Cub Scout Resident Camp: 'Quality Fun' for Growing Boys

Ten key elements for resident camp programs

TOPNOTCH CAMP LEADERSHIP AND QUALITY, TRAINED CAMP STAFF

"Topnotch camp leadership" means having knowledgeable, responsible adults who reflect the highest personal and professional standards. It translates into a parent having the assurance that "adults who know what's happening" are taking care of their children. Camp leadership sets examples in attitude, uniforming, grooming, and behavior. The same goes for younger camp staff members, who provide great Scouting role models for Cub Scout-age boys. Training is crucial for all staff, because a great resident camp program requires a great staff—a result of strong leadership and development.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT

Safe environment means effectiveness in security, risk management, and health issues—and implies that communication and plans are in place in case of storms or other emergencies. There should also be an emphasis on emotional safety for Cub Scout and Webelos Scout campers—no scary stories or fear-producing situations. Good, safe food, prepared amid rigorous sanitation standards, must be available in adequate amounts to meet the needs of hungry boys.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Boys and adults attending resident camp look to camp staff for positive, service-minded attitudes. Staff can provide customer service by maintaining an efficient, simple operation; giving campers clear instructions; cheerfully answering all questions; helping boys, families, and leaders have a happy, worthwhile experience; exceeding expectations; providing positive customer relations not only to campers and their parents/guardians, but also to the community; exceeding the needs of groups served in the camp operation; and always projecting a positive image of Scouting.

AN EMPHASIS ON TRANSITIONING INTO BOY SCOUTING

At a Webelos Scout resident camp, there is an appreciation, a knack, for knowing the fine line between offering a Webelos Scout experience and a "diluted" Boy Scout week at camp. To avoid providing Webelos Scouts with a Boy Scout program too soon, age-appropriate activities, not a weak Boy Scout camp experience, are offered.

ETHICAL EDUCATION

Because boys spend more time with parents and camp staff than at camps of shorter duration, Cub Scout/Webelos Scout resident camp is one of the best venues to deliver ethical training and a practical, guided application of the ideals in Scouting. Areas of emphasis include Duty to God, learning to make ethical choices, the Scout Oath and Law, character development, citizenship training, and personal and spiritual fitness.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

High parent involvement is one aspect of Cub Scout/Webelos Scout resident camp: Strong adult-child activities are included, as is structured family time. Cub Scouting's goals of building a stronger bond between a boy and his parents, and between a boy and his pack—thereby strengthening families and packs—are amply reinforced. Jeremiah Hickman, camp director at Gilbert Ranch Webelos Resident Camp, emphasizes, "The program is geared for parents to be hands-on with their kids, helping them to do the activities and be successful."

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE

Adventures in camping and the outdoors await boys attending Cub Scout/Webelos Scout resident camp; the emphasis is on introducing 7- to 10-year-olds to the BSA outdoor programs. A Cub Scout outdoor adventure program gives boys the opportunity to experience the fun of camping while helping them to develop skills that will be used and learned more thoroughly as Boy Scouts.

AGE-APPROPRIATE VENUE

When camping locations and facilities are developed exclusively for use by Cub Scouts and Webelos Scouts, the boys have "ownership" of the sites and won't get burned out by overuse of the same areas they will experience as Boy Scouts. Another approach is making an existing facility into a theme-based Cub Scout/Webelos Scout resident camp area.

Bob Kestler, program director at Camp Garrison, tells this story: "One of our Scouting personnel came by and asked some boys where they were from, and we expected 'Philadelphia,' 'Chester County,' and one child said, 'I'm from the fort,' and the other boy said, 'I'm from the castle.' So all of a sudden, they are claiming ownership of these places."

GREAT PROGRAM

Often-heard is "It's all about great program." Resident camping typically includes the outdoor program areas of showmanship, sportsmanship, craftsmanship, waterfront, fitness, campcraft, and nature. Also included are camp-wide games and events. The program is simple and fast-moving and is varied daily.

Ken Nygard is the superintendent of properties for the Cradle of Liberty Council and oversees the care and physical operations of the state-of-the-art Camp Garrison. He explains why quality program is so critical: "When people come here, they say, 'Wow, look at this, look at that,' but that infatuation with 'wow' doesn't last long; they need something to do. And it really has come down to program and the people who are leading the program who are ultimately going to be the success or the failure of it as a facility."

FUN ... AROUND A THEME

One aspect of "fun...around a theme" is having age-appropriate activities and learning opportunities at resident camp that deliver the things Cub Scouts and Webelos Scouts can't do at regular meetings. Building fun around a theme also sparks enthusiasm among young boys, helping produce an imaginative world of adventure.

As Ray Braun, director of camping and properties for the Cradle of Liberty Council, puts it, "Cub Scouting is a little bit of showmanship, a little bit of pretend, [and] a little bit of developing that inner part of the boy."

—Kathy Vilim DaGroomes

Building a Pyramid With Zorro and Yoda

The overnight camping that council-organized Cub Scout/Webelos Scout resident camps offer boys gives them a taste of what it will be like to camp for a week when they are Boy Scouts. But the enthusiasm for and promotion of Cub Scout day camps is hardly waning.

Take the popular day camp at the Great Salt Lake Council's Camp Tracy. Like day camps everywhere, Tracy provides Cub Scouts and leaders with a morning-through-afternoon nonresident session to get them excited about Scouting, help them maintain interest during summer months, furnish activities packs and dens might not be able to stage on their own, and give boys a chance to earn a few belt loops.

Five days, five sites

At Camp Tracy, however, it isn't just the same camp five days in a row. Cub Scouts and leaders spend a full day at one of five sites—Jedi Training Camp, Zorro Country, Speedway 500, Buccaneer's Cove, or Frontier Fort—then return later for a day at another site. Each site emphasizes variety and new experiences.

At one day camp site, Pack 3059 Cub Scout Jeremiah Hermansen, 9, joins Jedi warriors as they draw their light sabers and storm into Darth Vader's throne room. At another, Cub Scout Jeremy Larsen of Pack 3979 watches Zorro swing into a crowd of Spanish soldiers, rescue a woman, and dash away. And yet elsewhere, Pack 3715 committee chairman Ron Brooks, who hated snakes when he arrived at day camp, is spending the morning at Yoda's house, with an eight-foot boa draped around his neck.

"This is what day camp should be about," Brooks says. "It shows Cub Scouts not to be afraid to try new things. At first I didn't want to touch the snake, but once it was there, I said: 'Why not?' And it was way cool. It will sure give us something to talk about when we go back home."

"What we're trying to do is to build the base for a pyramid of Scouting," explains Sue Weierman, the volunteer who serves as council vice president of Cub Scouting. "The broader the base, the better the chance they'll find things they're interested in."

Each site contains 10 stations where Cub Scouts run obstacle courses, practice shooting skills, work on crafts, or learn about nature. Yet each station is adapted to the overall theme of the site. For example, rather than a nature walk, Cub Scouts at Speedway 500 learn about insects that might get smashed on a windshield.

A world of learning

Zorro Country has a cantina rather than a trading post. And fog machines, laser lights, and strobes add an electronic atmosphere when the Jedi command post is transformed into an intergalactic starfighter. "It's a world of learning for the boys," says Cubmaster Mike Barnhurst of Pack 3059, "a world of imagination."

Volunteer committees work with camp staff to review themes and suggest activities. "The volunteers have the pulse of what's happening with the Cub Scouts, especially with recommending age-appropriate activities," Weierman says. "Volunteers really help us with that."

Adaptability is an important part of Camp Tracy's success, too. Each year, sites are evaluated, and from time to time they are changed. A railroad camp was retired when local leaders suggested most Cub Scouts didn't identify with trains. But what to do with a leftover caboose? It became part of an Indiana Jones camp. When interest in that waned, railroad tracks and a caboose became part of a "transportation hub" at Speedway 500. Still later, some of the tracks were used inside a gold mine in Zorro Country.

Such adaptability will keep Camp Tracy's day camps fresh as they head into the future. For example, next year Frontier Fort, which was previously a 1776 fort, will be transformed into Harry Potter's Magical Fort. That's how day camp works at Tracy—lots of variety and always something new.

—Richard M. Romney