2002 Summer Camp
Post-Camp Notes and Kudos
Hi All!
The troop is back from Camp Fife now. It was a very good year for the Scouts, and a fun one. 48 merit
badges were awarded, as well as 5 rank advancements, and a slew of Toten chips. The kids worked very
hard this year, as they were active in merit badges, advancement, camp maintenance, and camp activities.
See the troop website for a listing of all the merit badges, ranks, and awards from this years camp.
This years pioneering project was the signal tower, which became a favorite place to hangout during rare
downtime. It was rewarding to see the troop pull together as a group under Sam Guyer and David
Tavenner. The week at camp is truly the best opportunity for all the scouts to become acquainted with each
other and to see what scouting is all about. As usual, the staff at Camp Fife was outstanding, and were the
basis for the troops success.
The troop won the top camp award, the Directors Award, for the 3 rd year in a row. In addition, the scouts
won the Commissioners Award for the 2nd year running. Both awards take a lot of time and work from the
scouts, scout leaders, and adult leaders. Be sure to congratulate the kids on this big honor!
The Directors award is given to the troop that best exlemplifies scouting spirit and practices the 8 points of
scouting. The Commissioners Award is for the troop that best maintains the campsite, wears uniforms,
conducts pioneering projects, etc.
This is the first time ever that our guys won the "Gorilla Ball" tournament - a water-polo game. Many of
the boys contributed to this event and had a fun time.
Our two SPLITs (Senior Patrol Leader In Training) Sam Guyer and David Tavenner, did a fantastic job this
year, continuing a tradition from previous SPLITs Kenny Wallendahl, Danny Kalan, Bjorn Willenburg, etc.
Sam and David spent 2 weeks in camp. The first week is training for the SPL position and doing camp
projects and service. The 2nd week is spent with the troop, leading it through the week. Camp Fife is
driven by Scout leadership. Activities and schedules each week are determined by the Senior Patrol
Leaders Council, which meets daily during the camp week.
Sam and David were also the winners of the Merit Badge Derby. Sam earned 9 merit badges, while David
earned 8. Sam earned Life rank last week, and David is very very close to Life.
Dragon Patrol Leader Kevin Park earned Star rank at Summer Camp, as well as the coveted COPE patch.
Our young 1st Time campers put in a fantastic performance this year also. Bill Loyer, Sean Loyer, and
John Naemura achieved 2nd class, while Adam Jacobsen and Sam Ziegler are extremely close, lacking only
1 or 2 requirements. In addition, most earned merit badges, which very rare for 1 st time campers. Their
energy and enthusiasm was great to see.
We all need to thank the adults that donated their time and effort to make summer camp a big success. Bill
Saar was chief organizer for summer camp this year, spending many hours behind the scenes getting
everything organized and also donated a week of his time to spend summer camp with the scouts. Ulf
Wallendahl also spent a week at camp, helping with the scouts, and sheparding kids to where they needed
to be. Other volunteers who deserve many thanks are Jane Okawa, Steve Loyer, Eric Ziegler, and John
McGaw.
Finally, we also had 2 scouts attend Camp Fife as Counselors this year. Bjorn Willenburg is a
Commissioner this year, while Kenny Wallendahl is working in Aquatics. They are doing a bang up job.
Jim Wilson, ASM, Troop 606
7/14/02