Horrible summer camp

[Porterman101]

Last year for the 2011 camping season for summer camp I attended this camp. I had a horrible experience there. The first thing that really frightened me was all the bugs, right when I walked in my tent, there was Daddy Longlegs and black widows EVERYWHERE, literally! I mean they could at least spray the tents before hand, we didn't come to get bug bites, but apparently we did. The staff members( mb counselors) were horrible too. They were dropping f-bombs like crazy! The food Is horrible, the staff members, the tents, and well the camp along with it. I do not recommend troops visit this place, go to somewhere else besides Hale Scout Reservation. And lucky me I have to go there next week! Yay! Not. Please HSR spray tents! Make better food! Make a better camp! Boy Scouts is t about eating bad food, listening to mb counselors cuss, and living with bugs for a week!

[KenDavis500]

Wow,completely a 180* of the experience I had at Hale last year.

 

They did a good job with the merit badges - the boys actually had to demonstrate the requirement not just attend.

 

The food was decent and plentiful.

 

The staff was good with the boys.

 

(This message has been edited by KenDavis500)

[moosetracker]

Daddy longlegs & Black widows... Weird grouping, if there was one black widow, and 20 Daddy longlegs.. the one black widow would have all my attention..

 

I suggest you be prepared and bring your own spider killer spray..

 

So is your troop attending again this summer, or is there some other reason you are visiting?

[desertrat77]

Porterman, call it a hunch, but I'm willing to bet you are an HSR staffer who is slightly bored and trying to generate a couple laughs.

 

I'd recommend getting back to work. And if your program area isn't challenging enough, the camp director could always scurry up some additional tasks for you, like varnishing picnic tables, cleaning latrines, and such.

 

(This message has been edited by desertrat77)

[SSScout]

Camp Hale? Nah... Camp Granada....

 

[allangr1024]

I have been going to Camp Hale for years. I wonder if this is the first summer camp that Porterman has been to. Or are you from Oklahoma or nearby at all.

 

Daddy Longlegs in the tents? Yah, it is Oklahoma.

Black Widow spiders in tents? Once in a while. But have you ever seen what 12 year old boys do to spiders they catch? Yuck.

 

Food? Not gourmet, but there is variety, and plenty, and it is geared to the palette of the average 12 year old boy, who from my vantage point, eats a ton of it. I have been to out of council camps where you were afraid to eat the "Mystery Meat."

 

Staff members cussing? On occasion. HSR gets its staff from the councils Eagle and Life scouts, and from colleges throughout Oklahoma. The college students may not have been scouts, and not know of the standards we hold dear. I have never had trouble bringing up the subject with the camp director and getting satisfaction. As far as I understand it, the staff goes through a pretty good orientation where the expected behavior is addressed.

 

What else? Snakes. They come. It is their habitat, after all. and the camps sends staffers out to investigate reports of poisonous snakes. They usually end up 10 miles away or in a jar in the nature hut.

 

Hills you have to walk up (both ways?) Its Oklahoma, in the foothills of the Ozarks. Get used to it.

 

Hot? it is summer in the mid west. Last year was the worst. They have electric outlets at each campsite. Bring a fan.

 

I have been to several summer camps outside of the state. Camp Hale is a quality camp with superior facilities, the best in the area. A good aquatics program, lots of swimming and boating. Horse back riding, COPE, snow skiiing (well, you do that on a bed of rubber pellets, but it feels pretty authentic), a really tough day trek we affectionately call the Bohanon "death march", and lots more.

 

This is scouting, after all.

 

 

 

[perdidochas]

Porter,

Are you an adult or Scout?

 

If Scout, have you let your PLC, etc. know about your feelings about this camp?

 

If Scouter, have you thought about guiding the boys towards another camp?

[rkfrance]

Very strange 1st post. Why complain almost a year after the incident? I find it hard to believe.

 

 

[Bobwhite89]

I am sorry you did not get selected for the staff, now quit trolling.

[shortridge]

Camp isn't camp without Daddy Longlegs in the tents.

[chaoman45]

>Food is horrible

 

You ever eaten at a school cafeteria? Just as bad. Also there really isn't a problem with daddy longlegs. Better them than rattlesnakes.

[astrospartian]

Are you kidding? Hale Scout Reservation was my first and still is my favorite summer camp. Let's start with each point you mentioned:

 

1. Yes, the tents had a huge amount of daddy long legs. Mine was covered, and almost every new scout in the troop came to visit once or twice during the week just to seem them. As for the black widows, I didn't see them, but that might have been because of the daddy long legs.

 

2. The staff seemed to teach very well. I wished I had paid more attention, but I learned some interesting stuff. I never really heard them swear; however they could had a little more enthusiasm with their job. The only staff member that people found distracting was one at scout craft. He liked talking to the first aid instructor all day, especially when she tried to teach. He also wore a name tag, titled "the Halo 3 master".

 

Finally, camp food is camp food. I remember feeling sick once or twice after dinner, so I see what you mean...

 

All in all, scout camp is well that, scout camp. There will be bugs, not so great food, and instructors that aren't the best, but hey the lake was pretty fun and they had a good opening campfire(from what I remember). Just remember camp has its ups and downs.

[moosetracker]

LOL - astrospartian - That was a luke warm write-up for you most favorite camp..

 

So what made this camp your favorite from others you went to?

[astrospartian]

Moosetracker,

 

I was by no means writing a description about everything that made this camp one of my favorites(yes, I exaggerated when I said favorite, but still it was pretty good camp). All I was doing, was taking what the OP said and comparing that with the experience I had at the same camp. Did I go to Hale the same year as he did? No, so it's likely that they run it differently.

 

 

[Horizon]

I loved Tom Hale as a Scout, and still have my patches somewhere around here. To follow on everyone else:

 

1) If you are in Oklahoma withOUT a daddy long legs saying hello, then someone has dropped nuke. That is the only way to get rid of them. The daddy long legs won the critter crawl competition when I was there too.

 

2) Black widows are fine, its those brown recluse that still give me the heebie jeebies.

 

3) If you want bad food, try cafeteria food in England and get back to me. Boy Scout camp food is far from the worst mass produced food "product" I have consumed. REAL Scouters pack their own Tabasco to save a meal.