Summer Camp 2016
Historian: Billy Jobmann
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Camp SequassanThis was our week long summer camp that we chose to go to in Connecticut. In camp, you can do just about anything including shot gun shooting, rifle shooting and archery. And you know the rest. We allchoose four merit badges to work while we are at summer camp. Something that was fun but wasn't a merit badge was the BMX bike riding and the land and sea games. They put in a new BMX bikecourse and we got to try it out. It was super hot that day but still a lot of fun. The land and sea games were different and had much more to them. The land portion included running, baseball throwing,scoutmaster comfort, and a few other events. The sea portion included tray and golf ball diving, sandwich relay, sink your scoutmaster, firemen's challenge and water tug of war.Also during thisweek, more scout's did fishing for their merit badge including Trevor, Jackson, Charm, Tommy, and Joe. All of them caught, cleaned, cooked and ate (at least a bite) their fish. We, also, played man huntat night. Some of us wore as much black as we could so that we would blend into the shadows where we were hiding. One of the kids walked right past me because I was hidden so well. We had a campfire with Eli Whitney. We partly helped them make a fire until staff came along and finished it for us. The staff sang songs while we sat around the fire. Overall, I think that the week of summer camp went well. We returned with many completed merit badges, fun experiences, and new skills.
Summer Camp
Camp Sequassen 2015
On July 5th-10th, troop 24 went to camp Sequassen summer camp in Connecticut. Our whole troop had a blast and our troop was awarded the super troop award, the highest award a troop can achieve in a week at camp Sequassen. The super troop award is given to the troop who participates in the most events, wins the most challenges, and has the overall most morale.
We arrived on Sunday after a 2 and ½ hour ride and started to get settled. We picked out who we were tenting with earlier at the school and chose our tents that we had to stay in for a week. First and most importantly we had to make sure there was no holes in the tent from before we arrived so we didn’t get blamed for them. Then we swept and cleaned the tents so we weren’t staying in dirty tents. After sweeping, we adjusted the beds to the edges of the tent to make it roomier and we unloaded our personal gear from the trailer and put it in our tents and put sheets and cushions on the beds (many other people used them before us). When we were done with the tents we waited for our guide to show us around the camp. First we went to the waterfront and the guys from shooting sports told us rules of the ranges and where they were because they were so far away from the waterfront. After the shooting sports talk, we went to see the guy in charge of the boats and got the rules from him and then the rules for swimming and the trampoline. Then the guide showed us to the dining hall and told us about waiters and when meals were. Every meal needed waiters and every patrol sent down a waiter to set up a table and get plates and that sort of stuff. Waiters also got food and water for their table but patrols weren’t required to sit where their waiter was set up. Then we walked to Clarke field and were told about flags. We then headed back up the mountain to our campsite where we put on our class A’s and the patrol leaders made some duty rosters for their patrols. Mr. Hoffman then laid out some ground rules were laid out and we were told when mandatory shower nights were (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). After this we waited until opening ceremony where they told us what we didn’t know already about the camp and its procedures. After opening ceremony, we headed down to the dining hall to eat. We didn’t need to send waiters because it was the first day.
On Monday, we woke up early around 6:00 and went to polar bear swim. Polar bear swim is where every morning you go down to the waterfront and go into the lake and swim. The cold water is supposed to wake you up and you receive a reward at the end of the week. After polar bear we went back up to the campsite to get into our clothes and get our stuff for our merit badges like knives, notebooks, pens and such and the waiters for breakfast went down to the dining hall early to setup their tables. Later the rest of us went down the huge mountain to Clarke field for attendance and flags. Then we ate breakfast which really wasn’t all that terrible. After breakfast we went to our first three merit badges and then we went to lunch. But before lunch we had to get our pictures taken which interfered with the waiters setting up their tables so we tried to take them in a hurry. After our pictures were taken, the waiters rushed into the dining hall to setup the tables. Luckily that day’s lunch was nothing too complicated and special so the tables were easy to set up. After lunch we went to our last merit badge. After all the merit badges, we had free time where you can go to many different merit badge places like the ranges where you can do some free shoot and the waterfront where you can go swimming. On Monday the canoe race challenge took place. All week during free time there are many challenges you can do to try to help your troop get super troop and other awards. The canoe race was a race where you don’t have any paddles so you use your hands to propel your boat forward. There are also many of the camp staff in the water trying to flip your canoe and about six of the staff in motor boats helping you get the water out of your canoe. Three people go in a canoe together and get to an island where there are flags for 1st 2nd and 3rd place. Our troop had two teams and one team was the one who fended off the staff so that the other team can go forward to get a flag. Luckily our other team got the 2nd place flag and the team who got the 1st place flag cheated and was disqualified and we were promoted to the 1st place winner. After the race we headed back up to the campsite to get on our class A’s for dinner and the waiters went down early. After dinner, we went back up to the campsite and took showers because Monday was mandatory shower night. Tuesday was the same procedure except we didn’t take pictures and it was Connor's birthday. At free time I went swimming and tried to get on the trampoline. On Wednesday, the fireman hose competition took place. Our troop had many teams but unfortunately many teams lost but some teams did win. In the competition, there was a rope with a bucket in the middle and two teams had hoses trying to spray the bucket to the other teams side (it was really wet). On Thursday, the engineering class tested their bridges in a competition. On Friday we finished up our merit badges and did the land and sea games. The land and sea games are a bunch of competitions like the scoutmaster splash, sandwich relay race and tug of war. You can only participate in two competitions because there is so many people who wanted to compete in our troop. After dinner we went to the closing ceremony after dinner. On Saturday, we packed up all our gear into the cars and the trailer. Then we headed down the hill to Clarke field where the camp gave awards such as honor troop and awarded our troop with super troop. After we took pictures of the award with the troop, we sat down to eat breakfast in the dining hall and went back to the camp to leave.
The camp also offers a first year scouting program where it gets you as close they can to first class as possible in a week of camp. Camp also teaches teamwork, and you make new friends and meet new people every day. All new scouts should consider going to summer camp at Sequassen.
