Camp Geiger July 9th 9:00am

"I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink..." - John Lennon/Paul McCartney

Lots of sleepy eyes around camp this morning. It was long and glorious night. Boys and many of the adults were up until 12 to 1am. The tapping ceremony lived up to all the expectations, and then exceeded them. I'll have a lot to report on that, but first lets' take care of some business from yesterday during dinner.

We talked a lot about the King PeeWee contest held after dinner. Leon Jacob was the reigning champ from last year. After careful deliberation throughout the day, and like George Washington, who decided the time he spent in office was enough, Leon decided his reign should end after a year, and would pass on the opportunity to be king to another worthy champion. The young man who stood up was Trey Stevens. The competition was fierce, and Trey weighed in at 69 pounds (although 4 of that was his shoes). But at the end of the day...

Trey, brought home the title for troop 451. Hail King PeeWee! As king, Trey got to make a proclamation. Trey decided on something big for the whole troop. The Geiger staffers, about 8 strong tried and tried to steer him in a different direction. But Trey wouldn't budge. After several long tense minutes...well...let's just say Trey really came through for his troop. We'll give you the lowdown when we get home. Needless to say the former king was very proud of his successor.

Now the biggest event of the night. The Tapping Ceremony. All tribesmen dressed in full regalia and prepared for the ceremonial dances and for all their other parts of the ceremony. I'll try and describe what the scouts who are not in Mic-O-Say, and the potential candidates witnessed, and I'll hold you in a little suspense to find out who was tapped out.

The troops form a long line, and follow an honorary warrior leads them on to the story trail. The scouts and adult leaders walk the long trail, until they get to a fire, where a chief awaits them. He tells them the story of a young brave who gets lost in the woods, and finds his own way to survive. Then they all get up from sitting down and follow the chief towards the tapping fire. As they head towards the fire, they hear the tom toms and yells from the dancing braves and warriors, as the rest of the tribe forms two lines for the waiting candidates to pass through.

When the two lines are formed, the braves and warriors stop their dance and run to fill out the rest of those same two lines. It's then that the chief leads them towards the tapping fire, through the members of the tribe. They walk until all the candidates form a giant circle around the fire. When they finally finish the circle, the tribesmen form an outer circle around them.


Medicine Man Walks Tall greets the candidates and informs them that some may be eligible to join the tribe of Mic-O-Say, and a tapper will decide who those candidates are. A yell is heard at the top of the hill. The Tapper, strong and steady, carrying a torch held high in one hand and a hatchet held high in the other, descends from the top of the hill towards the circle of hopeful candidates surrounding the fire. He runs around the entire circle, sizing up the potential tribe members and on the second time around he begins to tap the worth candidates. He runs around the circle, then slows to eye the candidate. He pauses, looking intensely at the candidates face,

the candidates eyes widen, their heart begins to beat a little faster, and after a determination is made, he taps the candidate with his hatchet, once, twice...and the candidate runs to a spot inside the circle, where he awaits his instructions and begins his journey into the Tribe of Mic-O-Say.

Okay, here's what you've been waiting for. These are the boys who were tapped into Mic-O-Say:

Robert Arnet, Matthew Bach, Evan Curl, Michael Hooks, Trevor Kay, James Koonce, Matthew Larsen, Erik Lowell, William McKinley, Christopher Modrall, Conner Osborne, Lee Pederson, George Petagrew, Ben Reineck, Adam Stephenson, and Nicolas Verdi.

Adult leaders tapped into Mic-O-Say were:

James Cole, Mark DiCiaccio, Michael Kay, and Bill Reineck.

Congratulations to all.

I'll have some more pics up later. It's an absolutely beautiful day here at Camp Geiger. The weather is perfect, and we'll be in for a great Mic-O-Say ceremony tonight.

Dinner last night - Cheeseburgers and French Fries.

Breakfast - Biscuits and gravy, hash browns, cold cereal, yogurt and fresh fruit

Weather - 73 and sunny.