Wood Badge, Tour de Blackhawk, Camp Properties Workshop, Training, Jamboree

Lots of activity this past weekend.  On Friday Ed and I were at the Wood Badge Staff Development held at the Boeger Leadership Lodge to practice our presentation on Scouting Generations.  A new session that deals with understanding the differences between the various generations represented by our volunteers.

Saturday morning I had breakfast with John Wurtzel to discuss the stage show for the Tour de Blackhawk on June 11-13.  It should be a good show.  If you haven't signed up yet you'll want to get your units registered at http://www.blackhawkscouting.org/2010Events/TourDeBlackhawk/TourDeBlackhawk.htm.  Besides having rides available from 8 to 100 miles there are three bike rodeos planned along the trials for Cub Scouts to participate in.

Next was a session at Pecatonica High School to plan the future of our camps.  We are gathering information to update our strategic plan as well as other plans for the camps.  We had over 30 volunteers participate in the session which lasted into the afternoon.  Thanks to Bob Gingras for organizing the session.

Then it was back to Camp Lowden where I got to stop by and visit with a large group that was taking the BALOO (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation) and WLOT (Webelos Leader Outdoor Training) and with some of our Jamboree participants.  The big event was the Wood Badge Reunion Dinner that saw 100 of our past and future Wood Badge trained volunteers come out to catch up with one another at the Boeger Leadership Lodge.

Upcoming Events

Next weekend, September 11-13, is a busy weekend. We have a lot of different activities going on to start the fall season. If you are interested in any of these it is not to late to register.

Religious Retreat is Fri-Sun at Camp Lowden
Canyon Camp Alumni & Friends are gathering at Canyon Camp Fri & Sat
McHenry Co. Sporting Clays is Saturday at the Richmond Hunt Club
Sycamore Extreme Pinewood Derby is Sunday at Buss Ford in McHenry

Venturing Summer Camp & OA Conclave

Last week I mentioned being at Venturing Summer Camp and writing about that. I got some pictures to use from the Unti’s. The summer camp is held at Canyon Camp and is designed specifically for Venturers and older Boy Scouts. The camp is open for many of the normal camp activities like swimming, crafts, and shooting sports (including the new paint ball range) but also has activities geared toward being able to complete the Venturing Bronze award (e.g. First Aid, Leave No Trace, and Land Navigation requirements). There are also opportunities to go canoeing on the Mississippi, taking a day long bike ride, and a hike/float through the Apple Canyon River. The Venturers all had a great time. My thanks to Crews 957 and 159 for allowing my crew to join with them for the week.

Caving
Volleyball with homemade net.

Founders Hike through Apple River

Canoe trip.

Several staffers foolishly tried to capture the Zip Zip Bird and paid the price.

Canyon Camp presents an award to a unit based upon participation and enthusiasm. This year the award went to Crew 957.


This weekend was the Order of the Arrow Conclave for Wulapeju Lodge and was held at Canyon Camp. For those of you not yet familiar with the OA, it is a society of honor campers elected by their units after fulfilling certain requirements. The new candidates go through and “Ordeal” following which they become Ordeal Members. This takes Friday night and most of Saturday to complete. The rest of the members work on service projects to benefit the camp in the morning and in the afternoon have different instructional sessions and some free time to go swimming or play kickball. Other OA members work to become Brotherhood members by going through a process to learn about the traditions of the Order of the Arrow. Brotherhood members are eligible to be nominated for the Vigil Honor. It was my great honor to be nominated this year and I spent Friday night doing my Vigil along with the other nominees including Don Reiss, Rick Rhoads, and our Lodge Chief Dan Dick. At dinner Saturday we were presented with our certificates which contain our new Indian names. I was given the name Amendchewagan Milcemosswagon which means Solid Minded Worker.

OA members at the Saturday evening flag ceremony.

Free time kickball.

Providing cheerful service to the camp.

Father Mac conducts mass.

August 6, 2009

We had a McHenry County Distinguished Citizens Dinner planning meeting in the morning. The dinner is really shaping up to be another great event this November.

Then it was out to Camp Lowden to help with the storage closets in the maintenance building. Rick Rhoads started by adding a couple of closets for NYLT and Wood Badge storage. Dave Savone and others framed three additional closet spaces to finish out the side. Two will be for summer camp storage. On Thursday Dave Savone, Don Reis, Steve James, and Jim Zeigler were adding the roof portion so there can be additional storage on top for larger items.

As things were going pretty well, Dave added a new rack for the paddles and oars since the old one was about to fall apart.

After finishing the work for the day Dave and I stopped at the Boeger Leadership Lodge. Wow, what a difference a few days makes. With the stain on the outside and the area being graded it really looked great.

Then it was off to Canyon Camp to be with my Crew for the last couple of days of the Venturing Summer Camp. More tomorrow on that.

August 1 Trek

Today Mary and I took a drive out to Camp Lowden with Bill Reilly and his son, and new Eagle Scout, Billy to do some measuring for trim and counting light fixtures at the Boeger Leadership Lodge. While out at camp I ran into Rick Sanner who was out for the weekend supporting one of the Scoutreach Troops that was conducting their first campout at Camp Lowden. They were getting to do some shooting sports when we saw the group. We also had the start of the Wolf/Bear summer camp overnight. It looked like a lot of activities planned.

We are looking to add some barn wood as trim in certain areas. If you have barn wood to donate or know of someone who would be willing to donate some please drop me a note.

The display loft and the projector screen alcove with dry wall hung.

Kitchen washing area.

Youth bunk room with dry wall hung.

Railing around deck on east side.

Summer Camps 2009

The start of our summer season is right around the corner with our Boy Scout summer camps starting in less than a month. We have summer camps for all of our programs and it's not too late to register. If your son is unable to attend with his regular unit we can often accommodate individual scouts by teaming them up with other units for the week. If your son would like to attend a second week of camp we can also accommodate that. Check with the council office if you have questions. Below is a list of summer camp.

Cub Scouts:
Wolf/Bear at Camp Lowden August 1-2
Wolf/Bear at Canyon Camp August 8-9
Webelos at Camp Lowden August 7-9

Boy Scouts:
Six weeks at Canyon Camp starting June 21.
Four weeks at Camp Lowden starting June 28.

Venturing:
Canyon Camp August 2-8

Woods of Webelos 2009

Last weekend was another trip to camp to teach knots to our first year Webelos and their parents. We (Dan Banko was with me) instruct on four basic knots: square knot, sheet bend, two-half hitches, and tautline. All together we had about 150 scouts plus at least one parent for each. So there were a lot of knots. Once we finish the instructional part we test their skill by pitching a tarp where only the scouts are allowed to tie the knots.

This weekend I'll be out at Camp Lowden helping with the exterior of the Amerock building. Anyone interested in helping is welcome, bring a lunch. There is also work going on at Canyon Camp on the pavilion. Contact John Wurtzel if you can make it over there on Saturday.