Powhatan has provided a ton of opportunities for our scouts: live animals at the nature lodge; swimming, boating, and blobbing at the waterfront; shooting sports at the archery, rifle, and shotgun ranges; and pounding and whittling at handicraft. And every day, several times a day, scouts have been criss-crossing the camp on foot. I bet they took more steps this week than all other weeks of the summer combined.
And I've seen zero issues with electronic devices this week. While it's sometimes been challenging for adults to be out of cell range, I'm convinced it's been great for the scouts. I'm not sure why it's worked so well, but it's been much better than any of our recent years at camp (and also better than our weekend outings).
Just down the road from Powhatan, the older scouts who attended Claytor Lake Aquatics Base seemed to have had a wonderful time. In fact, it seems they'd like to claim exclusive dibs on that camp for next year. While that's quite unlikely, it's reasonable for older scouts who've performed leadership all year to seek a camp like Claytor. They had a lot of independence (no adult leaders from our troop, only staff oversight). The camp has a program for virtually every BSA water program (SCUBA, sailing, wakeboarding, SUP, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, etc). We'll see what the PLC decides for next summer.
As the week ends, it's also a good time to thank all of those who came and camped with us: Patricia Short, Kathy Munoz, Debbie Gattuso, Steven Zahniser, Tim Manarin, Kevin Humpreys, TJ Master, Manjula Master, Jason Coopersmith, and Shelly Coopersmith. They volunteered at the dining hall, helped herd cats during BSI class, bolstered the lifeguards at the waterfront, promoted hygiene, and guided the steady stream of sleepwalkers back to their tents at night. When you next see them, please thank them.
You can find the photos from this trip over here.
-Mike Forrer