Troop 1131 at Raven Knob Scout Camp 2007

Raven Knob 2007 #5

Troop 1131:

This will be the last message from camp. Several parents arrived in camp yesterday, James Pratt, Rick Taylor, Geoff Abbott, Heidi McShea and Sue Johnson. I've attached an image of Heidi and Sue eating in the dining hall.

Some of our scouts will leave this evening after completing their last class; the rest of us will leave tomorrow morning. We should be home around 4:00-4:30 p.m..

The scouts taking Wilderness Survival and Camping merit badges spent the night in the woods, and missed the incredible Dutch Oven Black Forest Cobbler we made in our campsite. Tonight, after the camp wide closing campfire, we'll return to our campsite and make donuts, another favorite with the scouts.

Last night, a few of our new scouts were running around the camp site, and I had to yell at them to stop. However, two of the boys, supposedly on their way to bed, continued running after they left the central area where I could see them. Thomas Dills tripped over his tent line, and hurt himself. We were not sure what was wrong, but Thomas dramatically complained of pain in both his legs and back. So we got the Health Lodge staff to come up to our campsite to check on him, and they decided to transport Thomas to the hospital on a back board with a neck brace. Thankfully, nothing was seriously wrong, and Thomas came back to camp to participate in his final classes today. I really appreciated the help I got from David Sevier and George Riley who went to the hospital with Thomas and brought him back to camp in the "wee" hours of the morning.

So this morning, I repeated the safety rules for all the scouts, and in addition to not running in camp, I covered fire safety, and woods tools safety. I explained that the reason things are called accidents is because that's what they are, unexpected, unanticipated, and the best way to prevent them is to follow the safety rules. We are all glad that Thomas is fine, but the incident will perhaps make an impression on his friends and the other scouts in the troop.

This afternoon we will give each scout a camp T-shirt to wear on the trip home, and we will also give each scout a camp patch for his uniform or collection. Scouts who climbed the knob will also get a pin.

Tomorrow morning, we'll bring muffins and drinks to our campsite from the dining hall, pack up and should be on our way around 9:30-10:00 a.m. Mike Tiffany will have a copy of the camp advancement report with information about the merit badges that boys have earned. Mike also has the handbooks of those scouts who advanced in rank this week. He and Judy will update the troop records.

Several scouts had hoped to finish Shotgun Shooting merit badge during our troop shoot here at camp, but since they only got 15 shots (needed 25), they will have to complete the badge back home. Parents can take their sons, and other scout to Bull Run to finish the badge (invite other scouts to join you). Then let Mr. Mazzocco know so he can complete the blue cards.

The PLC voted James Tiffany as the Honor Camper this week; and I heartily concur. James has shown remarkable leadership and initiative, and like our other SPL's, James is terrific.

Next weekend, members of the PLC will go to Cape Henlopen for our annual Planning Camping trip. We'll put together the calendar of activities for next season. We will distribute the calendar to everyone by email, and we will put a copy on our troop web site. After Summer Camp, I will put together a DVD of the images from our trips this past season, and as we have done for the past few years, we will make copies to distribute at our meetings in the Fall.

I want to thank all the parents and other leaders for their support this week, driving, running activities, and boards of review. Despite the two trips to Mt. Airy hospital, the week at camp was excellent, and by and large, the scouts were well behaved. Have a great summer, be safe.

Philip Sternberg
Scoutmaster, Troop 1131