Troop 1513 Tifie Scout Camp 2012

We had a fun and successful week at camp this year.  The scouts completed 53 merit badges out of 70 attempted.  We had around 8 archery merit badges that were only lacking in a little range time of completion.  A few boys will need to complete the First Aid merit badge which is a requirement for the emergency preparedness merit badge.  Because of the wild fires we had an extra 5 troops from Scofield Scout Camp which double stacked some of our classes.  The boys spent their free time swimming, shooting and beating a deep path to the trading post for ice cream and drinks.

Our camp spot 'Bear' was in a perfect spot with lots of shade.  We were closest to most of the merit badges, swimming pool and the trading post but furthest from the shooting sports.  The boys enjoyed every meal except the slightly burned potatoes.

The camp director spent a lot of time with our troop playing a number counting game he said not many groups could make to number 20.  We finally made it to the high 30's with him on Friday afternoon.  Judging by the little free time he had, I think he spent most of it with our boys.

We split the boys into two patrols for this camp and it worked really good for chores, devotionals and troop organization.  The Sage Grouse and Grizzly patrol switched back and forth between the red and tan class B t-shirts each day so we could better identify the patrols by their color.  Tim and John each took a patrol under their wing and helped them with their duties through the week. 

The boys worked hard on a card board duck tape boat that they raced and took first place in.  Their race time across the pool was around 22 seconds.  The camps best time ever was 17 seconds.  I think the second best time for week 4 at Tifie this year was around 60 seconds.  Take a look at the previous blog that has a video showing just how fast they were.

We also won the Baden Powell award.  This award is given to one troop during the week that demonstrates scout spirit, service and a high score on uniforms and camp inspection.  We also won the spirit stick which only eight troops had the opportunity to obtain.

We had a real camp bear that hound dogs chased back and forth around our camp late at night and early in the morning.  I think Yogi Bear would have been proud of him.