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For a week in July, 46 kids and six adults in Troop 81 went to summer camp at Camp Constantin on Possum Kingdom Lake. Troop 81 camped in Echo Valley. The day that we got there, we had to take a swim test. While we were sitting on the dock, it started to rain. These showers would haunt us for the rest of the week.
Monday, we all got up, had breakfast, and started our merit badge classes, or TFC (In the rain!). After lunch we had more merit badge classes, and more rain. However, it stopped raining after dinner, just in time for Possum Fest, a waterfront party where you can swim, blob, sail, canoe, and row. Tuesday was no different from Monday, but instead of Possum Fest, we had Troop Blob at night and it didn't rain as much.
Wednesday morning, most of the Troop 81 scouts went on the Hell's Gate Canoe Trip. We almost missed the whole trip because Mr. Cox forgot to set his alarm clock. So, he did not get the senior patrol leader up. The senior patrol leader didn't get the patrol leaders up. The patrol leaders didn't get the participants up. We woke up 2 minutes before we were supposed to leave on the canoe trip. However, we got back in time for breakfast. Then the usual--merit badge classes and Trail to First Class activities. At 4:00PM, the first year scouts left to hike to Johnson's Peak. They camped at the base of the peak on Wednesday night. One first year scout did not pack a sleeping bag or a ground cloth, but made sure he packed 6 cans of soda!
Thursday, the first year scouts hiked up to the top of Johnsons' Peak and back into camp. Most of the merit badge classes were finished. We made ice cream and had a troop campfire, despite thunderstorm warnings. From our camp site, we could see lightning across the lake, but we stayed dry.
Friday morning all merit badge classes were finished. If any requirements remained, this was the last time to finish up. Families began to arrive in the afternoon to camp with the troop. In the afternoon, there was a mile swim. That night we had a nice dinner with our parents and another party. The party consisted of a regatta, troop-made raft race, and wacky relay. Then we had an OA Tap-out ceremony in which Ben Nichols got tapped-out.
Each day, one partrol had to make a camp gadget. By the end of the week, there was a cooler holder, entrance, swing, and a tripod. There were only two injuries that week--one first year got four staples in his scalp when the poorly-constructed tripod fell. The other emergency was when another first year got dehydrated, even though Mr. Herrin gave you a Winnie-the-Pooh hat if you were caught out of camp without a water bottle, and an Elmo hat for hat violations.
Scott Steger