Troop 54 attended summer camp at Camp Squanto in Plymouth, Massachusetts, our first time attending this summer camp as a unit. This year is the camp's 100th anniversary, so that was the theme of the week. We had 6 youth and 2 adults participating; at the time, we had 7 youth members.
We shared the HH Child Campsite (formerly called Blackfoot) with Troop 77 of Frisco,Texas, but the units were pretty separate within the site. Our side of the site had a screen cabin for the leaders and two-person canvas tents on platforms. The nearest latrine was a short hike away, shared with other sites. The site's only hard shelter was in the Troop 77 side, so we used one of our pop-up canopies.
The dining hall at this camp operates differently from other camps we have attended (all have been different). At this camp, the combination of a single dining time with moving unit-by-unit through two serving lines resulted in long waits for most meals. The rotation of units to help clean up at the end of the meal together with an unoptimal layout wasted everyone's time. The food was OK.
The camp had an odd custom in which units were permitted to kidnap staff members at the flag ceremonies. By the end of the week, this had gotten so out-of-hand that the Program Director suspended the practice.
This camp by far had the most wild blueberries of any camp we have visited. The area has Hillside Blueberry throughout.
One of the downsides to moving from camp to camp is that we never get quite in-synch with the camp specifics. While we had the only gateway we saw meeting the requirement to be 12 feet wide and 12 feet tall (most sites had objects to either side of the entrance), we got no points for that and negative points for failing to put up our theme items at the appointed time. Site inspections are always a challenge as they differ from camp to camp.
Our Scouts took a variety of merit badges, including Golf, Moviemaking, Wood Carving, Electronics, Astronomy, Model Design and Building, Architecture, Electronics, Environmental Science, Game Design, Emergency Preparedness, Fire Safety and Wilderness Survival. One also took Snorkeling BSA (not a merit badge). Together, they completed 21 merit badges in camp. The remaining Scout attended summer camp at Camp Wanocksett and earned several badges there.
There was open program time in the afternoon. Our Scouts once again focused this time mostly at the Waterfront area; there, they mostly went sailing and paddleboarding. The evening campfire at Handicraft one night was popular. During the Apache Games, our Scouts participated in some of the stations, including running, paddling a canoe and swimming.
During our week (Week2), the camp had 227 Scouts, 20 troops, and 54 leaders. 14 of the camp's sites were in use and 1 was empty.
A few video files remain to be posted.
Scout 1 on Zipline
Scout 2 on Zipline
Scout 3 on Zipline
Scout 4 on Zipline
Band
