This past weekend temperatures were in the 100's - and Waltham Cub Scout Pack #274 went Family Camping down at Camp Massasoit in Plymouth, MA. Boy Scouts of America Boston Minuteman Council Scout Executive/CEO Chuck Eaton was there and described it as this "Think of yourselves as strapping on your pointy ears and weird uniforms and going to a Star Trek Convention. That's what non-scouts think of us." Let me summarize the weekend - and then add some thoughts about what's so great about scouts...
We left Waltham at 6:50 P.M. and arrived in camp at 8:07 P.M. with health forms filled on and ready in hand. We got expressed through the wait to check-in line - always be prepared! Cam (our 8 year old son) ran off to watch the "Lion King" movie under the dining tent with popcorn and bug juice (non-campers call it Kool-Aid). My husband and I drove over to our lean-to, unloaded the car, and changed from city-mode (unloaded cell phones & wallets) to camp-mode (doling out bug spray, pocket flash-lights for all, and organizing.) Our family isn't ready for the tent yet - we graduated from full-cabin with electricity and flush-toilets to lean-to with shower/toilet facilities nearby. But we brought the tent. Maybe next time we'll break it out.
By 9pm it was only 80 degrees but had a 75% dewpoint - ugh! We hiked up to meet Cam at the movie just as - brown out! So, we gathered him up and the 30 of us from Pack #274 went to the main tent-site and we made a campfire, S'mores (best part of camping ever!), and roasted wieners. The boys then made up skits that only young boys "get" and laugh at... But we all clapped anyway.
Quiet time 10pm - lights out 11pm.
Cam, Ev, & I struggled to sleep on our -30 degree rated sleeping bags in the soaking heat. I made my son an ice-pack to sleep with and he fell right asleep. Middle of the night temperature drops and he climbs into my bag with me. Too hot for me so I climbed out and slept on his! Hmmm...I love campfires & s'mores & skits - it may be many moons between camping but the best parts are still the same!
Saturday was a modge-podge of flag ceremony, breakfast, horseshoes, reading, tether-ball, playground, swimming proficiency testing, swimming, boating (5 types of boats), archery, BB range, & slingshots. By lunch thunder & lightning were over-head so the waterfront closed - thank goodness. As Cams swim-buddy I had been in the water for two and a half straight hours! During which time, I learned how to kayak. Flipped the kayak a few times in the process but "try and try again" was my mantra - and when I did it the trip around the lake was AMAZING! RAIN STORM! Run to the lean-to where 4 boys and 3 parents waited out the rain. Trusty playing cards used for Knock!, War, card-houses, and a Dungeons & Dragons map. Even after the rain ended - the imaginative boys stayed for hours in their make-believe world of fantasy and fun. So, the parents challenged themselves to Slingshot (Ted is king here!), BB Gun Range (Ev is king here!), and Archery (I reign as Queen of Archery.) Dinner is a camp staple of pasta, sauce, bread, and ice cream dessert.
At 8pm there is a all-camp campfire and skit show - put on by boys, leaders, camp counselors, and songs which are audience participation required. Our sons are mortified when the parents sing and dance around. After campfire there is talk of S'mores but Cam crawls into bed and drops to sleep.
Sunday is flag ceremony, breakfast, arts & crafts, fishing, packing up, & cleaning up. My journal of the weekend is many pages longer than this. I wrote column to tell you that Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting are alive and well. And, if as a parent you want to see what scouting is like - you can go on a family Scouting weekend camp (there are cabins, with electricity, running water, toilets, showers, and a cook) with planned activities so you ans your boys and girls can see what it's all about. It's inexpensive, all-inclusive, and nearby.
The best part of this camp experience for me, was what Eaton summarized for me as "a community of parents raising each others children." I didn't have to know where Cam was to know he was safe. Everyone knew every childs' name by the end of the weekend; children roamed in packs, parents watched out; staff reminded them of unwritten Scout Rules ("leave it cleaner than you found it") and of written camp safety rules. Check out Scouting and all it can offer you and your family. You'll be happier having tried it. I'm told by my husband the non-camper that he insists we sleep in the tent in August. And that says Eaton "is the whole purpose of the Family Camping weekend."
(P.S. to the makers of Off Personal Mosquito Fan - no mosquitoes bit us for 2 nights - those fans work exactly as described as field- tested by my family!!!)
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