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| Connor and Gideon enjoying classes |
At camp on Wednesday morning, we awoke to another beautiful cool morning and a promising day. The scouts quickly got ready as they have every other day and we headed to breakfast. At the dining hall, we enjoyed country fried steak, gravy, biscuits, and folded eggs. Many of the scouts hit the cereal bar as well. We then headed outside to attend the flag raising ceremony for the day before having some free time before classes. Many of the scouts spend free time fishing, woodcarving, or playing ga-ga.
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| Mr. Chism after his quick climb up the rock wall |
In the morning, scouts continued with their classes in areas such as First Aid, Camping, Shotgun, Movie Making, and many in the STEM areas. The weather continues to be spectacular allowing for us to enjoy all the activities of camp. Before lunch, Mr. Chism competed in the Scoutmaster Climb competition and finished in fine time. Our scouts and leaders continue to be exemplary in multiple areas and represent our troop well.
For lunch, the adult leaders were treated with trout, corn on the cob, potato salad, rolls, and banana pudding. It was fantastic and one of the perks for attending scout camp for the week as an adult. The scouts enjoyed hot dogs and the sides that go along with that. After lunch, the scouts enjoyed some free time at the Snack Shack (for sugar) and in Cold Mountain Outfitters (trading post) as well as the ga-ga pit. Then, they headed off for their afternoon classes for merit badges and Goin' Great.
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| Will climbing up the rock wall |
After classes, free time involved card games, rock climbing, fishing, and some football on the parade field. The scouts are also working on their homework for their classes in their free time. The adult leaders are strongly encouraging all of the scouts to get their merit badges completed so they don't have work to complete them later. Time will tell if they are heeding this advice.
For supper, we enjoyed a box meal from Bojangles, which included chicken fingers, mac and cheese, green beans, and a cookie. It was noticeably missing their famous biscuits. The dining hall is closed for supper on Wednesdays so the staff can have the night off, so we ate in our campsite. Apparently, many of our scouts won't eat green beans, but Joe made sure to eliminate them for us. He ended up eating 7 servings himself!
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| Joe and all his green bean containers |
Meanwhile, Whit cleaned his fish and was cooking it as a requirement for the Fishing merit badge. He was nice enough to share it with the rest of us and it was pretty tasty (and salty!). It was nice for the boys to see where food comes from. Just hours before, Whit saw this fish swimming in the lake and caught it. Now, we are eating it. The troop we are sharing a campsite with from Florida was nice enough to lend some of their cooking gear and expertise.
After dinner, we climbed up "cardiac ridge" to Boonesboro Village to witness the Highland Games. This was a competition between the groups staying there in which they participated in some traditional Scottish games of flipping logs, racing with sheep, and haggis tossing. Boonesboro Village is a living history program that allows us to experience life skills and crafts that were common in the late-1700’s.
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| Whit cooking the trout he caught |
After this interesting experience, we descended down the mountain to the campfire amphitheater for the Order of the Arrow (OA) call out ceremony and the flag retirement ceremony. The troop had one scout called out for the OA, resulting from our election last month and it was Jason. Mr. Williams was able to retire a flag based on his service to our country.
Once we arrived back at camp, we invited over our friends from Florida to enjoy some snacks and fellowship. It is always nice to meet new scouting friends and enjoy their company. You can learn so much from other experiences they have had. Everyone settled in for the night with no issues (as usual). Several are planning to participate in the Polar Plunge early on Thursday morning. Stay tuned for that! The weather on Wednesday was very nice and it only sprinkled for a few moments. To see more pictures from today's adventure, see our
online photo album.
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| Jason called out as an OA candidate |
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| Flag retirement ceremony |
