Morning at Camp Geiger - Tuesday
Once again, or stalwart troop members were up well ahead of the reveille call, preparing to face another day of excitement and success at Camp Geiger. Each day, some of our Scouts are designated to serve as our table waiters.
Meals in the dining hall are served family-style and we sit eight-to-a-table. Our Table waiters have the duty of laying the table, ensuring that each camper has a place setting (fork, knife, and spoon), napkins, a plate, and a glass (well, the 'glasses" are made of the far-more-durable polycarbonate plastic but you know what I mean). They also fetch the food to the table and ensure the serving utensils and pitchers of 'juice' and ice water are on the table as well.
In order to discharge their duties, they report to the dining hall twenty minutes before mealtime. Supervised by three Scouters, the Scouts get the tables ready for the rest of our troop to ensure an agreeable dining experience.
Once the tables are laid and the food in place, we repair to the Flag Plaza for the morning flag-raising ceremony. Again this morning, Scouts from Troop 451 joined the staffers in raising flags. Austin, James, Robby, and Will performed the honors of raising the Texas Flag, in recognition of our being awarded "Cleanest Campsite" recognition for Monday, the first opportunity to be thus acknowledged. We also again garnered "Sharpest Unit accolades as well. Christian Woehler, Kaleb Rutherford, Landon Pratt, and Noah Carrillo proudly hoisted our troop flag over the assembled campers. Then, in orderly lines, with our HAT OFF!, we repaired to the refectory for our ante meridional victuals.
Sure, we love to earn top recognition for our attention to neatness and order but, honestly, it is just much nicer to camp in a clean campsite. No one really enjoys wallowing in a sty and it’s easier to maintain it neat than to find some stable point halfway between neat and chaos. Likewise, we love having a sharp-looking outfit that is easily recognized as a Scout Troop. Winning an award for it is pure lagniappe.
Tuesdays at camp mean "cheesy eggs" for breakfast. These consist of scrambled eggs topped with (as you no doubt have guessed already) cheese! Accompanying this simple-but-satiating fare are "hash browns" (think of what passes for hash browns at McDonald's and you will have a good idea of what we consumed this morning.) For those thus inclined, various dry cereal is available in single-serving containers. There is yogurt available alongside the cereal selections. Also, as for every meal this year, fresh fruit and vegetables we available too.
At the end of each meal, we all participate in the much-ballyhooed "Two Minute Drill." This exercise consists of gathering all the detritus of the meal: trash, flatware, dishes, plates, glasses, etcetera. We scrape any contents remaining into one vessel and collect the disposables in another. Three glasses serve as individual receptacles for knives, forks, and spoons. At the end of the specified 120 seconds, the table is ready to be cleared quickly and efficiently. One amusing sight is the staffers vying to outdo one another with the tallest stack of glasses. Some of these efforts reach nearly to the rather high ceiling of the hall. Check out the Troop 451 Smugmug page for a picture or two of such antics.
Another game of The Price is Right followed our morning meal but no one from our troop was called. Alas, alack.
Then, it was off to merit badge classes, Trail to First Class, and wherever it is the adults go when our charges are under the careful supervision of other well-trained individuals. Well, one thing Scouters tend to is last-minute tidying of the campsite.
Look for more updates as our second full-day at camp progresses!
Meals in the dining hall are served family-style and we sit eight-to-a-table. Our Table waiters have the duty of laying the table, ensuring that each camper has a place setting (fork, knife, and spoon), napkins, a plate, and a glass (well, the 'glasses" are made of the far-more-durable polycarbonate plastic but you know what I mean). They also fetch the food to the table and ensure the serving utensils and pitchers of 'juice' and ice water are on the table as well.
In order to discharge their duties, they report to the dining hall twenty minutes before mealtime. Supervised by three Scouters, the Scouts get the tables ready for the rest of our troop to ensure an agreeable dining experience.
Once the tables are laid and the food in place, we repair to the Flag Plaza for the morning flag-raising ceremony. Again this morning, Scouts from Troop 451 joined the staffers in raising flags. Austin, James, Robby, and Will performed the honors of raising the Texas Flag, in recognition of our being awarded "Cleanest Campsite" recognition for Monday, the first opportunity to be thus acknowledged. We also again garnered "Sharpest Unit accolades as well. Christian Woehler, Kaleb Rutherford, Landon Pratt, and Noah Carrillo proudly hoisted our troop flag over the assembled campers. Then, in orderly lines, with our HAT OFF!, we repaired to the refectory for our ante meridional victuals.
Sure, we love to earn top recognition for our attention to neatness and order but, honestly, it is just much nicer to camp in a clean campsite. No one really enjoys wallowing in a sty and it’s easier to maintain it neat than to find some stable point halfway between neat and chaos. Likewise, we love having a sharp-looking outfit that is easily recognized as a Scout Troop. Winning an award for it is pure lagniappe.
Tuesdays at camp mean "cheesy eggs" for breakfast. These consist of scrambled eggs topped with (as you no doubt have guessed already) cheese! Accompanying this simple-but-satiating fare are "hash browns" (think of what passes for hash browns at McDonald's and you will have a good idea of what we consumed this morning.) For those thus inclined, various dry cereal is available in single-serving containers. There is yogurt available alongside the cereal selections. Also, as for every meal this year, fresh fruit and vegetables we available too.
At the end of each meal, we all participate in the much-ballyhooed "Two Minute Drill." This exercise consists of gathering all the detritus of the meal: trash, flatware, dishes, plates, glasses, etcetera. We scrape any contents remaining into one vessel and collect the disposables in another. Three glasses serve as individual receptacles for knives, forks, and spoons. At the end of the specified 120 seconds, the table is ready to be cleared quickly and efficiently. One amusing sight is the staffers vying to outdo one another with the tallest stack of glasses. Some of these efforts reach nearly to the rather high ceiling of the hall. Check out the Troop 451 Smugmug page for a picture or two of such antics.
Another game of The Price is Right followed our morning meal but no one from our troop was called. Alas, alack.
Then, it was off to merit badge classes, Trail to First Class, and wherever it is the adults go when our charges are under the careful supervision of other well-trained individuals. Well, one thing Scouters tend to is last-minute tidying of the campsite.
Look for more updates as our second full-day at camp progresses!
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