatures even the lake is heating up. The Polar Plunge has now been renamed to the pool temperature plunge since the lake water temperature is in upper 70's.
Mr. White and Mr. Ligon are also into Day 2 of the Cooking merit badge and all involved, including 3 racoons at 4a, all seem to very much enjoy their works of culinary art.
We also have some citings of Troop 65 serving in the dining hall at lunch and mopping the floors after - pictures to prove it to (don't remember Billy nor Bob telling us about that!!) . So parents, when the Scouts baulk at helping in the kitchen, refer to the visual evidence that they did it at Camp (great job Alex B and Cameron L) .
The Chess and Cornhole tournaments are well into the second round brackets with a few upsets - we will not have a repeat chess champ and the new Scouts are stepping up strong. Tim C hit 7 3 pointers in Cornhole in a row - a tough competitor who is looking to take down more opponents tonight.
It cooled down nice last night and everyone enjoyed a good night's rest. We are hoping for the same tonight as tomorrow is shaping up to be the hottest day of the week.
More to come and please refer to the Troop 65 website for picture and more commentary (thanks to Bob Donaher for continually loading the pictures).
All for now from NEBO, NC - CAMP GRIMES
YIS -
Mark L, Jim W, Kurt P, Jonathan P, Gabe S
Departure and Day 1
Hello Parents -
24 hours into Camp Grimes and we are happy to report that all Scouts have gone without injury and all are still accounted for. After a rough start for the trailer (we have 2, yes 2, new tires) all successfully arrived at Camp, set up thier sleeping arrangrements and went right into the typical Camp Grimes Troop 65 campsite activities of cards, corn hole, chess and general fellowship.
First dinner was mystery meat #1 guised as some sort of chicken tender,only to be seen again the next morning positioned as a type of sausage like meat. Gotta love camp food. Luch today improved with Sloppy Joes.
All Scouts got through their morning sessions and we were happy to see Baylor arrive just in time for the afternoon sessions.
Mr. Ligon accompanied 8 brave Scouts down to the waterfront bright and early at 600a for Day 1 of Polar Plunge.Morning sessions included Swiiming, Shooting, Emergency Prep, Archery, Climbing.. a fun filled day already.
Mr. White starts his cooking merit badge this evening so at least the meals will improve for him, Mr. Ligon and the Scouts taking his course. All joking aside, the food is camp food and the Scouts are not complaining so all is well.
I will try to load some pictures to TroopTrack but the connection is slow. Mr. Donaher will try to load some to the website as well.
Look for another update about this time tomorrow.
Enjoy your time and look forward to hearing all about Grimes on Saturday when your Scouts return.
YIS,
Mark L, Jim W, Jonathan P, Gabe S, Kurt P
Hello Parents -
24 hours into Camp Grimes and we are happy to report that all Scouts have gone without injury and all are still accounted for. After a rough start for the trailer (we have 2, yes 2, new tires) all successfully arrived at Camp, set up thier sleeping arrangrements and went right into the typical Camp Grimes Troop 65 campsite activities of cards, corn hole, chess and general fellowship.
First dinner was mystery meat #1 guised as some sort of chicken tender,only to be seen again the next morning positioned as a type of sausage like meat. Gotta love camp food. Luch today improved with Sloppy Joes.
All Scouts got through their morning sessions and we were happy to see Baylor arrive just in time for the afternoon sessions.
Mr. Ligon accompanied 8 brave Scouts down to the waterfront bright and early at 600a for Day 1 of Polar Plunge.Morning sessions included Swiiming, Shooting, Emergency Prep, Archery, Climbing.. a fun filled day already.
Mr. White starts his cooking merit badge this evening so at least the meals will improve for him, Mr. Ligon and the Scouts taking his course. All joking aside, the food is camp food and the Scouts are not complaining so all is well.
I will try to load some pictures to TroopTrack but the connection is slow. Mr. Donaher will try to load some to the website as well.
Look for another update about this time tomorrow.
Enjoy your time and look forward to hearing all about Grimes on Saturday when your Scouts return.
YIS,
Mark L, Jim W, Jonathan P, Gabe S, Kurt P
