Camp E-Star Blog

Friday, June 21st, 2019

It’s Friday morning. All is well.

We’ve had a blustery last 12 hours. The wind has been coming across the Bay at ~20 mph since late last night. The benefits are that the bugs are absent, our tents are drying out, and we all had a lot of “white noise” to provide for a good night’s sleep. The downside is that we had to close the archery range, we had to beach the rafts and, due to the heavy waves, we will likely need to keep the waterfront closed this afternoon. Fortunately, the temperatures are very pleasant, and we all had a great shower at Washington College yesterday.

A trip to civilization with air conditioning, a warm shower and a magnificent Washington College dinner were huge Thursday highlights. Also on Thursday, many of our senior scout leadership and lifeguards had a morning field trip with a few dads to go clay pigeon shotgun shooting. They had a great time. An hour after lunch on Thursday, 20 scouts and dads got in the Bay and started off on the Mile Swim. The route is 0.5 miles north along the shore and then back to camp. Swimmers were chaperoned by senior scouts and dads in kayaks and motorboats. Despite blue skies at the start of the swim, clouds moved in as scouts approached the turn-around point and a lightning strike was seen in the distance. Sadly, swimmers were pulled from the water and a repeat Mile Swim will be pursued next week.

A priority of the Camp experience is honing of leadership skills. Each morning, the ASMs and Camp Director meet with the Epsilon Patrol and ASPLs (Assistant Patrol Leaders who lead each of our four Patrols) to talk through administrative details and areas of responsibility. This meeting is led by the Head-Eagle Blake Bangay. Last night, the senior scouts had a scheduled leadership round table discussion with mentor Jack Kidd. They discussed how Camp is going well, what can be improved upon and optimization of leadership techniques. It was very positive and healthy. The older boys are getting a fantastic, real-time leadership development experience that will give them a leg up in college and beyond.

Today, we are finishing up our Week 1 merit badge classes, making progress on patrol pioneering catapults and preparing for patrol inspections. This evening we will be entertained by the Dad versus Scout softball game and dramatic production by the Theater Merit Class. The Wilderness Survival class will be spending the night under the stars in their natural lean-to shelters. Pray for good weather. If the weather turns lousy, they will return to their tents.

For those of you who have taken photos at Camp, please upload them onto Troop Track and also email them to David Pitts at mdtroop35@gmail.com. He is creating a slideshow to be shown at Camp this weekend.

Several of the boys signed up for Week 1 only have decided to stay of for a second week. If you are not sure of your son’s hope/desire, please email me directly. We are happy work through any changes of plans.

The boys always look forward to Visitor’s Sunday. Visitor time begins at 10:00am. Parents and siblings are welcome to tour the patrols. Parents may bring a picnic lunch for their sons or take them on a field trip to Rock Hall or Chestertown. The boys would probably appreciate you bringing a few clean/dry towels, socks and tee shirts. The waterfront will be open mid-afternoon for family swim and watercraft. Visitor time will close at 5:30 pm. If your son is going home after week 1, the time to pick him up is from 10-5 on Sunday. If you will not be coming for a visit on Sunday, please email me. I will make arrangements for your son to go into town with a friend’s parent to enjoy a meal out.

Camp has been very positive and productive. Your son will have lots of stories to share with you.

Onward and Upward - Charles

P.S. - We've enjoyed morning wake-up instrumentalist Reveille by saxophonist Jacob Batho, and trumpeters Timmy Edwards and dad-Mark Manthy.