 |
Erie
campsite at Camp Simpson once we got our tents up. |
Scribe’s
Journal
By Jared D.
Well,
this will be my last write up for my term of six months.
As many of you all know, I now have my own patrol with Andrew G. as my assistant.
My last
write up is about summer camp. This
year, summer camp was at Camp Simpson [near Tahlequah, OK].
Our adventure started on Sunday.
We arrived at the church and loaded up the trailer with the
personal gear with rain and gloomy skies.
We all wondered if camp was the same.
When we arrived at camp, it was more of the same.
To make things worse, our tents were not put up, so we had to put
them up ourselves. Everyone
worked really well putting all the tents up in the rain.
When we went to do the swim check, the line was long, so we decided
to do it later. That night we
were hoping that tomorrow it would be sunny.
On
Monday at 6:30 am, we all woke up and went down to the lake to do our swim
test. The water woke us all
up pretty fast. At breakfast,
we had eggs from a box. We
all decided that they were not very good. However, lunch was a lot better, so that kind of made up for
it. Everyone learned where
all their classes were. Most
of them will be fun, and the others won’t be as fun.
First year campers even learned CPR in swimming class. That night, the camp put on a luau, but it wasn’t very
good. We even heard some
thunder, so half the people left before we got to swim.
We had a few comments that day.
Chris M., commenting about all the walking he had to do, said that
now he knows why they call it the Tenderfoot rank.
B.A. gave me a comment that next time we should bring bikes. Nathan and Josh both said some stuff about the trading post.
Nathan said that the chocolate ice cream is the best he has ever
had at a summer camp, and Josh said that he liked the Snickers.
Tuesday
was more relaxed than Monday was. 7:30
to 8:30 pm, one of the troops let us swim with them; in exchange, Thursday
we would let them swim with us. After
that there was a movie at the dinning hall.
It was Man in the Iron Mask.
I didn’t watch it, but as I heard it wasn’t that good.
I got some more comments that night.
Three from Mr. Dorland saying that he was so glad to finish
campsite inspections. He
really enjoyed seeing staff’s campsite though, because it was the
poorest of the whole camp, and seeing kids’ faces when they realize that
they can really do something. B.A. gave me another saying that he liked the free swim with
the other troop. Brent W.
said that he really liked tying the Swiss seat in climbing class. And last, but not least, Josh said that he liked the
motivation that people gave him to help him reach his goal.
Day four. Wednesday. Climbing
class finally got to climb up the tower and rappel.
The people in the shotgun class got to shoot the 20-gauge shotgun,
and the first year campers worked on their strokes and diving in swimming,
and in first aid they learned about bites and stings.
I didn’t get any comments that day.
Thursday
was our last full day of classes. Some
people got to leave early because they had already finished the merit
badge. In FYC, all the people
who didn’t get to shoot yesterday got to shoot today, and they all
earned their swimming merit badge. In
Space Exploration merit badge, they explained all the different parts of a
rocket. Later that day there
was a big storm, so our free swim with the other troop was cancelled, but
it hardly rained. I got two
comments today. Brent W. said
that he enjoyed “flying” in climbing, and another from Brent B.
He said that he finally earned his Firem’n Chit along with some
other boys.
Friday
finally came and we had classes only in the morning.
In most of them we didn’t really do anything.
We had a water carnival that afternoon, with a diving contest and
water polo, but hardly any free swim.
Altogether, it was really a relaxing day.
Day seven. Our last day. We
all learned how to strike a tent, or fold them up.
When we finally left camp, the first thing we came to on the road
was rain. It rained all the
way home. At the church we
had to unload the trailer under the porch.
We couldn’t put any other gear away because the basement was
flooded.
I think that most people had fun this summer camp
and it really was an adventure.
|
