Going Back

[J-dawg168]

My troop has gone to Hale Scout Reservation near Talahina, Oklahoma for the past four years. I think it is time to go somewhere different. Hale is a great camp, and offers many merit badges that you don't find many other places. The staff is very mature, and from what i hear, counselors must be studying the subject they teach, in college. Many other people in the Troop think we need to go somewhere else also. But it is mainly the boys decision on where we want to go.

 

Any suggestions on how to get them to change?

 

-- J-dawg

 

 

[Sir_Scoutalot]

 

We went out of council for the first time this summer. If I had any recommendations, I'd involve the boys in the info gathering process (internet, word of mouth, etc). I'd also focus on offerings or programs that are not offered at the current camp.

 

We stressed to the boys that we considered this a one year deal and would be open to going back to the council camp in 2008 if that's what they wanted.

 

Finally, we did a unit campout at the camp prior to the summer. That put them at ease when we returned for summer camp. It was still new, but not totally.

 

Hope that helps.

[J-dawg168]

This is just my second year with this troop, as i have been in two other troop. My first troop went to our councils summer camp, which, for lack of a better word, SUCKS. The staff was bad, the food was bad, the list goes on and on. My second year i was in a different troop that broke off from the first troop. We went to an out of council summer camp, and i really liked it. Then that troop disbanded and i was in my current troop. This was just my second year at Hale, where the rest for the guys my age have gone there for four years. I am used to moving around i guess you could say. I have started to persuade a lot of people about going to the one that i went to three years ago.

 

Then one of the adults mentioned Colorado, an eight hour or more drive. All of the boys were excited and there went all my work down the drain. With rising gas prices, it wouldn't even be practical to spend over $300 on gas per car.

 

--Yours in scouting

J-dawg

[Lisabob]

J dawg, don't lose hope. The troop my son is in will be going to North Carolina - halfway across the country - this summer for camp. Two years ago they went to Yellowstone National Park - halfway in the other direction across the country. In both cases, the boys did a lot of fundraising to pay for the trips (we're not in a wealthy area). So it can be done, but a long trip requires a LOT of advance planning as well as commitment on the part of everyone involved.

 

In the meantime, perhaps there are other camps in your own state that are worth checking out? Aside from Indian Nations Council's Camp Hale and your own council, I found three OK councils online, two of which had summer camp info available on their websites. They were: Will Rogers Scout Reservation (Cimarron Council), Camp Simpson (Arbuckle Area Council), and Cherokee Council (summer camp link is broken). Maybe these are closer to home for you than Colorado? There are also many camps in Texas, which could be easier than CO for you, depending on where you are located. So don't give up hope - but do start planning now, for next summer's camp trip.

 

 

[J-dawg168]

I am in Last Frontier Council. Our camp is Slippery Falls. Simpson has been brought up before at planning. I am not sure what council it is in but the place i went three years ago is call Camp Pioneer. It's right over the Oklahoma border in Arkansas. In the same area as Hale just across the border. My troop has two crews going to Philmont next year, and i am going, so there budget issue. I also want to go to 2010 Jambo. But by then i can have a job and help pay for it that way.

 

--Yours in Scouting,

J-dawg(This message has been edited by J-dawg168)

[John-in-KC]

J-Dawg,

 

In another thread, I believe you said you were a TG at the moment. In your Troop, do TG's sit PLC? If so, you have ready opportunity to be an agent of change!

 

If not, it's time to start lobbying the SPL.

 

Now, if your Troop operates using the (sarcasm)Adult-Led(/sarcasm) method, it may be time for the youth to get together and start taking things back!

 

At the same time, money and time have to enter the equation. Gas is $3.00 a gallon right now. The farther you travel, the more you will have to plan into the budget transportation costs. BTW, if you go more than 10 driving hours from home, your unit has to plan an overnight break in travel.

 

As I recall, you have a couple of great camps in the NE part of Oklahoma, including one that focuses on Lakefront aquatics as a major program element. Have you thought of doing an internet search on the various camps and their opportunities, to start the lobbying for next year?

 

Let us know how this turns out.

 

YIS

[J-dawg168]

We are a MOSTLY boy led troop. Anyone with a leadership position, even if it is librarian, is encouraged to come to PLC. We hold PLC for 30 minutes before every troop meeting, and a long PLC the week after a campout(no regular scout meeting those weeks). We have a planning meeting coming up soon for next years campouts.

 

As far as the summercamp for waterfront.... i have not heard of that, i will check into that.

[Beavah]

A good gent named Paul Fairbanks puts together a wonderful resource book called "Scout Camps USA" that has information on every scout camp in the U.S., plus a lot of additional material on high adventure, gear, and such. Well worth it as a good reference if you're lookin' around at different camps.

 

http://www.scoutcampsusa.com

 

Beavah

(who has no financial interest in or association with Paul)

[J-dawg168]

Thanks for the site. I could only seem to find one camp review for Oklahoma though, which was Tom Hale. I will keep looking though

[ScoutNut]

Try looking here -

 

 

http://www.usscouts.org/databases/camp/ocd.cgi

 

There are quite a few listed for OK.

 

Try neighboring states too.

[Eagle69]

You have Camp Pioneer just over the border in Arkansas at Potter, Camp Orr in Arkansas on the Buffalo River at Jasper about 200 miles from you,

Camp Preston Hunt in Texarkana, AR about 150 miles away, Camp Rockefeller (formerly Blass Scout Reservation) at Damascus, AR about 200 miles away.

[Eagle76]

I'm in the exact same situation at J-dawg. Our troop has gone to the same summer camp for at least 7 years in a row that I know of, possibly more. This is my 3rd year with the troop, and I'd like to encourage the boys to try someplace new. Our council has 2 camps, and I know the Scouts like the camp with the lake. Maybe in the past the adults have not given them other choices. So I've done some research, and am planning to present some options to the Scouts. They want a lake? OK, other camps have lakes. How about a lake 10 times bigger? How about a camp that offers merit badges not offered at our old camp, like Motorboating, and Waterskiing?

 

Wish me luck, because I'm really ready to try someplace new.

[John-in-KC]

It may be easier to take a smaller portion of the Troop to a high adventure camp than it is to displace the Troop to a new camp.

 

Arguments that sell parents are not necessarily the program, but rather cost... both in terms of basic cost and in terms of transportation cost.

 

As a CC, my SM and SPL came to a meeting. SPL proposed the Troop do a HA. Committe said OK, now pick one. We made the youth do the basic research.

 

Take the initiative. Do some basic research. I'll bet there is a significant HA camp within a days drive of your home city!

[Gunny2862]

Camp Arrowhead, Marshfield, Missouri was pretty good this year.

There were problems, but the staff was responsive, took criticism, responsibility and fixed issues, very valuable commodities at any camp. And I think there are probably always issues during the first week of any camp.