We're halfway there! (CDB Day 4)

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Jason called out as an OA candidate

Flag retirement ceremony

Water, Water...

      The rain waited until Friday to put in another appearance. Although there were only a couple of storms that passed through, it was enough to disrupt the water carnival in the afternoon and soak some of our gear. There was a storm of another sort prior to breakfast when it was discovered that someone had cut a four inch gash in one of the canvas tarps in our campsite. Given the prodigious use of knives in the campsite over the past few days, it seemed likely that someone had attempted to samurai the tarp into submission. Since no one in the troop owned up to the rending of the tarp, the Scoutmaster was forced to confiscate the knives of the entire troop.

The wide variety of knives seized during Operation Skewered Tarp.

      As usual, the morning was taken up with merit badge classes and the Eagle Bound program. As an added bonus, some counselors covered requirements for related merit badges that resulted in the earning of the extra badges or a partial for the covered requirements. For example, the Camping merit badge class knocked out a few Backpacking requirements; the Kayaking class also earned the Whitewater merit badge; Emergency Preparedness students worked on Search and Rescue; and the Communications counselor taught Public Speaking as an add-on. Our new Scouts in the Eagle Bound program earned First Aid, Swimming, and Leatherwork merit badges as part of their Scout skills lessons. Mr. Williams also made arrangements for many of the other Scouts in the troop to earn Leatherwork during an afternoon activity. The seventeen scouts earned a total of 64 merit badges overall and completed partial requirements for another 19 merit badges. The total also includes Josh finishing his Archery merit badge from last summer. We were able to exploit our connection to the camp's archery director to get the requirements finished. The six Eagle Bound Scouts completed a combined 69 requirements toward their Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks.

Aiden shows off his woodcarving skills
prior to the confiscation of knives.

      The Friday afternoon water carnival is a camp-wide game that involves a number of waterfront races. These include boat and canoe races, swimming races, a life-jacket relay, a canoe tug-o-war, and a Scout leader belly flop contest. After a rain storm passed, the first event was the Water Spaniel Special. This involves five scouts in a rowboat, paddling with their hands, with one scout using a paddle to steer. They are tasked with finding a floating buoy with the same number as their boat. They then have to race back to shore with their buoy. Our troop's team finished third in the event. 

Troop 50's team (in the far boat) attempts to beat the
second place team to the finish line. 

 

Ethan, Josh, Rusty, Everett, and Creighton pose with their buoy at the
end of the race as Davis photobombs them in the background.

      Several Scouts competed in the swim by weight races. Scouts were matched in the various races based on their body weight. Mr. Dagg also competed in the Scout leader race, taking second place. We seemed to have an edge in the next event with the experienced canoe team of Josh and Louie. The canoe in and out event involved racing the canoes around a course in the lake while listening for blasts on a whistle. Depending on the number of whistle blasts, participates were required to either change places in the canoe or jump out of the canoe, then get back in without swamping it. However, as the canoeists reached the center of the lake to start the race, a prodigious downpour occurred, accompanied by the sound of thunder. This brought a halt to the race and a scramble to get back to shore. Although the rain later slackened, the continued sound of thunder forced the cancellation of the other events. Based on the completed events, the troop tied for third place overall. 

      The afternoon also saw the arrival of the troop committee chair, Mr. Stanford, who came to tow the troop trailer home. He replaced Mr. Williams, who left to fulfill another commitment. The Scouts, hopefully, used the time before dinner to begin the process of packing their gear for home. 

      At the closing campfire, the troop was recognized for earning the Commissioner's Spirit Award. This involved meeting a number of requirements such as competing in camp-wide games, performing the flag ceremony, having swimmers complete the mile swim, doing a conservation project, offering a prayer before a meal (ably done by Joey Futrell), and having the troop in proper uniform for the evening meals. Although our campsite inspection score was a total of 497 out of 500, we just missed receiving an award. Several troops either received perfect scores or missed only one or two points. Overall, the troop had a productive and successful week. 

Miles, Zach, Clay, Ethan, and Aiden await the start of the closing campfire.

  

      More photos from the day and the foreshortened water carnival are found in the online photo gallery. 

 

Hump Day

      After Tuesday night's rain, Wednesday began with a gray overcast but soon burned off to give us high humidity. At the morning roll call, Creighton answered by yelling, "what day is it?" The rest of the troop followed with the obligatory response - "Hump Dayyyyy!" This got a laugh and applause from the staff and other troops.

Trey does the Muffin Man
dance with a staff member.

      As merit badge classes began this morning, the Emergency Preparedness class was told that they had almost finished their requirements, so as an added bonus, they would also cover requirement for the new Search and Rescue badge.

      The Eagle Bound Scouts finished their requirements for the Totem Chip and the Fireman's Chit. This allows them to "legally" carry knives and use matches to start fires. They proudly returned to the campsite bearing their new cards and vying for the Scoutmaster's signature on said cards. Before signing, the Scoutmaster required all of them to swear an oath, stating, "I promise not to burn anything down or stab anyone." Once sworn, many made a pilgrimage to the Trading Post with their signed cards and the requisite funds to purchase a new knife. They returned to the campsite bearing fancy cutlery with names such as the Blue Eagle, the Lone Wolf, and Mister Bear. Strangely enough, no one purchased a Zombie Hunter knife, which was the hot property last summer.

      After lunch, Rusty, Nicky, Creighton, Mr. Dagg, and the Scoutmaster once again headed to the Waterfront for mile swim practice. As happened on Tuesday, thunder disrupted the swim and required all participants to exit the swimming area. Given that this seems a normal dynamic for a hot summer afternoon, it doesn't look good for our being able to complete the mile swim without thunder rolling us out of the water.

      The foreshortened swim practice did allow us to return to the campsite and change clothes in time for the three mile Lake Cross Trail hike. The lake, named for long-time camp director and Explorer Post 50 advisor Zack Cross, covers 72 acres and is over a mile in length. The hike began at the Chapel Point and took us around to the back side of the lake, opposite the Waterfront, and returned across the water stopper at the other end of the lake (a water stopper is the thing at the end of the lake that holds back the water. Because we are Scouts we are not allowed to use bad words).

Zach, Louie, Josh, Everett, and Creighton wait their turn to
cross a stream on the Lake Cross Trail.

       The staff member who was leading the hike set a pretty strong pace and we were done with the entire hike in about an hour and fifteen minutes. This put us back in camp in time to send our teams to compete in the shooting sports competition. Teams of two scouts each strove to be the top shots in archery, rifle, and skeet. Preliminary reports indicate that the troop preformed well but we will not know for sure until the awards campfire on Friday evening (barring any inside information obtained from the archery instructor).

      The highlight of the day was welcoming our visitors to camp. Many of the Scout parents made the trip up from Auburn to visit and have dinner. Parents are always welcome, especially when they arrive bearing food. Numerous pizzas and other goodies made their way to Turkey Flats, courtesy of Troop Committee Chairman Rob Stanford and the many parents who attended. Other distinguished visitors included the Chartering Organization Representative, Michael Tullier, and our Advancement Chairman, J.P. Pendleton. They came to assess the progress of our Scouts and to offer encouragement to the leaders who have been spending the week here. Although there was a brief but spirited outbreak of homesickness as the parents began to head for home, it was tamped down with the help of older Scouts and leaders working in concert. In the end, all of the troop's Scouts are still in camp and now fast asleep.

Aiden, Joey, and Josh clown around while the parents tour the campsite. 

      The other interesting event of the evening was the Order of the Arrow callout ceremony. The Order of the Arrow is a service organization of honor Scouts that is almost as old as the Boy Scouts of America. Candidates for membership in the OA are selected by the members of their own troops, making it an organization whose members are largely chosen by non-members. Coosa Lodge 50 of the Greater Alabama Council holds their callout ceremony at Camp Sequoyah during summer camp. The ceremony is based on the story of Sequoyah, the Cherokee chief who invented a written form of the Cherokee language for his people to use, and uses Native American dancing and chants to tell the story.  The Scouts seemed intrigued by the ceremony.

The OA ceremony team begins the callout of new candidate names. 

      As always, more photos of the day are found in the online photo gallery.

Sharpening our knife skills

Troop 50 sharpened its knife skills with a variety of round-robin presentations during Monday night's meeting — a perfect topic for tenured Scouts and visiting Webelos from Cub Scout Pack 29 alike. After the troop's opening ceremony, visiting Webelos introduced themselves, and everyone divided into and rotated among the various instructional stations.

Assistant Senior Patrol Leader John discusses the purpose of and
etiquette surrounding an axe yard, and what Scouts
might expect to find in one.

Patrol Leader Vincent (right) demonstrates with Michael (left)
how to properly pass a pocketknife to someone else, as well
as the principles of a "blood circle" and other best practices.

Senior Patrol Leader William demonstrates proper techniques
of using, sharpening and caring for hand tools such as
axes, hatchets and bowsaws.

At the conclusion of the meeting, those who attended the troop's recent Gatlinburg ski trip recounted the outing, and troop leadership reminded Scouts about upcoming summer camp plans. The troop also welcomed new Life Scout Cameron, who transferred from another local troop, and presented the Totin' Chip card to Andy.