Pack 391 Winter Freeze Camp

Pack 391 absolutely picked the right weekend for their Winter Freeze Camp.  Friday and Saturday were rather mild -- though wet and a little wild during the night -- but Sunday temps were expected to drop into the 20's!

Everyone seemed to have a great time, in spite of rain and damp.  The group stayed near the pavilion for the majority of their stay, and even brought additional tarps to hang to keep out the wet and cold! Lots of great time for all kinds of activities . . . 

And you know it can't be too bad when the kitchen crew is all smiles!

We enjoy having this group at the camp and hope to see them again, soon!

Troop 96 and Pack 391

We are very familiar with Troop 96 and Pack 391. For at least two years in a row now they have been our first campers of the year. The scouts have to earn their "Polar Bear Badge" which means they have to camp out when it is below freezing temperatures. Well that was not a problem as they temps were in the 20's. The older boys came up on Friday and the younger ones came on Saturday morning.

For the first time in a long time Mary Breeden was not with the group...understand she had some foot surgery. I did see Philip Anderson, Tiffany, Barry Sanders, Triston Stuckey and some others I knew. As always there was plenty of good food and probably some stories to be told.

Cub Scout Pack 391

It may have been a return visit for the boys of Pack 391, but they found ways to experience a couple of 'firsts' on their visit!  They came in on Friday afternoon and got settled in.  The campground is always at its best with the happy sounds of kids having fun and the smell of campfire smoke in the air!

They got off to a slow start Saturday morning, sleeping in a bit, but by early afternoon, they were ready for a guided hike down Beech Bottom Trail.  This particular group had never seen the Secret Creek before, so they were ready to go.  Once we got down to the creek, their eyes went wide . . . and shoes and sock came off in a flash -- especially when their tour guide went right on in!

They splashed and played and had a marvelous afternoon in the creek waters.  They even tried their hands (literally) at catching crawdads, but no one was quiet brave fast enough! We relayed the story of some of the youth guys who visited the camp weeks prior, who caught several crawdads and grilled and ate them!  That certainly sparked interest from the younger boys!

Soon the guys were traveling across, up and down the creek -- shirts were off and they were soaked from head to toe -- but everyone was having a marvelous time.  

The tour guides needed to head back, but the guys opted to stay down at the water and continue to play!  Truthfully, there isn't a better place to be on a warm summer afternoon.

The next morning, as we headed out to church, we were amused to see that the boys had once again headed down to the creek for some water play!  One of their leaders informed us that not only did they go back down, but they also caught their own crawdads and then cooked and ate them -- hmmm, we wonder if that counts toward a survival training badge?

So the Secret Creek is no longer a secret to Pack 391 -- we hope they'll be back soon to enjoy it all over again!

Pack 451 Family Camp Out

This pack had never made a visit to the Camp before . . . and the weather Friday was so bad, they cancelled for that day and came up early Saturday, instead.

Luckily, though the ground was a little damp, the sun came out and made for a great camping weekend.  This group had a LOT of activities going on . . .

They started with a thorough briefing to their participants on the camp layout and rules, the safety talk and the Boy Scouts "Leave No Trace" talk.

Once that was taken care of, they had a flag ceremony and a bridging ceremony . . .

And from there, they did a great first aid presentation and even used elements of the obstacle course to help show the boys what to do in different situations!

They also used the obstacle course in the traditional sense . . .

And made sure each boy got a helping hand if he needed a boost!

The families camped both down around the pavilion and up in the top field.

Several of the adults commented they'd never heard of the Camp before.  We hear this a lot!

They had a great time and the boys had the opportunity to learn a lot, as well as enjoy lots of play time (and lots of good food, too).  We hope this pack comes back again, soon!