July 2019
Camp Somers, Stanhope, NJ
Camp Somers, Stanhope, NJ
Sunday - July 14
We made it to camp in one piece. With about a 4 hour drive and a lunch stop at McDonalds. we arrived at camp at 1:30. It was a little warm and muggy, but bright and sunny. This is the camps 3rd week of being open. The camp staff was very enthusiastic, helpful and getting all of the troops settled into their campsite. Check-in was the most efficient I've seen in a camp. Any gear that was not in the trailer which was allowed to be brought to camp, was taken by a camp truck and brought to the site. The health officers went through all of the med forms with no issue. On a side note, they allowed us to hold and distribute any meds that were needed (as I always bring a lock box).
Our campsite is fantastic. It is a large campsite with more than enough tents. Better yet, it is all under trees with plenty of shade. After getting all the gear to camp, everyone went to the waterfront and all earned their swimmers test. Afterwards we had evening diner.....turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and cranberries and small apple pie puff pastries for dessert.
Before I go further, I want to mention this camp's theme; Clue,A Murder Mystery. The theme lasts the whole week, where the scouts solve this mystery. The evenings campfire was wonderful. Traditionally, Sundays campfire is put on by the camp staff, being a bunch of songs and skits. But at this camp, sunday's campfire was an hour and a half skit/play. It was well done and very funny. The scouts have to solve who killed Mr. Bode, who hosted a dinner with 10 guests. The scouts will go around camp, question various camp staff, and solve the clues. We'll see who solves it.
Monday - July 15
Another fantastic day at camp. A beautiful day in the mid-80's and no humidity. A busy day for the scouts learning where their merit badge classes are. Many of tje classes today are instruction and safety oriented. Tomorrow will be better with more time doing the activities; swimming, small boat sailing, archery, metalwork, etc.
Tonight's dinner was beef stew over rice, a bisquit, and brownie for desert.
Picture
The evenings highlight was camp-wide canoe wars. Troops put up multiple 3 person canoes and go out in the lake. You have 2 people paddling, while the 3rd one has a bucket and tries to swamp the other canoes. The last canoe floating wins. Unfortunately, our teams got swamped. Those who went out were; Conor, Kai, Stephen, Elijah, Jesse, Ian, Raleigh. Some went multiple times.
Like every year after the first day, everyone is going to sleep well tonight.
Tuesday - July 16
Tuesday was quite hot and somewhat humid. The scouts are getting into their groove. They have a rhythm now, knowing where their classes are, and the times they have to be there. We tell the scouts when signing up for classes to take classes that they can't take back home. Get some merit badge classes that are hard, but also take advantage of other ones you may not normally take or have some interest in. Well our scouts are doing that. We have scouts take courses like Camping, Archery, Engineering, First Aid, etc. But some of the other fun ones, are Metalwork, ATV (all terrain vehicles), Kayaking, Small Boat Sailing, Pottery, Chemistry, Composite Materials, Robotics, and more.
Our scouts were lucky to sign up early for classes, which got them guaranteed seats. One of the classes I went to was ATV. Yesterday, they had mostly instructional and safety on the vehicles. Today they got to ride. By the end of the week, they will be going on trails around the camp. Out of a class size of 8, we had 7 of our scouts get registered in the 10:30 class. It was really nice seeing them all together on these machines.
Tonight there were areas open to all scouts. Tonight's highlight was open Climbing on a rock wall. Several of our scouts took advantage of this and were able to climb multiple times.
Wednesday - July 17
Well, today was quite a different day. Wednesday was by far the hottest day we've had. The night time temperatures got down to about 68, which was great sleeping weather. However the temperature warmed up quickly. At the morning camp flag ceremony, they said the heat index was going to get up to 105 and humid. They said to drink lots of water, then drink even more water, then when you think you've had enough, drink more. That was so true.. A very hot and sticky day. Classes went by well for everyone. Wednesday evening is the typical day for the mess hall staff to be off. So on Wednesdays, they deliver the food to each campsite for each troop to cook. They brought steaks, corn on the cob, salad, pudding and grape bug juice. Jim Thompson has also brought his propane smoker to camp. So today we feasted. We had smoked ribs, smoked corn on the cob, steak, corn on the cob, and salad. Everything was delicious...... Tonight was also the night where we had 7 people ready to go to an overnight outpost. Others had evening activities to enjoy.
HOWEVER, the camp siren went off in the middle of dinner. Like everyone back home we too had a powerful storm system coming this way. So we were told when the camp siren sounds in a particular pattern for everyone to quickly get to the mess hall. That was so true. so in the middle of dinner, it went off. We basically had to drop everything, make sure our tent flaps were closed, and get to the mess hall which is about a 1/2 mile away. It started out as a light rain, but by the time we got there, it was quite heavy. We literally were there for an hour, cause of the heavy winds and storm cells that came through. The camp staff performed various songs to entertain us. Some of our troop played cards. In the middle, the power went out for about 5 minutes before coming back on. Finally around 8pm, they gave us the go-ahead to get back to camp. They cancelled all evening activities including the overnight (which was postponed to Thursday evening. When we got back to camp, everyone resumed eating (we had put the food back in the smoker - hopefully to stay dry) So we did finish our feast. As I sit here, it is raining pretty heavy with occasional thunder. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
Oh, as we knew there was the potential for storms coming at night, we did have everyone batten down their flaps on their tents. Only one tent had some issues. Everything is ok! The picture showing is at the mess hall during the power outage.
Thursday - July 18
Today is typically the most difficult day of the summer camp week. Scouts (and adults) are somewhat tired from all the walking and the long days. This year it was especially a long hard day.....we had the rain from last night last throughout the night and it was especially humid all day, with an occasional rain shower. The scouts are hard at work in trying to get all the work done on their merit badges. Tomorrow is the last day to complete their badges.
I realized this week that it's the last summer camp for several boys, as they will age out and hopefully receive Eagle rank before. They are Leo B, Jon B., Wesley S., and Henry B.. It's been such a rewarding experience for all of us leaders watching them grow from young scouts to young men. We are so proud of them all.
It should also be noted that Connor Guyette is attending summer camp. He recently Eagled and aged out a few months ago. This past month his family moved back to Nebraska. Connor decided to attend Summer Camp as an adult and then 1 day after returning back to Bowie, will be going out with the St. Pius Youth Group for a week of Habitat for Humanity Connor has been a big help this week in helping with the scouts.
Today started out with Leo (our SPL) selecting 6 scouts to be the honor guard at the flag raising at the morning parade grounds. They did a wonderful job. Later we saw our 7 ATV scouts out on the dam practicing ascending and descending hills, and then they got to go on trails around camp. It was great watching them. Although this is not a merit badge, it is so much more than just riding around on trails. They do warm up exercises before riding, they learn all the safety that is required as well as how to handle certain situations on the trails, and then a pretty thorough checkup on their ATV's; from gas and oil, tire pressure, checking all the nuts and bolts, the lights, suspension and so much more. The last highlight of the day was with Ian L. He did his Mile Swim.
Friday - July 19
We made it through the week. We survived a week of heat, rain, winds, and a brief power outage. The boys have gone through all their merit badge classes and activities. Overall the boys had a great week.
Today our first year scout (Conor R) went on a 5 mile hike around camp as part of his Dan Beard program. He learned a lot of Scout skills and passed quite a bit of rank requirements. He was accompanied by our newest leader and most recent Eagle Scout - Connor Guyette. Connor G. also played his guitar in the camp band at this mornings opening flag ceremony, playing the Star Spangled Banner.
Another highlight was Conor R and Raleigh M both climbing and rappelling the rock wall. We had quite a few scouts on the water doing kayaking, rowing and small boat sailing. Ian L. did his mile swim. Today 7 of our scouts went on trails all around camp.
The camp murder has been solved. Troop 1249 was the first to guess who murdered Mr. Body. It was Colonel Mustard. Overall in this camp wide mystery, we came in 2nd place. Mr Body was killed in NOVA and the murder weapon was a cot.
IMPORTANT. Troop 1249 will arrive back in Bowie somewhere between 3pm and 4:30pm. Due to the extreme heat, we will postpone our ceremony until our next troop meeting on July 30th. We encourage all parents and families to attend this Merit Badge, Rank Advancement and Award Ceremony. FOR TOMORROW AFTERNOON, scouts will call about an hour before we arrive home. Scouts are required to stay until the trailer is completely emptied and all gear is accounted for.
We made it to camp in one piece. With about a 4 hour drive and a lunch stop at McDonalds. we arrived at camp at 1:30. It was a little warm and muggy, but bright and sunny. This is the camps 3rd week of being open. The camp staff was very enthusiastic, helpful and getting all of the troops settled into their campsite. Check-in was the most efficient I've seen in a camp. Any gear that was not in the trailer which was allowed to be brought to camp, was taken by a camp truck and brought to the site. The health officers went through all of the med forms with no issue. On a side note, they allowed us to hold and distribute any meds that were needed (as I always bring a lock box).
Our campsite is fantastic. It is a large campsite with more than enough tents. Better yet, it is all under trees with plenty of shade. After getting all the gear to camp, everyone went to the waterfront and all earned their swimmers test. Afterwards we had evening diner.....turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and cranberries and small apple pie puff pastries for dessert.
Before I go further, I want to mention this camp's theme; Clue,A Murder Mystery. The theme lasts the whole week, where the scouts solve this mystery. The evenings campfire was wonderful. Traditionally, Sundays campfire is put on by the camp staff, being a bunch of songs and skits. But at this camp, sunday's campfire was an hour and a half skit/play. It was well done and very funny. The scouts have to solve who killed Mr. Bode, who hosted a dinner with 10 guests. The scouts will go around camp, question various camp staff, and solve the clues. We'll see who solves it.
Monday - July 15
Another fantastic day at camp. A beautiful day in the mid-80's and no humidity. A busy day for the scouts learning where their merit badge classes are. Many of tje classes today are instruction and safety oriented. Tomorrow will be better with more time doing the activities; swimming, small boat sailing, archery, metalwork, etc.
Tonight's dinner was beef stew over rice, a bisquit, and brownie for desert.
Picture
The evenings highlight was camp-wide canoe wars. Troops put up multiple 3 person canoes and go out in the lake. You have 2 people paddling, while the 3rd one has a bucket and tries to swamp the other canoes. The last canoe floating wins. Unfortunately, our teams got swamped. Those who went out were; Conor, Kai, Stephen, Elijah, Jesse, Ian, Raleigh. Some went multiple times.
Like every year after the first day, everyone is going to sleep well tonight.
Tuesday - July 16
Tuesday was quite hot and somewhat humid. The scouts are getting into their groove. They have a rhythm now, knowing where their classes are, and the times they have to be there. We tell the scouts when signing up for classes to take classes that they can't take back home. Get some merit badge classes that are hard, but also take advantage of other ones you may not normally take or have some interest in. Well our scouts are doing that. We have scouts take courses like Camping, Archery, Engineering, First Aid, etc. But some of the other fun ones, are Metalwork, ATV (all terrain vehicles), Kayaking, Small Boat Sailing, Pottery, Chemistry, Composite Materials, Robotics, and more.
Our scouts were lucky to sign up early for classes, which got them guaranteed seats. One of the classes I went to was ATV. Yesterday, they had mostly instructional and safety on the vehicles. Today they got to ride. By the end of the week, they will be going on trails around the camp. Out of a class size of 8, we had 7 of our scouts get registered in the 10:30 class. It was really nice seeing them all together on these machines.
Tonight there were areas open to all scouts. Tonight's highlight was open Climbing on a rock wall. Several of our scouts took advantage of this and were able to climb multiple times.
Wednesday - July 17
Well, today was quite a different day. Wednesday was by far the hottest day we've had. The night time temperatures got down to about 68, which was great sleeping weather. However the temperature warmed up quickly. At the morning camp flag ceremony, they said the heat index was going to get up to 105 and humid. They said to drink lots of water, then drink even more water, then when you think you've had enough, drink more. That was so true.. A very hot and sticky day. Classes went by well for everyone. Wednesday evening is the typical day for the mess hall staff to be off. So on Wednesdays, they deliver the food to each campsite for each troop to cook. They brought steaks, corn on the cob, salad, pudding and grape bug juice. Jim Thompson has also brought his propane smoker to camp. So today we feasted. We had smoked ribs, smoked corn on the cob, steak, corn on the cob, and salad. Everything was delicious...... Tonight was also the night where we had 7 people ready to go to an overnight outpost. Others had evening activities to enjoy.
HOWEVER, the camp siren went off in the middle of dinner. Like everyone back home we too had a powerful storm system coming this way. So we were told when the camp siren sounds in a particular pattern for everyone to quickly get to the mess hall. That was so true. so in the middle of dinner, it went off. We basically had to drop everything, make sure our tent flaps were closed, and get to the mess hall which is about a 1/2 mile away. It started out as a light rain, but by the time we got there, it was quite heavy. We literally were there for an hour, cause of the heavy winds and storm cells that came through. The camp staff performed various songs to entertain us. Some of our troop played cards. In the middle, the power went out for about 5 minutes before coming back on. Finally around 8pm, they gave us the go-ahead to get back to camp. They cancelled all evening activities including the overnight (which was postponed to Thursday evening. When we got back to camp, everyone resumed eating (we had put the food back in the smoker - hopefully to stay dry) So we did finish our feast. As I sit here, it is raining pretty heavy with occasional thunder. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
Oh, as we knew there was the potential for storms coming at night, we did have everyone batten down their flaps on their tents. Only one tent had some issues. Everything is ok! The picture showing is at the mess hall during the power outage.
Thursday - July 18
Today is typically the most difficult day of the summer camp week. Scouts (and adults) are somewhat tired from all the walking and the long days. This year it was especially a long hard day.....we had the rain from last night last throughout the night and it was especially humid all day, with an occasional rain shower. The scouts are hard at work in trying to get all the work done on their merit badges. Tomorrow is the last day to complete their badges.
I realized this week that it's the last summer camp for several boys, as they will age out and hopefully receive Eagle rank before. They are Leo B, Jon B., Wesley S., and Henry B.. It's been such a rewarding experience for all of us leaders watching them grow from young scouts to young men. We are so proud of them all.
It should also be noted that Connor Guyette is attending summer camp. He recently Eagled and aged out a few months ago. This past month his family moved back to Nebraska. Connor decided to attend Summer Camp as an adult and then 1 day after returning back to Bowie, will be going out with the St. Pius Youth Group for a week of Habitat for Humanity Connor has been a big help this week in helping with the scouts.
Today started out with Leo (our SPL) selecting 6 scouts to be the honor guard at the flag raising at the morning parade grounds. They did a wonderful job. Later we saw our 7 ATV scouts out on the dam practicing ascending and descending hills, and then they got to go on trails around camp. It was great watching them. Although this is not a merit badge, it is so much more than just riding around on trails. They do warm up exercises before riding, they learn all the safety that is required as well as how to handle certain situations on the trails, and then a pretty thorough checkup on their ATV's; from gas and oil, tire pressure, checking all the nuts and bolts, the lights, suspension and so much more. The last highlight of the day was with Ian L. He did his Mile Swim.
Friday - July 19
We made it through the week. We survived a week of heat, rain, winds, and a brief power outage. The boys have gone through all their merit badge classes and activities. Overall the boys had a great week.
Today our first year scout (Conor R) went on a 5 mile hike around camp as part of his Dan Beard program. He learned a lot of Scout skills and passed quite a bit of rank requirements. He was accompanied by our newest leader and most recent Eagle Scout - Connor Guyette. Connor G. also played his guitar in the camp band at this mornings opening flag ceremony, playing the Star Spangled Banner.
Another highlight was Conor R and Raleigh M both climbing and rappelling the rock wall. We had quite a few scouts on the water doing kayaking, rowing and small boat sailing. Ian L. did his mile swim. Today 7 of our scouts went on trails all around camp.
The camp murder has been solved. Troop 1249 was the first to guess who murdered Mr. Body. It was Colonel Mustard. Overall in this camp wide mystery, we came in 2nd place. Mr Body was killed in NOVA and the murder weapon was a cot.
IMPORTANT. Troop 1249 will arrive back in Bowie somewhere between 3pm and 4:30pm. Due to the extreme heat, we will postpone our ceremony until our next troop meeting on July 30th. We encourage all parents and families to attend this Merit Badge, Rank Advancement and Award Ceremony. FOR TOMORROW AFTERNOON, scouts will call about an hour before we arrive home. Scouts are required to stay until the trailer is completely emptied and all gear is accounted for.