Reflections On Summer Camp 2019
With our annual week of summer camp freshly behind us, the time seems apt for a bit of reflection.
Why do we do it? Every summer for the past 19 years our troop has made the long trek northward to attend Camp Geiger. Why? What is it about this particular Scout camp that keeps us coming back again and again?
Often, various officials from the Longhorn Council have inquired why we do not avail ourselves of the great facilities our council has to offer for summer camp. And it is true that both Worth Ranch and Sid Richardson Scout Ranch are fine camps. (I have not been to Camp Tahuaya so I cannot comment on it, though I understand it is similar to Worth Ranch and Sid). We use them throughout the year, camping at each one once or twice each year. The facilities available are not an issue.
The flippant answer I offer to these queries is that, while we love those camps, there are three reasons we do not go there for summer camp: June, July, and August!
There is much truth in this joke. Texas summers can be brutally hot, day and night. It is especially the heat at night that makes them hard to enjoy. When it is cold, one can always add an extra layer but when it is hot, there is only so naked you can get. As much as we Scouters may enjoy sleep deprivation at Camp Geiger, when we do sleep, we sleep. That is not quite the case if it is 100 F outside at 1:00 AM! The typically-cooler nights in Northwest Missouri are far more agreeable. Sure, the afternoons at Camp Geiger can seem Africa-hot, but when the sun goes down, the heat abates.
But the reasons we choose Camp Geiger each year run much, much deeper than mere physical comfort. Geiger is an exceptional camp. I have seen at least a dozen other summer camps in my time and Geiger is the best-appointed. Its physical facilities are excellent. I have never seen another Scout camp with as many high-quality facilities. For some camp activities, this really makes a big difference. The swimming pool is a good venue for swimming and lifesaving merit badges and it will be updated this year with new shower house facilities. The shooting sports facilities are outstanding too. The rifle and shotgun ranges are the equal to many an exclusive private club's. The dining hall is excellent too, though it strains to accommodate all the Scouts who want to attend summer camp at Geiger. The Running Horse Council Ring is the fanciest campfire setting I have ever seen at any summer camp.
Physical facilities alone do not make summer camp, however. The staff at Geiger is excellent too. It is no wonder that they can field such a qualified group of Scouts and Scouters each year when they can be so selective in whom they hire. Being on the staff there is an aspiration for almost every camper who experiences what Camp Geiger offers. Troop 451 is proud that so many of our Scouts have served on the Geiger staff over the past many years.
Staffing a Scout Camp is a labor of love; no one is in it for the money, which is truly meager indeed. One does it for the experience, the camaraderie, and the sheer joy of it. Staffing summer camp is a great first job for a young person. It offers the opportunity to really learn what it means to work at doing what someone else needs to be done in an environment more supportive and forgiving than most. I know from watching my own son that summer camp can really help a young person mature into a well-formed adult and staffing at Geiger had a far more dramatic effect than merely attending camp had. I am proud that he had the opportunity to serve for several years and pleased that they offered this opportunity to him and to many of his fellow Scouts.
What makes Camp Geiger unique, however, is the Tribe of Mic-O-Say, its honor camping society. I have written of the Tribe's origins elsewhere but it bears a quick retelling here. Mic-O-Say was founded in the 1920s, at a time when many Boy Scout Councils saw the need for something extra for their most-dedicated Scouts and many honor camping societies formed in councils around the United States, almost all based on Native American themes. Among them were both Mic-O-Say and the Order of the Arrow. By the late 1940s, the National Scouting leadership saw the need to expand such a program nationwide and chose the OA to fill that role. Most of the councils' societies were subsumed within the umbrella of the OA but some half-dozen retained an independent existence and among those was Mic-O-Say.
Membership in the Tribe has inspired a devotion to Camp Geiger in generations of campers, a devotion that matches that of alumni fiercely loyal to their alma mater. In fact, for many Scouts, Camp Geiger has been their alma mater, providing the kind of life preparation that enabled them to succeed as adults. Their loyalty is reflected in the large number of adults who serve on staff in what is effectively a volunteer position when compared to what they could earn doing most anything else.
That dedication is also reflected in the generosity with which the camp is supported. Believe me. The fees that Geiger collects from each Scout who attends summer camp could not provide those fine facilities. Not all the philanthropy that makes Geiger possible comes from its alumni, of course, but they have a profound impact on securing support from many diverse sources.
I got a taste of the intensity of the love its alumni have for Camp Geiger the first time I set foot in the camp, for Hammerhead Day several years ago. We arrived late on a Friday afternoon and the folks in charge of the event invited those of us traveling up from Texas to join them for dinner in the dining hall. I recall being stunned by the quality of that facility. It remains the nicest I have seen at any summer camp. We dined on steak that was both well-prepared and of good quality. Some summer camp!!
Although I felt acutely the awkwardness of being an outsider there, everyone with whom I spoke was warm and friendly and made me feel welcome. The sense of their dedication to their camp that I picked up on that evening was only reinforced more dramatically the next day as we volunteers from Troop 451 set to accomplishing one of the slated service projects for the day. I described that experience as soon as we returned to Texas. You can read about it in an earlier post to this blog, my first, as it happens.
My musings here have a point and it is this: Camp Geiger offers a special experience to Scouts and our Troop 451 Scouts are fortunate to partake of it. Each summer, they have the opportunity to earn several merit badges and help themselves on their way to advanced Scout rank. They make new friendships and reinforce older ones. They leave camp further along their journey to honorable adulthood than when they arrived and that is the heart of the matter.
A week together at summer camp means that the Scouts of Troop 451 get the shared experiences of spending a week together, tenting in the great outdoors, striving to distinguish our troop among the many in attendance each session, and focusing on Scouting skills. They also experience the powerful allure of membership in the tribe. Mic-O-Say is absolutely not a 'secret society' and any parent of a Scout who is involved is welcome to see for themselves what the Tribe does. The Tribe, however, cultivates an aura of mystery about its proceedings that serves to whet to the interest of younger Scouts. The intended effect is to make membership something to which Scouts aspire.
They view it as an honor because their peers and their adult leaders view it as an honor. This is clear, even to first-time campers, when they approach the Tapping Fire and see that so many of their peers and adults have taken the time and effort to show up in fancy Native American-inspired regalia. Wearing costumes that the viewers know the wearers would not sport in just about any other venue shows that the assembled tribesmen regard that as a special occasion.
More than 200 Scouts and Scouters from our troop have been selected for membership in the Tribe and those Troop 451 Tribesmen have had a profound impact on our troop. Our troop is not Mic-O-Say and Mic-O-Say is not our troop but the two are complementary. A Scout can certainly enjoy the full benefits from membership in Troop 451 without ever being inducted into Mic-O-Say. Many have. But being called to membership in the Tribe can be a special point in a Scouting career.
Because our Scouts see that membership in the Tribe is so special to so many people, it becomes special to them. Thus, the Tribe, with membership and advancement as rewards, serves as an additional incentive for Scouts to stick with the program and advance in Scout rank. Its success in attaining these goals is evident in the very high proportion of older Scouts who participate with Troop 451 compared with other troops in our area.
The active participation of Scouts all the way up until they age-out of our troop is one of the characteristics that makes Troop 451 a different, and, I believe, a better experience for our young people. Offering our Scouts a comprehensive summer camp experience each year and a strong connection to Mic-O-Say is a large part of why we enjoy this distinct (and traditional) troop demographic. Where else in today’s World can a young man of 11 form close connections to a young man of 16 or 17, one who can serve as a model of who that first young man may wish to be in just a few years’ time? Adolescence is a crucial time in life and seeing others who are successfully negotiating its famously-treacherous shoals is a valuable opportunity for those embarking upon that transition.
If Troop 451 were a business enterprise, our week at Camp Geiger each year would be our corporate team-building retreat. It is this week, more than any other, that makes a troop out of our collection of Scouts. It is there that our first-year Scouts become truly integrated with their fellow Scouts and this intensity of shared experience is key to this inclusive bonding. At summer camp, a younger Scout can make connections with an older Scout who can mentor him as he advances through the program.
Summer Camp is not the only activity we do that is important to us but it is the single most important activity that makes our troop a troop.
We are grateful for all those who were able to be with us this year and invite all who could not be with us to join us next year for our TWENTIETH session at Camp Geiger.
Why do we do it? Every summer for the past 19 years our troop has made the long trek northward to attend Camp Geiger. Why? What is it about this particular Scout camp that keeps us coming back again and again?
Often, various officials from the Longhorn Council have inquired why we do not avail ourselves of the great facilities our council has to offer for summer camp. And it is true that both Worth Ranch and Sid Richardson Scout Ranch are fine camps. (I have not been to Camp Tahuaya so I cannot comment on it, though I understand it is similar to Worth Ranch and Sid). We use them throughout the year, camping at each one once or twice each year. The facilities available are not an issue.
The flippant answer I offer to these queries is that, while we love those camps, there are three reasons we do not go there for summer camp: June, July, and August!
There is much truth in this joke. Texas summers can be brutally hot, day and night. It is especially the heat at night that makes them hard to enjoy. When it is cold, one can always add an extra layer but when it is hot, there is only so naked you can get. As much as we Scouters may enjoy sleep deprivation at Camp Geiger, when we do sleep, we sleep. That is not quite the case if it is 100 F outside at 1:00 AM! The typically-cooler nights in Northwest Missouri are far more agreeable. Sure, the afternoons at Camp Geiger can seem Africa-hot, but when the sun goes down, the heat abates.
But the reasons we choose Camp Geiger each year run much, much deeper than mere physical comfort. Geiger is an exceptional camp. I have seen at least a dozen other summer camps in my time and Geiger is the best-appointed. Its physical facilities are excellent. I have never seen another Scout camp with as many high-quality facilities. For some camp activities, this really makes a big difference. The swimming pool is a good venue for swimming and lifesaving merit badges and it will be updated this year with new shower house facilities. The shooting sports facilities are outstanding too. The rifle and shotgun ranges are the equal to many an exclusive private club's. The dining hall is excellent too, though it strains to accommodate all the Scouts who want to attend summer camp at Geiger. The Running Horse Council Ring is the fanciest campfire setting I have ever seen at any summer camp.
Physical facilities alone do not make summer camp, however. The staff at Geiger is excellent too. It is no wonder that they can field such a qualified group of Scouts and Scouters each year when they can be so selective in whom they hire. Being on the staff there is an aspiration for almost every camper who experiences what Camp Geiger offers. Troop 451 is proud that so many of our Scouts have served on the Geiger staff over the past many years.
Staffing a Scout Camp is a labor of love; no one is in it for the money, which is truly meager indeed. One does it for the experience, the camaraderie, and the sheer joy of it. Staffing summer camp is a great first job for a young person. It offers the opportunity to really learn what it means to work at doing what someone else needs to be done in an environment more supportive and forgiving than most. I know from watching my own son that summer camp can really help a young person mature into a well-formed adult and staffing at Geiger had a far more dramatic effect than merely attending camp had. I am proud that he had the opportunity to serve for several years and pleased that they offered this opportunity to him and to many of his fellow Scouts.
What makes Camp Geiger unique, however, is the Tribe of Mic-O-Say, its honor camping society. I have written of the Tribe's origins elsewhere but it bears a quick retelling here. Mic-O-Say was founded in the 1920s, at a time when many Boy Scout Councils saw the need for something extra for their most-dedicated Scouts and many honor camping societies formed in councils around the United States, almost all based on Native American themes. Among them were both Mic-O-Say and the Order of the Arrow. By the late 1940s, the National Scouting leadership saw the need to expand such a program nationwide and chose the OA to fill that role. Most of the councils' societies were subsumed within the umbrella of the OA but some half-dozen retained an independent existence and among those was Mic-O-Say.
Membership in the Tribe has inspired a devotion to Camp Geiger in generations of campers, a devotion that matches that of alumni fiercely loyal to their alma mater. In fact, for many Scouts, Camp Geiger has been their alma mater, providing the kind of life preparation that enabled them to succeed as adults. Their loyalty is reflected in the large number of adults who serve on staff in what is effectively a volunteer position when compared to what they could earn doing most anything else.
That dedication is also reflected in the generosity with which the camp is supported. Believe me. The fees that Geiger collects from each Scout who attends summer camp could not provide those fine facilities. Not all the philanthropy that makes Geiger possible comes from its alumni, of course, but they have a profound impact on securing support from many diverse sources.
I got a taste of the intensity of the love its alumni have for Camp Geiger the first time I set foot in the camp, for Hammerhead Day several years ago. We arrived late on a Friday afternoon and the folks in charge of the event invited those of us traveling up from Texas to join them for dinner in the dining hall. I recall being stunned by the quality of that facility. It remains the nicest I have seen at any summer camp. We dined on steak that was both well-prepared and of good quality. Some summer camp!!
Although I felt acutely the awkwardness of being an outsider there, everyone with whom I spoke was warm and friendly and made me feel welcome. The sense of their dedication to their camp that I picked up on that evening was only reinforced more dramatically the next day as we volunteers from Troop 451 set to accomplishing one of the slated service projects for the day. I described that experience as soon as we returned to Texas. You can read about it in an earlier post to this blog, my first, as it happens.
My musings here have a point and it is this: Camp Geiger offers a special experience to Scouts and our Troop 451 Scouts are fortunate to partake of it. Each summer, they have the opportunity to earn several merit badges and help themselves on their way to advanced Scout rank. They make new friendships and reinforce older ones. They leave camp further along their journey to honorable adulthood than when they arrived and that is the heart of the matter.
A week together at summer camp means that the Scouts of Troop 451 get the shared experiences of spending a week together, tenting in the great outdoors, striving to distinguish our troop among the many in attendance each session, and focusing on Scouting skills. They also experience the powerful allure of membership in the tribe. Mic-O-Say is absolutely not a 'secret society' and any parent of a Scout who is involved is welcome to see for themselves what the Tribe does. The Tribe, however, cultivates an aura of mystery about its proceedings that serves to whet to the interest of younger Scouts. The intended effect is to make membership something to which Scouts aspire.
They view it as an honor because their peers and their adult leaders view it as an honor. This is clear, even to first-time campers, when they approach the Tapping Fire and see that so many of their peers and adults have taken the time and effort to show up in fancy Native American-inspired regalia. Wearing costumes that the viewers know the wearers would not sport in just about any other venue shows that the assembled tribesmen regard that as a special occasion.
More than 200 Scouts and Scouters from our troop have been selected for membership in the Tribe and those Troop 451 Tribesmen have had a profound impact on our troop. Our troop is not Mic-O-Say and Mic-O-Say is not our troop but the two are complementary. A Scout can certainly enjoy the full benefits from membership in Troop 451 without ever being inducted into Mic-O-Say. Many have. But being called to membership in the Tribe can be a special point in a Scouting career.
Because our Scouts see that membership in the Tribe is so special to so many people, it becomes special to them. Thus, the Tribe, with membership and advancement as rewards, serves as an additional incentive for Scouts to stick with the program and advance in Scout rank. Its success in attaining these goals is evident in the very high proportion of older Scouts who participate with Troop 451 compared with other troops in our area.
The active participation of Scouts all the way up until they age-out of our troop is one of the characteristics that makes Troop 451 a different, and, I believe, a better experience for our young people. Offering our Scouts a comprehensive summer camp experience each year and a strong connection to Mic-O-Say is a large part of why we enjoy this distinct (and traditional) troop demographic. Where else in today’s World can a young man of 11 form close connections to a young man of 16 or 17, one who can serve as a model of who that first young man may wish to be in just a few years’ time? Adolescence is a crucial time in life and seeing others who are successfully negotiating its famously-treacherous shoals is a valuable opportunity for those embarking upon that transition.
If Troop 451 were a business enterprise, our week at Camp Geiger each year would be our corporate team-building retreat. It is this week, more than any other, that makes a troop out of our collection of Scouts. It is there that our first-year Scouts become truly integrated with their fellow Scouts and this intensity of shared experience is key to this inclusive bonding. At summer camp, a younger Scout can make connections with an older Scout who can mentor him as he advances through the program.
Summer Camp is not the only activity we do that is important to us but it is the single most important activity that makes our troop a troop.
We are grateful for all those who were able to be with us this year and invite all who could not be with us to join us next year for our TWENTIETH session at Camp Geiger.
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