Camp Geiger, Thursday, July 2 - Tap Day

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730 days is an eternity for most 13-year-olds. But that's how long many of our boys have been waiting for today to come. And now, it's here.

Tonight, in a spectacular ceremony filled with native tradition, dancing, chanting and lots of fire including a 20-foot bonfire, this year's class of braves (the boys) and Honorary Warriors (the adults) will be "tapped" for inclusion in the tribe of Mic-O-Say.

On the books, Mic-O-Say is the honorary camping society for Camp Geiger, analogous to Order of the Arrow for BSA. But like OA, it's far more than just that. For our boys, and frankly the adults, who are tapped tonight, it will not be joining a club or simply engaging in another scouting activity. Being tapped for Mic-O-Say is nothing short of a rite of passage.

Boy Scouts, at its core, is designed to bring out the best in every person who participates and to make top of mind, our responsibility to help make the world a better place. Mic-O-Say, too, is an embodiment of that ideal.

Tonight, after thousands of hours of work making breathtaking handmade costumes and learning a dozen dances and chants, the Troop 451 members of the tribe of Mic-O-Say, and 300 others from across the Midwest, will welcome a new class of candidates into the brotherhood they hold so dear. And when they do, a new anticipation will light for the younger scouts who tonight, will stand wide-eyed and short of breath not believing what they are seeing.

Tomorrow, they begin their 730 days of waiting.

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