Summer Camp 2018 Blog


Saturday, July 7, 2018

Summer Camp 2018 information can be found HERE.


Out First Day at Camp

Today was our first day of camp. Arriving roughly about 2 PM, we quickly set up our tents and prepared for dinner. As the activities are far from our site, each day we want scouts to bring a bag down to this area, and carry everything they will need with them. After dinner today the troop went on an orientation of the camp while I and a few adult leaders were in a meeting for troop expectations and camp protocol.
A few notes we talked of during this meeting were emergency protocols, volunteer opportunities, high adventure transport, and our planned Friday campfire. During this campfire, all of the senior patrol leaders are having our troops prepare skits/acts for this campfire program. Tonight, as I am writing this email, we are watching a beautiful fireworks display across the lake.

Tomorrow, merit badges will start and some general information will be covered for many merit badges, for CPR training requirements and such. Now, as it is getting late, I am going to close this email. Parents rest assured, all is fine at Camp Tomahawk.
Sunday, July 8, 2018

Today was our first full day of camp. We started on our merit badges after breakfast. Merit badge periods rotate in blocks so that every other day we have a certain merit badge. After lunch a few scouts headed off to a high adventure afternoon program, where we split into two groups and went to different activities. One group went to shooting and the other to a high ropes course. The videos I took at the high ropes course (only photos all day sorry!) are too big to include with this email, so when we get back I plan to work with our webmaster to upload these to the website. For now, I have attached screenshots below:
After dinner we had our opening campfire program, where the staff put on a winter holiday themed show and then we headed off to bed. I hope everyone back in Illinois has a great night sleep, and I will write again tomorrow.
Monday, July 9, 2018
We have had three bear sightings over the course of the past two days, and are actively practicing bear safety procedures explained to us by Mr. Brown. We require scouts to be sure they have no food in their tents and that all food is stored in bear boxes. All scouts are currently safe and parents have no need to worry as the scoutmasters are working very hard to keep our troop safe.
Back to our normal update now.
Today at camp we had an exciting and efficient day (aside from the bear sightings an amazing day). After breakfast we broke up into our second set of merit badges. Before heading off to lunch, our troop played a few rounds of gaga-ball, which is essentially soccer but with your hands where if below your waist touches the ball, you are out. Following lunch, our troop split into two groups, one heading to high adventure and the other participating in camp activities.
One group at high adventure today went to the shooting range and did archery, angry birds but with a slingshot and milk crates, and knife throwing. Many activities arose once dinner had been completed tonight, from stargazing to board games to open high adventure programs. After this we had the bear approach our camp (see above) and now are going to bed. As a gentle reminder for concerned parents, all 37 scouts at camp are safe, and all scoutmasters, scouts, and camp staff are prepared to deal with bears in case we see them again. It is very uncommon for bears to attack humans, and from 1984 to current day, tomahawk scout camp has only had one incident where a bear has attacked a human.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
We had a very fun and busy day at camp. After our first two meals and our morning merit badges, we split off into a high adventure group and a logging camp group. The high adventure group went skateboarding on a hill and hiked back to logging camp and our logging camp group hiked over to the logging camp, had some root beer and did a few activities over there. Right before dinner our troop did flags, where we lower the American flag for the night. Following dinner, we broke up and went off to many different activities, from beach volleyball to climbing a tower to tie dying a shirt. After having all this fun, our troop returned to camp and had a campfire, where we attempted to spook each other with campfire stories.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018
As the troop is getting accustomed the days are starting to fly by and we are all enjoying ourselves here at camp. Today for our meals tomahawk has a program where we cook our own food provided to us from the camp. After our breakfast of pancakes and sausage, we wrapped up our first two merit badges and the then ate lunch (cheeseburgers, cooked by the camp). Following that we split up into our two groups, one to high adventure and the other to bison viewing and the fire tower. At high adventure we went mountain biking today, and at the troop activity (bison and fire tower) everyone else traveled out to the field to see the bison and then climbed up the fire tower, which is 110 feet tall and is used for spotting fires in the dry season. For dinner tonight we cooked steak and potatoes in a tinfoil wrap and then headed off to other activities. Tonight we had the chess tournament and the ecology spotlight program. As the troop went off to bed, the scouts taking the wilderness survival merit badge went over to complete their build a shelter and sleep in it for one night requirement.
As a quick note: I am participating in that wilderness survival requirement and then have ATVing all day tomorrow, so Nathan St. Ives was kind enough to take over the job of Senior Patrol Leader tomorrow, so he will be sending tomorrow’s email.

I look forward to writing again Friday night and I hope you all have a great night of sleep.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
As the week is wrapping up, we continued to have an amazing time here at Tomahawk. Today after breakfast, we headed out to our final merit badge sessions (Tomorrow will be free time). Then, we ate chicken and tater-tots for our lunch. Following that we split into our two groups; high adventure and the troop activity. At high adventure we went to the aqua rig, which had a “blob” and a swing that launched you into the water. The rest of the troop went to a conservation project to spread mulch at the climbing tower. Once the project was done, they headed down to the rifle range to participate in open shoot. For dinner, we had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. After dinner, we were about to head off to our evening activities, but we were still stopped by the staff because of a storm warning. Since everyone was already in the dining hall, we were safe from the storm. The games were brought out to wait out the storm overhead. A hour or two later, we were given the all clear to leave the hall.
I hope you all have a great night, and we are looking forward to be home on Saturday.
Friday, July 13, 2018
Today was not a very eventful day. As we had wrapped up merit badges, the scouts didn’t have much to do. Our troop activities were after breakfast, and consisted of horseback riding, archery, and tomahawk throwing. After lunch our troop took place in some fun and games in the parade field, and then we went to the beach bash. This was sadly cut short due to a miscommunication, and our troop had to go back to our campsite. Another miscommunication arose when our troop had to build the closing campfire in under 30 minutes (it looked beautiful by the way) but then after dinner our closing campfire was a success. We will leave camp tomorrow morning around 8:00, and I will send our final daily update when we get home.
I wish you all a great night of sleep, and it has been my pleasure to inform you of the daily operations here at camp tomahawk.
Other Photos