THE TRUE MEANING OF CONSERVATION

This cedar tree used to grace the summit of Sentinel Peak at Sam Houston Area Council’s El Rancho Cima. It was a welcome spot of shade; a place to rest on hot, sunny days, and a place to gather for stargazing in the Texas hill country evenings. The hundred-year-old tree was our gift from God to our camp.

A severe thunderstorm blew the beloved tree down in May, 1985. It was God’s will, but some could not accept that. Within the next couple of years, the council bulldozed a road to the top of Sentinel Peak, leaving a large, ugly scar. Then they stuffed the top of Sentinel Peak with dynamite and blew a hole in the top big enough to swallow a car. After adding some soil, they planed a nursery tree in the hole. It survived less than a year, so bigger one was planted. This one was deliberately girdled by someone and consequently died also. I think they are on tree number 4 or 5 now. None of them measures up to the original, however.

The troop that blew up the top of Sentinel Peak received kudos for their conservation project. That’s right—conservation project!

Would you agree this is conservation? Sometimes our troop has been assigned “conservation projects” at camp that are questionable, like damming up creeks and destroying trees. I think that the goal of conservation should be to preserve the land and limit man’s impact upon it. Planting trees to control erosion, removing trash, installing erosion breaks on trails, and so forth—that’s conservation. With the top of Sentinel Peak no longer solid limestone, it’s destined for accelerated erosion. We could have served the environment better by installing a plastic tree.

BTSR: THEN AND NOW

This picture is not some tropical paradise. It’s in Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch in southwest Texas!

When the topic of Texas camps comes up, Buffalo Trails gets more than it’s share of attention. It’s even advertised occasionally in Scouting magazine.

Then: I first attended this camp in 1972 as a boy. I hated most of it. The campsites had no shade, so they were uninhabitable in the 110+ degree heat. The trading post was a wooden shed. I do remember the new dining hall had the luxury of a swamp cooler, and local performers came in to entertain us during the noon meal with popular music.

Later: In 1992 we attended the camp with my current Troop 1197. The campsites had not improved, but the creek was running and you could actually go swimming right out in back of our tent. It was still hot in the daytime, but we awoke to a windstorm about 3:00 every morning. A series of horns positioned along the canyon blared out reveille (from a cassette tape) at six in the morning, but by then, one of the camp donkeys had already found our tent and licked our faces.
The staff was so over-trained that they were afraid to have any fun. This was good for merit badges, but meant that other activities suffered. There were no skits or songs at the campfires. There were no contests of any kind. I found out that the reason was the troops in Midland would carry the rivalry too far, quarreling with each other back home long after summer camp ended. (Boy, I’ll bet 1990 or 1991 must have been out of control.)
The Horsemanship program was great that year, so we came back after camp was over for a special cavalcade. We had the whole camp to ourselves. They left plenty of food ready-to-heat in the dining hall walk-in. With only 14 participants and 4 staff, the pool was never crowded!

Recently: A couple of years ago, the troop visited BTSR again. Every troop in camp that week was from Houston (not their council), so some of the “big troop” problems we have at home migrated there with us. Shelters had been added to the campsites. The MASH-style PA system was silent. The troop next to us tried to take over our campsite, the other campers were noisy until well after midnight, and some idiot (boy) kept taking pictures of other boys in the shower. None of this was BTSR’s fault. But the staff promoted drinking in their offensive campfire skits. Some of them were drunk during their “party” on Thursday night, and somebody smoked pot in the campers’ bathroom during closing campfire.
Our boys expected a great Horsemanship program, so they signed up for the merit badge. They only rode a horse for 5 minutes inside a small pen. Not so exciting. On the other hand, Climbing Merit Badge was the best I’ve yet seen, using a real cliff wall for rappelling.

What do you like or don’t like about this Davis Mountains camp?

By the way, don’t be fooled by the picture. It’s the Notch, of course, but the photo was taken in 1992. It doesn’t normally look like that!

HORRIBLE CAMPS, PART ONE

What’s worse than a Haunted Camp? How about a Horrible Camp? See if you can top this one:

Although we paid a site reservation deposit a year in advance, we arrived to find another troop in our site. The council booked more troops than sites.

The staff took our older boys under their wing and coerced them to perform skits at the campfires as staff. The troop was unable to perform skits at the campfires because our leaders were with staff!

The staff at this camp participated in “vendettas” whereby they conspired to fail all boys from selected troops on their merit badges.

…it gets worse…

The aquatics director disobeyed the “no diving” signs at the pool and cracked his head on the cement. He went to the hospital and didn’t return.

The trading post did not stock required projects for Basketry or Leatherwork Merit Badges.

Campsite “raiding” and thefts happened daily.

One of our older boys, who then thought he was camp staff, began punching other boys in the face. The camp refused to honor my request to send him home.

…and the coups de gras…

After campfire on Friday night, the boys had been told (yes, the entire camp) that they were to go to Sentinel Peak for a program and NOT bring any adult leaders. The staff gave them beer!

Where was this dystopia? Our own council’s El Rancho Cima, summer of 1988. It took 3 years for the council to investigate our complaints and make an apology. Thank God things change!

Sometimes, when the weeks at camp fill for year after year, the camps forget who the paying customers are. No Scout or Scouter should have to put up with this kind of thing. It’s okay to go out-of-council once in awhile!

DISCOVERING CAMP DON: A GREAT SUMMER CAMP

By the year 1990, we were weary of our own council camp and nearby councils’ summer camps. I don’t remember how we found out about Camp Don (Golden Spread Council), or even why the boys chose that camp to try.

Golden Spread is a much smaller council than Sam Houston Area. Less than 200 Scouts attended camp. Camp Don Harrington is in the upper part of Palo Duro Canyon, where it is sheltered from the Texas panhandle winds; where cool air settles in as soon as the sun goes down.

Camp Don was the first camp that had YooHoo chocolate drink. They offered some other things I haven’t seen since:

When you checked into camp, they gave you the vinyl patch keeper and a camp patch, pictured above. They came with a small booklet. By meeting the requirements in the booklet, you could earn a number of segments during the week. When the requirements were met for a segment, the trading post would sell you the segment for 5 cents, and there was a stapler there so you could give yourself instant recognition. The segments encouraged you to visit the program areas and participate in everything Camp Don had to offer. Both boys and adults could earn segments. For instance, you could earn the Vespers segment by attending one of the camp’s vesper services and holding one for your own unit. You could earn the one with the flag on it if your unit volunteered for a flag ceremony. Others were more individual, like archery or handicrafts.

Other smart things this camp did included paying 5 cents at the trading post for an aluminum can (to keep litter under control) and renting fishing poles for a dollar a day.

Often summer camp becomes bogged down with tired programs, mundane merit badge classes, and worn-out campfire fare. Sometimes I remember an old program or an old skit that deserves to be born anew for the Scouts of today. Camp Don’s patch segment thing is an idea with merit.

What unique ideas have you seen at summer camps? What camps have impressed you with program and staffing?