Settling in to Camp

Sunday is a busy day at Camp Geiger, as is every other day at camp. After unloading our gear, the boys set up our campsite, making it our home away from home.

Some boys have taken this ideal to heart, as the accompanying photos show. In fact, even some of our Leaders pitched-in!. This year, we are again at Sioux Lookout and Arapaho Campsites, which is a convenient location for access  to the Trading Post (and Slushies!!)

After that, we went to Registration. Thanks to our careful advance attention to our paperwork (thanks to all who helped, especially Mrs.  DiSalvo!),our registration went smoothly and was quickly completed

.

We returned to camp to enjoy the lunches we packed with us.

The swim check came next for those who wish to swim this week. The Boy Scouts of America requires that each participant in any water-related activity be evaluated and classed by swimming ability. All members of our troop who took the swim test are ranked as “swimmers.” One attraction of the swimming pool here at Camp Geiger is nice, hot showers!

The afternoon fairly flew by. The time for dinner arrived surprisingly quickly. On this, the first night of Session 2 of the 2014 Camp Geiger season, it took a little while to get every troop organized and lined-up for the evening flag lowering ceremony and the evening sun made for a very warm wait. But with the appetites that come from an active day, every one was ready when the time came to take our seats in the dining hall.

We dined on Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, corn, and brown gravy. The dining hall staff was happy to accommodate those of us with differing dietary needs so we all went away well-fed. The food a camp is good solid fare, made all the more enjoyable by being quite hungry. The salad bar is always popular with both Scouts and leaders.

The highlight of the meal came after we had eaten. Each night, there is a uniform inspection and the troop with the highest score is designated “Sharpest Unit” and earns the privilege of displaying their flag in the dining hall the next day. On Sunday evening, that troop was 451. We have a proud tradition of winning Sharpest Unit honors each night at camp and  it was a great feeling to get a good start of upholding it. It is GREAT to belong to a snappy, properly attired  troop.

At 7:45, we gathered in the Handicrafts Corral to line up for the opening campfire. Campfires are held in the Council Ring. Dedicated in 2008, the site is a curving slope, terraced into seating by ranks of good-sized slabs of the local limestone, separated by narrow swards of grass. It is a great setting for a campfire but sitting on those slabs of stone is not for those who are tender!

At this opening campfire, the camp staff are introduced to the session’s attendees, scouts and Scouters alike. Each staff area performs a short skit before introducing themselves to the audience. When the staff members who belong to Troop 451 introduced themselves, a loud cheer rang out. Aaron Lewis, the Program Director and our emcee for the evening, noted that we were making it obvious just who belonged to our troop.

After the campfire, most Scouts returned to camp. Lights Out, at 10:30, came none-too-early at the end of a long, active, and enjoyable day.