The menu during week two is the same as week one (if it's Thursday, it must be pancakes) so I won't bother with the food report this week. Opening campfire was Sunday night as usual. The same staff skits, but with different people playing the roles for variety (ooo-la-la, wee, wee). Amazingly, AC (our Voyageur Camp Director) has told a different story every week, it's very nice for the staff and the troops staying more than one week.
Monday morning it was back into the same routine as first week, only with a lot fewer scouts. With 59 scouts last week, there was very little time for special projects, as most of the time was taken up with paperwork. Of the three major projects I brought up to work on, I have only gotten half of one done and will probably only finish two before we leave. But other things have come up as you will see in a minute. Our SPL (Ed Beck now) and the adult leaders meet with our commissioner (Peter) every morning to review our schedule for the day and any special programs or needs we have. Be sure to ask you scouts what programs the did (or did not) attend this week.
Things get a bit lax the second week, with some older scouts figuring that if they have done most of the programs, they can just sit around all week. Needless to say, we try to discourage that...with some level of success. The staff has requested that if there are older scouts with nothing to do, that they help the course staff teach the courses and help at the beach, but that request mostly falls on deaf ears.
In the afternoon, we have three hours of troop activities. We request which troop activities we want at the beginning of the week, and get assigned slots at the different activities. Last week our two groups of 30 scouts each got assigned activities for each troop activity slot (unusual). With a full camp this week, the slots are harder to come by, so we only had 10 of the 14 slots filled and ended up with four in site troop times. These will be welcome duff times by the boys and time to get ready for the troop fire on Thursday. If I remember correctly, we had Archery and Greasy watermelon on Monday. We had the usual dinner and free time Monday evening. We did have two scouts go to COPE on Monday. This is a team building Flintlock program that includes various team buidling activities and culminates with a high rope challenge course that is a lot of fun. Our good friend, and former Voyageur Director, Al Barnacle is filling as South Cope Director this week. The program runs from 1-9 and the guys had a great time.
Tuesday was the same program as usual only with a more difficult time rousing everyone out of bed. We have continued to keep up the tradition of having someone from Troop 346 up to meet the food truck at every meal to help Wayne unload the truck. While lunch and dinner comer while scouts are (suppose) to be activities, there is nothing to stop them from getting up early and helping with Breakfast. Unfortunately, last week and this week, it has only been Troop 346 adults up helping. As a reward for folks that help him, Wayne often gives us Granny rolls. Last week, we got rolls twice (and probably would have more, if it hadn't been for the power outage), and this week we got rolls on Monday and Tuesday. Last week, we had 10 crates that had to be picked up for the camp, but this week, we only have three. Last week, we drove a truck up to get the crates and this week we started doing that out of habit. However, with only adults getting food and helping with the unloading, I have decided to donate all future rolls we get to the camp staff, unless there are boys helping and will let them come and carry down the three crates, as our neighboring camps do. The rewards will go to those that earn them.
We had noticed that there were several dead trees in the Ft. Bill site, that if we ever had a BAD windstorm, could be hazardous. It turns out that one of the Scoutmasters over in the Ely campsite is an arborist that donates his time each year to help clear out dead or dangerous trees. He came over with his equipment Tuesday morning, and took dead branches out of one of the big pine trees and felled a dead tree in the area the Dragons stayed in this year. He came back in the afternoon and felled another dead tree in the area down by the lake that we've been clearing out. He may be back today to take out a dead tree near the latrine. It is facinating to watch him work, as he climbs the tree, taking off branches as he climbs, and eventually topping out the tree and eventually felling the major trunk. We helped by moving braches and pulling on the guide ropes to get the tree to fall where he wanted. He did a great job of dropping the tree between other trees with minimal damage. This was one of those activities that has come up to get in the way of other projects, but it was worth it. We won't have to go far to get firewood for Thursday's campfire. It is great to see other adult leaders volunteer time to perform projects at Many Point.
Tuesday afternoon was more troop activities, with vespers at 7:00 and free time after that. We have about 5 scouts all trying to complete the Super Scout requirements, so they have been busy running around during free time, trying to get requirements completed and signed off.
We had two boys off to the new Internation Shooting Sports Flintlock outpost from 1-7 and they had fun also. This is a new program and has been very popular. We had ten guys who wanted to do it, but were only able to get 2 slots.
Gunnar went out fishing with Father Tom and caught several nice sunnies. They have gone fishing to a near by lake that is reportedly stocked with tousands of Walleye, so we may be eating walleye this afternoon. Gunnar stayed up with some of the scouts last night with a couple of pie irons and made apple and cherry pies around the campfire (made with some of the topped out trees).
Morning came early for some of the boys after staying up, but it was the usual program again. Tom and I headed north to drop off the Lifeguard students and so he could attend an Ethics in Action course at the admin building and I could do this. We stopped at the conservation lodge on our way up and waved HI to Nick teaching his Weather Merit Badge class and toured a few other buidlings on the north side. We're heading out shortly to pick up the boys and head back for lunch. There will be more activities this afternoon, including Loon Lore, and have an hour off before the beach bash, while Tom, Jesse, and I head north for the adult appreciation dinner at the Buckskin Dining Hall.
That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp.....Jon Yearous
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
With a fond farewll and a hearty hi-ho Silver...
Hello again from Many Point. It is 4:15 Sunday evening and I’m sitting in the Voyager Lodge (Staff Office/Dining Area) typing this while we wait for the Sunday evening food truck. By now the scouts that only stayed one week have made it home and had a night in their own beds. We started the week with 59 scouts and 42 went home (I think that many left; I know we’ve got 17 here and I don’t think we lost many).
In general, the weather up here has been great (except for the storm Monday night); generally in the low 80’s and cooling down at night.
Dinner Thursday was Spaghetti with meatballs and Granny Bread. The only thing better than Granny’s rolls is Granny Bread. Deacon Tom came and showed the new scouts how to cook spaghetti without having it stick together and how to spice up the sauce beyond what comes out of the can. The new scouts seem to have a good time with it and I know some other scouts (that will remain nameless) that could use the secret for not turning spaghetti into an overcooked mass of starch.
We have had two visits from Deacon Tom (the Catholic Chaplin) and one visit from Father Dennis (the Protestant Chaplin). I don’t know if they just enjoy our company or someone had told them something about Troop 346. They are both great guys to talk to and we really enjoy their visits. I know that Deacon Tom is an avid fisherman and he is anxious to go fishing with Gunnar this week.
Not much happened Thursday night, just the usual free time activities where the scouts can go around the camp and experience many of the program activities such as climbing, shooting, archery, etc. Some of them took the opportunity to make up work on merit badge classes also. It was a little bit quieter because about 10 guys were off to Flintlock for the Huck Finn Overnight (on rafts in Flintlock Bay) or the Tree House Overnight (in, of course, tree houses at the north end of camp). They all returned safe and sound in the morning.
Friday was somewhat the same program as usual, except that everyone knew this would be the last full day of camp for the scouts staying one week. At the beginning of the week it seemed like camp would never end to some of the boys and now they were wondering where the week went. Scouts that were looking glum and asking if they could go home were now asking for Scoutmaster Conferences and Boards of Review and telling us they would be back next year. It is really a neat transformation.
Breakfast was Egg (Mc)Muffins (English muffins, eggs, sausage & cheese) and lunch was chicken patty on bun. Dinner was pork chops and fried potatoes (from real potatoes). The scouts had their last round of morning classes, their last round of afternoon activities, and their last fourth hour class. In the evening everyone made their last round of free time activities and tried to make up any merit badge classes they could.
One evening activity, that went on all week, wrapped up on Friday. That was the BSA Mile Swim (and Many Point Mile Swim). The scouts that participated did 100 yards on Sunday (as part of Swim quals), 150 yards on Monday, 1/8 mile on Tuesday, 1/4 mile on Wednesday, 1/2 mile on Thursday, and a full mile swim on Friday. Those that completed the whole week of swimming will get the BSA Mile Swim patch at our next Court of Honor (September) and those that swam just the mile, will get the Many Point Mile segment. I will try to list the boys later that did Ironman, Polar Bear, Many Point Mile, and BSA Mile (try is the operative word).
The last camp activity was done at 9:00 and the closing campfire was held at 9:30. Our troop joined several other troops in performing skits. We sang songs, recognized Eagle Scouts at Many Point, Mile Swimmers, Polar Bear participants, and the Scoutmasters. Our camp director AC (Aaron Christensen) built off of the turtle story he told at the opening campfire and told some history of Lord RSS Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting in England. We finished, as always, with the Ballad of Many Point and then had an Order of the Arrow callout, which only seemed to consist of Troop 346 scouts, which is odd, since we told them we had already done our callout. Hopefully, it inspired other troops to be more active in OA. As we exited the campfire area we all shook each an every staff member’s hand.
As we do every year, the scouts began breaking down equipment that would not be needed the second week, and many scouts slept out under the stars (or their dining fly) on their last night at Many Point.
In the morning, we finished packing up the bus trailer (which they kindly left with us), had our “hearty” breakfast of bagels, peanut butter, and apple juice and waited for the bus. The bus arrived at about 10:30, we loaded the trailer on the bus, the kids on the bus, and the excess equipment on the bus and they were off at about 11:00. I understand that everything went well and they arrived home at the appointed time. A big thanks to Craig the bus driver, who drove all the way down to Ft. Bill, coming and going, which saved the boys a LOT of time hauling themselves and equipment up to the lodge.
Once the bus was out of sight, everyone divided up in cars and headed off to the big city for laundry, shopping and fun. Nick, who is working at Buckskin this year, and I headed off to Detroit Lakes to do laundry and catch a movie. We all met up again at Ice Crackin Lodge for our traditional Week 1 survivor’s dinner of various styles and sizes of THUNDER BURGERS. Ice Crackin was VERY busy and crowded, but we all managed to get fed. Jim Elliot (former Advancement Chair) and Dr. Hoffmann (former Scoutmaster) flew into Detroit Lakes and were able to join us for Ice Crackin and stayed for breakfast.
We all headed back to camp and settled into a much emptier (and quiet) camp for a good night’s sleep. Adults started rising about 6:30 and worked on several pots of coffee until we could pick up our breakfast food at about 8:00. Most of the scouts still weren’t up, so we went ahead and had an adult breakfast shift and a scout breakfast shift. We had Pancakes (from rescued mix), bacon, eggs, and juice. The scouts finally rose about 10-10:30 and had their breakfast. As soon as they got done, they were anxious to run off to Detroit Lakes to see Batman and have Pizza. Four scouts stayed back with me and rode their bikes to Tamarack resort. They came back and played cards while I worked on some projects in the campsite that I couldn’t get to last week. We picked up the food (as mentioned above) and retired to the campsite with food for 24 to feed 5 (we ate well). The movie crowd came back about 6:00. Our new SPL, Ed Beck, headed off to an SPL meeting at 6:30, and Acting Scoutmaster Tom Devine headed off to an Adult meeting at 7:00. I headed north to get this BLOG entry posted, and here we are. I will try to post a few pictures and get some more up later this week.
I hope that all the first week scouts had a good time. I know I am looking forward to a much lighter paperwork load this wee with only 17 scouts. If you think you left anything up at camp (I think we have at least one pillow and Mr. Devitt’s swimsuit) email to troop346 at troop346 dot org and we’ll see if we can find it.
Voyager is full this week, although with a lot of small troops. Two Harbors and Savana Portage both have troops staying there this week. Perhaps we’ll invite both to our Thursday night campfire. That’s all for now from Many Point Scout Camp (Voyager sub-camp, Fort William Campsite)…..Jon Yearous
In general, the weather up here has been great (except for the storm Monday night); generally in the low 80’s and cooling down at night.
Dinner Thursday was Spaghetti with meatballs and Granny Bread. The only thing better than Granny’s rolls is Granny Bread. Deacon Tom came and showed the new scouts how to cook spaghetti without having it stick together and how to spice up the sauce beyond what comes out of the can. The new scouts seem to have a good time with it and I know some other scouts (that will remain nameless) that could use the secret for not turning spaghetti into an overcooked mass of starch.
We have had two visits from Deacon Tom (the Catholic Chaplin) and one visit from Father Dennis (the Protestant Chaplin). I don’t know if they just enjoy our company or someone had told them something about Troop 346. They are both great guys to talk to and we really enjoy their visits. I know that Deacon Tom is an avid fisherman and he is anxious to go fishing with Gunnar this week.
Not much happened Thursday night, just the usual free time activities where the scouts can go around the camp and experience many of the program activities such as climbing, shooting, archery, etc. Some of them took the opportunity to make up work on merit badge classes also. It was a little bit quieter because about 10 guys were off to Flintlock for the Huck Finn Overnight (on rafts in Flintlock Bay) or the Tree House Overnight (in, of course, tree houses at the north end of camp). They all returned safe and sound in the morning.
Friday was somewhat the same program as usual, except that everyone knew this would be the last full day of camp for the scouts staying one week. At the beginning of the week it seemed like camp would never end to some of the boys and now they were wondering where the week went. Scouts that were looking glum and asking if they could go home were now asking for Scoutmaster Conferences and Boards of Review and telling us they would be back next year. It is really a neat transformation.
Breakfast was Egg (Mc)Muffins (English muffins, eggs, sausage & cheese) and lunch was chicken patty on bun. Dinner was pork chops and fried potatoes (from real potatoes). The scouts had their last round of morning classes, their last round of afternoon activities, and their last fourth hour class. In the evening everyone made their last round of free time activities and tried to make up any merit badge classes they could.
One evening activity, that went on all week, wrapped up on Friday. That was the BSA Mile Swim (and Many Point Mile Swim). The scouts that participated did 100 yards on Sunday (as part of Swim quals), 150 yards on Monday, 1/8 mile on Tuesday, 1/4 mile on Wednesday, 1/2 mile on Thursday, and a full mile swim on Friday. Those that completed the whole week of swimming will get the BSA Mile Swim patch at our next Court of Honor (September) and those that swam just the mile, will get the Many Point Mile segment. I will try to list the boys later that did Ironman, Polar Bear, Many Point Mile, and BSA Mile (try is the operative word).
The last camp activity was done at 9:00 and the closing campfire was held at 9:30. Our troop joined several other troops in performing skits. We sang songs, recognized Eagle Scouts at Many Point, Mile Swimmers, Polar Bear participants, and the Scoutmasters. Our camp director AC (Aaron Christensen) built off of the turtle story he told at the opening campfire and told some history of Lord RSS Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting in England. We finished, as always, with the Ballad of Many Point and then had an Order of the Arrow callout, which only seemed to consist of Troop 346 scouts, which is odd, since we told them we had already done our callout. Hopefully, it inspired other troops to be more active in OA. As we exited the campfire area we all shook each an every staff member’s hand.
As we do every year, the scouts began breaking down equipment that would not be needed the second week, and many scouts slept out under the stars (or their dining fly) on their last night at Many Point.
In the morning, we finished packing up the bus trailer (which they kindly left with us), had our “hearty” breakfast of bagels, peanut butter, and apple juice and waited for the bus. The bus arrived at about 10:30, we loaded the trailer on the bus, the kids on the bus, and the excess equipment on the bus and they were off at about 11:00. I understand that everything went well and they arrived home at the appointed time. A big thanks to Craig the bus driver, who drove all the way down to Ft. Bill, coming and going, which saved the boys a LOT of time hauling themselves and equipment up to the lodge.
Once the bus was out of sight, everyone divided up in cars and headed off to the big city for laundry, shopping and fun. Nick, who is working at Buckskin this year, and I headed off to Detroit Lakes to do laundry and catch a movie. We all met up again at Ice Crackin Lodge for our traditional Week 1 survivor’s dinner of various styles and sizes of THUNDER BURGERS. Ice Crackin was VERY busy and crowded, but we all managed to get fed. Jim Elliot (former Advancement Chair) and Dr. Hoffmann (former Scoutmaster) flew into Detroit Lakes and were able to join us for Ice Crackin and stayed for breakfast.
We all headed back to camp and settled into a much emptier (and quiet) camp for a good night’s sleep. Adults started rising about 6:30 and worked on several pots of coffee until we could pick up our breakfast food at about 8:00. Most of the scouts still weren’t up, so we went ahead and had an adult breakfast shift and a scout breakfast shift. We had Pancakes (from rescued mix), bacon, eggs, and juice. The scouts finally rose about 10-10:30 and had their breakfast. As soon as they got done, they were anxious to run off to Detroit Lakes to see Batman and have Pizza. Four scouts stayed back with me and rode their bikes to Tamarack resort. They came back and played cards while I worked on some projects in the campsite that I couldn’t get to last week. We picked up the food (as mentioned above) and retired to the campsite with food for 24 to feed 5 (we ate well). The movie crowd came back about 6:00. Our new SPL, Ed Beck, headed off to an SPL meeting at 6:30, and Acting Scoutmaster Tom Devine headed off to an Adult meeting at 7:00. I headed north to get this BLOG entry posted, and here we are. I will try to post a few pictures and get some more up later this week.
I hope that all the first week scouts had a good time. I know I am looking forward to a much lighter paperwork load this wee with only 17 scouts. If you think you left anything up at camp (I think we have at least one pillow and Mr. Devitt’s swimsuit) email to troop346 at troop346 dot org and we’ll see if we can find it.
Voyager is full this week, although with a lot of small troops. Two Harbors and Savana Portage both have troops staying there this week. Perhaps we’ll invite both to our Thursday night campfire. That’s all for now from Many Point Scout Camp (Voyager sub-camp, Fort William Campsite)…..Jon Yearous
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