Every year we evaluate our program and instruction to make sure we are doing the best we can to offer the high quality of programs that you have come to expect. This year we are very excited to announce several changes to our program. Among those changes is the addition of a new program area as well as the restructuring and renaming of another. In keeping up with the ever changing world of science and technology, and the Boy Scouts of America’s new science and technology initiatives, we have created a new area at camp called, the “S.T.E.M Center”. Our new S.T.E.M. Center will cover merit badges under the umbrella of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Not only will you see several familiar badges, but we have an exciting list of new merit badges for that area as well. The S.T.E.M. Center will offer badges such as Environmental Science and Space Exploration, which fall within the S.T.E.M fields and thus have been moved from other areas over to the S.T.E.M. Center. In addition to those popular merit badges we are offering several new and exciting badges such as Robotics, Engineering, and Aviation. To see the full list, I would encourage you to take a look at the ACTIVITY SCHEDULE.

To complement the S.T.E.M. center we have completely restructured the former “Ecology” area, and renamed it “Nature”.  Topics such as Bird Study, Mammal Study, and Oceanography will be offered at Nature, but renaming is not the only change. Both areas will have exciting new teaching methods, and staff specifically selected for their knowledge and expertise in these areas. I hope you will join us in our excitement for these two areas, as it is sure to be an exciting summer! 

Whether you're aware yet or not, we've changed our afternoon Eagle Quest schedule. This first week of camp operation has shown us that this change is positive.

If you've worked much with boys, you've probably discovered that all of them have very different learning styles. Because this is a reality, we decided to make this change. In the afternoon, a boy can walk down to Eagle Quest, sit down with a Counselor, and figure out a new skill. When they've finished they can either move on to the next skill, or move on to another open activity.

This doesn't sound like a big deal at first, but it allows a lot more personal instruction to happen at Eagle Quest. We're really excited about getting to work with kids this way; it really helps us to teach skills that they might be struggling with. As you can guess, any Scout that has a lot of trouble learning a skill will have a better opportunity to learn that skill during the open afternoon section of Eagle Quest. Scouts that breeze through learning new skills will still likely get more accomplished in the morning.

If you have any questions about the new Eagle Quest program, stop on down and see Drew at the shelter. He'll be happy to answer your questions and will undoubtably do his best to help you solve any problems.

We've posted the updated adult leader training schedule here online. Hopefully this schedule will help you to get every leader coming to camp fully trained for their position. Please remmeber, youth protection training is required for all registered leaders.

Training has undergone some exciting changes this year. We're dedicating more resources than ever to make the training process the best it has ever been. We'll be looking forward to seeing your faces in our sessions.

Let us know if you have any questions. The forums are, as always, a great way to get in touch with us.

We've had a great weekend preparing camp for the Summer Program. Many of our staff showed up to make sure the campsites were ready to go, the horses were fed and prepared, our C.O.P.E. course received necessary repairs, and that our kitchen got cleaned up from the winter. A special thanks goes out to John Shockney for making the repairs to the C.O.P.E. course today. Every Scout that attends C.O.P.E. this year is grateful for your time John.

Seeing camp wake up from the long year-round camping season never fails to excite me. We get to see wildlife walking through campsites, wind whipping through the trees, and the lake far higher than we normally get to. Camp is peaceful, alsmot serene. However, camp isn't what we love until you and your Troop show up. This weekend has been so great that we're counting the days until we start. We couldn't be more excited to share our enthusiasm with every single person that walks through our gates this summer.

As many of you are well aware, camp is just around the corner. We'll be making some phone calls soon to help you get ready to join us. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us. Until we see you, let the Scouting fire burn strongly in your hearts.