It was just another year at Camp Mach.
Several years ago Troop 13 made its annual trip up to Mach. 12 Scouts, children really, 11 or 12 years old, were standing around the campsite looking confused. There were also 2 adult leaders. The Scoutmaster who had just received that title 3 weeks earlier and a younger…actually much younger Assistant Scoutmaster. Neither adult had ever camped long term, patrol style. They also looked very confused.
The camp counselor had just left the site looking for some personal camping gear that had gotten lost on the way to the site. Before he left he told the new campers to set up the tents & cots, go to the commissary and give the patrol counts, and find the quartermaster for camping supplies. It seems the last Troop to camp at the site had lost the HPT’s, whatever the heck those were.
Troop 13 also had a patrol of young adults at camp, two of whom would become Eagle Scouts in the next year. They sat around a large rock in the middle of the site and patiently watched as 12 Scouts & 2 Leaders tried to get camp set up. After about 15 minutes of confusion they looked at each other, shook their heads, stood up & walked over to the young Scouts & said “ok, were going to teach you how to survive a week at camp… & have fun”
Last year Troop 13 made its annual trip up to Mach. The Scoutmaster & that much younger assistant were over in the adult area and after about 30 minutes they had set up their tents and unpacked their gear. They had been taught well. After setting up their site they walked through the tree line to the Scouts patrol sites to see how they were doing.
12 Scouts, children really, 11 or 12 years old, were standing around the campsite looking confused. The camp counselor had just left the site looking for some personal camping gear that had gotten lost on the way to the site. Before he left he told the new campers to set up the tents & cots, go to the commissary and give the patrol counts, and find the quartermaster for camping supplies. It seems the last Troop to camp at the site had lost the HPT’s, whatever the heck those were.
Sitting around a large rock in the middle of the site was a patrol of young adults. It seems like just yesterday they were the “babies” of the Troop. Several of them would make Eagle in the next year. They patiently watched the confusion for about 15 minutes, shook their heads, stood up & walked over to the young Scouts & said “ok, were going to teach you how to survive a week at camp… & have fun”
It was just another year at Camp Mach.
Comment
Change the camp name & it works for anyone.
