Many Point Blog

Second Post Many Point Newsletter

2011-08-03T00:36:00.000-05:00

I said I would be sending out a series of newsletters about topics primarily aimed at New Scouts and their parents, but hopefully there is information here that will benefit everyone. I may go ahead and post this on the Many Point Blog also. In this newsletter, I would like to talk about advancement and uniforms. However, another appeal: PLEASE SEND PICTURES! ANYONE who took pictures at Many Point, contact me and I'll give you some options for getting me the pictures.

During the first week of Many Point we held 15 Boards of Review for rank and easily just as many Scout Master conferences. We had 121 merit badges completed!

I have entered most of them into the national database known as ScoutNet. There will be even more when the Scouts that stayed two weeks get home. For you new Scouts that did not finish their Leatherwork or Basketry projects, get them finished off and we will be arranging a time for you to come and get your final requirement signed off. Remember: It is very IMPORTANT to hang on to the partial "blue card" (bright PINK this year to aid in visibility) so we know what you have finished and what need to be completed.

Scouts: In your Scout Handbooks (pages 432-437?) are the requirement sign-off sheets for Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class. You can work on all three ranks at the same time; we call these the skill ranks. Some of you have all ready finished Tenderfoot. When all of the requirements except "Demonstrate Scout Spirit...", "Participate in a Scoutmaster conference..." and "Complete your Board of Review..." are complete, you are ready for your Scoutmaster conference. Scoutmaster conferences for all ranks except Life and Eagle can be done with the Scoutmaster or an Assistant Scoutmaster. You will complete the "Demonstrate..." and "Participate..." requirements at the Scoutmaster conference. When you have successfully completed your Scoutmaster conference, you can call Mr. McGrath to schedule a Board of Review. Boards of Review are held with at least three non-Scoutmaster adults, so they take a little bit more scheduling. When you successfully complete your Board of Review, you have EARNED your new rank. The Advancement night scheduled for August 29th will be a great opportunity as are most campouts and meetings. In Boy Scouts, it is up to each individual Scout to be responsible for his advancement.

The Scouts will receive their rank patches and merit badges at the fall Court of Honor on October 3rd. PLEASE put this date on your calendar, it is very important that ALL Scouts from the troop try to attend. We hold three troop wide Courts of Honor a year; fall in September or early October, Winter in February or early March, and Spring in May or early June. There are also SPECIAL Eagle Courts of Honor held by the family of new Eagle Scouts. Typically EVERYONE in the troop is invited to these important events. The next Eagle Court of Honor is for Ryan Hayes on August 14th. I would encourage ALL Scouts to attend, especially new Scouts. These are typically very inspirational ceremonies. New Scouts should note that Troop Courts of Honor and Eagle Courts of Honor count as troop activities for the Second Class and First Class rank requirements, as do Eagle Projects (Reed Fischer has one coming up, check the calendar!)

Once you get more than a few merit badges, you will want to go to the Scout Shop and get a merit badge shop. The merit badge sash is worn on special occasions like Courts of Honor, Scout Master Conferences, and Boards of Review. The sash is worn on the right shoulder and extends to the left hips. Badges are sewn three across starting at the top right. Troop tradition is to sew non-Eagle required merit badges (see the Scout Handbook or www.meritbadge.org for a list, non-Eagle merit badges have a green border) in the outside rows, and Eagle required Merit Badges (silver border) down the center.

In addition to the rank and merit badge patches, we will also be handing out a 2011 Many Point patch and activity segments to all Scouts who attended Many Point. Tradition in Troop 346 is that a Scout sews the patch from his first year attending Many Point onto the right pocket of his uniform, with all the appropriate segments. Go to http://www.troop346.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ManyPointPatchSystem.pdf to see how these are arranged. The segments represent different things that a Scout does during his (many) stays at Many Point; all the new Scouts will receive one for Voyageur, climbing, Super Troop, etc. Everyone that attends each year will receive a Many Point patch for that year. Many Scouts will sew the patch for subsequent years onto the back of their merit badge sash.

Another important patch we plan on handing out is the patrol patches for the Polar Bears and Piranhas! I need to order these soon, so be sure to let me know the latest roster for both patrols so I order the right number!

During the Boards of Review, we talked to several Scouts about their uniforms. Several were missing shoulder loops, several were still wearing Cub Scout patches, and several were not wearing their Scout Rank patch on the left pocket. If you are wondering where patches should be sewn, look at this Uniform Inspection guide: http://www.scoutstuff.org/media/content/docs/pdfs/34283.pdf.

ATTACHING PATCHES:

Patches can be sewn on, either by machine or by hand, I have done both. It can be time consuming, but looks very sharp. There is no rule that says that Moms have to do the sewing. I've always thought there should be a sewing merit badge; there isn't, but that doesn't mean you can't teach your Scout. Some sewing places will sew patches on, but at a fairly high price. The sewing does not have to be perfect.
Badge Magic (http://www.badgemagic.com) is a double-faced tape product for attaching patches. It available at the Scout Shop as a large sheet or a pre-cut shapes for badges. It works well for large badges and is very easy. However, despite what the makers say, I have never been able to remove all of the residue when removing badges and it does not work well for small patches like Many Point segments. The residue is not usually a problem if you are changing badges (I.e. rank), but if you are using to attach a position patch (I.e. Patrol Leader on left sleeve) the residue could be a problem after the term is over (6 months). Badge Magic works pretty well for Merit Badges.
Some badges are attached and are not changed often; I.e. patrol patches, merit badges, Many Point patch, OA patch, etc. Some badges need to be changed more often; I.e. rank, position, quality unit awards. For awards that don't change often, I prefer sewing. For various reasons, I have to change or remove some of my patches occasionally, and here's a trick I use. First get some tan velcro, it almost the same color as the uniform shirts. I put badge magic on the back of the patch and attach the hook part of the velcro to the back of the badge. Sometimes you have to use several strips, and trim it to the shape of the patch. Then I attach the same shape of the fuzzy part of the velcro to my uniform using badge magic. Then I can attach the patch to my uniform with velcro. If you use this method for rank, you can attach the Scout patch to the right pocket without sewing, then when your Scout gets his Tenderfoot patch, you can attach it with some velcro and swap them out. If you use this method for attaching position patches, then when the Scout's term is up, they can remove the patch and there is just a fuzzy part, the same color of the uniform, instead of sticky residue. The only downside is you need to be careful when ironing and it doesn't lay quite a flat. Stop and look at my uniform next time we're at a meeting, I have several patches attached this way.

That's about it for this newsletter. If you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover, just email me at troop346@troop346.org.

Yours in Scouting (YIS)

Jon Yearous

Adult Webmaster

First Post Many Point Newsletter

2011-08-03T00:32:00.000-05:00

I will be sending out a series of emails over the next week that are mostly aimed at the New Scout Families, but I think they may be of interest to everyone, so I'm going to send them troop wide.

I've been back from Many Point for about 28 hours now; boy was that a fun time. We have about 260 pictures of week one posted so far and I'm sure we will have more soon.

One problem: You may have noticed that we have a new updated Website thanks to our outgoing Scout Webmaster, Sabias Jones. It is really a big improvement over what I've been coding since 2004. One problem I have noticed is that I don't see a link to PHOTOS, but I will be fixing that next week. MEANWHILE, if you want to check out photos of our Awesome time at Many Point, just go to http://picasaweb.google.com/troop346 and click on the Many Point folder.

I can only put up the pictures I have, which usually ends of being pictures any Mr. Fischer and me. We can't be everywhere, and I KNOW other people took pictures. If you take pictures of ANY Troop 346 event, please share them. Just drop me an email and I will be glad to send you instructions on how to post them.

Parents (especially new parents) I suggest you sit down with your Scout, go thru the pictures and let them tell you their stories about what we did at camp.

We held 15 Boards of review on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Mostly for new Tenderfoot Scouts, but even a few higher ranks thrown in too. Mr. Beck, Mr. Sanderson, and Mr. Carroll were a BIG help. I know that there were several adults doing Scoutmaster Conferences and they should be thanked also. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time and there are still more Scouts ready for Conferences and Reviews. There is an Advancement night scheduled for August 29th, before the October 3rd Court of Honor, where Scouts will be able to have Scoutmaster Conferences and Boards of Review, and get requirements signed off.

in the mean time, ALL SCOUTS should be reviewing their books to see what requirements they can get signed off. Remember: with very few exceptions, parents should not be signing off requirements unless the requirement calls for parental involvement (with your parent...) or are designated subject expert (I.e. a lawyer for the constitutional requirement). If reasonable, parents should always avoid signing off anything for their own son. Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class requirements should mostly be signed by older Scouts, First Class or above, at least one rank ahead of the requirement.

IF you have ANY advancement question, Scouts can ask an older Scout, a leadership Scout, Scoutmaster Fischer, Mr. McGrath, or Mr. Yearous. Parents can ask any of the adults a question so they know the answer, but PLEASE make sure the Scout finds out the answer from someone else on their own if at all possible; it is parts of the Scout learning process.

I hope everyone had a great time at Many Point and I look forward to doing it again next year.

YIS,

Jon Yearous

About an hour from home

2011-07-30T14:58:00.000-05:00

We're about an hour from home and looking forward to a hot shower and a meal that wasn't heated on propane or came from a can.
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Left Wadena at 1; Homeward bound with 16 Scouts.

2011-07-30T13:11:00.000-05:00

I just hope they're the right ones...
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On our way home

2011-07-30T11:35:00.000-05:00

We left Many Point Scout Camp at about 11:15, I expect we will be at the church by about 4 or 4:30. I will try to send out an update when we hit 94 near Clearwater (about 1 hour out).
Scouts will need to stay and help unload the trailer, and some Scouts will be assigned equipment to take home to clean.
Please, no one leave with their child until all of the work is done; we all want to get home.
From the reflections we did yesterday and the boards of review we completed late last night and early this morning, that everyone had a great time and wants to do it again next year.
That's all for now from (the bus home from) Many Point Scout Camp.
Jon Yearous
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Troop 346 is at the Voyageur Closing campfire!

2011-07-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

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The calm before (and after) the storm

2011-07-29T16:37:00.000-05:00

I'm finally sitting down for a glass of ice tea; I started brewing this sun tea yesterday in a zip lock bag and it works pretty well. The morning was very busy; pancakes were on the menu which is time consuming to make AND clean-up (fotunately, lunch is ham sandwiches). I was busy writing notes for various Scout classes and answering questions). I have just posted a sign up sheet for Scout Master conferences and Boards of Review; I expect a flood of requests as soon as the Scout come back from classes.
The older Scout have been working with the first years, helping them sign off requirements. I hopw to get the First Class adventure (FCA) sheets this afternoon, so we can sign off books also. You can see pictures of FCA and the Scout working together on the troop website.
I left yesterday afternoon to go to admin to upload picture, have dinner with my son Nick (commisioner at Buckskin) and to give him back the car so he could come to the Thursday night troop campfire.
When I left, the we just a few logs and branches laying around, but when we got back, there was the traditional three story campfire ready to go. There should be pictures of it up by Sunday. We had the usual "quality" entertainment with patrol skits and songs. Staff even came and contributed. After the entertainment we did a very nice flag retirement ceremony. With all the flags we retired, it really lit up the sky. After the flag retirement we had cake, ice cream (very soft), and pop (left over from summer fest). Unfortunately, leadership's clean dishes and the sheet cake sitting on leadership's table in Ft Bill (the fire is in Two Harbors) and the raccoons came and ate a corner of the cake and walked all over the clean dishes. Most of the cake was saved (the mauled part was cut off an thrown away), and everyone had a great time. After refreshments, Mr. Sanderson, who worked here at Many Point in the 80's, did a great job telling the true story of the Flintlock Yeti.
After all that, leadership had to stay up and clean up after the raccoons; after which they sacked on to cots around the fire. Then about 3 in the morning the sky opened up. It didn't rain long, but rained hard, and they got very wet.
...
There was a break there; the scouts came back from morning classes and we got busy doing Boards of Review for three new scouts while we grabbed a bite to eat.
After lunch the troop had Troop Reflection (see picture); time for talking about what went well and changes we need to make.
Now the Scouts are off to Archery, Aquatramp, and kayaking.
Pork Chops and Potatoes for dinner tonight and then one last night of freetime. About 9:30 tonight will be the Voyageur wide closing campfire with OA callout.
Tomorrow, we'll be up bright and early to strike camp in Two Harbors, consolidate the remaining campers (15) in Ft. Bill, and load the rest in the bus to come home.
We'll, I've got to get some this cleaned up before the Scouts get back.
We'll see some of you at the church tomorrow.
That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp.
Jon Yearous
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Another day in paradise

2011-07-28T10:05:00.000-05:00

The battery on my phone died, so I'm a little behind schedule here and I don't remember where we left off.
We had mega wind & rain Tuesday night, but everyone survived; only one dining fly went down. We had plenty of warning, so everything had been reinforced. Mr. Bothun reports that at 2:30 when some Scout woke him up (the raccoons were "fighting" out in the woods) that the sky was clear and the stars were out.
The first years came in last on the first site inspection, so they got latrine cleaning duty (see picture). The good news is they came in first on the next site inspection, and leadership came in last!
Last night was the beach bash for all but the first years, while most of the adults headed north for the adult appreciation dinner. One adult went to the beach bash to help supervise. The remaining three adult went for a fun filled five mile hike with the new scout, out to family camp and back.
This morning's breakfast was sausage patties, & eggs on an english muffin.
I just got back from leatherwork & basketry with the new Scouts (my knife case is coming along fine, thank you) and they are off the First Class Adventure. Everyone else is (or should be) off to merit badge classes.
Everyone is getting excited for the large troop campfire tonight. It is more and more difficult to keep them focused on what they are suppose to be doing, as they all want to be out gathering wood. Nick Yearous, Kurt Wallgren, and other MP staff members are anticipated to join us for the fun.
That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp.
Jon Yearous
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Photo

2011-07-26T20:49:00.000-05:00

Sorry, I forgot the photo.
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Into every life, a little rain must fall

2011-07-26T20:47:00.001-05:00

The good weather we have been enjoying since we arrived could last forever. About 6 this evening a gentle rain started falling. Two hours later it is still falling.
It did not stop us from completing dinner (nothing is going to stop boys from eating). Tonight's dinner was Tacos, milkn & dessert.
After dinner we headed to vesper (see picture) and then on to free-time, which is now until 9:00. One popular activity tonight is tie-dye Tuesday. The Scouts can buy an inexpensive white T-shirt to tie-dye or they can tie-dye something of their own for a small material fee. There are more Scout than usual in camp during free time, due to the rain.
This morning started early, as Mr. Fischer, Cal, three new Scouts and I went to the polar bear swim. A great story about Polar Bolarinski that involves several runs into the water. Let's just say that by the time we were done, everyone on the lake was wake. Especially those guys at Buckskin; the staff leader told us that wheb they do their Polar Bear, they wait until 8 since they have a dining hall and don't have to cook. He also mentioned something about water heaters, and Granny serving them hot chocolate as they got out. There may be some exaggeration there.
When we got back at 7 the camp was just waking up and we had to go up and get the food. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, sausage, cereal and milk. The usual Merit badges and classes, followed by lunch. Toasted cheese sandwiches & Chicken noodle soup.
After lunch was water polo and kyaking followed by Ironman; unforunately we did not have very good participation this year.
Mid-afternoon there was a big explosion as they blew up the bridge at the south end of round lake. We could feel the concusion in camp. They spent the rest of the afternoon with heavt machinery, removing the debris.
After Ironman, was fourth hour merit badge and then dinner. That brings us back to now. Free time will be over in about 15 minutes and the rain ha stopped for now
That all for now from Many Point Scout Camp.
Jon Yearous
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What does a Greased Watermelom taste like?

2011-07-25T15:39:00.001-05:00

It's 3 on Monday afternoon and everyone is at the beach for Greasy Watermelon. It is kind of like water polo, played with a watermelon that has been coated with Crisco. After they get done playing they get to eat watermelon (no, they don't eat the greased one that has been handled by 40 scouts in lake water).
Breakfast was waffles and sausage.
This moring, the first year scouts went to leatherwork & basketry merit badge class and then off to First Class adventure to work on advancement. After Gmel (greasy watermelon) they will have First Class Aquatics. All the other Scout have four hours of merit badge classes.
Lunch was Ravioli.
After lunch they broke into two groups (the Cowboys and the Aliens). Half went to Ethics in Action (team building skills) and half to Super Troop (troop service projects). After an hour they switched places, and after another hour, they came here.
Dinner tonight will be meatballs and gravy and then after dinner they will have two hours of free time to go try out all the camp has to offer.
That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp.
Jon Yearous
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Go (North) West Young Man

2011-07-24T08:35:00.000-05:00

The last Scout is loaded on the bus, and we're headed north on 494 towards Many Point Scout Camp for a week or more of fun.
We'll be staying at the Ft. William (Ft. Bill) and Two Harbors campsites in the Voyageur sub-camp. Our sites, and the sailing beach, are on the north shore of Round Lake, and the swimming beach is a short walk North to the south shore of Many Point Lake.
Our next stop is Park Rapids, where we will stop for about an hour so the Scouts and stretch their legs and grab their last (for a while) Fast Food lunch.
Then we'll head to our campsites to get set up. There will be some free time to get settled; Scouts who have not had a swim qual yet will head to the beach.
Tonight, the Scouts will be cooking their own meals (and cleaning their own dishes). Tonight is Cheese Burgers, chips, and fruit.
There will be Voyageur sub-camp tours, and later tonight will be a big Voyageur wIde welcome campfire that all the troops will attend.
I will try to keep blogging during the week, that means short blogs on my Blackberry, or a 20 minute drive to admin, where they have internet access.
That's all for now from (the bus on the way to) Many Point Scout Camp.
Jon Yearous
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Are you ready for some camping?

2011-07-18T18:46:00.001-05:00

Less than a week now; this Sunday Troop 346 heads off for Many Point Scout Camp. What this blog for more updates and pictures.

Fish Fry and saying goodbye to Carlos

2010-08-07T01:15:00.001-05:00

I just finished back-to-back merit badge sessions for Tracking and American Cultures. Everyone got the former, most got the latter if they could stay awake. Dierauer and Dirk gave the Scouts a tough time tracking them. Those are fun exercises they can do at home.

Camp is pretty much broken down. A few tents are still up, including the leader tents.

Troop activities included Troop Reflection where we review the week, Nuke'em Volleyball where you catch the ball and try to throw the ball near the opponent - if they miss or drop it they are out; and finally, troop sail aboard the two-person boats.

I'll find out who finished the badges later this morning when I pick up the merit badge cards.

Dean Wormer (Peter) had another issue with us at the closing ceremony.. It seems he took on the role of CPS (Child Protective Services) and placed Carlos the plastic baby doll into protective custody. His new evil eye and cracked skull were getting a bit creepy. Maybe CPS can fix him, and perhaps Carlos will reappear next year.

Finally, we had an awesome final dinner featuring a big pot of fish fry caught and cooked by Sabias and Mr. Oas (with others contributing fish including Mark, Jack and Trevor). That, combined with pork chops, red potatos/onions (Sabias secret recipe) and corn and carrots was just an awesome way to end the week. Even the mysterious chocolate wafer dessert substance was pretty darn good.

Thanks to Elliot, Jonathan, Nick a,d the others who did all those dishes and pans, then put it all away for the ride home.

I will post photos when I get back tomorrow.

YIS,

Kevin McGrath

"Double secret probation"

2010-08-06T09:02:00.001-05:00

Morning update.

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?". Pictured here is SPL Jon meeting with Peter aka Dean Wormer, reminiscent of Animal House. Jon is getting permission to proceed with the troop skit at the closing camp fire. We've been put on double secret probation after our entrance at the opening campfire due to our troop song and boisterous entry not being well received.

Mr. Dierauer woke us up this morning with an amazing jazz melody using his saxophone. I'd like to wake up to that every morning.

We are starting to break down camp with the goal of having most of the gear packed by early evening. Then we just need Mr. Carson to arrive tomorrow morning to tow the trailer away.

We had our first fire in the new fire pit last night. It is a great location.

The Huckfin Scouts arrived this morning and said they had a great time fishing, canoing and swimming.

Well, the rest of the Scouts are at their respective merit badges now.

I will try to send an update later.

YIS,

Kevin McGrath

18 Fly Swatters, Please

2010-08-05T18:47:00.002-05:00

Biting flies have taken over camp, followed closely by Poison Ivy and mosquitos in third.

Weather has been cool but less humid, with some drizzle this evening, but it is now dry. We hope it holds because Nick, Jack, Sabias and Hunter are on the Huck Finn rafts tonight.

I forgot about our ongoing push up contest lead by Mr. Ahlquist with Trevor, Mr. Furlich and Mr. McGrath trailing. I also left out our troop aqua tramp event. Erik Oas knows that sweet spot to launch Scouts. He was even able to launch me about a foot. See photos posted a few days ago for the push-ups and aqua tramp.

Today's troop activities:

Super Troop, fixing the stairs leading up to Voyager (sandy area). Rifle shooting and Water Polo were other events. Finally, we have added a new massive fire pit in that camp site area south of leadership/hammock city. We made benches out of logs and bent tent stakes.

I have also staked out a muddy area in the woods to try to get some good animal tracks for the Tracking merit badge. I am taking the class with Trevor to see how to conduct the class.

No photos of the food today. Jon F and AJ G did a great job making dinner because both of our chefs for today are at Huck Finn. Sabias made lunch and breakfast with Nick.

Elliot and Ryan are helping Trevor do the dishes because Josh, who has dish duty, has a fever and has been sleeping all afternoon after their raging Tree House event last night.

What else ... Since we are not having the massive Thursday night fire, I can see Isaac, AJ, Erik O and others moving all the brush and logs from our huge pile back into the woods. I think we will debut the new fire pit tonight.

Last full day of camp is tomorrow.

That is it for now.

YIS,

Mr. McGrath

Gunnar's Oasis

2010-08-05T00:09:00.002-05:00

This is Mr. McGrath filling in for Josh M who is at the Flintlock Tree House tonight.

After 12 years at Many Point, Gunnar Oas will go down in Many Point history due to him scoring a hole-in-one on a par 4 hole. Disc Golf, that is. This is an extremely difficult course through dense woods. He was so excited he bought everyone a round of beers (root) at the Trading Post. See photos for more about the event. We’ve renamed that hole in his honor to: Gunnar’s Oasis (because Oas Hole does not sound right).

The weather has been awesome.

Merit badges: everyone is participating. The adults are on patrol to make sure they keep it up. Sabias and others have the clothing exercises in Swimming and Life Saving tomorrow. Josh has a dig for archaeology while Trevor starts Tracking tomorrow. Trevor and Josh finished Geology yesterday. I am getting swamped with merit badges that the Scouts are electing to do on their own that are not offered at Many Point, or brought partially completed to Many Point and are now trying to get them done. Mr. Devine has taken everyone attending this week through Citizenship in the Nation (Eagle) that did not already have it, so that they only have ONE requirement left, which is to write a politician. A couple completed Communications (Eagle). Well, just about every adult is engaged with Scouts in one way or another with merit badges. Lots of energy.

Troop Activities:

See photos. We have done a lot as a troop. I’ll try to highlight key events. Yesterday of course featured Disc Golf and that shot by Mr. Oas. Most of us played a second round, while a few toured the Scout museum with Mr. Devine. We also did Iron Man as discussed by Josh in the blog. See the pictures just before Erik and Jack were in second place and about to take first, but the canoe capsized. The Ahlquists came soon-after and Josh powered through the swimming leg to get us back in second. Then Jonathan and Sabias raced away and secured second place in the running segment and second overall. It was very fun, and all the adults participated. We also did a Leave No Trace/Go Green campsite theme and had our site inspected. Finally, AJ, Jon and Trevor did the older Scout insane mountain bike ride – I can’t remember the name of the hill – something sinister like Decapitation Canyon. They broke two pedals and had a few spills.

Today was “GMEL” aka Greasy Watermelon and had the addition of Mr. Ahlquist, Mr. McGrath, Mr. Furlich and Erik Oas. It was very fun until the watermelon broke and sank – but Mr. Ahlquist managed to use that to his advantage and sneak away with the melon and avoid his team being skunked (final score 3-1). Think of it as water Rugby – lots of scrum action and even the watermelon is shaped like a rugby ball. Then we took the remains and ate it. Then Jack took a watermelon shower with the juice. We did a troop climb, also fun. They got to end the day in the sauna. The Scouts had the usual Wednesday beach bash while the adults ate at Buckskin (Erik Oas, Mark Dierauer, Messrs Devine, Ahlquist, Furlich and McGrath). It was cool to have Mark (our 5-Palm Eagle Scout) and Erik (our 4-Palm Eagle Scout) eat with the adults. Mark is now 18 and entering his senior year in high school, while Erik starts his sophomore year in college this year.

I did ride my bike out to the tree houses tonight. It was a punishing ride through root covered narrow trails. My chain broke and since it was getting dark, I did not have time to fix it. I wound up walking an hour back. I did say hello to our Scouts at the Tree House. Yes, Jon, I made it to the merit badge counselor meeting at Voyager with a few minutes to spare to wash all the bike chain grease off my hands. I’ll try to fix my bike tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Water Polo. Five are headed to Huck Finn for the overnight tomorrow night, which has the raft shelters in Flintlock.

Mr. Stamm and Mark Dierauer arrived today. Mr. Ahlquist leaves tomorrow. Mark is an Interpreter at the Northern Tier High Adventure Base in Minnesota. He basically takes crews of Scouts out in canoes. Sounds incredible. He wants the troop to go to Atikokan (no way I can spell it) because he will be based there next summer.

YIS,
Kevin McGrath

Iron Stamm!

2010-08-03T17:25:00.002-05:00

Today we had a one hundred percent participation from our troop in the Iron Man triathalon. We finished in an overall second with the Ahlquist family in third place for canoeing (with Erik Oas/Jack S, Elliot C/Jonathan K and Mr. Furlich also participating). Josh M came in second for swimming (with Isaac C, Mr. Furlich and Mr. Oas also swimming). Sabias J, Mr. McGrath, Elliot C, Mr. Furlich and Jonathan K came in second for running, giving us second overall.

Also Jack S is now a father of a baby doll named Carlos and he spoke his first words today, he said "help". We will have more updates about Jack and Carlos soon.

Y.I.S., Josh McGrath

Saying Good-bye, Saying Hello

2010-07-31T20:16:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning started at 4:30 for me. After the closing campfire, the staff goes into the staff lodge and pulls an all-nighter (or at least a most nighter until 1 or 2 in the morning) filling out completed and incomplete "blue cards". This year, Mr. McGrath printed our "blue cards" on fluorescent green stock, which made it easy to spot ours. When staff is done with this process, they put the cards in our mail box for us to retrieve the next day. A couple of times, I stayed up with the staff until they were done and then sorted our card. I'm getting too old for that, so instead I get up early to retrieve the cards. I went to the lodge about 5, put on the lodge coffee pot, and sort our blue cards in the screened in safety of the staff lodge. It was very quiet and peaceful. I check off the advancement sheet to make sure we have all of our card (we were only missing a few), put the completed (passed) cards in a pile for Mr. McGrath to enter into Scoutnet, and return the incomplete blue cards to Scouts so they know what they completed and what they still have to finish. If your Scout brings home and bright green incomplete "blue card", PLEASE make sure they don't lose it, and remind them occasionally, that they should try to complete the remaining requirements. If they have any questions, they should contact Mr. McGrath.
The rest of the camp started waking up at about 6:15. No breakfast for anyone this morning until all the packing was done. All but six tents, all but two stoves, most of the cots, and all of the Many Point tarps had to be taken down and folded up to Many Point standards. All of the personal bins and equipment were gathered up and the camp sites (especially Two Harbors) were policed. The bus showed up at 9:30 and the preparations continued. Finally at about 11 the job was declared done and everyone got to stop for "breakfast"; Bagels, pop tarts, and juice boxes (no dishes!). Finally, they loaded the bus and the bus pulled out about 11:45. Mr. McGrath and I headed north to admin to check the troop out for week 1 and check the troop back in for week 2, while Mr. Isham and Mrs. Coleman watched the Scouts until Mr. Hundwardsen and Mr. Oas arrived.
Week two we have 12 scouts (we were suppose to have 14, but there were two last minute cancellations) and about six adults.
Mr. McGrath and I arrived back at the site about 12:45. The Scouts had packed up the trailer with all the spare equipment and pretty well secured the leadership area. Scouts started heading off to the showers and a few to Tamarack (a near by resort). I took a shower and relaxed with everyone else. Nick was done with staff activities at about 2:30. As I went off to pick him up, Mr. McGrath went with two of the Scouts to go fishing at Round Lake (the lake our campsite is on). Nick and I went to do laundry in Detroit Lakes and met everyone here at Ice Crackin for dinner (mostly many forms of Thunderburgers and liberal amounts of pop). I decided to take advantage of the wireless to do this last update before I head home tomorrow. As I get more pictures from people (PLEASE SEND ME YOUR PICTURES!) I will post them to our website. That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp...Jon Yearous

The End of One Week and the Start of Another

2010-07-31T17:53:00.000-05:00

Well.....
The good news is that the camp ranger Paul was able to run down and repair the leak in the water hose.
The bad news is that when he saw the size of the pile of wood, he told leadership that they had to make it smaller. I did not have a chance to download more pictures from various folks cameras, and I forgot the cable for mine at home. I will be returning tomorrow Sunday and hopefully I will be able to collect pictures from people and get them loaded to the website. There should be some interesting ones.
The campfire was as large as past years, but the wood must have been greener because it took quite a while to get going. They used a bottle of Tiki Torch Fluid and a can of Charcoal lighter fluid on it and it still was slow starting. In addition to Nick and Kurt, Taylor Scharf stopped down on his way to Ice Crackin and a quite a number of CITs and other staff stopped by too. There was quite a variety of skits and songs, followed by a flag retirement ceremony, and refreshments. The flag ceremony did not get started until about 11:30, and as a CIT, Kurt had to be back at Buckskin by midnight, so Kurt, Nick, and I headed up to Buckskin during the flag retirement. I fear that refreshments were a white sheet cake with chocolate frosting (more on that later) and vanilla ice cream. I got back just as they were breaking up from the campfire (after midnight). It was quite a late night for everyone.
In their excitement to have the campfire, leadership left out two bags of garbage, and did not latch the cooler that they were keeping their Arnie Palmers and other drink and treats in. The raccoons took advantage of the situation; they tore holes in the garbage bags, climbed into the cooler, helped themselves to whatever they could, and left a few presents behind. Armed with rubber gloves, the guys took a while to figure out who was going to clean out the cooler the next day. It has been throughly washed out and sterilized. {Anyone noticing a trend here? It ain't over yet}.
Friday morning came WAY too early for just about everyone. Breakfast was Egg & Sausage on an English Muffin. Not surprisingly we were late (again) to assembly. The usual three morning periods and back for lunch; Turkey sandwiches. From 1-4 they had troop activities.
They had some free time during this time, so leadership had the first and second year scouts cleaning up the trailer. We were really surprised that they seemed to be enjoying it. They were singing and having lots of fun. Later, when I was checking out the cleaning job, I think I discovered why. The leftover half of the sheet cake from Thursday night had been store in the trailer to protect it from the raccoons. There had been nearly half of a sheet cake, but when they got done, there were three pieces left. No wonder they were so happy and full of energy. I put the remaining pieces on a plate in a zip-lock bag and saved them for Scoutmaster Fischer (more on that later). The boys went off to Archery and more water polo until 4:00 and then headed off to fourth hour.
At 5:00, they came back to start our big dinner of the week: Pork chops, potatoes, and corn. We decided to add to that, and had Mr. Horst bring us up two dozen ears of corn on the cob to have in leadership instead of canned corn. Chef Ben and some of the other leadership Scouts did a great job frying up the pork chops and the potatoes. They cubed the potatoes, added chopped onions and spices and fried them up. They were terrific.
As a result of all the advancement going on all week, there were all sorts of young scouts lined up for Scoutmaster conferences and Board of Review. Before dinner and after, the adults were popping in and out of dinner to perform these interviews. We left the dishes for the leadership scouts to do, but they were busy getting their skit for the camp-wide closing campfire and many people were gone for free time after dinner.
9:30 came along and we headed off the camp-wide campfire (running a bit late). It was the usual loud fun. As Mr. Fischer and I were bringing up the rear, we could hear our troop engaging another troop in the usual "we've got the spirit" back and forth exchange. It was a fun and full campfire with skits by each troop (some actually good and new) and awards made for many week accomplishments (swimming, shooting, etc.) . Ben received recognition for being the only Eagle Scout (still under 18) who attended Many Point at Voyager with his troop that week. One award caught everyone by surprise: There is an award for any scout that completes the Bouldering wall down at the climbing wall. There was exactly one Scout in camp that completed the Bouldering Wall: Max H.! After the skits and songs and awards, the staff performed the Order of the Arrow call out and Troop 346 had the most scouts being called out for Order of the Arrow. We all climbed the hill back out of the fire ring and thanked each of the staff for a wonderful week.
When we got back, we discovered {can you guess?} that the dishes had been left out, the patrol boxes left open, and the corn on the cob left out. Guess who else figured that out also? There were little footprint ALL over the place.
The Scouts had an excellent TLC, where they discussed what they liked best about how this week worked and what they would like to do different in the future.
I'll try to cover more on the pack-up this morning later. I'm currently at a Laundromat in Detroit Lakes using the free Wi-Fi while Nick does his Laundry. We will be leaving very shortly to meet the rest of the troop at Ice Crackin Lodge for our traditional Saturday switch-over dinner. Ice Crackin has expanded their building several times, so there is now plenty of room, and they have expanded their menu so there is more than just Thunderburgers. I'm looking forward to a steak. Mr. Hundwardsen arrived today and I will be returning with him tomorrow. Mr. Oas and Mr. Oas (Dirk) arrived today to handle medical and Mr. McGrath arrived last night to assume his rightful role of Advancement Chair. Mr. Furlich will arrive tomorrow to take over as acting Scoutmaster (Mr. Fischer went home on the bus with Mr. Wald and Mr. Gertjejansen) and Jon will be arriving to take over the reins of acting SPL from Trevor's capable hands for the week. This will allow Trevor to take a well deserved rest week two. Hopefully Josh will be taking over the blogging duties week 2 and keeping us all up to date. I unfortunately do not have enough vacation this year to stay two weeks. That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp....Jon Yearous

If it's Thursday, it must be pancakes.

2010-07-29T21:10:00.001-05:00

This will just be a short update. I'm at admin waiting to pick up Nick Yearous and Kurt Wallgren for our troop campfire tonight. Nick is working at Buckskin this year and Kurt is a Counselor In Training (CIT) at Buckskin this week. Taylor Scharf is also working at Buckskin this year.
This morning started off extra early for the Polar Bear Swim. Mr. Beck, Mr. Fischer, Mr. Isham and I went down (and into the water) with a number of our brave and adventurous boys (sadly no leadership or junior leadership boys were included in that number). We meet down at the beach at 6:15 to hear the story of Polar Bolarinski and to run in (and out) of the lake several times. The first time into the water, the air seems warmer than the water, but subsequent trips into the water are welcome, as the water now seems warmer. The temperature on the thermometer on the tree was 54 degrees when we left for the beach. Everyone survived, with minimal teeth chattering and headed back to camp for breakfast.
It seems that with all the adventurous scouts at the beach, the less adventurous scouts took that opportunity to sleep in a bit and surprisingly, the breakfast (and more importantly the coffee) was not ready when we got back. Needless to say everyone (except the first year scouts) was running behind schedule and pretty much everyone was late for assembly. The first year scouts actually were the first ones done and got to assembly on time. Alex has been doing a great job as a troop guide for the first year scouts.
Breakfast was pancakes, sausage, and juice. When the scouts finally got out of camp, they had the usual classes in the morning, and were back for lunch about 11:30. Lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup. After lunch, they had troop activities. One of them was suppose to be sailing, but there wasn't a breath of wind, so the improvised. The first years worked on some advancement requirements. From 1-4 they played some volleyball, some water polo, and worked on their campfire some more. At 4:00 they headed off to their fourth hour classes. 5:00 it was back to camp for dinner: spaghetti; granny bread; meatballs; salad; and dessert.
While the fire was being worked on someone (who will not be named at this time) cut into the water hose with an axe. The ranger is down there fixing it now.
I have to run pick up the boys and get down to the campfire. I will try to update with pictures tomorrow. That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp...Jon Yearous

Hello Mudder, hello Fodder, here I am at camp....

2010-07-28T20:05:00.000-05:00

I left off at Monday night, it is Wednesday evening now. The raccoons were very active Monday evening, finding any trash that the scouts left out. Then about 3:00 in the morning the thunderstorms started and did not stop until about 6:00 Tuesday evening. The thunder was very loud and some claimed it shook them out of their cots. We had one tent go down in the third year area, but the boys adjusted well and made room for the displaced scouts in other tents. Several dining flys were knocked down as well; several times in some cases. The wind was heavy off the lake; 10-25 mph. Also the tarps tend to fill with water and sag under the weight. More than one ridge pole broke. During the day, the rain let up several time (teasing us) and we were able to work on the tarps.
There was short sunny window where some sailing got done, but otherwise all aquatic activities had to be cancelled. The staff is great about having alternate activities when it is raining, and there are numerous tarps in the program areas that work equally well for shade or rain cover.
We stumbled out of our tents a little late at about 6:45 and got breakfast going; french toast, sausage, and juice. The morning classes pretty much went as planned. They came back for lunch; breaded chicken patties on bun, carrots, and pretzels.
There were two hours of troop activities in the afternoon: One group of boys headed north to the Frisbee Golf range and the other group went to the beach for volleyball and water polo. I think they squeezed both activities in during a temporary lull in the storm. I stayed back at camp to try and reinforce the various dining flys that kept falling down. At 3:00 they went to their fourth hour classes. At 4:00, they had the Ironman competition which normally consist of canoeing, swimming, and running. However, due to thunder in the area, they could not go into the water. The staff did a great job of coming up with alternate activities to substitute for the canoeing and swimming. After Ironman, the scouts came back to camp for dinner: tacos!
Fortunately, about dinner time, the rain and thunder and lightning stopped and the boys were able to head off for free time.
One popular free time activity to reemerge has been the crazy haircuts. Someone brought up a set of barber shears and various scouts have been getting Mohawks and other "creative" haircuts. I hope to get some pictures up soon.
At 9:00 they all came back to camp. A lot of the boys gathered under the leadership tarp for some very active card playing: poker, 500, hearts, etc. They were up pretty late having a lot of fun. Jason was up late with them too, doing some dutch oven baking (some sort of apple dish). It must have been a good time, they were pretty tired last night.
As for me, I hit the hay about 11:00 and I was out. The raccoons were up. We saw paw prints everywhere, and they seemed to be very happy that Junior Leadership had left their garbage out instead of taking it to the dumpster. In the morning, the Junior Leadership garbage was spread far and wide; it looked like a garbage bomb had gone off.
As we do every year we have slowly been trying to work on the boys about keeping a clean campsite.
This morning, they were a little slow on the uptake; perhaps another sign of the fun last night. Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs and sausage with juice. Then off to morning classes, and back for lunch; hoagie ham sandwiches. Leadership got creative and made some cheese burgers out of the leftover hamburger from tacos last night. The rest of leadership made warm chuckwagon sandwiches out of the ham and buns. They can be culinary creative when they try.
This afternoon they had a Supertoop project, and filled in some of the hole on the horrible road down to our campsite. Some scouts did Orienteering and another activity I've forgotten.
At 4:00 they had an hour of in site troop time, and they started collecting firewood for our traditional troop campfire on Thursday night. They talked Mr. Lindberg into using his pick-up to go down and collect piece of a tree that had fallen near the camp entrance (it was about 10" in diameter and was cut into 4 foot lengths). Later when they were collecting another log off of our camp road, just as they were putting it into the truck, a swarm of bees came out and several were stung. Fortunately, none were allergic and were treated by Ms. Roberts (Chris and Jackson's mom) who is handling medical for us. We'll have to see how much Poison Ivy was picked up during wood collect. We have sent a number of scouts to the showers already to wash down, in addition to the showers we have been "encouraging" some scouts to take.
At 5:00, the first year Scouts headed off with the Voyager staff and Mr. Wald for a five mile hike to family camp, where they will rest and have dinner. This fulfills one of their requirements. Most of the scouts went to their fourth hour classes and then to the beach for a beach bash (tacos in a bag and fun activities), with the Voyager staff and Mr. Beck. The rest of the adults; Mr. Fischer, me, Ms. Roberts, Mr. Lindberg, Mrs. Coleman, Mr. Isham, Kris Scott, and Milo Gertjejansen; headed to the Buckskin dining hall at the north end of camp for the adult leader appreciation dinner: sliced Pork loin, new potatoes, broccoli & carrots, Granny bread, cole slaw, and a chocolate pudding dessert that is heavenly (but I had a banana instead).
After the dinner I came over here to update the blog while the other adults headed back to camp so the boys could go to free time activities.
When it was raining ALL DAY yesterday, I think you might have had a LOT of volunteers to come home, but like that old song, Camp Granada, any thoughts of escaping dried up when the sun came out. Today it has been sunny with temperatures in the 70's and the rest of the week is suppose to be the same.
A big thanks to all the parents and young adults that have been volunteering their time: Besides the one mentioned above, Mr. Horst came up with us Sunday and will be back at the end of the week, Mr. Dutton and Mr. Bothun just left today, to be replaced by Mr. Lindberg, Mr. Beck, and Mr. Wald. Mr. Fricke is due soon, Mr. McGrath has been popping in with his family from Family Camp, and we're expecting visits from Mr. Rutkowski, the Oas' and other adults that will be here for the weekend and week 2.
I will try to update at least one more time this week, so keep checking back. For now, that's all from Many Point Scout Camp....Jon Yearous

Having Fun, Despite the Rain

2010-07-27T11:19:00.000-05:00

The drive to Many Point (MP) went well. We made a quick pit stop in Sobeka and drove on to Park Rapids for lunch. The Scouts scattered to the four winds (or at least Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, and Pizza Hut), got lunch and got back on the bus for the last hour drive into Many Point.
We arrived at Ft. William at about 1:30. After we got the bus unstuck from between two trees (pictures later), we unloaded the bus. I headed north to admin to get us checked in, while everyone headed on down to swim qualifications. The boys are divided into Learners, Beginners, and swimmers.
After swim quals they headed back to camp and finished setting up their camp sites. Tents must have been wet when the previous troop checked out, because some tents were still standing around the camp site. We got things set up just in time for dinner: cheese burgers, chips, drink, and Little Debbies. There was a camp wide tour at 7:00 while the Scoutmasters met with camp staff. At 9:30 we had the camp wide welcome campfire (pictures on the website); songs, intros, and skits. After that, we headed back to camp and the Scouts headed off to bed, while the adults and leadership had a TLC (Troop Leadership Council) to talk about how things went, and what was happening on Monday.
Monday morning we were going to call revelry at 6:00, but for some reason, that didn't happen until 6:20 or so. Everyone got up and got breakfast going. Wayne the food delivery guy has retired, but Little Joe has been taking good care of us and we got trays of Granny Rolls with our usual food delivery (the rolls are a treat given to troops that help unload the truck). Breakfast was pre-cooked waffles, sausage, and juice.
Two of the second year scouts had a tent set up near a raccoon nest, so they had quite an adventure with the raccoons Sunday night, and ended up moving into a spare tent for the rest of the night. To hear them tell it, the raccoons had glowing red eye, were chasing them, and had knives. We're pretty sure there was some exaggeration in the description.
We had a troop assembly at the flag pole and headed up to the Voyager Lodge for camp wide assembly at 8:30. After more introductions, songs, and announcements, the scouts headed off to their merit badge classes. The first year's had Fish and Wildlife Management & Mammal Studies (two merit badges, one class) and the older Scouts had various other merit badges. During first hour, Mr. Fischer and Trevor (our SPL) met with our commissioner to get some of our troop activity assignments and our Flintlock (older Scout high adventure) activities.
Second and third hour, the new scouts had First Class Adventure (where they work on Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class requirements), while the older scouts had various other merit badges. That took us up to lunch; hot dogs, beans, fruit cocktail, and drink. After lunch, the troop split into two groups: one group did Ethics (group dynamic class), while the other did Outdoor Cooking. After an hour, the swapped places. At 3:00 they came back together for a big game of Greasy Watermelon (kind of like water polo with a watermelon covered in Crisco). After playing to a surprisingly (not) tied score, we all cut up and shared the watermelon.
At 4:00 was fourth hour merit badge and swimming classes (the first years had First Class Aquatics).
At 5:00 they headed back to camp to get ready for dinner; ham slices, mashed potatoes, green beans, cookies, and milk.
The leadership supervised the scouts performing clean-up of their sites before they were allowed to go to free time. At free time, they can visit the trading post, or most of the activity centers around the camp; the beach, the archery range, the climbing tower, the rifle range, etc.
At 9:00 it was back to camp, a closing troop assembly, and off to bed for most of the VERY tired scouts. The scouts that had raccoon troubles the night before, moved their tent and had a much better night. The adults and leadership had a TLC and headed off to bed also.
It was a very active night. The raccoons are very big and very active this year. The were crashing around and talking to each other most of the night.
I have to head back to the camp for lunch, so I'm going to sign off now and I'll try to pick it up again later from camp via my Blackberry.
For now, that's all from Many Point Scout Camp. Be sure to watch for pictures on the website. Jon Yearous

Many Point 2010 - Two Weeks and Counting

2010-07-12T09:59:00.001-05:00

It seems hard to believe that it is only two weeks until Many Point! I know I can hardly wait.

Actually, I didn't wait....

The first weekend in June was the annual Many Point Work Weekend, and I went up to Many Point to help work on projects to get the camp ready for Scouts.

I helped to build a new Trading Post for Ten Chiefs, while other people fixed up the Voyager Lodge & Trading Posts, and other people built new Radio Stations for the Radio Merit badge class.

While I was there, I decided to walk down to the Fort William and Two Harbors campsites where we will be staying. (You can click on these pictures to view them larger).

It is always weird to see the sites in the spring, before they have been mowed or trampled by Scouts.The road into the site is familiar, but strange. No cars, no tents, no Scouts; just long grass blowing in the breeze.

This year, leadership has decided that the Scoutmaster, Advancement, and Medical tents (and adults) will be staying in the big field in front of Two Harbors, so the old main assembly area should be devoid of tents this year.

This is a view of the Leadership area, as viewed from the Leadership dining tarp. You can see the outhouse in the background (in the center of the picture).

The majority of the adults (other than SM, Adv., & Medical) will be staying at the campsites down the path to the back right of this picture. They will be down near the lake, where the Second Year Scouts stayed last year.

This is the Leadership area as seen coming from the small fire ring.

Here is the small fire ring, just waiting for us to come to sing songs (anyone for the sock song?) and tell stories.

Leadership has decided that the Second Year Scouts will be staying in the small fire ring area this year.

The First Year Scouts will be staying in the campsite between this campsite and the lake.

The open field leading to Two Harbors is just long grass, with a scar that shows where our Troop campfires will be.

The Scoutmaster, Advancement, and Medical tents will be here, and I believe we will be having our troop assemblies here.

The Junior Leadership and Third Year Scouts will be staying in Two Harbors, beyond this field and down by the lake.

Now where was I?

2009-08-07T07:15:00.000-05:00

One of the problems I've had with blogging this year, is that I got really busy mid-last week, got behind in blogging and tried to cover what I had missed when I finally got time. But while I was doing that, I got behind in now. So, I'm just going to go back to real time, and maybe throw in a few older things as the opportunity presents itself.
One of the scouts was just at the table getting so Calamine lotion. Whenever we talk about poison ivy (there's a lot of it up here), someone invariably mentions the Myth Busters episode where they wanted to try out some poison ivy remedies, but had trouble finding people on staff that would react to it. Not everyone reacts to poison ivy. Well as you can imagine, two boys took that as a challenge. They decided to test a patch on their arms. They learned two things from that experience: 1) the poison ivy plant oil tends to get spread around once you get it on you, 2) that was not a bright idea.
Well, they say what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.
It's 7:30 and everyone is busy getting ready for breakfast and assembly in one hour. The troop campfire was last night, so everyone is pretty tired. I had better go do some Scout Master like things (drink coffee) before they fire me. I will try to get back to blogging after the scouts head off to class. That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp. YIS...Jon Yearous

A Fish Tail if I Ever Heard One

2009-08-05T22:17:00.001-05:00

It's Wednesday night at 10:30 and most of us are gathered around a table in the leadership area watching Mr. Oas cleaning fishing. Sabias went out on the pontoon and caught a 21.75" Northern. Mr. Oas and Mike N went out in Mr. Oas' boat and caught four Walleye, one Sunny, and one Bluegill. The largest Walleye was caught by Mike and was 19" long.
It's 11:20 now and another first; I'm blogging from my sleeping bag. Gunnar is still finishing up with Mark's help, but I need to get up early, so I'n hitting the hay. There Alex H, Elliott C, and Josh want to go to Polar Bear in the morning, and I thought I was on the hook to go with them. However, Mr. McGrath has gratiously offer to go with them so I can help Wayne with the food. Hopefully we'll have pictures tomorrow.
I'll try cover Tuesday and Wednesday more fully tomorrow.
That's all for now from my sleeping bag at Many Point Scout camp. YIS...Jon Yearous

Starting Over

2009-08-05T19:34:00.000-05:00

I started a post this morning at 6:45, but then got distracted with the days events and put my Blackberry in my pocket. Somehow, I deleted the hour's worth of typing I did about Monday, so I guess I'll have to start over.
First, let me say something about haircuts. We have a saying up here; "the differance between a good hair cut and a bad haircut is two weeks". Several years ago, a couple of the older scout started giving each other mohawks and other "unique" hair cuts at camp (go back and look at previous year's pictures). The younger scouts look up to the older scouts, so naturally thay have started asking to get haircuts. There have been some pretty interesting designs; diamonds, hearts, double mohawks, and other designs. You can see some of these on the website. They did refuse to give any of the first year scouts a hair cut (for fear or reprisals), but figured that parents of second year and up would know about this from previous years. Worst case, buzz cuts are in. I hope you have as much fun looking at the pictures as the kids had getting them.
Back to Monday morning; it was typical in that the food came at 6:30, Wayne gave us a tray of Granny' caramel rolls and the scouts were mostly on time due to the very simple cold cereal breakfast. The scouts had three hours of their new second week merit badges and came back to camp about 11:30 for lunch.
After lunch, Alec D, Ben O, Adam H, and AJ headed off to C.O.P.E. at Flintlock. This is a teambuilding and leadership course that ends in the high rope course and zip line you see in all of the Many Point videos. The course is eight hours long.
While they were at Flintlock, the rest of the troop had troop activities including Ethics in Action, Volleyball, and Turks Head Knot tying (a new one for us).
Then it was back to camp for dinner. After dinner, it was freetime, including Troop 346 time in the Sauna. The sauna is a shack down by the beach with a wood fired stove. Very traditional. Some of the guys got to use it Saturday night too, after the staff used it.
Then at 9, the scouts came back to camp and played RISK (the board game) and 500. These have been very popular past times Sunday and Monday night, but are resulting in tired scouts in the morning and a cranky acting Scout Master who has to use ear plugs to get to sleep.
I'm going to close it out here at the close of Monday, so I don' loose work again. It's about 8:45 some scouts are drifting back in from freetime, some are building the fire for tomorrow night, and four scouts (Alex H, Jonathan, Hunter, and Trevor) are headed out to sleep in the shelters they built for the Wilderness Survival merit badge.
That's all for now from Ft. Bill at Many Point Scout Camp. YIS...Jon Yearous

Getting Caught Up

2009-08-04T06:47:00.000-05:00

It is Tuesday morning, about 6:45. Everyone else in Ft. Bill is still asleep and will get up in about 15 minutes. A few people from Troop 99 next door in Two Harbors are beginning to stir. I usually try to get up about 6 so I can go help the food delivery guy unload. While helping is its own reward, he has been known to give troops that help something extra. Yesterday he gave us a tray of Granny's caramel rolls and today we got a tray of cinnimon rolls.
Back to Saturday...right after the bus rolled out, I hopped in the car and headed "up north" (to admin) to settle up week one and to pick up Nick. We're suppose to check out by 11, but we did not get the final paperwork from our commisioner until 10:30, so we were a bit late. Checking out a troop our size always takes a while, so it was noon before I finifhed and went to get Nick. We headed back to camp to try to get organized. While I was gone the Scouts had gotten all of their stuff situated. Mr. Dewitz went golfing with his son, and drove three of the older scouts to the Paul Bunyon Bike Trail to go biking for the day. Fotunately, Mr. Fischer was able to stay and extra day, so we had enough drivers to take everyone else into town. I had Nick and five second year scouts. We went to Zorbas Pizza in Detroit Lakes and saw Mr. Oas and Mr. Broberg there with their crews having Pizza too. After Zorbas we went to Walmart for some $1 movie candy and other essentials. Then we headed off to a 3:50 showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
After the movie we headed straight to Ice Crackin for out traditional Saturday night dinner of THUNDER BURGERS (or the 1/4 pound kids meal in my case). The kids love being back in a video game/pool table environment, even if only for one night.
After Ice Crackin, it was back to camp for some much needed sleep.
Sunday morning, everyone was up rather late, but once we started frying bacon, scouts magically started appearing from their tents. Mr. Broberg treated us to some of his Mother's receipe Deep Fried French toast. We made it with Great Harvest Pancake mix, eggs, milk, vanilla, and some powered sugar we bummed off the staff. Everyone agreed it was really great and tasted like something you would get from the state fair.
After breakfast, Nick and I headed off to Family Camp for a shower and to do laundry, since we didn't have time to do it when we were in town. We ran a little late and had to race back up to Buckskin to get Nick back to work in time. Mr. Broberg, Mr. Dewitz, and Mr. Fischer took off for home Sunday morning. Mr. McGrath to a load of Scouts into town for a while, and later in the afternoon just about all of the Scouts rode their bikes to Tamarack (a near by resort). People at lunch kind of late when they felt like it. They gave us chicken chunks, mash potatoes, and corn, but we decided to make chicken tacos with left-over tortillas, lettuce, and cheese. We can get creative with cooking when we try. Sunday dinner was cheeseburgers again. The menu is pretty much the same each week, so except for the occasional reference, I won't repeat the menu on week two.
We met with our commisioner Sunday afternoon, and got rid of some extra equipment we still had. We had some parent visitors on sunday too. Hunter's parents stopped by to visit and AJ's parent stopped to drop him off. Things get kind of sloppy over the middle weekend, with all the activities during week one, all the moving around, and the relaxed atmosphere on the weekend. It is not unusual for campsites to get pretty sloppy, so Sunday late Sunday afternoon we start working wit (on) them to get their sites cleaned up for fresh start for the new week. By bed time we usually have them in pretty good shape. Since this is our second week, we were allowed to skip the campwide tour, but I did sit in on the Scoutmaster intro meeting at 7. Our second week officially started at the opening campfire at 9:30. Last week, the staff was out of propane lantern fuel, so they used Many Point Red (kerosine) laterns to light the skits and we could not see what was going on. This week, they used two propane lanterns in each reflector, and we could see! We also did something we had never done before! We sat together in the first three rows. We could see AND hear what was going on. We still showed our scout spirit by doing all the traditional chants and songs. Sitting in the front row on the other side was Mr. Oas' old troop and we got quite the chant going back and forth between them (especially the I got Spirit chant). Having these twqo troops in the front row basically made us the pre-campfire entertainment before the staff came in. Besides hearing and seeing better, the skits actually were better. The theme of the skits was the same (superheroes), but the addition of the nearly random Lawnmower Man was hilarious.
After the campfire we headed back to camp, and bed.
I'll cover Monday and Tuesday (today) in the next post, I'm almost caught up. It's 2:15 right now and the Scouts are off to the Climbing Tower.
That's all for now from Many Point. YIS... Jon Yearous

Will Week One Ever End?

2009-08-03T21:15:00.000-05:00

Back doing a Blackberry update from in front of my tent in Ft. William. It is 9:15, scouts are coming back from free time, touching up haircuts (more on that later) and some scouts are getting ready to go to the Night Skys program, while the mosquitoes are attempting to saturate the air.
Back to Friday afternoon. After lunch, it was time for our Reflections Troop activity. This is kind of like Thorns and Roses, where we talk about what we learned and liked about the week, and things we would change.
Then it was off to our last couple of troop activities and off to the last fourth hour class. The last few people got a chance at the rifle range at 5 while everyone else started dinner. Raw pork chops, potatoes, salad, and Little Debbies. Almost all the meat we get here is pre-cooked and only needs to be warmed up. But Friday night we get raw pork chops. Needless to say I went around to all the campsites to make sure everyone was cooking their meat completely. Everyone was doing a great job. In the Second year site I saw that they had a leafy seasoning on their pork chops and asked what they were using. They toldme they were using sage. I asked them who and brought that and they told me thay had picked it. Sure enough, they had an edible plant book and had found a patch of sage. They confirmed it by look and smell, and used it to cook their pork chops. Now that's what I call out door skills.
After dinner, the patrol dished were cleaned and the patrol boxes that were going back on the trailer were packed up one last time. The scouts were encouraged to pack up as much of their stuff as possible to make it easier Saturday morning.
Some scouts take down their tents and sleep under the star or under their dining fly (and their mosquito netting).
After cleanup, they headed off to their last freeime, which was limited by weather. Flintlock Sailboarding was canceled Thursday and Friday evenings due to wind and rain. The trading post was a popular final destination. After free time it was more packing and then off to bed.
The second week change over is always and interesting balancing act, trying to take down and send back as much equipment as possible, without packing up or sending back anything we need (like the coffee one year). We occupied Ft. William and Two Harbors the first week, but just Ft. Bill the second week. The second years stayed put, Jr. Leadership moved in with Leadership, the fourth year patrols moved into the space vacated by the first years (who all went home), and the adults moved into the Ft. Bill "alley" and now eat with Leadership.
If you can imagine the chaos at the church when we left, multiply that as boys are looking for where they scattered things over the previous week. The trailer was packed, tents and tarps taken down, stoves inspected, and personnals moved by 9:30, so we could have our breakfast of donuts and juice, before the bus arrived about 10:00. The trailer was hooked up, the bus was loaded, and left about 10:45. I heard it got to the church at 4:00.
More about our weekend tommorow. That's all from Many Point. YIS. Jon Yearous

First Week Wrap Up

2009-08-03T19:32:00.000-05:00

I'm going to wrap up Week 1 so I can try to get back to real time blogging. This is another Blackberry update from the "office" table, so excuse the typos. I ran up the admin today, editted some more picture, added a bunch of captions, and uploaded them to the website. Be sure to check them out (including pictures of our office).
Wednesday night after free time was Merit badge round-up, where the staff meets with the adult leaders, to give us a status of who is showing up for class, how they're doing, and what they have left to finish. With 66 scouts, this took about 1.5 hours.
Thursday was back to a fairly normal schedule. If it's Thursday, it must be Pancakes and sausage for breakfast, followed by the usual three hours of classes. Thursday lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. It was cool at lunch time, so for the first time in several years, the soup was a welcome addition.
The weather this year has been quite unusual, much cooler and rainer than usual. But today was just plain weird. We kept alternating between bright sunshine and rain. It seemed like every half hour is would alternate back and forth.
The Scouts had three hours of Troop activities (or in site freetime), followed by fourth hour merit badge. There were a few troop activities scheduled from 5-6, which was new this year, and not very popular. It cuts badly into dinner prep time and makes it difficult for the new scouts to get to freetime on time. We'll have work something out next year.
Dinner was spahgetti, sause, meatballs, and granny bread. Very good to eat, but messy to clean up.
7-9 was freetime, followed by what everyone was waiting for...the Troop Campfire. I headed out about 8:30 to head north to pick up Nick at Buckskin (where he's working) and pick up Matt O. & Mr. Devitt's nephew, who were both counselors in training (CITs) and the Ten Chiefs Camp. We made it back in time to say hi to everyone before the lighting of the fire. There are a number of pictures on the website now of the fire and skits. Some of the staff joined us (and performed a skit) including Taylor S., who is working at Buckskin with Nick. The main fire was followed by the Happy Birthday and a piece of birthday cake. Everyone who is celebrating a birthday this year was asked to raise their hand (a few adults did not raise their hand). While returned Nick, Matt, and Harrison back to their camps, Erik O regailed everyone with his telling of the Yeti story. Per tradition (weather permitting), most of leadership and a few others slept around the campfire under the stars. Needless to say, they were pretty sleepy by morning.
Friday morning was sausage egg muffins and juice. In the adult and leader areas, we usually hold over a few leftovers to augment our meals with. After assembly, it was their last set of merit badge classes for the week, followed by a lunch of sliced turkey on buns with carrots. Since the remained of the wrap up, has to do with getting ready to leave for the first week group, I'm going to take a break here to rest my index (typing) fingers and post this much for now. Hopefully more after a short rest. Thatks it for now from Many Point Scout Camp. YIS...Jon Yearous

Time to Breathe

2009-08-01T19:19:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's been a very busy time the last few days, especially as the week drew to a close.

Wednesday afternoon, various subsets of the troop rotated through three hours of Troop Activities. The Troop Activitie are a little bit of everything, including Ethics in Action (Team Building), Sailing, Rifle Range Archery, Greasy Watermelon, Water Polo, Super Troop Service Project, etc. I'd have to look back at the schedule to remember the specific ones they did on Wednesday. Throughout the week, everyone gets to pretty much do it all. After Troop Activities, they normally go straight to their fourth hour merit badge class, but today they had an hour back in camp to rest up for: "THE BEACH BASH" at 5:00. Actually we had folks scattering several ways. All 17 First Year Scouts went on a FIVE MILE HIKE with about seven of the adults, the rest of the Scouts went to their fourth hour class and then to the Beach Bash, while the remaining five or so adults went to the adult appreciation dinner at the Buckskin. The Adults and non-first year Scouts were both done about seven (for freetime), but the First Year Scouts did not get back from their hike until about 9:00. Needless to say, they were TIRED! I'm at Ice Crackin' right now, and my food is here, so I'm going to sign off for now from Many Point Camp, more later. YIS Jon Yearous

Picture Perfect

2009-07-29T11:12:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's most was heavy on words, with no picture. Today is going to be mostly pictures with just a few words. I will be posting pictures to: http://picasaweb.google.com/troop346/2009ManyPoint#. Please note, I have about five adults taking pictures and giving them to me. I started this morning with about 500 pictures and have whittled it down to about 400. I apologize for the large number of pictures but: a) I don't have a lot of time right now to be sorting, and b) YOUR kid may be in the picture I leave out. So we will whittle more later, but for now just flip through them and enjoy. We may even have some videos later.
After freetime a bunch of Scouts got together around the campfire ring in the new Scout area and did round after round of the "Sock Song." Everyone finally settled down about 11:00 and went to bed. Got up at the usual time and get breakfast ready: Scrambled Eggs, Hash Browns, raspberry-apple juice, and smokey joe links. They appreciated the warm breakfast because it was nippy this morning. The sky is partly cloudy and it is warming up quickly. After breakfast and assembly, everyone was off to their merit badges and other classes.
Last night we had ten of the older boys go off to Flintlock for high adventure overnights: six to the Huck Finn rafts in Flintlock Bay, and four to the Treehouse overnight. They left at 4pm yesterday and we picked them up at 7am this morning. They were a bit chilled and tired, but everyone had a great time.
It's 11:30 and time to head back down south for lunch (Chicken patties on buns, carrots, bug juice, etc.), so that's all for now from Many Point....YIS Jon Yearous

Enjoying the View

2009-07-28T20:29:00.000-05:00

This will be a short and typo laden post, since it is via my Blackberry from in front of my tent. No pictures tonight,maybe tomorrow when I head to admin.
The Scouts enjoyed freetime after dinner (and cleanup), going out to some to the camp activities such as rifle, archery, swimming, etc. They were back in camp by 9 and most headed to bed quickly, as they were pretty tired. We had a short 1/2 hour rain shower, but it has been dry since. The temperature has been cooler, but nice. It was about 50 this morning, sunny most of the day, and about 58 at 8:30 pm.
This morning was French Toast and Sausage with milk for breakfast. We had troop assembly at 8:10, camp assembly at 8:30, and three hours of classes in the morning. Lunch was at about 11:30 and was hot dogs, beans, and canned fruit. After lunch some did knots and some gathered wood for Thursday troop campfire. Then everyone headed for and hour of greasy watermelon (think rugby, in the water, with a greased up watermelon for a ball). At 3:00, they had fourth hour classes, and at 4:00 was the IRONMAN race. The canoe, swim, and run. A lot of the boys participated, and I'm told that 346 boys came in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
After IRONMAN, it was back to camp for dinner. TACOs tonight, with Spanish Rice, Granny Bread (homemade Sourdough bread), and pudding. Somehow, the adults came up with some BBQ Ribs, too. Because the leadership patrol, and Jr. Leadership patrols are so large (14 & 11) and we have so many adults (11 to 16), we decided to have an adult cooking patrol, instead of having leadership cook for us.
After dinner, we had a non-denominational Vesper service for 1/2 hour, and then free time until 9. The scouts will be pouring back in momentarily. We had our first Board of Review tonight, and Alex H. Is now a Second Class!
I will be heading up to admin tomorrow and will try to post pictures and update more then via the highspeed link. That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp. YIS. Jon Yearous

LIVE - From Voyageur!

2009-07-27T14:36:00.003-05:00

We're here! We made it! We're still alive! The bus arrived at Many Point at about 1:00 after a quick stop in Park Rapids for a quick last lunch in civilization. The Scouts all arrived and quickly changed into their suits and headed to the beach for swim qualifications. When they were done with that, they headed back to camp to set up their dining flys, their tents, and their cots and to get their personal gear situated. The food arrived at about 5:00 and the boys had their first opportunity to cook their own food (cheese burgers, chips, and fruit). The troop guides were very busy instructing the new scout patrols on how to st up their equipment, cook their food, and most importantly, how the clean the dishes. After dinner the Scouts and new parents went for a guded tour of the Voyageur Camp, including the brand new shower house. Then they had some in camp free time before the camp wide welcome camp fire. During the free time, it sprinkled lightly and stopped just before the campfire at 9:30. Fortunately the rain held off until after we got back to the campground, but then the sky opened up. It rained for several hours and had stopped by morning. All of the tents stayed up and ironically the only tarps that fell over were the Leadership tarp and the Adult's tarp. Everyone stayed pretty dry. Today has been mostly sunny, relatively cool, and a nice breeze has come up to help with the bugs. The mosquitos have been about as agressive as I have ever seen them, but the bug spray helps to keep them at bay.

Fortunately, the breakfast Monday morning is very simple, cereal, poptarts, milk. Troop assembly and announcements were at 8:10 (see the picture above) and the Campwide assembly was at 8:30. Then the boys were all off the merit badge classes. The first year Scouts were taking Fish & Wildlife Management/mammal Studies first hour and then they were off the First Class Adventure 2nd and 3rd hour. The older Scouts were all off to various other merit badges.

At 11:30, they were back to camp for lunch. We had Ham & Cheese sandwiches, Frito Chips, and carrots for lunch. Then the Scouts assembled at 1:00 for troop activities. These include Ethics in Action Team Building, Archery, etc. I headed up Noeth to the admin building to install the new front counter logo and to update the blog. It's about 3:15 now. At 4:00 the boys will be off to swimming or afternoon merit badges classes (the new Scouts will be attending First Class Aquatics). Some may have a troop activity at 5:00, but everyone will be back to camp for Dinner (Mac & Cheese with Ham I think), and then they will be off to free time from 7-9. I suspect most Scouts (and adults) will be hitting the sack early tonight.

That's all from Many Point for now. Someone will be updating the Blog over the next two weeks.

YIS...Jon Yearous

The Adventure Begins - Soon

2009-07-24T10:54:00.003-05:00

Sunday morning at 6:30am we will be gathering at All Saints to prepare for our adventure to Many Point Scout Camp for another summer. As you can see from the picture above, Troop 346 has added to the Welcome to Voyageur sign. The trailer is all packed and we're just about ready to go. When you're packing remember that a scout should be prepared...for anything.

Keep coming back to this blog for updates over the next two weeks.

Timber!!!!!

2008-08-06T10:20:00.000-05:00

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

With a fond farewll and a hearty hi-ho Silver...

2008-08-03T20:00:00.000-05:00

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

For those that are visually oriented, a few pcitures.

2008-07-31T12:33:00.001-05:00

The fire could be seen for miles...

2008-07-31T11:18:00.000-05:00

We've been busy busy busy, so this blog entry may be short. I will concentrate on words and try to get pictures up later.

When we left off, it was Tuesday night and all was well. Wednesday morning came bright and early. Some of you may remember that because of the poor condition of the "road" leading down to our campsite, the food truck drops our food off up at the Voyageur Lodge. Several of us try to drive up and meet the food truck before every meal, to help Wayne (our truck driver for several years now) unload the full bins and load up the empties. Because we help him with the truck, he often will reward us with a tray of rolls, made by Granny up at the Buckskin dining hall. Monday, we let some boys from another troop that helped take the rolls that were available. Tuesday there weren't any rolls because the power was out, but Wednesday morning, we got a great big tray of rolls, that were meticulously divided amongst all the scouts in the troop. It was a great treat.

We had eggs and hash browns for breakfast, but since we have bread in the staples and left over syrup from Tuesday, many of us made French Toast again. After Morning Assembly, the kids were off to merit badge classes for three hours and back for lunch at 11:40. Tomato Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Wednesday is a complicated day, and we made it even more complicated. The scouts have their usual three hours of troop activities; Survivor Man, Climbing Tower, and Water Activities, then they have an hours of troop free time. On Wednesday, (almost) all of the First Class Adventure scouts go on a five mile hike for one of their rank requirements. This year, Mr. Devitt bravely volunteered to go on the hike with them. It took four and a half hours (and six stops) to complete the hike but they made it.

The rest of the scouts head off to their fourth hour class and hour later than usual at 5:00. Then they head to the beach at 6:00 for the annual Beach Bash. The late fourth hour start and Beach Bash are a cleaverly designed activity to allow (almost) all of the adults to attend the adult volunteer appreciation dinner at the Buckskin Dining hall. Mr. Devitt went on the five mile hike (but made us promise to bring him back some Granny Bread), and Mr. Fischer stayed behind to supervise the older scouts preparing for the troop campfire. Mr. Oen, Mr. (Jesse) Jones, and I attended the dinner of pulled pork, cheese potatoes, cole slaw, granny bread, and desert. Clearly they want to adults to come back next year. They introduced the staff, talked about the new things for this year, and the new things for next year (including a new shower house at Voyageur!!!!).

We got back about 7:00 and the scouts at the beach bash were free to head out to free time. The scouts at beach bash had riblet sandwiches, chips, and fruit. One of the things that we did, which made Wednesday more complicated, was to move the troop campfire. We usually have the troop campfire on Thursday night. However, this year, they scheduled all of our Flintlock overnight slots for Thursday night. We have quite a few scouts headed off to Treehouse Overnight and Huck Finn Overnight and they did not want to miss the campfire. So, we moved the campfire to Wednesday night. Unfortunately, this gives the scouts one less day to prepare the fire. Wednesday night is merit badge round up at 9:00, were I meet with all the counselors to findout how the scouts are doing, so the staff and I missed over half of the campfire. Also, since everyone was up very late on Wedneday night, even fewer people than usual did the Polar Bear Swim Thursday morning. I think that is the LAST time we will move the fire to Wednesday night. Hopefully the adults arriving today won't be too disappointed they missed the fire.

The older scouts spent all the free time they could (including some they shouldn't have building their log-cabin fire. I guess they didn't realize that log-cabin fire is just a description. It doesn't really have to be the size of a log cabin, but try to tell them that. We were pretty sure that all the cars got moved, but based on the size of the pile, we weren't there wasn't one in there somewhere. Needless to say, when it was lit, it was pretty impressive.

A number of skits were presented (perhaps more than there was good material for). The old south commisioner's camp (the front lawn of wich we hold the fire on) has been converted to Two Harbors Campsite. This year, Troop 99 from Elk River is staying there, so we invited them to attend the campfire also (always invite the neighbors to noisy parties). After the Merit Badge round-up (well after 10:15) and number of staff members were able to join us, including Taylor Scharf, Nick Yearous, Radar (from last year), and several other staff. One staff member filled in for Mr. Broberg and told and good campfire story before we wrapped it up. The campfire finally wrapped up at about 11:30, but it was well after mid-night before everyone settled down. Several of the older scouts pulled their cots out and slept by the fire to keep an eye on it. By this morning, beleive it or not, it had pretty much burned down to just a few larger logs.

Thurday morning is the traditional Polar Bear Swim. Several of the staff members act out the story of Polar Bowlarinski and his adventure in Alaska with a Polar Bear that causes him to run into the water several time to escape the bear. Needless to saw, when he runs into the lake (in the story), so do we. And each time we do, he yell out "POLAR BEAR" to a different part of the lake to wake everyone one up. With the late night, the night before, attendance was down to two adults (Mr. Devitt and I) and a handfull of scouts, including several new scouts. We got back, collected the food (a bit late). Between the late food and the late night, everyone was dragging a little late this morning.

Breakfast this morning was pancakes, sausage, and grape juice. After Morning Assembly, they headed out to the morning merit badges classes. After our daily morning meeting with our commissioner, Mr. Fischer and I headed up headed to the admin building to update the blog and complete someother computer work. Yesterday afternoon Mr. Olson headed home (thanks Craig for helping organize everything) and Mr. Hauge arrived to take his place. This afternoon, three or four more adults should be arriving, and several more tomorrow. Mrs. Linde, Mrs. Dierauer, and Mrs. Modi have been staying Family camp and offering driving to get scouts to Flintlock and Ten Chiefs for the high adventure and Lifeguard programs as well as providing other logistics and moral support. A big thanks to ALL the adults that make this possible.

That brings us up to date. The scouts will have troop activities this afternoon (Rifle and Sailing), fourth hour class, dinner, and free time. A dozen or so scouts will be leaving tonight for Huck Finn and Treehouse overnights and 20 scouts will be attending Flintlock day programs tomorrow. I will try to get in at least one more update this week and send out an email when the scouts leave on Saturday.

We will be having about 16 scouts all next week, and 5 adults, with various adult guest early and late in the week. Mr. Elliott and Dr. Hoffmann will be making a visit on Saturday and Sunday, flying into Detroit Lakes and driving to camp.

That's all for now from Many Point Scout Camp...Jon Yearous

And a great time is had by all

2008-07-29T20:36:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry that I've been a bit slow about updating the blog, but besides being very busy, there was the small matter of the storm last night...more on that later.

We arrived Sunday about 1:00 and promptly started setting up. We got most of the tents up and the scouts headed down to the beach for swim qualifications. Meanwhile, I headed "up north" (to the main camp admin building) to get us signed in. By the time I got back, the food and staples (bread, PB&J, oatmeal, soap, bleach, etc) were being delivered. When the boys returned, they finished setting up and started in on dinner. Beef Stew, chips, and apples. If the boys don't like what is on the menu for a meal, they can make themselves something out of staples.

The boys mostly relaxed until we got into our class A uniforms for the Voyager Camp opening campfire at 9:30. It was a great campfire, better even that those of past years, with the staff putting on some funny skits. We sang some song, listen to a story, and sang some more.

Once the campfire was over, we headed back to the campsite. The leadership held a Troop Leadership meeting, after which the adults met. The high during the day was the low 80's with a promised overnight low of 56. Great sleeping weather...if anyone slept. Everyone seemed to be wound up after the long drive (except for the adults) and they were bouncing off the trees until well after midnight. In the morning, it was difficult to get everyone up at the promised 6:30 and most of the scouts slept until 7:00.

Fortunately, the breakfast was simple (pop tarts, cereal and milk) so everyone was ready for the morning assembly at 8:30 (and mostly awake). Then it was off to first hour merit badge for everyone except the Senior Patrol Leader and the adults, we meet with our commissioner every morning to go over the day's events. The older scouts go off to second and third hour merit badges from 9:30 to 11:30 and the first year scouts are off to First Class Adventure during the same time. We have four scouts that spend all mosting at the Ten Chiefs beach taking BSA Lifeguard.

They head back to camp at 11:30 for lunch. On Monday, that was Hoagie Sandwiches. On Monday from 1:00 to 4:00, we had troop activities including Super Troop Service project and Greasey Watermellon. At 4:00 the scouts head to their fourth hour activity: Swimming for most, or one of a few Merit Badges. At 5:00, it's back to the site for a little slack time and dinner. Last night, it was Tacos.

The scouts have free time between 7:00 and 9:00, when they can go to the trading post or one of the available activities such as swimming, archery, shooting, climbing wall, etc. At 9:00, it was back to the campsite for a "snacks out" at 10:00 and lights out at 10:30. Several of the older scouts (that should know better) snuck out to pull a prank (involving moving around canoes). They found out later was a mistake that was for two or three reasons.

During the morning, it had been fairly comfortable, but as the day wore on the air kept getting warmer and more humid. A sure sign, the staff indicated of a developing storm. Sure enough, about 2:00 in the morning a big thunderstorm developed with lots of rain and lightening, that blasted until about 4:00. We were protected by the trees between us and the lake. The Two Harbors campsite next to us, and the Blackhawk campsite at Ten Chiefs were not so lucky, the wind off of the lake knocked down many tents and tarps. In our site we had some sleepless scouts, one sick scout, two wet sleeping bags, and a couple of tarps that fell down. Everyone survived.

However, after staying up late (before the storm) to pull their prank, the older scouts got even less sleep when the storm hit. The staff was up much of the night, pitching tents for the Two Harbors people and then had to "undo" the prank our boys pulled (which didn't make them happy). There was another, much less funny, prank pulled by someone else that night, and our guys found themseleves in the position of having to deny having pulled that one too. Once a troop has a reputation for pranks they found, you tend to get blamed for everything. They appologized for their prank and everything is fine now.

The storm also blew doen several trees on the north end of camp and knocked out the power line two places. The staff was able to put a generator on the well pump so we had water, but that meant no lodge coffee for early rising adults and some inconveniences during the day. I had originally intended to update the blog this morning, but with no power, the internet was down also.

Breakfast was French Toast, saugage, and tropical fruit punch (?). Then, it was the same routine for the morning: Assembly, three classes, and lunch. Lunch was hot dogs and baked beans. The afternoon was two hours of troop activities followed by the IRONMAN Race!! The Ironman starts out with canoeing, followed by swimming, followed by running. Scouts, can do all the legs, one or more of the legs, or cheer. Any scout that did at least one leg, will get an Ironman segment patch for their uniform.

After Ironman, it was fourth hour class and back for dinner (ham, mac & cheese, milk & salad) then off to Vespers (interdemoninational worship) followed by free time (activities) until 9:00.

That brings us up to date. It's 9:15 pm and I'm up at the admin building updating the blog. I'm going to close it out now and make the 20 minute trip back down to Voyager and go to bed.

That's all for now from Many Point....Jon Yearous

Great Things A Happening

2008-07-08T18:55:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in the last post, Many Point has been a busy place, even without Troop 346 present. At Voyager (our camp), the trading post has been greatly expanded. The rear wall (which was about 1/2 way back in the building) was removed and a new rear wall installed further back. There are now two screen doors in front for more ventilation.

As you enter, the first thing you see is the register counter, that has been moved from the side wall to the front, and expanded into an "L" shape.

There is now room for the cooler, the freezer, the slushie machine and plenty of display area.

Two movable tables have been added to the center of the room for additional display space.

Things won't seem quite so cramped there this year.

NEWS OF FUTURE VOYAGER IMPROVEMENTS:
The big news for Voyager will start at the end of this camping season. As soon as the last camper leaves this year, bulldozers will be removing the shower house and a brand new shower house will take its place. There will be individual showers, each accessible from the outside. There will also be a new adult shower area. Now THAT is something to celebrate.

OTHER T346 INVOLVEMENT AT MANY POINT

As some of you may know, there are two Troop 346 members on staff at Many Point this summer. Taylor Scharf is working at Voyager this summer, teaching the canoeing and rowing merit badges. Nick Yearous is working up at Buckskin, teaching the Weather Merit Badge and helping out at the beach.

We have also had four scouts attend Many Point already as part of one of the All Star Troops. New scouts Hunter A., Elliot C., Ben G. and Josh M. attended as part of an All Star Troop the first week Many Point was open. All Star Troops are an opportunity for scouts to attend Many Point, if they are unable to attend with their troop. An All Star Troop is made up of Scouts from several troops that are put together with Many Point Staff in a Buckskin campsite to experience Many Point as though they were a troop. From what Nick says, they all had a great time.

BACK TO MANY POINT...AGAIN

As I mentioned, I just returned from my second trip to Many Point this year. While Nick is on staff at Many Point, they are giving him two weeks off to attend Philmont with the two T346 crews that are part of the council contingent. To avoid driving 500 miles in one day, I decided to drive up on July 4th and come back with Nick on July 5th when he was done at noon (staff work from Sunday noon until Saturday noon each week).

As long as I was going to be around, I asked the staff to find a job I could do while was waiting (one may as well be useful as ornemental). The project they selected was to spiff up the main counter in the Admin building with some wood paneling. Anyone who has been to the admin building probably remembers this:

Well after several hours of cutting and nailing, it now looks like this:

You might notice that the loon is gone (it was painted on), but have no fear it will eventually re-appear.

The 4th of July week at Many Point is not one of their busier weeks. A lot of troops don't attend that week due to family vacations. Bucksin only had about 65 scouts in the entire camp (that's how many T346 is taking our first week). But there is a big incentive to attend that week. Be sides all the extra personal attention you get in smaller merit badge classes, there is a fireworks display at the closing campfire.

The former Many Point Director, Bob Gagner, got his commercial fireworks license a couple years ago, so he comes back on the 4th of July to put on a fire works display at each of the three camps.

Instead of holding the closing campfire Friday night at the camp fire ring, it was held at the beach.

The staff created a fire ring raft, lit the fire, and the skits and awards were presented on the beach. Near the end of the campfire, the fire works were launched from a point across the lake.

From the beach, we could also see the fire work displays of several near-by towns and the display at Voyager. It was quite a night.

Once Nick was done with his camp duties, we bid a fond adeu to Many Point and headed home for a (very) short stay.

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE

8:00 Sunday morning, it was off to the airport to meet up with the rest of the scouts that will make up the council contingent to Philmont.

THERE, AND BACK AGAIN

Once our interpid crews return on July 18th, while most of the crew will be sighing with relief, we will be making our third trip to Many Point of the summer, to return Nick back to work on July 20th.

However, that won't be the last we will see of Many Point this summer. A short week after that, on July 27th, Troop 346 will be headed to Many Point for our annual summer camp.

This year, partly due to Philmont, and partly due to Minnetonka Schools unfortunate scheduling of their Freshman orientation, our numbers are down a bit. We will have about 65 scouts the first week, and 16 brave souls the second week. We will be trying to fit everyone into Ft. Bill this year, but have Savanna Portage on reserve, just in case. Next year, we have Ft. Bill and the new Two Harbors campsites reserved. Two Harbors is a new campsite where the old South Commissioner's site was.

Be sure to watch your email and the Troop website for updates on Many Point.

That's more than enough for now.

YIS....Jon Yearous

Is it that time again already?

2008-07-07T11:08:00.000-05:00

Some of you may be wondering why there is a post for Many Point 2008 already, when we don't leave for Many Point for another three weeks? Even though Troop 346 may not attend Many Point until the end of July, that doesn't mean there isn't stuff happening up there.
I just returned Saturday from my second trip to camp this year. I first went to Many Point for the work weekend at the end of May/beginning of June. There was a crew of volunteers up there performing all manner of tasks to get the camp ready for this season.
My task this year was to help with the expansion of the Voyager Trading Post. The rear wall was knocked out and the trading post is now about twice the size it was before. I will try to post some pictures later.
It was weird seeing the camp with out all of the people, before the signs had been put back out, and all the equipment was stacked floor to ceiling in any building spot available. The campsites with weeds and grass growing in them was very different than when we see it at the end of July. By then, several weeks of Boy Scouts have trampled the ground and the sites have been mowed.
I'll tell you more about my second trip up there later.
YIS...Jon Yearous

Your son will come home….. Tomorrow!

2007-07-27T20:23:00.000-05:00

(think Annie, the musical here people) …. bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow….. you’ll have son (that is unless they are staying for another week).
Camp site inspections happen at 8:30am so we will be up with the loons tomorrow morning cleaning and packing up our sites. Sounds like the Moose patrol will have less to do than say.... the Dragons. For those staying into week two I wish you the best. Enjoy the quiet time, you have earned it this week. Thanks to Michael Anderson for his early week blogging, Greg Wallgren for the use of his toys, and to all of the adults who have put in the time and effort to make this week possible. Drive safe ‘ya all. – YIS Doug Ohlsen

The Moose out front shold have told you.....

2007-07-27T20:21:00.000-05:00

The troop sponsored a campsite contest that pitted patrol against patrol in the winner takes all, high stakes world of sanitation. The patrols were judged after each meal break for site cleanliness, washing of dishes, orderliness, and disposal of garbage and waste. Chief inspector Jessie Jones awarded the bragging rights to the Moose patrol. Moose patrol captured the title with 994 out of 1000 points, clearly taking patrol site duties to the next level for Troop 346. The spoils of victory took its form in two sheet cakes, but in true scout fashion, the winnings were shared with the rest of the troop. The rest of the patrols now have a benchmark to shoot for next year…… and there is lots of room for improvement.

It's not all that serious...

2007-07-27T20:16:00.001-05:00

Don’t worry, today has not been all work… work… work. After the troop reflection time, the troop activity time was split between firing rounds at the archery range and bouncing around on the aqua tramp. There were also four Scouts who went up to Flintlock today to spend the afternoon on a Tom Sawyer adventure

Troop time

2007-07-27T20:10:00.001-05:00

After a yummy lunch of ramen noodles and ham and cheese sandwiches we returned to the scene of last night’s bonfire. This time the purpose was not to burn things, but to ask the burning questions that leaders dread asking 70 scouts. Questions like, “What did you learn this week at Many Point?” Yep it was Troop reflections time, a time to gather the Scouts and have a serious discussions about the positive experiences they had a camp and provide insight for growth and development.

Good Morning Campers

2007-07-27T20:04:00.000-05:00

Friday morning came early but the promise of Granny’s sweet rolls was incentive enough to rouse most of the scouts and enjoy a breakfast of eggs, sausage, English muffins, and yes, sweet rolls. Today the first week scouts put a wrap on their merit badge classes. Those who put in the time in class should reap the rewards of their hard work come Court of Honor time. The weather today has been very pleasant, dry and sunny. A more perfect day to be at camp is hard to come by. This evening holds the last block of free time for the scouts or the option of Scout Master, or Board Reviews. Tonight’s entertainment will be provided by the staff at Many Point with a closing bonfire. If last nights impromptu performances by guest staffers at the 346 bonfire were any indication of the talent out there, we should be in for a great show!

Wow!!! That is big.

2007-07-27T19:58:00.000-05:00

The bonfire last night lived up to the hype and showed just what happens when you put seventy scouts in a small area with lots of available timber. As you can see from the photos, the flames lit up the night sky (the little things in front of the flames are people). Entertainment for the fire was provided by the troop and included feats of daring and whimsy. Even though the flames reached toward the heavens, safety was of the utmost importance. Our fire wardens can be seen using their equipment to squelch a couple of flare ups.

Amish?

2007-07-26T20:41:00.000-05:00

Some of the adult leadership has been skillfully rebuilding some of the furniture at the lodge. Their shirts may say 346, but what about their hats?????

MNDOT 346

2007-07-26T20:30:00.000-05:00

The roads here at Many Point can be a bit of a challenge at times..... the good folks of 346 attempted to remedy some problem areas today with a little extra fill.

What's cookin?

2007-07-26T20:23:00.000-05:00

Either these guys are getting better with the pots and pans, or we're getting a lot less picky.....

Thursday images2

2007-07-26T20:19:00.000-05:00

You still looking for more fun?

More Thursday pictures

2007-07-26T20:15:00.000-05:00

The fun continues....

So what did you do today?

2007-07-26T19:57:00.000-05:00

The morning consisted of merit classes..... what do you do if it rains during your class? Move the class into the tents of course. Lunch consisted of grilled cheese and tomato soup, always a classic on a rainy day. The afternoon was split between sailing and a trip to the rifle range. Funny thing about sailing, it's not much fun with no wind. Those classes were canceled due to lack of wind. There were also 13 Scouts that went up to Flintlock today for some added adventures. Four scouts went to the Challenge Outpost, and nine went to the Tree house for an overnight stay. Swimming was after the storms passed, some of the scouts had to swim in their clothes and create floatation devices out of their clothes. I was always told to change my clothes before going into the lake not after...... Diner tonight was a big hot steaming plate of s#%*!!!, oops sorry about that, I meant to type spaghetti, my keys must have gotten stuck. Diner was tasty as always with sauce, meatballs and fresh bread. This evening around 9:00 is the troop bonfire, this baby is going to be big.... again.... and since it rained today, they can make it even bigger right?

The Winds of Change

2007-07-26T19:32:00.000-05:00

Since the weather here at Many Point is always the subject of conversation, I thought I'd start with that. Last night was, in a word, "Sticky". We awoke to overcast skies, very humid temps. and no wind. Breakfast consisted of fluffy pancakes with sausages and then it was off to morning merit badge classes. The sky threatened rain most of the morning with rumbles of thunder that seemed to elevate the anticipation of a much promised cool front. About 11:00, the rain began. As far as rains go, it was a real peach! There was not a bolt of lightning to be had, no torrential downpours, twisters, hail ..... just good old fashion rain. This steady stream of water continued until about 1:15. At that time it was cooler but still very humid, so where was the pay off? Where was the promised change? Around 3:30 another round rain showed up to rinse away the remaining weather system. This finally gave way to the promised cool front. I noted that the temp coming up to post this tonight is 15 degrees cooler than about the same time as yesterday, with not much humidity and a good breeze out of the north, should be good sleeping tonight!

Life's a Beach!

2007-07-25T20:52:00.000-05:00

The new scouts on first class adventure had their five mile hike canceled today on account of the temperature. Instead, they got extra time at the beach where they practiced their swim strokes, learned about snorkeling, and got to try to sink row boats..... all in one hour!

Diner tonight was prepared and served by the staff to the boys down at the beach. What did they have? Who cares! It's a meal they didn't have to cook or clean up. Is this place great or what?

Tomorrow at 6:15am is the Polar Bear event. This is a story that is told to the boys and at key parts of the tale, they rush into the water and do some actions. Rumor has it that if the temps next year are like this year, they will rename this the Solar Bear event.

Into the Woods

2007-07-25T20:21:00.000-05:00

After a warm afternoon in camp, the troop began gathering and cutting brush in anticipation of the big bonfire tomorrow night.

Practical Skills, Practical Jokes

2007-07-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Some scenes from "First Class Adventure" where scouts new to Many Point accomplish many of the requirements for earning their First Class rank.

Monday afternoon Greasy Watermellon competition, followed by ... watermellon, of course!

Monday afternoon nature kyaking tour of the lake.

Monday evening some scouts toured the firetower and museum at the far north end of Camp Many Point. Many Point has a very rich history of having benefitted from the vision and wisdom of those with strong beliefs in the value of scouting.

Selected views of camp life.

Including some high jinks ...

Bob Oen, the banker, is a popular guy after dinner.

Tuesday afternoon SuperTroop service project. We split up into groups tackling trail maintainance, Chapel preparation, spreading sawdust around the climbing tower, and repairing the rockers on the porch of the Voyageur lodge.

Tuesday afternoon's water polo match between the "Death Eaters" and the "Order of the Pheonix". We can't tell you who won, of course ... but you can bet everyone played their hearts out and enjoyed a good dunking in the lake.

Tuesday afternoon's "Ironman" competition where teams compete in an out-and-back canoe, swim around the swimming area, and up-the-road-a mile or so-and-back running race. The scouts take this event pretty seriously as the mettle of all particiapants is tested mightily in the hot afternoon sun.

Soaking up some of the wisdom of Kings Salomon during Tuesdsay evening Vespers. The Voyageur Chapel is built right into a steep hillside overlooking Many Point Lake. Hard not to be appreciative of God's creation, our forefather's vision for a northern scout camp, and our parent's support in this setting.

Getting Settled, Getting Started

2007-07-23T19:26:00.000-05:00

Sunday was great first day for all of us arriving at Many Point. We drove through rain on the way up, and apparently it rained a fair amount here yesterday morning. So, no dusty roads, but plenty of pot holes full of muddy water! It was a warm, still and humid afternoon. No complaints from anyone when it came time for “swim quals”. Many younger scouts passed the BSA swim test for the first time, and everyone enjoyed jumping into the cool waters of Many Point Lake.

The mosquito population seems to be down this year. No complaints there either. The flys on the other hand, are keeping everyone twitching. We’re all a little more sensitive to the dangers of ticks this year.

The scouts warmed up their cooking skills last night preparing beef stew and fruit cocktail (both from a can) augmented by peanut butter sandwiches. One of our scouts has a severe peanut allergy so we are taking steps to help him avoid exposure. It’s a good learning experience for all.
As a troop we attended a momentous roaring bonfire last night at about 9:30pm around which all of the troops staying in the Voyageur Camp gathered. Several skits were performed by the roughly 20 camp counselors. The evening was topped off by a song reverently sung by them and accompanied by 2 guitars which paid tribute to Lord Baden Powell who founded Boy Scouts 100 years ago this year. We all headed back to camp afterward to get ready for bed, or back to our Harry Potter books. It seems that well nigh half the camp chose J. K. Rowling's latest as their preferred reading material for the week. From the looks of it, most won’t last the week. The scouts are being very sporting about not revealing the details of the book – perhaps aided by the several signs posted about which read “No Harry Potter Spoilers!”.

Monday morning dawned at Many Point warm, humid & still again. It looks like we will all need plenty of water today. Revelie came much too early for those who stayed up late, and none too soon for those who are still adjusting to sleeping in the woods. Either way, much fatigue was apparent at breakfast. Pop Tarts, Marshmallow Mateys, OJ and “yikes, can they be for real?” carmel rolls for breakfast.

With the daily merit badge classes & activities getting fired up for the first time today, there was a fair amount of “where do I go again?” as everyone sorted out what classes they were enrolled in this year. Fortunately, there were lots of people on hand to help point scouts in the right direction. All of the stuff they have to do each day is pretty tightly scheduled, at least at the outset, which helps to snap the scouts out of their dazziness. Before you know it, it’s lunchtime – tuna salad sandwiches and chicken noodle soup.

After lunch, it’s off to the beach for greasy watermellon and nature kayaking. “Greasy” is essentially rugby played in the water with a watermellon - no throwing allowed (as if it’s even remotely possible to throw a 20 pound mellon, greased smooth with Crisco, while 20 guys are trying their darndest to relieve you of it!) Nature kayaking is a tour of the lake conducted while kayaking in a 2-person canoe. From the looks of it, they got just as wet as those playing GW. Just as well. The high today must be close to 90, the dewpoint must be close to 70, and still NO BREEZE!

2007-07-22T19:47:00.000-05:00

Testing the technology ... much more to follow!

Best Laid Plans of Mice & Men

2007-07-22T08:24:00.001-05:00

Well...the best laid plans of mice & men... With the Northern Tier trip ending only three days ago, we could not get enough leadership scouts to come up to Many Point to get the camp set up in anticipation of the rest of the troop.
Since my son is working at Many Point and was expecting me, I went ahead and packed up and drove up. It was warm and clear yesterday, but about 5:00 this morning, it started raining rather heavily. It stopped about 7:00 and clearing up now. It should be nice, but warfm when the troop gets here. There is a 20% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.
I have heard from Scout Master Devitt and he says they have left. I am sitting outside of the administration lodge posting this update. They have a new fiber optic connection this year, so I am not longer limited by the weather for posting updates. I'm off to have breakfast with the CITs (Counselors In Training) then off to Bemidji to visit the Bemidji Woolen Mills, then back here to meet the troop when they arrive about 2:00. That's it for now from Many Point Scout Camp. YIS Jon Yearous

Many Point Blog 2007

2007-07-20T15:30:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow at 8 am (or there abouts) two adults and some number of leadership scouts will be leaving for Many Point Scout Camp to establish the beach head for the 75 scouts from Troop 346 that will be at Many Point (MP) next week.