Individual unit check in times

[Scoutfish]

Okay, I have only been to 1 Boy SCout summer camp. Been to quite a few camporees, and troop events, but only one summer camp.

 

Seems I read about or hear about the horrors of checking in - or more specifically - the agonizingly long line at the swim check.

 

First things first: We know having a troop swim check at a pool beforehand will save you time - unless the waterfront director decides to challenge you anyays - which hh has the right to do.

 

But putting that aside for a minute, what else can make things easier for a unit?

 

I don't know if this is unique, uncommon or happens elsewhere all the time, but it6 was new for our camp: scheduled unit check in times.

 

Our unit was scheduled to check in at 2:45 pm. The unit befoe us was schedules to check in at 2:00 pm.

 

The next unit after us was scheduled to check in at 3:30pm

 

Not sure it it was for our convienence or for the benefit of the staff. Don't really care.

 

So, there were no long lines anywhere. Not at swim check( we had 2 scouts who missd both troop checks), not at medical center, not at admin. Matter of fact, the only vehicles at admin were ours and the admin staff.

 

Another cool detail was the dining schedule: Breakfast and supper were the usual fare - colors before entering dining hall: Unit waiers enter 15 minutes early and set up unit tables, All stand for grace, all eat , all dismissed, unit waters clean up.

 

But lunch was different.

 

Instead of the usual 45 minute block of time, lunch was cafeteria style: You could come in whenever you wanted between 12 and 2 pm. Stand in serving line for food, take it to your unit's designated table(s), eat at your own pace, then clean your own mess and leave.

 

 

That worked out great for scouts who had MB sessions on the other side of camp or who were participating in waterfront activities before lunch. They had time to shower ( yeah, that's funny, I know! ) and change clothes ( yeah, that's even funnier) before wandering to the dining hall.

 

 

So again, I don't know if you do this all the time or never heard of such a thing, but I know it was new for our camp.

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Scoutfish,

 

 

The scheduled check in time sounds interesting.

 

I'd be surprised if the big eaters didn't show up at the beginning of the lunch period and leave nothing after about a half hour!

[shortridge]

When I worked camp staff, units had designated / staggered check-in times to avoid those stackup problems. I don't think a single unit ever paid attention. Check-in days were always havoc.

[Basementdweller]

Camp check in is camp check in.

 

We have scheduled times.....The scouters ignore it. our time was 2:15 and I checked in behind a troop that was supposed to check in at 3:30, It was 2:10 verizon time.

 

It is once a year. I just grin and bear it. I mentioned it on my evaluation form that folks were not adhering to their scheduled check in times.

 

Some scouters just can't sit back and enjoy the chaos, kinda like going out shopping the day after thanksgiving and complaining about the lines at the checkouts or complaining that the dining hall is noisy....

 

Our swim checks took an hour even with the line....we still had 2 hours of free time before dinner....No big deal in my book.

 

 

(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

[qwazse]

Camp check-in. It's a mess. Don't worry be happy.

 

We do patrol cooking at summer camp, But, I do like that open lunch period.

[boomerscout]

Rigid check in times are really appreciated by troops driving 400 miles with the vagaries of traffic the entire time.

[Twocubdad]

Lines at the waterfront have been cut down by pre-camp swim tests. Our camp will also let boys do swim tests during any free swim during the week. So if a Scout doesn't need a swim test for a particular reason, he just sits it out. Later in the week, if he decides to go for a swim, he can do the test then.

 

Medical checks are now the bottle neck. Last year, for some dumb reason, our troop was assigned to one medical officer -- all 60-something of us. Although the other MOs had finished with their troops, this ding-a-ling refused to let any of them see our Scouts. But that wasn't a problem this year and I think we had four different MOs seeing our Scout.

 

The difficulty now is that the med forms and the check-in procedures seem to be a moving target. What the camp is currently requiring and the check-in requirements wasn't clearly communicated up front. We could have had our ducks in a row if we had a check list of the things the MOs are looking for up front -- a suggestion I made on my camp evaluation.

[IM_Kathy]

camp my son's troop attends has made a lot of changes with check-in over the last couple of years.

 

Arrive trailer gets hauled to campsite

and you have your staff guide waiting for you at your site and they are with you for whole day and spends night at your site first night.

guide will make sure you've gone for pictures (we did that on walk to our site), swim tests (we only had 4 who missed our troop test before camp).

supper 1st night is either on own or OA does a pizza deal - past 2 years we've done the pizza, but think next year we will cook our own.

nurse staffers will go around on their cart and come to each site and give medication lock box and collect health forms.

site guide will go over pool rules, dining hall rules, etc...

 

use to be you walked to all of these locations got those rules while at that location... with big delays at swim tests and health forms.

[shortridge]

Most camps do tours, not in-site visits, because new campers need to know their way around. It's also a camp standard (77): "An opening-day exploration tour of the program areas and central facilities is conducted for all troops. A map of camp is provided that includes central facilities, program areas, campsites, and locations of any hazardous or off-limits areas."