Troop 54 attended summer camp at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation this year, our first time there in 3 years. This was the Mohegan Council's camp, prior to its merger with Nashua Valley Council (new council to launch September 1). We had asked to share a site and got to share Madore site with Troop 103 of Boylston, Massachusetts.
Check-in was very slow for us, stretching almost to dinner (we missed the Find Out Fair) and leaving us to finish moving into our tents at bed time.
The camp had 5 blocks for merit badges and other activities during the day. A block of about 1 hour just after breakfast and just after lunch were hard to use effectively because our camp site was pretty far from the dining hall.
We had 10 participating Boy Scouts (soon to be known as Scouts), our largest Scout contingent at Summer camp since 2011. We also had 3 Participating leaders.
During our week, the camp had about 260 Scouts, which camp staff indicated was their largest week in years. The troop traveling the furthest came from Pennsylvania (a 7 hour drive), and another troop came from New York State.
Most troops ate at the dining tent, set up next to East Lodge as it has been for several years now. Each meal ended with “Gung Ho” the staff-led series of chants and cheers that has evolved just a bit in recent years. The food was about the best we have had at a summer camp during the last 13 years.
Friday afternoon featured a camp-wide game called “George Magee's Search for the Holy Grail”; Troop 54's two patrols participated but did not place. Friday evening, they had a set of games called Jabberguzzle, plus the Order of the Arrow Ice Cream Social and the War Canoe Races. Eight of our Scouts manned a canoe and competed well, paddling quite straight across Browning Pond.
Our Scouts completed 22 merit badges. One of our leaders completed the Mile Swim, and another of our leaderes completed Knot Sure.
This camp no longer has a family visiting night, which was an improvement.
This was our one hundred fifteenth consecutive month with at least one overnight camping trip.
The group photo is included in the pictures you can get on this page (and we ordered a print of this for each of our camp youth participants). To purchase other pictures taken by camp staff, see the Week 3 Photo Gallery on SmugMug.
A few videos taken by Keith MacNeal:
