[Troop1020] Thursday Update - Tom Hale Summer Camp

[Jim Baldwin]

Dear Parents, 
I know you are all anxious to hear how the Scouts are doing at Tom Hale. Several times on Tuesday and Wednesday I'd go to the adult "lounge"  (word used very roughly) to see if the computers were "up", only to find that it was not responding, thus very little communication from camp.  

We arrived Sunday afternoon and were greeted by a Tom Hale staff member who sent Mr. Amos off to check-in and acted as our "tour guide".  By far the most important location in camp is the Trading Post (air conditioning, junk food, kits for merit badges and more junk food).  We arrived at our camp site and the boys quickly paired up with a tent buddy.  It was interesting to see that several of the 2nd year scouts ended up with a 1st year scout, but it worked out very well.  After setting up and a little free time, we went to dinner.  It was nice that the first day provided a loose schedule so we all had a chance to get settled without rushing off to classes.  We provided all the scouts with a map of the camp, a schedule of their classes and locations of where they would be going the next day.  

Monday morning the boys got up about 6:30 and then off to the dining hall.  We were all dressed in our Class A uniforms and looked very sharp when we discovered that all the other troops decided to wear Class B uniforms to breakfast.  (We changed our routine and also switched to Class Bs the next day since the extra layer of clothing was rather hot.  You'll probably remember that when we wear our Class A uniform, we wear a Class B underneath, thus the extra layer of clothing.)  After breakfast we organized the boys into groups depending upon the location of their first class.  Each 1st time scout to Tom Hale either had an adult or an older returning scout taking them to class.  Many of the 2nd year scouts remembered the camp well and were a big help to show the younger scouts around.  Thoughout the day we hooked up with the younger scouts to make sure they knew where they were going.  I escorted Chance down to the Snow Sports merit badge Monday afternoon and asked him if he could make his way back after class.  He said "no" and asked if I'd stay.  I figured I was never very good at snow skiing and could learn a thing or two and decided to stay.  I walked down a nearby path just to look around and returned back to the class area about 5 minutes later to hear the instructor say, "What's the kid's name that just walked up?"  I looked around and realized he was talking to me!  I had piled my hair under my hat since it was so hot and he had mistaken me for one of the boys.  Was I ever thrilled!  My response as I took off my hat, "I'm an adult leader and I'll take that as a compliment since I'll be 49 years old next week."  (A slight laugh in the crowd.)  

The 4 merit badge classes take up the majority of the day, with Free Time in the evenings to go to any of the class locations and to participate in the activities.  A Scout can participate in an activity even though he isn't signed up for that class as one of his 4 merit badges.  They can either make up class work if they are a little behind or just have fun with such activities as swimming, archery, rifle shooting, bike riding, climbing, and much more.  Of course a visit to the Trading Post is almost always on the agenda during free time!  

During the day, the adults leaders were either in training themselves or walking around camp and checking on the boys.  Mr. Scivicque took a very intensive BSA Lifeguard and CPR class, while Mr. Whittle took some of the New Leader Essentials and Assistant Scout Master classes.  These are fantastic opportunities for adult leaders and are free at camp.  Mr. Amos and I did alot of the walking around camp, helping boys to class, running errands (more toilet paper or getting the mail) and taking pictures.  We'll have a lot of pictures for the Court of Honor on August 18th.  (You'll want to place that on your calendar.)  

Each morning Mr. Scivicque woke up the boys who were participating in the mile swim.  Monday through Wednesday they meet at the swimming pool to exercise and practice swimming distances.  This morning they had the mile swim in the lake.  They have lifeguards and adults positioned in various motor vehicles lining the area of the swimmers in case they need assistance.  I am so very proud of Ian Pierce and Alex Whittle for getting up early each morning to prepare for this event.  These boys took on a significant challenge and whether they finished or not, can feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment!!!

Cards are a past-time that all the boys enjoy.  It was nice to see that even the boys who were a little more reserved, they would get involved in a card game, jack-pot (the football game) or dominoes.  I brought a set of dominoes along and taught several of them how to play.  They even set up a "casino" in one of the empty tents.    

Yesterday afternoon it rained for about 45 minutes.  The boys came back from class fairly wet, but not complaining since the temperature had dropped significantly.  The boys enjoyed building a dam to divert a steady stream of water away from where my tent had just been taken down and playing in the mud.  They were all wet, but having lots of fun.  Mr. Amos later used that opportunity to send all of them to the showers to get cleaned up before dinner. 

Other highlights:

- Wednesday - Kevin represented our troop in the lunch-time climbing competition.  (There is a climbing wall inside the dining hall.)  It was a very close competion with Kevin narrowly missing 1st place.  
- Tuesday - All the Scout Rank boys completed their Whittling Chip.  We have a number of pictures with them chopping wood with an ax.  Kameron asked me several times a day when he could get his Whittling Chip since he was very anxious to use his new knife.  I was very concerned when I saw that Kameron was the next one in line to complete his Whittling Chip and they were getting ready to close down for the afternoon.  Then the instructor said he could take one more.  What a relief!!  I really didn't think that he could handle the disappointment very well seeing that all the other boys in our Troop had finished the Whittling Chip and he might have to wait until the next day.  They let him finish and was he ever proud of his card!  
- Wednesday - There was an evening competion at the rifle and archery ranges among the Troops.  The previous evening Nathan had taken the boys who were interested in representing us and had our own competition to see who would compete for Troop 1020. I heard one of the younger boys ask Nathan if he'd take them back another night since they had so much fun.
- Jimmy is in the Outbound program for older scouts.  They have special activities such as kayaking, a river trip and a rock climing trip.  He is having a great time and is back at camp by dinner time each evening.  I'm proud to see how well he interacts with the younger scouts.  One of the younger scouts really wanted to go to the Trading Post Tuesday evening (I really wanted to stay in camp), so I asked Jimmy if he'd take Spencer.  I could tell Jimmy really didn't have that in mind, but he was very willing to go anyway and acted like a big brother.  
- No poison ivy for Nick yet.  Just lost his voice.
- A couple of slightly homesick boys (Spencer and Bobby), but keeping them busy really helped.  I saw the biggest grin on Bobby's face while playing in the rain yesterday afternoon and knew I was having a good time.  
- Eric and Ian really surprised me with some great marksmanship at the rifle range.
- Nathan is doing a great job as SPL (from an adult leader persceptive and not his mom's).  It a new opportunity that he has never been in before.  He is learning, but doing very well.  His senior staff (Austin and Kevin) have taken an active role and doing fantastic!  They are making a great team which the boys are very comfortable going to them to solve little squables or to answer questions. 
- Matt - enjoyed the 4 pieces of pizza at lunch the other day.  I've challenged him to return home with my extra water bottle since he has a way of losing things.  It's almost become a little of a joke between the two of us I'd find his things laying around camp and returning them to him. 
- Spencer and I had a date each evening after dinner with "Doc" (the registered nurse at the Medical Building) for his daily shots.  The first night we went over there, we snuck by the Trading Post afterwards for a little treat.  I told him we'd better finish it before going back to camp otherwise everyone would be jealous. 
- Ryan (our independent scout) likes to disappear.  (We've all learned this from previous camping trips.)  Once we had to search for him all over camp and bring him back to our campsite.  The other time we went to the camp director since it would get dark in about an hour and knew we couldn't have one unaccounted for.  I was very impressed by their plan to locate a missing scout and within less than 10 minutes knew exactly where he was.  After a rather stern talking from the camp director, I was pleased the next day when Ryan asked if he could go to class early and take a nap while waiting for his class to begin.  
- Alex made a beautiful miniature tepee in his Indian Lore class.  I didn't realize how talented he was.  He really enjoyed playing dominoes and telling me about his grandfather also playing.  
- Nathan, Austin and Kevin - Really enjoying the archery and rifle shooting.  They haven't had much exposure to these before, but are quickly becoming very good!
- Chris is taking the Radio merit badge.  He prepared a script that he'd read over an area radio station this evening.  I asked his to practice on several of the adults and to pick out his favorate paragraph.  What a surprise to hear (and see the hand jesters) as he read the weather report.  (What a predictor of the future weather.  Perhaps he can do well with the Lottery?)
- Sean, Robert, Chance - All having a good time.  Had very slight moments of homesickness, but quickly got over it.  They were all right in the middle of playing in the rain (and a little mud) and haivng fun!
- Daniel - Doing GREAT in swimming class.  I watched the younger scouts doing various swimming strokes in class and even though Daniel struggled a little and had to go to the side of the pool a couple of times to catch his breath, he did so with confidence.  Last summer camp he would barely get into the water.  If your son is a non-swimmer, don't worry too much.  Daniel is the perfect example of what an additional year can do for a young man.  Him swimming was very good!
- Both Quinton and Kameron would probably get the "Clean Scout Award".  Both boys would go take showers without being asked and were two of the neater campers.  Quinton (being an older Scout) is always willing to volunteer and pitch in.  
- Alex W. - Had received an enormous care package from his mom.  He was going through it and planning to share it with the other boys after they got back from the showers.  I believe it was the true motivator to get the boys to take their showers after playing in the rain and mud.  Thanks Mrs. Whittle!

All the boys are doing fine.  You can expect they will be glad to see you on Saturday.  (You'll get phone calls when they are about 15 - 20 minutes away from the Scout Hut.)  Be expecting their calls a little before 4:00 on Saturday.  They will have a renewed appreciation for you, as they've had a good time, but looking forward to seeing you.  Take advantage of it and ask about all their activities.  It's not a bad thing to know they're glad to be home, but well-cared for while they were gone.  Sure it tugged at my heart when Nathan said goodbye to me with a tear in his eye yesterday.  When I asked what was wrong, he said he was sorry to see me leaving.  I thanked him to letting me come along.  I knew he'd be fine, but for a 13 year old to say he was glad I came, that's all I needed!!  I knew it was worth the trip!!

Thanks to Mr. Amos for doing a great job as Scout Master!!!  Also, thanks to Mr. Whittle, Mr. Brooks, Mr. Scivicque, Mr. Barnes (his son has Eagled-out, but still supporting the troop!!!!), Ms. Huff (arriving today).

Yours in Scouting,
Donna Baldwin 

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