The Now & Future Of Scouting ... And Waltham

This past weekend temperatures were in the 100's, and Waltham Cub Scout Pack No. 274 went family camping down at Camp Massasoit in Plymouth.  Boy Scouts of America Boston Minuteman Council Scout Executive/CEO Chuck Eaton was there and described it as this: "Think of yourselves as strapping on your pointy ears and weird uniforms and going to a Star Trek Convention.  That's what non-scouts think of us."   

Let me summarize the weekend - and then add some thoughts about what's so great about scouts. We left Waltham at 6:50 p.m. and arrived in camp at 8:07 p.m. with health forms filled on and ready in hand.  We got expressed through the wait to check-in line. Always be prepared!  Cam (our 8 year-old son) ran off to watch the "Lion King" movie under the dining tent with popcorn and bug juice (non-campers call it Kool-Aid).  My husband and I drove over to our lean-to, unloaded the car and changed from city-mode (unloaded cell phones & wallets) to camp-mode (doling out bug spray,  pocket flash-lights for all, and organizing.)  Our family isn't ready for the tent yet. We graduated from full-cabin with electricity and flush-toilets to lean-to with shower/toilet facilities nearby.  But we brought the tent. Maybe next time we'll break it out.

By 9 p.m., it was only 80 degrees but had a 75 percent dew point. Ugh!  We hiked up to meet Cam at the movie just as there was a brown out!  So, we gathered him up and the 30 of us from the pack went to the main tent site and we made a campfire, S'mores (best part of camping ever!), and roasted wieners.  The boys then made up skits that only young boys "get" and laugh at...  But we all clapped anyway.

Quiet time was 10 p.m. and lights out at 11 p.m.

Cam, Ev, & I struggled to sleep on our -30 degree rated sleeping bags in the soaking heat.  I made my son an ice pack to sleep with and he fell right asleep.  In the middle of the night, temperatures dropped and he climbed into my bag with me.  It was too hot for me, so I climbed out and slept on his! I love campfires and s'mores & skits - it may be many moons between camping but the best parts are still the same!

Saturday was a modge-podge of flag ceremony, breakfast, horseshoes, reading, tether-ball, playground, swimming proficiency testing, swimming, boating (five types of boats), archery, BB range and slingshots.  By lunchtime, thunder and lightning was overhead, so the waterfront closed. Thank goodness.  As Cams swim-buddy, I had been in the water for two and a half straight hours, during which time, I learned how to kayak.  I flipped the kayak a few times in the process but "try and try again" was my mantra. When I did it, the trip around the lake was amazing! Run to the lean-to where four boys and three parents waited out the rain.  Trusty playing cards used for Knock!,War, card-houses, and a Dungeons & Dragons map.  Even after the rain ended - the imaginative boys stayed for hours in their make-believe world of fantasy and fun. So, the parents challenged themselves to Slingshot, BB gun range and archery (I reign as Queen of Archery.)  Dinner is a camp staple of pasta, sauce, bread and ice cream dessert.

At 8 p.m. there is an all-camp campfire and skit show, put on by boys, leaders, camp counselors and songs which are audience participation required.  Our sons are mortified when the parents sing and dance around.  After campfire there is talk of S'mores but Cam crawls into bed and drops to sleep.

Sunday was the flag ceremony, breakfast, arts and crafts, fishing, packing up and cleaning up.  My journal of the weekend is many pages longer than this. 

I wrote this column to tell you that Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting are alive and well.  And, if as a parent you want to see what scouting is like, you can go on a family scouting weekend camp. There are cabins, with electricity, running water, toilets, showers and a cook. Planned activities are also included.  It's inexpensive, all-inclusive and nearby.

The best part of this camp experience for me, was what Eaton summarized for me as "a community of parents raising each others children."  I didn't have to know where Cam was to know he was safe. Everyone knew every childs' name by the end of the weekend. Children roamed in packs, parents watched out, staff reminded them of unwritten Scout rules and of written camp safety rules.

Check out Scouting and all it can offer you and your family. You'll be happier having tried it. I'm told by my husband, the non-camper, that he insists we sleep in the tent in August.  And that, says Eaton, "is the whole purpose of the Family Camping weekend."