Our troop went to Camp Ransburg again this summer. It is located about two hours north of us in Bloomington, Indiana.
It’s a very big camp and quite active during the summer. When they arrived, Bill had to park the trailer way down the hill away from the permanent tents.
That meant that the first years had quite the hike up the hill with the totem pole they unloaded from the trailer.
Aside from the tents, some kids like Walker and Mason set up their hammocks. Walker slept in his hammock all week long and even though it rained, his rain tarp kept him dry.
The days were busy. Each scout was signed up for a number of merit badges. Mason took Cooking and First Aid and he worked on his requirements for First Year Camper at Eagle Quest.
After Mason earned his Totin’ Chip, Walker presented him with a new knife to call his own. Reports came back that Mason was often found whittling sticks at every chance he got.
At Aquatics each scout had a disc that was colored according to the areas they were permitted to access.
Walker took Kayaking, Motor Boating, Woodcarving, Veterinary Medicine and Weather.
Unlike Camp Ondessonk, there was cell service available. The older boys took advantage of that.
The reports came back that the food was good overall. The meals were served family style. There was a good variety, plenty of food and seconds were available. No one had to go hungry. Bill and Walker were eating the vegetarian option which were individually portioned and not as ample as the regular meals. It wasn’t until a few days in that they discovered that they too could get seconds. There were two salad bars which shared many of the same items but also contained a few items that the other did not have. Bill quickly discovered how to build the best salad for his meals by visiting both.
They fell into a routine doing things that included
the daily flag ceremonies,
chats around the fire,
skipping stones on Fossil Beach,
and the unit inspection.
In addition, the scouts all mustered around the dining hall. They sang songs and waited to be granted permission for their meals. They had to sing loud enough that the sound carried “all the way across the lake, and all the way back, and up the flagpole and down the flagpole.” I really enjoyed hearing my kids repeat this quote to me.
Wednesday night the scouts got to have Mass outside. They are all waiting with their scout prayer books in hand.
Here is a special shout out to Captain D. He is a diehard supporter of our troop. At 78 years old, I don’t know how he manages to keep up. He spent the entire week out at camp.
My deepest admiration goes out to Bill. His duties as the scoutmaster kept him very busy. He literally covered a lot of ground to make sure everyone was where he was supposed to be for their various merit badges on time. He took over 200 photos of the scouts in action and sent them to us parents, extracted the trailer from a tight squeeze which meant driving up a hill after several days of rain and survived on two dozen bottles of sparkling peach water. Then he went right back to work on Monday morning after his week of “vacation.” He is my hero.
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