New Scout Campout 2008 Summary
March 15-16, 2008

 
The new Scouts gathered at 9 AM on Saturday morning at the usual Apex Crossing gathering place.  The Senior Patrol Leader (SPL), 4 Troop Guides and one other senior Scout were with the new Scouts at the meeting place and throughout the overnight campout to Harris Lake Park.  The new Scouts were a mix of “squared away” guys with new backpacks and the newbies with their equipment in a plastic bag.  Some of them packed like me and had five bags for the overnight trip.  It was fun to see the smiles of expectation on the faces of these ten and eleven year old boys.  We departed on schedule for Harris Lake at 9:30 AM. 

 It started out as a nice 70 degree and sunny day.  When we arrived at the camp site the SPL directed the Patrol Leaders on where they should situate their patrol’s tents.  Scouts checked tents out of the trailer and set up and stored their gear.  All the new Scouts did a great job following directions and being self directed.

With camp set up the days training sessions were started.  One Patrol started fire starting and fire safety training and the other started ax yard training (how to use an ax and hatchet).  After this session the patrols switched places and the training started all over again.  At the end of these two sessions all the Scouts had earned their “Toten chit” (can legally carry and use a knife, ax and hatchet) and their “firen chit” (can legally carry matches/lighter and safely start fires).  The chits are cards the Scouts are supposed to carry with them on campouts.  If a Scout is caught breaking any of the safety rules a corner of his card will be clipped.  If a Scout gets all four corners clipped – he looses this chit.

After these two sessions it was time for lunch and the Scouts set out their meals.  One Patrol made grilled cheese sandwiches – pretty advanced for this age group.  Nice job guys.  The adults had cold-cut sandwiches and other Scouts were doing PBJ sandwiches.  There was fruit and chips and the usual trimmings.

 I take a bag with “toys” on the trips and after lunch some of the Scouts were playing baseball, some playing kick-ball, and others doing Frisbee.  After a short break, it was back to classes.  Learn the Scout oath, law, motto, slogan, wilderness code, leave no trace, buddy system, first aid, knot tying, and more.

 Then there was kitchen set up training: set-up the stove stand, stove set-up and lighting, lantern set-up and lighting, etc.  We had a lot of fun every time one of the new scouts asked for something they needed in the kitchen the standard response was, “It’s in your patrol box.”  They discovered a lot of things were in their patrol box.  They also learned to deal with not having an unlimited water supply.  We had to carry water into the “wilderness” camp site.  I brought the full Troop supply of water – 9 five gallon cans of water.  They went through it all.  Ya, they need to do better in the future. 

 At this point let me say there was a lot of learning going on.  The Scouts all took it in stride and they all did very well in their learning and their practical use of the new skills.  The bottom line is that all the Scouts completed the requirements for the rank of “Scout” (one or two boys need to do the pamphlet with their parents). 

Just as training was winding down about 4:30 PM it started to rain.  Not to worry mom.  When we got to camp we put up a big 12 x 20 foot canopy over an old abandoned home foundation (concrete floor).  It was under this canopy that we set-up the three kitchens (two Scout patrols and the adult patrol).  So, when the rain started there was room for everyone under the canopy.  If the wind had materialized we would have put up side curtains to keep out the vertical rain.  The wind did not materialize.  We had a couple of Scouts who were afraid of the thunder and lightning, but we have experience with that and the boys all made it past their fears.  Yes, there was a boy or two who wanted to call mom (how come they never want to call dad?).  We talked them out of it and they all made it through the evening and night just fine. 

For dinner one Patrol did mac’n cheese and the other Scout patrol did mac’n cheese.  The adult patrol made chili In a dutch oven with corn bread, also in a Dutch oven and salad.

Speaking of mom…   Kathleen Kesselring gets the award for being the first mom to call and let us know it was going to rain.  Yes, we knew it was going to rain, yes we knew there was a severe weather warning, yes we carry weather radios with us, and yes your son is OK and safe.  Yes the park gates are locked at 8 PM, but we had the ranger’s phone number, in case we needed help.  Yes we had access to the park building for shelter if we needed it.  Kathleen was the first but not the only mom to call.  I think we had a total of about five calls.  The good news is that you can get a hold of us if you feel you need to, and the rain was not that bad, and we were dry under the canopy.  We did however, have to cancel the campfire and associated fun program. 

Mr. Brawn is our Troop’s Dutch oven king and we built another canopy (before it started raining because we knew it was coming) over the fire pit so Tom could make three fruit cobblers for the Scouts.  We had an apple, cherry and combination of fruit cobbler.  The Scouts loved it. 

Some of the Scouts had chosen to go to their tents and talk or play games to get out of the rain.  That trend ended up with lights out being called at 9 PM - an early night for all.

Sunday morning wake-up was scheduled for 7 AM, however, voices could be heard at 6 AM.  That’s not to say they got up and out.  It took them about an hour to get moving outside the tents.  But, they were all packed and the tents came down and were packed right behind that.  Nice job boys.  Then I started hearing a boy here and a boy there start asking where is breakfast.  A couple of boys just walked over to the adult kitchen and started helping themselves to the adult breakfast.  I guess they thought we were there to take care of them like when they were in Cub Scouts?  In time one Patrol had served a cold breakfast of champions – pop-tarts (pop-tarts don’t pass menu inspection, so we have to figure out what happened there).  The other patrol was cooking up bacon and eggs.  It was fun to see the learning going on how to cook.  The bacon chef was serving one slice of bacon at a time.  They’ll get better at it.

After breakfast some Scouts were cleaning-up, some were playing ball games, some were still packing, and some were helping with the storage of the Troop equipment back into the trailer.  Then, the adults were doing requirements sign-offs.  In the end, all the Scout rank requirements were complete, half the Tenderfoot requirements were complete and one or two Second Class requirements were signed-off.  For summer camp planning purposes, these Scouts do not need Raven Scout One, they are ready for Raven Scout Two.

We took a break before all the work was done for a little talk from the Scoutmaster on what the Scouts could expect the next time they go camping with the Troop.  That’s a polite way of saying where they needed to do a better job on and some of the rules we let them break this weekend because it was their first time out as Scouts.  A summary of this talk is included below for your reference in helping your Scout do a better job.

We finished packing, drivers arrived and we headed home to the gathering place a little after 10:30 AM (on schedule).  My conversations with the boys told me they all had great time.  The smiles on their faces confirmed the words.  Next month campout is the District Camporee at camp Durant.  There will be about 35 Troops camping together and a full day program on Saturday for the Scouts.  It will be a mix of fun/games/learning/building.  The theme is cooking, so the new Scouts will gain some valuable experience.

Bob De Contreras
Scoutmaster
Troop 216

Notes from Scoutmaster’s Talk with the New Scout

1. No running in camp
2. No fighting - playful or otherwise.  It's considered hazing by the BSA and it's against the rules. Even though it might be fun, no stick fights, pillow fights, throwing things, etc.
3.  Scouts need to get up and out of tents at wake-up time.  They only have one hour from wake-up to the start of eating and one hour from start of eating to clean-up complete.
4. The breakfast cooks should start breakfast before packing in order to meet the schedule. They pack later with the help of others in the Patrol.
5. Tennis shoes or sneakers are not appropriate for campouts.  Each Scout should have a good pair of hiking boots or hiking shoes – preferably the water proof kind.  ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S GOING TO RAIN.  If a Scout wants to wear comfortable sneakers, that’s OK, but bring both the boots and sneakers so the Scout is “prepared.”
6. Scouts should pack their clean, dry clothes in a plastic bag, so they stay dry in wet weather.  The older Scouts do this all the time, rain or shine. 
7. Bring an extra plastic bag to put wet clothes into, so other clothes and equipment does not get wet.
8. THE ADULT KITCHEN AREA IS OFF-LIMITS TO ALL SCOUTS.  THE ADULTS DO NOT HAVE PAPER TOWELS, FOIL, MATCHES, SPOONS, SPATULAS, BUTTER, PAM, OR ANYTHING ELSE TO LOAN/PROVIDE THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE PATROL BOXES.  OK, WE DO, BUT THE SCOUTS NEED TO LEARN TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEMSELVES.  IT’S PART OF THE TRAINING.
9. The grub master for this trip is responsible for cleaning equipment in the patrol box after the campout.  The grub master from this trip is responsible to bring the patrol box the next Troop meeting just before the next campout and hand it off to the new grub master.  The new grub master is responsible to replenish any consumable materials from the patrol box – paper towel, matches, foil, pam, etc.  A list of the patrol box contents is attached to the lid of the box.
10. New Scouts need to learn to conserve water.  Typical supply for a weekend is one five gallon can.  This will be part of their continuing training.
11. Scouts should not plan a hot meal on Sunday morning.  Sunday should be a “grab and run” meal.  We don’t have the time to prepare and clean-up on a travel day.  Appropriate items are muffins, bagels, fruit, oatmeal (hot water is OK), fruit bars, etc.
12. No playing with matches.  Scouts were dropping matches on the concrete ground.  If we were in a forest setting, dropping a match could start a forest fire.  This is part of the continuing training.
13. Just like the grub master’s responsibility to clean the patrol box, all Scouts must unpack their bags/packs and clean clothes and equipment so it’s ready for the next campout.
14. My last question to the Scouts was – “what’s the most important thing to remember and to do?”  The correct answer which some of the Scouts were able to state is – “THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO HAVE FUN.”  We do our best to even make fun out of the work.

Thanks – Mr. D.

 Learning how to set-up the stove                             Guess who the Troop Guide is…