By noon on June 27 all of the 29 scouts and 6 or so adults had completed their stint at summer camp at the S-F Scout Ranch.
A prize had eluded the troop in every single competition in which we participated. But, we did come home with something much more important: true scout spirit, strong as ever, and it manifested itself every day.
A young scout from another troop found himself in a very unpleasant situation and desperately needed the help of an adult leader. Our scouts did not hesitate seeking out his troop and making the adults aware of his predicament.
In our own troop patrols helped each other out … redistributing meals (the commissary was using a new delivery process that had more bugs than were living in our campsite), helping each other make fires, sharing meals, enjoying patrol yells and competing with great enthusiasm at the water festival.
But, to set the record straight, we missed the top prize in aquatics by one teeny tiny little point. Unfortunately, taking first place in several of the aquatics events and placing in the others was just not enough. But, who cares? We had fun and stuck together as a troop. And guess who was responsible for catching the biggest fish that week?
The most out of the ordinary event was a burst water pipe. The boys were setting up the last fly. As one of the stakes was driven into the ground it pierced the old and rusted metal. A good part of camp Gamble stopped receiving water. Luckily, dinner and the opening camp fire were about to commence. While we enjoyed the traditional spaghetti and green beans, the camp rangers made quick work of the problem.
A few statistics: 46 completed merit badges, 6 official advancements in rank, 3 aquatics event wins, 2 scouts completed the mile swim, 4 scouts elected into the Order of the Arrow, countless gallons of water and Gatorade consumed, and several hundred unused hot dog and hamburger buns.
We had a wonderful time thanks to everyone involved.
Thank you to scouts for focusing on having a good time and being good scouts. It was very evident.
Thank you to the Senior Patrol for hanging in there. They had to improvise a number of times, but they stuck with it and learned a ton along the way.
Thank you to Mr. Beiser and Mr. Whitaker in their role as Assistant Scoutmasters, helping out with rank advancement and always in good spirits.
Thank you to Dr. Page and Dr. Garza for spending the week with us and taking stewardship of anything medical.
Thank you to Mr. Gruenbacher, Mr. Krekeler and Mr. Selsor for taking time out of their personal life and spending it with the scouts. Along with Dr. Page and Dr. Garza, they made it possible to hold Boards of Review.
Thank you to Mrs. Kuehl and Dr. Ormonde for an absolutely smooth registration process. We spent less time with administrative tasks than any other troop, as noted by the camp staff itself.
Thank you to the parents who assisted with driving boys down to camp and back home, and all of the parents and grandparents who keep our troop blazing the scouting trail.
Thank you to Dr. Garza and Mr. Whitaker for covering camp life with their cameras … you can find the pictures here: Summer Camp Pictures.
And thank you to Harry, for being an awesome TC.
In closing, I would like to mention a new ceremony performed by Mr. Whitaker at the very end of camp: the stowing of the Scoutmasters’ coffee pot … a most memorable ritual. If you want to witness it for yourself, join us the next time the scouts of Troop 344 are on a campout…
Yours in Scouting,
Filip Everaert
Troop 344 