Settling In
Sunday, June 16th, 2019
Your Troop 451 Scouts did a great job of settling into our home for the week, Sioux Lookout campsite, where we have stayed 5 of the previous six years. It is a lovely location, if a mite windy at times. A salient benefit is that it is close to the Flaming Crow Trading post, which is always a popular site for the boys.
One new feature of the campsite this year is toads. Yes, TOADS!
Everywhere one looks, small toads are in evidence, crawling and hopping through the grass, over dirt, and across the roads. These specimens are perhaps an inch long (range 0.75-1.25 in, S.D. = +/- 1 .237). An exceptionally wet Spring has led to this amphibian abundance for which we may well be grateful. Toads eat a lot of insects and the other notable difference between this first day at Geiger and previous years was an abundance of tiny black flies.
Whether the flies bite or not, I cannot say. They do, however, possess quite an arsenal of annoyance factors, especially buzzing around one's face and eyes. They even fly up noses, upon occasion and that is a remarkably unpleasant experience. Luckily, in the early evening a soft breeze blew in and that relieved some of the airborne insect infestation, allowing for a far more pleasant night's sleep than one may have anticipated.
For most of our days at camp, members of Troop 451 wear their rather retro-yclept "class B" uniform (aka: activity uniform). This consists of Scout shorts and socks, along with our red Troop 451 T-shirts. This is suitable for the warm, sunny days we often have, as well as being the base for a hoodie or such during cooler times.
Dinner at Camp Geiger, however, is a "class A" affair. Troop 451 is a full-uniform troop and this means that our class A outfit includes the Khaki button-down shirt, as well as Scout pants, Scout belt, and socks. We also sport our neckerchiefs. The tribesmen among us add their Mic-O-Say claws to their ensembles and Scouters who have earned their Wood Badge beads wear those as well. Thus bedecked, our Scouts look quite sharp. The Scouters do too, of course, but it is our Scouts of who we should be especially proud. This year, as for our past two sessions at camp, we topped off our class A's with a khaki Troop 451 hat. The effect is really quite nice
Each evening, when all the troops present are in their uniforms (or at least what passes for uniforms, depending on the troop) the camp staff selects a unit for the "Sharpest Unit" award. The reward for meriting this recognition is the privilege of displaying one's troop flag in a prominent locale.
As we have for many years past now, we garnered this award Sunday at dinner. It is GREAT to be a part of a sharp outfit!
After dinner, all campers gather in the Handicraft corral, overlooking the steep slopes of "Tapping Valley" (about which you will hear much more, later). The venue for this "infotainment" is the "Running Horse Council Ring", as elegant a setting for a summer camp campfire as your correspondent has ever seen (and your correspondent has seen no fewer than ten different settings for campfires at various summer camps around the country!). The Running Horse Council Ring is set on a sloping, curving hillside, making a natural amphitheatre. This is enhanced by large blocks of limestone that define the terraces where the assembled audience sits for the show, focused on the sandy arena that serves as a stage.
The fire itself is suitably large, tended by members of the Firebuilder clan of MicO-Say. The Scouts don their tribal regalia for this honored responsibility. A high point of any opening campfire is when the crowd demands that one of the leaders of the camp staff perform the fabled "log roll" stunt. SImpler than it may sound, the logroll is accomplished merely by orienting oneself horizontally the ground and rolling one way or the other, or both. The only downside to the crowd-pleasing activity is that the roller's class A's become coated with dust and grime.
This opening event focuses principally on introducing the Staff from the various areas of camp to the assembled campers. When Troop 451's own Chad Kral was introduced, Troop 451 gave an enthusiastic cheer by way of greeting.
Once the campers return to their campsites following the opening campfire there remains a crucial activity to complete and this is the tornado shelter drill. One of the marvelous features of Camp Geiger, only added within these past few years, are the sturdy Storm Shelters in each campsite. These are essentially concrete bunkers dug into a hillside by each camp (Geiger sprawls across rather hilly terrain and this helps to explain why the great tract was available for donation to the Pony Express Council in 1935 - the parcel is certainly not suited to farming of any sort. It might work for grazing sheep or goats, but even cattle could be problematic here.
The Storm Shelters are designed to accommodate every person in camp and provide safe refuge in the event of violent storms, as this area (much like home) experiences periodically. In order that they may serve their intended purpose, Sunday night, everyone participates in a shelter drill. A test is announced, followed by the emergency storm siren and everyone is instructed to head to the designated shelter for their campsite. Once there, roll is taken and everyone is accounted for.
Camp staffers, armed with radio communications, confirm everyone's presence to the emergency coordinator who then gives the signal to end the drill. Last night's drill went well and we were in and out of the shelter within perhaps ten minutes. The weather was on the cool side, once the sun went down, and this made the experience more pleasant than it might have been. In truly warm weather, the shelter room, which is perhaps 15 by 22 feet, can get rather warm. This is especially true when it is occupied by 55-or-so souls.
The shelter space is fully adequate to provide protection for everyone but no one promised a luxurious wait while a storm rages. However, because the shelters at Geiger were built, in part, with funds granted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they were constructed to FEMA standards. Since a good number of people might be confined to the facility for an extended period, the FEMA standards call for proper lighting and sanitary facilities in each shelter. This means that each shelter is served by running water and electricity, as well as wastewater plumbing.
Never willing to miss a prime opportunity, the folks who oversee Camp Geiger elected to add a couple of showers to each shelter as well the three commodes. The grant monies did not provide for heating any water, however (their purpose being safety, not luxury) so water heaters were procured by private sponsorship. In fact, your troop covered the cost of water heaters for two shelters, by way of expressing our gratitude for this fantastic upgrade to camp accommodations. Not only is every campsite served by a suitable safety shelter but, as a side benefit, each is served by modern, hygienic plumbing and electricity as well! While many Scouts may feel blase about the convenient, in-camp opportunity to bathe, everyone is grateful for the other modern conveniences. No one who has experienced indoor plumbing likes using a latrine!
Shortly after we were released to return to our nightly routine, "Taps" sounded over the camp speaker and it was time for lights out. Your exhausted correspondent, having retired earlier, was grateful the interruption from the drill was over and returned to his tent and cot to sleep soundly until reveille at 7:00 in the morning.
Your Troop 451 Scouts did a great job of settling into our home for the week, Sioux Lookout campsite, where we have stayed 5 of the previous six years. It is a lovely location, if a mite windy at times. A salient benefit is that it is close to the Flaming Crow Trading post, which is always a popular site for the boys.
One new feature of the campsite this year is toads. Yes, TOADS!
Everywhere one looks, small toads are in evidence, crawling and hopping through the grass, over dirt, and across the roads. These specimens are perhaps an inch long (range 0.75-1.25 in, S.D. = +/- 1 .237). An exceptionally wet Spring has led to this amphibian abundance for which we may well be grateful. Toads eat a lot of insects and the other notable difference between this first day at Geiger and previous years was an abundance of tiny black flies.
Whether the flies bite or not, I cannot say. They do, however, possess quite an arsenal of annoyance factors, especially buzzing around one's face and eyes. They even fly up noses, upon occasion and that is a remarkably unpleasant experience. Luckily, in the early evening a soft breeze blew in and that relieved some of the airborne insect infestation, allowing for a far more pleasant night's sleep than one may have anticipated.
For most of our days at camp, members of Troop 451 wear their rather retro-yclept "class B" uniform (aka: activity uniform). This consists of Scout shorts and socks, along with our red Troop 451 T-shirts. This is suitable for the warm, sunny days we often have, as well as being the base for a hoodie or such during cooler times.
Dinner at Camp Geiger, however, is a "class A" affair. Troop 451 is a full-uniform troop and this means that our class A outfit includes the Khaki button-down shirt, as well as Scout pants, Scout belt, and socks. We also sport our neckerchiefs. The tribesmen among us add their Mic-O-Say claws to their ensembles and Scouters who have earned their Wood Badge beads wear those as well. Thus bedecked, our Scouts look quite sharp. The Scouters do too, of course, but it is our Scouts of who we should be especially proud. This year, as for our past two sessions at camp, we topped off our class A's with a khaki Troop 451 hat. The effect is really quite nice
Each evening, when all the troops present are in their uniforms (or at least what passes for uniforms, depending on the troop) the camp staff selects a unit for the "Sharpest Unit" award. The reward for meriting this recognition is the privilege of displaying one's troop flag in a prominent locale.
As we have for many years past now, we garnered this award Sunday at dinner. It is GREAT to be a part of a sharp outfit!
After dinner, all campers gather in the Handicraft corral, overlooking the steep slopes of "Tapping Valley" (about which you will hear much more, later). The venue for this "infotainment" is the "Running Horse Council Ring", as elegant a setting for a summer camp campfire as your correspondent has ever seen (and your correspondent has seen no fewer than ten different settings for campfires at various summer camps around the country!). The Running Horse Council Ring is set on a sloping, curving hillside, making a natural amphitheatre. This is enhanced by large blocks of limestone that define the terraces where the assembled audience sits for the show, focused on the sandy arena that serves as a stage.
The fire itself is suitably large, tended by members of the Firebuilder clan of MicO-Say. The Scouts don their tribal regalia for this honored responsibility. A high point of any opening campfire is when the crowd demands that one of the leaders of the camp staff perform the fabled "log roll" stunt. SImpler than it may sound, the logroll is accomplished merely by orienting oneself horizontally the ground and rolling one way or the other, or both. The only downside to the crowd-pleasing activity is that the roller's class A's become coated with dust and grime.
This opening event focuses principally on introducing the Staff from the various areas of camp to the assembled campers. When Troop 451's own Chad Kral was introduced, Troop 451 gave an enthusiastic cheer by way of greeting.
Once the campers return to their campsites following the opening campfire there remains a crucial activity to complete and this is the tornado shelter drill. One of the marvelous features of Camp Geiger, only added within these past few years, are the sturdy Storm Shelters in each campsite. These are essentially concrete bunkers dug into a hillside by each camp (Geiger sprawls across rather hilly terrain and this helps to explain why the great tract was available for donation to the Pony Express Council in 1935 - the parcel is certainly not suited to farming of any sort. It might work for grazing sheep or goats, but even cattle could be problematic here.
The Storm Shelters are designed to accommodate every person in camp and provide safe refuge in the event of violent storms, as this area (much like home) experiences periodically. In order that they may serve their intended purpose, Sunday night, everyone participates in a shelter drill. A test is announced, followed by the emergency storm siren and everyone is instructed to head to the designated shelter for their campsite. Once there, roll is taken and everyone is accounted for.
Camp staffers, armed with radio communications, confirm everyone's presence to the emergency coordinator who then gives the signal to end the drill. Last night's drill went well and we were in and out of the shelter within perhaps ten minutes. The weather was on the cool side, once the sun went down, and this made the experience more pleasant than it might have been. In truly warm weather, the shelter room, which is perhaps 15 by 22 feet, can get rather warm. This is especially true when it is occupied by 55-or-so souls.
The shelter space is fully adequate to provide protection for everyone but no one promised a luxurious wait while a storm rages. However, because the shelters at Geiger were built, in part, with funds granted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they were constructed to FEMA standards. Since a good number of people might be confined to the facility for an extended period, the FEMA standards call for proper lighting and sanitary facilities in each shelter. This means that each shelter is served by running water and electricity, as well as wastewater plumbing.
Never willing to miss a prime opportunity, the folks who oversee Camp Geiger elected to add a couple of showers to each shelter as well the three commodes. The grant monies did not provide for heating any water, however (their purpose being safety, not luxury) so water heaters were procured by private sponsorship. In fact, your troop covered the cost of water heaters for two shelters, by way of expressing our gratitude for this fantastic upgrade to camp accommodations. Not only is every campsite served by a suitable safety shelter but, as a side benefit, each is served by modern, hygienic plumbing and electricity as well! While many Scouts may feel blase about the convenient, in-camp opportunity to bathe, everyone is grateful for the other modern conveniences. No one who has experienced indoor plumbing likes using a latrine!
Shortly after we were released to return to our nightly routine, "Taps" sounded over the camp speaker and it was time for lights out. Your exhausted correspondent, having retired earlier, was grateful the interruption from the drill was over and returned to his tent and cot to sleep soundly until reveille at 7:00 in the morning.
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