2002 Camp Old Indian Diary
From Jax: Sunday June 30
The boys are sleeping in Adirondacks
this year instead of tents. The Adirondacks are three sided wooden huts with a
shingled roof. There will be four boys in each hut. We hope to have photos, but
the computer connections are as poor as the phone lines. You don't choose a camp
based on bandwidth.
Also, for others people expecting calls, cell phones don't work in camp.
Everyone will have to line up at the pay phones.
From Camp: Sunday 6/30/2002
The drive up was fine and uneventful. We finally got loaded
and left for our 8-hour trip only 25 min. behind schedule.
Stopping for meals at the rest areas was a real time saver.
We arrived around 2:30.
After checking in we took a looooong hike to our campsite.
It�s about a 120� climb over 100 yards.
Ray wants to know if anyone knows what a stroke feels like. We then took
a tour of the camp and headed to the lake for the drowning test.
Everyone failed, so we will get to swim.
The 5-star dinner at the dinning hall was pretty good roast
beef looking stuff with rice and gravy.
Everyone up here must be a safe driver because we noticed the roads are
clear of road kill and when a poor animal does get hit, the kitchen staff are
quick to respond to their extra duty of keeping the roads clean.
The boys are all excited about getting started tomorrow and
settled down quickly for bed.
Later,
Scoutmaster Eddie
From Camp: Monday 7/1/2002
Camp
Menu: Sunday - Roast Beef, Rice & Gravy
Monday � Scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuit & gravy;
Grilled chicken sandwiches, chips and brownie; Ham, mac&cheese, & green
limas
Tuesday � French toast, sausage & some kind of hard
apple slices in sugar water
The first day went well all the boys were tired and hit the
sack by
10 pm.
(the leaders were in by
9:30
). The High Adventure repelling trip
got postponed due to rain so Steve took advantage of the low adventure 5-mile
hike up to the top of Mt. Old Indian w/ Raymond, Joseph, and Michael Be.
The excitement of the hike came when Raymond and Steve didn�t move fast
enough and fell victim to the yellow jackets (2 years in a row for Raymond) the
both survived thru the night w/out any need for hospitalization.
View of campsite and leader's Adirondack.
7/02/02
Today started off early. Jeremy & Steve had to be at the dinning hall
at
6:30
for a hearty breakfast of cheerios and buttermilk before a day of rock climbing
and repelling. The Boys have been
taking turns as table waiters. They have really taken on the responsibility and
done well. Ray, Joe & I went to
a �Leave No Trace� session early and the boys had to get up, dress,
straighten camp for inspection and get to the Meadow by
7:55
for assembly.
We are proud to say
we received 100% on today�s Inspection (98% yesterday).
The Troop even arrived early. The
Leaders question of today is �Don�t your parents make you use a fork at home
when you eat French toast?�
As we
were composing part of the note this morning, I saw something hanging out of one
of the
Adirondacks
. It looked like a piece of black
hose but it was only a 4� black snake. Joe
C. caught it and took it to the reptile lodge.
They were glad to get it. It
was a sign of good luck because everyone knows that when you find a black snake
in camp there won�t be any copperheads. Did
I mention Ray doesn�t like snakes?
The
leaders went to the gun range today and Joe C. fired a shotgun for the first
time, Eddie C. hit 5 out of 5 skeet and qualified for a camp award.
Michael C., Joseph C., & Michael Be. are practicing for the mile
swim. One of the boys is sticking to
it like a �leech�. Michael Bu.
qualified for his rifle merit badge.
Jordan
is really getting onto his Soil & water Conservation class and
Troy
is enjoying photography. Hal has
adopted one of the counselors and he joined us for our popcorn cracker barrel
All
the boys are doing fine and aren�t showing any signs of homesickness.
We�ll probably not try to call because 1- they are doing so well and 2-
the only phone in camp is the one in the staff lounge.
Camp Menu: Wednesday � Bacon, eggs, toast, grits, milk, &
oranges; Bar BQ pork, French Fries, coleslaw, salad, & pineapple chunks
7/03/02
I woke Hal up at
5:45
today to get to his bird study class in the meadow.
I think they were going to wake up the birds.
Wednesday started off as a regular day with but shortened classes due to
the Scout competitions and parents day visitation.
By the time you read this it will be over so don�t spend 8-hours
driving up even though it is very nice.
The
morning was interrupted by the camp bell and bugle alarm.
A Scout was missing and we were all called to assemble in the meadow.
While the staff was searching for the boy, the Scout leaders pitched in
and served the lunch. For some
reason the portions were bigger today.
The boy was found and the program got back to normal quickly.
The Staff at COI does a great job and I recommend this camp to any Troop
looking for a place to go for Summer Camp.
We
will have 6 scouts up to 1000 pounds combined for the Tug-of-war at
3:45
today. Did I mention that COI has a
Wood finger carving class just like
Rainey
Mountain
? Steri-strips are great!
Well, we lost the Tug-of-war but did well in the fire building.
We�ll find out Friday night how we did.
There was supposed to be a campfire ceremony but a thunderstorm came
through and it rained like it would never rain again.
The boys stayed under the picnic area playing cards and laughing about
the days events.
Camp Menu: Thursday � Cereal, oatmeal, blueberry muffin garnished w/
an American Flag, juice (finally the folks from Florida get orange juice), milk,
& Bananas; Chile dogs, Fries, baked beans, apple & salad; Stew beef over
rice, salad, chocolate cake
7/04/02
It was cooler last night after the rain, which made
sleeping easier. It�s funny how
rain will make the snakes come out.
Today started the Troop donning
the traditional �Old Navy� 4th of July T-shirts supplied by Bob
O. and meeting in the meadow for flag raising.
In honor of Independence Day we hoisted a huge American Flag.
After breakfast it was classes as usual.
Michael C. was going to finish his woodcarving project. It�s suggested
he go ahead and paint the whole thing red. Michael
Be. and Troy O. headed back to the lake to try to out swim the leeches.
Jeremy wanted to take a break from High Adventure today and sent Steve to
canoe thru the wilderness alone. Jeremy
is taking pictures of the Troop in classes around camp today.
It�s too bad we have to wait until we get back to post�em.
The boys have adopted one of the staff members and he may be going
rafting with us Saturday. After
dinner the adult leaders met w/ the Blue Ridge Council and asked us about our
camp experience this week and served us ice cream.
Tonight we had a great time
singing patriotic songs and celebrating our nation�s birthday.
Dan, the Program Director, read us the poem �The Midnight ride of Paul
Revere�. Everyone in the hall was
listening to every word. All the
boys had fun and the evening was topped off with ice cream & cookies.
The boys sure look tired. I
can�t say enough about the staff here at COI.
Dan is very kind to allow me to use his computer to email this to Bob to
post.
(remember
to click on any of the pictures to see a larger version!)
