Summer Camp Video
Jul 25
Summer Camp Part 3
Jul 22
Several of the boys got up early this morning to go to religious services. I stayed in bed to catch up on missed sleep. Had a boy last night about 11PM wake me to tell me that he felt sick. He was shaking and and a little bit confused sounding, and complained of his throat feeling funny. So I took him up to the first aid post, we got the camp director out of bed and went off to the main camp medical facility to see the RN. The diagnosis was dehydration so we plied him with lots of water and after a while, he was visibly improved. We took him back to Camp Olmsted and let him sleep in the air-conditioned first aid room. He was returned to us this morning as good as new.
This points out the dangers of dehydration. We constantly have to remind everyone to drink plenty of fluids, even if you don’t think you’re thirsty. You can get dehydrated quickly in the heat, but it’s preventable with attention to staying hydrated.
The boys are all trying to finish up merit badges today. This is the last day of formal classes, although they can catch up on missed things tomorrow. This evening the Space Exploration guys get to launch their rockets. Got to see that!
Still no luck on video uploads. It would take two hours to upload a ten minute video over this link, so they’ll probably have to wait to be posted until we return Saturday. Although the boys are all having a good time, they’ll be glad to see all of you, too 
. Tomorrow evening, we’ll pack up and leave early Saturday morning. We’ll call about a hour out of Newport News.
Yours in Scouting
Dick Barnes
Summer Camp Part 2
Jul 21
Well, we certainly had an exciting day yesterday! We had a fast-moving thunderstorm pass through with high winds and heavy rain. Bradley and Chris were sailing in the middle of the lake at the time, and capsized. To make a long story short, they were upset (literally) and had to wait for a rescue to arrive. Chris lost his glasses over the side, so Joe drove up last night and brought his spare glasses. By that time, it was very late so Joe spent the night and most of the next day with us at Camp.
I apologize for the lack of videos, but the WIFI here is really slow and every time the upload times out, I have to start over again. I have yet to be able to complete an upload. I am shooting videos, though, so they will be posted eventually. Nights have all been cool, with sleeping bags feeling comfortable, and with the days in the 90’s. The boys are doing well, eating plenty, and working diligently on their merit Badges. Seems a shame to have to do homework at camp, but it’s a necessary evil. There were conflicts with class schedules due to our not understanding what they were trying to do, but some of the blame lies with unclear instructions. But, with all that said, everyone is earning Merit Badges.
Stay tuned for the next installment …
Yours in Scouting,
Dick Barnes
Summer Camp Part 1
Jul 19
We arrived at Camp Olmsted at the Goshen Scout Reservation in the Virginia Mountains about 2 PM yesterday afternoon. Check in was uneventful, and we were treated to something we hadn’t seen at home for a while … RAIN! Thunderstorms and rain off and on for most of the evening, night, and again this morning until about midday. Last night was cool to the point where we needed sleeping bags or a light blanket for comfort. Today, though, the temperature got up into the 90’s with a low tonight predicted for the 60’s. The boys all spent today in merit badge classes. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have some video to upload. Everybody is doing just fine.
Dick Barnes
Conclave 2010
Apr 21
Off on Friday for a 5+ hour drive to the western part of the state … to Hiwassee (near Radford and Christiansburg) for the 2010 SR7A Order of the Arrow Conclave. The weather is supposed to cooperate, so that would make for around 1000 happy Scouts and Scouters . Barring any technical difficulties, I should have a video posted early next week.
Yours in Scouting,
Dick
Final Mulch Delivery
Mar 31
Well, we delivered our final 1500 bags or so of mulch this past Saturday. The turnout as not as good as we had hoped for, but all the bags were delivered to the customers by around 3 pm or so. Our partnership with Peninsula Hardwood Mulch for a second year in a row was the way to go. Previously we had dealt directly with the manufacturer, and had to order in trailerloads. This way, we could order exactly what we wanted with no leftovers.
I supervised an OA election for Troop 242 this evening, and all went well. They only had one eligible candidate, and he was elected. One for one!
The weekend before, the Troop did a day trip to Washington DC in conjunction with the Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge. Bruce has promised me some video of the trip, so when he comes through, I’ll post it.
We’ve got 2 Eagle projects coming up Saturday. Most of the projects has been “prebuilt”, and we’ll finish up Saturday. To top that off, Saturday is my Daughter’s 14th birthday so I’ll be busy!
Yours in Scouting,
Dick
Earlybird Mulch Delivery
Mar 6
This year, we decided to to an “earlybird” delivery for those who wanted to get a head start on spreading mulch. We will deliver the remaining mulch on the 27th of March.
Well, we picked a great weekend . Snowed on us … not as bad as the previous weekend … just flurries this time! Before going out to deliver fliers for our annual Mulch Fundraiser, we did the Adopt-a-Spot (the road in front of our Charter Partner). Then we spent about four hours blanketing neighborhoods with our fundraiser fliers … over 3500 delivered!
Rock Gym Lock-In
Feb 17
had a great lock-in at the Rock Gym in Midlothian, VA. Joe shot a couple of vids with his iphone, so I’m posting them here for your perusal .