Troop 888

Our first batch of photos, courtesy of Marianne Baetz and Larry Smith.....

Troop 888 at Camp Rodney

Mr D

Well here we are last day of Merit Badges and all are doing great. Big achievements have been reached for our Scouts – both first year and older.

So many good things have happened to our Scouts. So far looks like only a small hand full of Scouts will receive partially completed Merit Badges but the good news is that they will be able to complete them at home with local counselors.

Friday is a full day – classes end, Troop pictures, night retreat, dinner at the dining hall, wrapping up with the campfire full of fun and skits.

Tomorrow is an early day for us; 8:45AM is final retreat, then home.

All in all we have had a great time – I can tell by looking at their faces, many smiles. Our youth have an uncanny way of telling you the truth to your face.

Mother Nature has been great – mild days and cool evenings. Our calves are tighter courtesy of the distances between events.

I want to take the time to thank our leaders, never has there been any time where a scout couldn’t receive guidance from a leader when needed. I want to thank our parents for allowing their sons to attend the camp and for being in our unit. The strength of our unit comes not only from our Scouts’enthusiasm but also our parent’s guidance for the unit.

We shall now and always work our hardest to keep the Scouting feeling alive in your son’s hearts.

As always the parting quotes for this week are as follows:

“…the comfort station is out of toilet paper – its OK the brown paper didn’t hurt as much as I thought…”

“… do you think it is OK if I don’t brush my teeth today and just brush them twice tomorrow…”

Thx, Mr G

Well we are over the hump of the week. Your boys have been working hard at the merit badge curriculm. We have our two Astronomy Merit Badge candidates getting out at night to watch the stars above. Our first year campers have been hard at work, first in Basketry next and most importantly in Swimming. All first year campers passed their “inflation” test – teaching them how to use their clothes as flotation devices if they are in the water in an emergency situation. One thing is for sure their leaders – Larry and Mike will be sleeping well on Sunday.

For the rest of scouts they have been preoccupied climbing near the Chesapeake, rowing and canoeing in the Cheasapeake or studing the environmental impact of the Chesapeake.

We are on the downhill slope of our time at the camp. Our scouts have had their bellies filled with lots of good food and they all get to eat after saying grace each night in the dining area of the leaders cabin.

As leaders we have had a great time, we sometimes need to be strict with our scouts to make sure they know the difference between right and wrong, but all in all we see the rewards in their faces when they are all together.

As promised the quote of the day comes from one of our youth today:

“…The Boy Scout Headquarters is in Texas, Mr G do the Boy Scouts pay Taxes?”

L8R, Mr G

Note from Mr D:

Pictures - we have plenty of them but the Internet connection here is very slow - so we will probably end up posting them when we return. Sorry.

Mr D

Hi, Mr D filling in for Mr G this evening... I arrived at camp at 3:00 pm to find the campsite empty, as the boys were all out at their various activities all across the camp - and believe me, when I say 'all across the camp', I mean it - it's a large camp, and it takes about 15 minutes to walk from our campsite to the waterfront at the other end. But the view over Chesapeake Bay is worth it!

The boys all seem to be having fun. Our quote of the day comes from an unnamed member of the Angry Beaver's Brownsea patrol. They have had activities every evening, and tonight, when they were told that they actually have the night off, or 'some free time', one of them responded by saying 'Where do we go for free time??' Mr Smith figures he's they've done about 12 miles so far shuttling the Brownseas from activity to activity....

Some of the things the Scouts are doing tonight - 1/4 Mile Swim, Free Shooting at archery, rifle or shotgun, astronomy, night orienteering, free swim.... Some are watching a movie in the cabin as I type this.

Weather was great today, but all the walking keeps you pretty tired!

Until tomorrow, and maybe I can convince Mr G to type, if he's not tooo tired......!

Mr D

Well we have finished our first full day at camp and all is well, our first year campers have been doing great under the tutelage of Larry Smith, ASM and Mike Moriarty Sr, CM.

The scouts got to experience the size of the camp as they marched off to their merit badges from one end of the camp to the next. Some locations could be a 20 minute walk. Scouts and leaders will have tight calf muscles by the end of this week.

Weather has been in our favor. Hot and a little humid during the day but cools down at night for a decent nights sleep. The scouts wake by the pleasant greetings of my voice in the morning at 6:30AM, this allows them to get a shower, brush their teeth, dress, eat breakfast, and prepare their tents for the Rodney Staff to inspect everyday at 9AM.

Mother Nature has been kind also – she keeps the thunderstorms for during the night when everyone sleeps. Since I sleep with one eye open no one has budged during the night and only half of them even realize that there was a storm – a true testament that they are having a full program.

Our facilities are great also; the leader’s cabin has a room that permits our scouts to eat together at tables every meal time. Everyone is eating well, and camp provides enough food for all 38 of us, including our 8 vegetarians!

We track the weather to determine our evening activities – yesterday we saw the potential of a storm coming and as prepared leaders we were brought all of the necessary equipment to have “movie night” down to the Boy Scout popcorn everyone was eating.

As always I promise you a quotable quote from our youth that makes our stay ever so entertaining, today’s quote was:

“…Why should I take a shower, I am only going to get dirty again…”

And our winner of the day is-

“…No I packed all by myself, I went into my hamper and pulled out all of the cleanest clothes…”

Later, Mr G

Sorry I didn't get the information out last night 
but our Camp Guides had us on the move from 1PM till 
after campfire at 10 30PM.
By that time when our scouts hit their pillows, 
the next thing was my voice at 6 30 AM with a 
"Good morning, shower and brush your teeth!"
In addition to giving you updates on their activities 
some very quotable quotes must be passed on:
After handing out the packets, complete with blue cards:

"Where do I get my blue cards?"

"Can you sign off on my blue card as "Completed" now so 
I don't bother you later?"

And my favorite of the day so far, realizing that its only 10AM:
"Can I call my Mom to see where she packed my socks?"

Til later
MrG

A view of Chesapeake Bay from the waterfront -

The weather forecats looks pretty good for next week - hopefully it will be a bit less humid than here this week!

Dan

Sun Aug 6 Partly Cloudy 89°/72° 20%			89°F
Mon Aug 7 Scattered T-Storms 92°/71° 30%			92°F Check Your Air Quality Forecast
Tue Aug 8 Mostly Sunny 88°/66° 20%			88°F
Wed Aug 9 Mostly Sunny 86°/70° 20%			86°F
Thu Aug 10 Scattered T-Storms 83°/72° 40%			83°F Protect Your Plants From the Heat
Fri Aug 11 AM Clouds / PM Sun 85°/70° 20%			85°F
Sat Aug 12 Scattered T-Storms 85°/70° 60%			85°F

Hi, we plan to use this blog as a way for parents and Scouts to follow us as we go on various activities - Summer Camp, camp-outs, competitions, etc. The first use will be the Scoutmaster Blog when we attend Camp Rodney summer camp starting Sunday, August 6.