July 4, 2010—Welcome home Troop 39. We're looking for a few good articles written by the Scouts and leaders, who attended Camp Wolverine (ZAXIE)!

From Sunday, June 27th through Friday, July 2nd, 2010 our troop worked on merit badges ranging from basketry to shotgun, from lifesaving to mammal studies, and we should mention photography, leatherwork and nature. We went on hikes to the eagle's nest, visited the horse coral, and climbed above the tree tops at C.O.P.E. Mr. Mroczkowski will post any and all perspectives on the trip along with photos. Show your scout spirt, and please forward your articles to him at damroczkowski@yahoo.com. They can be short, a paragraph or two. Or as detailed as you like. Do it before your memories fade. Everyone has a different way of remembering camp, and your story will likely trigger a memory for someone else.

From the Journal of Mr. Mroczkowski
When Troop 39 (FOR THE WIN!) arrived on Sunday, we were forced to dodge droplets of rain while setting up our tents, taking the swim test and being reviewed for our medical checks. But before long, the skies cleared and it was the last of the rain for the remainder of the week. We were twelve scouts and six leaders. Three scouts from our troop were working at camp, Sean Lamble, Andrew Mroczkowski and John Kryl. Not everyone was able to make it on Sunday. After taking care of registration and initial setup, Troop 39 (FOR THE WIN!) under the guidance of our senior patrol leader (SPL L.K.), set up our large canopy that covers four picnic tables. Wrist bands were distributed, and equipment was set up for the week. Dinner arrived, which was a mystery stew (turkey that tasted like beef). I noted that portion control for some scouts needed to be monitored, and as always scouts ate first. New scouts were taught how to clean their plates at camp, and everyone dressed in Class A uniforms for flag lowering. Leaders headed down to the north lodge for a meeting, while scouts were lead around camp. Everyone met to watch staff lower the colors before heading over the the openning campfire. The enthusiasm of staff was higher than it has ever been since I've come to Owasippe. Great job, Chase and staff! I have to say the most memorable song was M.I.L.K. After the campfire, we headed back to Site 7 to prepare everyone for the first full day.

Day 1 - Monday, June 28.
Temperatures overnight were warm enough to sleep on top of my sleeping bag. My tent was at the farthest end of camp. Tired from the trip and setup, I hardly heard the overnight murmers from other adult leaders. There was a crow that called-and-called in the early dawn. I also heard an eastern wood peewee and a red-eyed vireo with his endless call. I mention these three birds, but over the next few days I heard dozens of songs and spotted many species.

The patrol boxes were taken out, and during that process...accidentally the switch for the trailer light was broken. (The only request we make as leaders is that if something happens, come and tell us so we can help you and the troop.) The trailer needed to be tidied-up. Our SPL L.K. went for breakfast down at the north lodge for a Senior Patrol Leaders meeting, while we ate a breakfast of pancake sausages, bannanas and cereal. Scouts were asked if they had a buddy and knew where they were headed. Leaders explained that they needed to turn in the blue cards to the camp counselors at the specific outposts, and off they went. At noon, scouts returned for lunch and got into their Class A uniforms for the formal camp picture. At 1:00 p.m., first year scouts joined the Pathfinders, a group lead by four of the commissioners. On Monday, the Pathfinders were in the pool until 4:00 p.m. lead by Mr. Fadziejewski. A couple scouts were beginners and some had never swam before. At 4:45, the staff ran an emergancy drill, which required that all scouts return immediately to their camp site. Shortly after, was dinner. And even though I had given a speech about being careful when buying and eating too much candy at the Trading Post, we had one scout get an upset stomach. To err on the side of caution, Mr. Rumsey and I took him to the Health Lodge. He rested over night and felt fine in the morning, but we asked staff in the Trading Post to limit his purchases to non-digestable products. The troop made a small campfire, and I felt honored that one of the scouts (WmC) asked me to recite "The Cremation of Sam Magee" by Robert W. Service. The fire was put out, and the leaders stayed awake talking about events on Tuesday.

Day 2 - Tuesday, June 29.
A busy day at C.O.P.E. (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience) was planned for six of our scouts: IR, LK, PO, WmC, PC and TB. The morning meal was Owassameal (oatmeal), which is ever so yummy! Along with Mr. Rumsey and Mr. Cabreros, I took the six scouts to Low C.O.P.E. In Low C.O.P.E., scouts work on the ground and are challenged to work on eight basic principles: Trust, Teamwork, Leadership, Communication, Problem Solving, Planning, Decision Making and Self-esteem. They had to work through obstacles together to accomplish goals that at first seemed impossible to overcome. To go to High C.O.P.E. in the afternoon, they had to successfully pass Low C.O.P.E in the morning. I will not go into details about what they did, because some of the challenges may be presented again in the future. Watching the scouts, I spotted a hummingbird that landing briefly on the dead branch of a pine tree.

While at C.O.P.E., I recieved a call from CR and his father that he was coming up and they were near Whitehall. After a few texts and a phone call or two, we worked out that I would meet them at the Ad Center. In order to get the scouts back to their site in Wolverine (ZAXIE!), CR and his father would need to come to C.O.P.E. After dropping off CR at out site, his father headed out. We ate lunch, and at 1:00 p.m., Mr. Cabreros and I took the scouts back for High C.O.P.E. High C.O.P.E. is not only a challege over the fear of heights, but requires that scouts listen and work with the person belaying them. A belay rope is the rope that acts as a safety line for climbers. The belayer is the person who gives you slack and helps you safely back to the ground should you slip. High C.O.P.E. is a transformative experience. It also reveals who is a good listener and who doesn't listen well. All of the eight principles that they were challenged to learn in the morning came into play in the afternoon.

Mr. Lamble arrived with Sean, who came back from a trip to China. After dinner, I drove over to Blackhawk (Go!) to drop off some items that Andrew asked me to bring up for him. I had never been in the dinning hall, so Sean, the camp director at Blackhawk, gave me a tour. Andrew is working on staff at handicraft, and he brought his guitar up with him. I found out that he had a chance to play it a the staff dinner before camp started. He learned a song written about Owasippe by another staff member, Dylan. I also learned that Troop 825 was at Blackhawk. They're a troop that meets right around the corner from Unity Lutheran.

During the evening over at the old Scoutcraft (Sparrarama!) site, the staff at Wolverine (ZAXIE!) held the second annual Pudgypaloza. This year was much better organized, largely because they had about a dozen picnic tables lined up in a arch at one end of the site. Like last year, scouts got to make pudgy pies, sing songs and mingle with other troops. There were two fires, one for making the pudgy pies and the other for gathering around. I was full from dinner, but we had many hungry scouts making pizza pudgies and fruit pudgies. Some of our scouts stayed back at site 7, and they built a fire for when we returned.

Day 3 - Wednesday, June 30.
There were two set backs on Wednesday. One, was that several scouts wanted to do the climbing merit badge, and that they weren't signed up for the limited number of spots. The other problem envolved one of Mr. Dreasler's neckerchief slides. Mr. D is a fantastic woodcarver, and every year he carves a slide, which is awarded to the scout with most scout spirit. The boys vote on who should get the slide. He had laid out examples of his slides on the picnic table, and someone broke the tooth off one of them. No one stepped forward to take responsibility, but at some point they should speak up and apologize to Mr. D.

Nonetheless, merit badge work was in full swing. Scouts were heading out to the Shooting range, Handicraft, EcoCon and the Pool. I walked over to the Photography outpost with Mr. Scruggs and a couple of the scouts. While I was standing there I listened and heard and spotted several birds, including Cedar Waxwings, Chipping Sparrows, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, American Crow, Scarlet Tananger, Tufted Titmouse, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Dinner was raw steak. Of course, the scouts barbequed after marinading them in a something Mr. Scruggs put together. For myself, I seasoned my steak with garlic, salt and pepper. Included in the dinner was baked potato. No one went hungry this week, but everyone came to the table ready to eat. There's something about hiking around in the outdoors.

During the evening, I was involved with the Brotherhood Ceremony for the Order of the Arrow, and the only thing I will note about that here is that I'm glad I brought matches. Oh, and it gave me another chance to visit with Andrew. He had a part in the ceremony and I was glad to see him do a very good job with his part. Everyone did a great job.

Day 4 - Thursday, July 1
Overall, the troop bonded, but we're having to remind them that the site is their site and they need to work together as a team. The seven leaders have been working hard to bring the troop together.

In the morning, Mr. Rumsey, Mr. Scruggs and I took LK over to the Shooting Sports Outpost, which is located in Camp Crown. LK nearly completed the Shotgun Merit Badge last year, but needed to hit at least 12 (48 percent) out of 25 targets in two 25 target groups. I took LK to Shotgun the previous year, but he was so tired from being up all night doing an OA function that in his words, "I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from inside the barn." This year, it was a piece of cake (or maybe chocolate mint ice cream).

The Pathfinders were supposed to go on a five mile hike over the Bald Eagle's nest at Blackhawk (Go!), but we scheduled horseback riding time for many of them during the same time slot. I went on hike, which was lead by Matt Dorsch, commissioner at Scoutcraft (Go Big or Go Home! — They changed the call, but everyone still likes Sparraramma). Along the way there was a tortoise and (no, not at hare) a brown snake. While I wish some scouts had joined me on the hike, I was glad to have the experience. There was one leader, who had a handheld GPS tracking system. It could tell the rate we were walking per mile. He uses for doing GeoCaching, something we should try as a troop. We took the Orange Trail and I learned about Moose Moss and Ostrich Ferns (rubbing it on your skin temporarily keeps the mosquitos away). We walked passed Box Lake and a Great Blue Heron flew across its surface before taking languid wing beats to soar above the tree tops. Resting here and there for water and a KYBO break at Blackhawk it took us little under an hour and thirty minutes to get to nesting site. I brought my binoculors and shared them with the scouts from the other troops. While we didn't see an adult Bald Eagle, there was a juvenile watching us. Matt said there are as many as three nests on the Owasippe Scout Reservation, one being at Wolverine (ZAXIE!).

After coming back from the hike, I quickly got into my car and went to pick up Andrew, who had the night off. We went into Whitehall and picked-up Subway Sandwiches (Andrew is vegetarian) and came back to Site 7 to eat dinner with the troop. After dinner, we took all the scouts into Whitehall for Monstershakes, and met John Kryl, who also had the night off. We got the scouts back to camp so they could work on merit badges and Andrew to the location of the OA pre-Ordeal Ceremony that he was part of. Again, I will not say anything about this except that I'm glad I brought matches and everyone did a great job. Our SPL LK was on the team that stayed with the ordeal candidates overnight. During the ceremony in the distance was the haunting call of a Hermit Thrush, an ascending flute-like call. After the ceremony, I gave a ride to scouts that are on staff at Blackhawk, and was amused by their discussion on how the first week was going, a staff perspective.

Day 5 - Friday, July 2
Last day for merit badges. Our troop went down after breakfast to perform the flag raising ceremony for Wolverine (ZAXIE!). Mr. Lamble and I went to retrieve the ordeal candidates and take them over to C.O.P.E. where they were to continue with on their ordeal. However, because of miscommunication our SPL LK rightfully took the inciative and hiked the group over to C.O.P.E.

After I came back to site 7, I took time to organize my tent and talk with the leaders about the ups and downs of the week. Mr. Lamble took the troop to the Campwide Games that involved shooting, diving for golf balls, canoing and firebuilding. Dinner was salsbury steak with mash potatoes and pears for dessert. It tasted great, but we were looking forward to the eleven pizzas we order for after the Closing Campfire.

Our troop's skit for the closing campfire had not been settled on by 4:00 p.m. So, I asked for a command performance. It has something to do with a giant lobster and tiny shrimp, and while the narrative was there the punchline or conclusion was a bit defused. WmC had the idea to perform a song, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Songs are much easier to coordinate if you know the lyrics and background parts. This one was perfect, and we had PO to lead everyone in their parts. There's something about when the spotlight goes on and certain people naturally gravite into it. With Mr. Lamble's and my help, PO divided us up into three groups that would get the audience up on their feet to help us sing. Somehow, someway, an adult baritone (me) managed to pull off the Frankie Valli high part (although he wasn't part of the Tokens). It was shaky during rehearsal, but wonderful at the closing campfire. Mr. F stayed back at the campsite to take care of some business, and he said he could hear us like we were standing next to him. During the openning of the campfire, Sean Lamble was part of the Sons of Owasippe story, which is something you'd have see at camp.

After the pizza and enjoying our own modest campfire, I went to bed early just to be well rested for the trip home. Honestly, I was dehydrated and needed to drink about half gallon of water before lying down.

Day 6 - Saturday, July 3
It's always sad to leave camp, but also rewarding to know that we all put in a great effort during the week. There were moments of unwanted behavior by some of the scouts, but we worked through it. Some things left me a little disappointed, but core of our troop is strong. LK, WmS and WmC showed interest in becoming counselors in training (CIT) for next year. The scouts voted on the scout the showed the most scout spirit, and I was happy to see the scout I thought should get the neckerchief get selected. It was WmC. It is wonderful to see the level of his spirit remain as high as when he joined the troop, while his maturity level continues to grow.

Before we left, we rounded up and did Thorns and Roses, which gives everyone the opportunity to say one thing that liked and one thing they didn't like. One thing that I was especially happy to see that I didn't mention, was the respect the scouts showed to the Eastern Phoebe that was nesting under eaves of our KYBO. The bird catches nearly four times its weight in mosquitos and insects each day while nesting.

On the drive home, we stopped to in Sawyer, Michigan at Exit 12 and the Trans-america for lunch. I have a not-so-subtle goal of getting scouts interested in birding, so I played the first five minutes of a podcast of Ray Brown's Talkin' Birds radio show. I had written about our experience during Memorial Day weekend, and he read my email. I would encourage all our scouts to write to newspaper, radio show and magazine editors about their experiences at Owasippe. Let business people and our representatives know about what you are doing and how you are growing because of scouting.

There are three aims in scouting: build character, teach leadership and encourage physical fitness. I'm very proud to be part of an adult group that helped the boys strive to develop toward these aims. Merit badges and rank advancement are markers along the path, and as long as you are moving on the path you will meet those goals. Not everyone got everything, some worked harder than others, some scouts need to think about what it means to be in the program. But the leaders are here and ready to help you if you want it.





If you haven't heard, it's the 100th Anniversary of Scouting in America, Camp Wolverine (Zaxie!) is planning to make it the best year ever. Every Summer, Troop 39 goes to the oldest and finest Boys Scout Camp in America, Owasippe Scout Reservation in Whitehall, Michigan. The troop will go for the first period, which is between June 27 and July 3. The cost for a session after May 31, 2010 it is $280. For adults the fee is $145. To get a better picture of what summer camp is all about, visit the Chicago Area Council website and Summer Camp at Owasippe Scout Reservation page (or parents may want to read the complete Owasippe 2010 Leader's Manual). If you have any questions, ask a leader in our troop! Or watch this Owasippe video on YouTube posted there by the Chicago Area Council.

At this point, fourteen scouts along with six adult leaders have verbally committed to go. Not everyone has paid. Deadline for payment is Monday, June 14th at our troop meeting. If you need more time, talk with Mr. Lamble or Mr. Dreasler, but once the troop commits funds for you...you must repay the troop. No exceptions.

Here are some of the forms you will need to have before going to camp. First is the medical form. You CANNOT participate in camp without having a physical given by a doctor. The form must be completed and be signed by a doctor. For this year and this year only, you may use a school medical form that you may have submitted at his school that would allow him to participate in sports. Next for the scouts, you should have your parent complete this horseback riding form. We may or may not go horseback riding depending on the interest level in the troop, but you cannot go if you do not have a copy signed by your parent or guardian.

Any scout taking medications of any type—even an aspirin—must have written instructions and a note for our leaders as to how the medication should be administered. All medications are locked in a safe location, and every time any medication is administered it must be written down in a medical log. There are no exceptions. It's Michigan law.

Adult leaders have even more paper work to complete. In addition to have completed youth protection training, they need to have completed the following Michigan protection forms and send them to the appropriate authorities prior to going to camp. Additionally, there are trainings that leaders must have to participate in camp.

Here is a list of the merit badges and activities offered and additional fees for supplies that accompany doing them. You do not need to do any merit badge that cost money. Pease limit the number of merit badges you shoot for to a reasonable number. First year scouts are advised to limit the number to three. We won't stop you, and partials are okay. If you have any questions, please talk with Mr. Lamble.

Troop 39 (FOR THE WIN!) returns to Chicago on Saturday July 3 with an estimated arrival time of 2:37 p.m. CDT (or sometime in the middle of the afternoon).

This article was first posted on our site in February 2010.