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Family Scouting Coming to You!


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Looks like Family Scouts is coming. My council posted this today.

 

Family Adventure Camp

Adventure is out there!
 
East Carolina Council is one of three councils in the nation offering families the opportunity to enjoy Scouting together at Camp Boddie July 15 – 19, 2019.
 
Families register and attend together, eating in the dining hall, staying in camp tents (or bring their own), and experiencing the activities of camp: swimming, boating, making crafts, shooting rifles or BB guns, archery, learning about nature and ecology, and much more. In keeping with BSA policies and guidelines, all activities are age-appropriate.
 
Families will arrive on Monday morning, get settled into their campsite, and select their activities for the week. Monday will include an opening campfire with camp skits and songs, followed by s’mores in their campsites. In addition to daily activities, families will enjoy a luau and camp carnival. Thursday will end with a closing campfire and families head home on Friday morning.
 
While Family Adventure Camp is not designed to complete merit badges or rank requirements, many of those same activities will be offered.
 
Families can register here:https://ecc.tentaroo.com/admin2/login
 
We look forward to seeing you at camp this summer! More info can be found here .
 
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2 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Looks like Family Scouts is coming. My council posted this today.

Would this be after the normal Boy Scout Scouts BSA summer camp sessions?

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Our council has been doing something like this for decades. I think it was through the scoutreach program.

8 hours ago, Jameson76 said:

Would this be after the normal Boy Scout Scouts BSA summer camp sessions?

Probably it is a "slack" week. Our reservation had one where all of the tents from the last session were left up for a week. It was a sweet spot just before HS fall sports seasons were allowed to start practice.  The VoA used it to pilot a "super-activity" summer camp. It eventually became the camps "trek" program for older scouts.

I'm wondering if this is a week that used to be filled by Venturing, Sea Scouts, or LDS.

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I'm not sure how much news this is.  Our many years of Cub Scout camps were very much family camp.  Some families had both parents there. 

Family camp may be just a re branding that the scouting program so desperately needs.  

Edited by fred8033
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1 hour ago, fred8033 said:

I'm not sure how much news this is.  Our many years of Cub Scout camps were very much family camp.  Some families had both parents there. 

Family camp may be just a re branding that the scouting program so desperately needs.  

This is for Scouts, BSA families, not Cub Scouts. From the link: "While Family Adventure Camp is not designed to complete merit badges or rank requirements, many of those same activities will be offered."

 

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This is your council desparately trying to attract users for their camp property. 

That said, this method had been in place for years at Philmont. Every year, Philmont hosted an LDS Priesthood Leadership Training Conference. The attendees brought their wives and children. While the Leadership was being trained, their wives and children (both sons and daughters) enjoyed Philmont's adventures. 

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23 hours ago, Jameson76 said:

Would this be after the normal Boy Scout Scouts BSA summer camp sessions?

 

14 hours ago, qwazse said:

I'm wondering if this is a week that used to be filled by Venturing, Sea Scouts, or LDS.

Yes, it is after 4 weeks of traditional Scout summer camp. If memory serves, and it has been a long time since I staffed camp, it was mostly LDS troops attending.

 

As most of you know, I am not in favor of "Family Scouting," and I am not using it as a euphemism for girls in Scouting. I have had too many negative experiences, as a youth and a Scouter, with well meaning, but uninformed, parents interfering and causing major issues. From ruining a trip that was planned for a year by the Scouts, to interfering with camp outs, to turning a Boy Scout Troop, now Scouts BSA Troop, into a Cub Scout Pack, I do not see any good coming out of this.

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If a council/camp was offering something like this as a means of giving family members not actually involved as troop leaders an opportunity to experience what their child gets out of a week of camp with their unit- that is, as a "supplemental experience"- I could live with that.  However, I would not be in favor of the camp even showing a hint that advancement of any type during these weeks is being recorded or tracked for the scout.  For me, that leaves the family to bypass their child going to a week of camp with their unit. 

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Family camping at our properties is a great idea.  A few camps like the iconic Owasippe Scout Reservation in Michigan (the Reservation that serves Scouting for the greater Chicagoland metropolitan area) have dedicated facilities that are run like this for the entire season.  That council has been doing it successfully for 55 years.  More of this kind of offering will further establish us as the full-family option and will cause Scouts to spend a week with their family in addition to their Troop’s week of traditional camp.  At Owasippe the families of Scouters have been simultaneously staying in the family camp during the week a Troop camps with no ill effects.  Let’s share these wonderful places with our own family members.

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Our Council has been doing "Family Camps" over Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend for years.  The program varied depending on who was organizing it and what camp staffers they could round up to help out.  This year they're also planing to do a program similar to the one posted above.  As I see it, it's not an attempt to replace the traditional resident camp, but to supplement it.  Are they "desperate to get users to the camp property?"  Maybe.  I'm not sure what their attendance looks like and I'm not familiar with the stats for my own area either.  But last I checked getting more people to experience the programs our camps offer isn't a bad thing, and if it helps the bottom line and allows a camp to continue to provide programs in the future, I'm all for that.

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At Owasippe the practice during the main season has now spanned many Scouting generations and absolutely has a vibrant life of its own.  I think if there are usable facilities available, councils are crazy not to allow people use them during the main season.  I go so far as supporting the idea of establishing carefully-managed trailer use in segregated parts of camps.  The Memorial-Labor Day approach is a good introduction to our properties for families, but does not let families and younger siblings experience the wonder of a huge closing camp fire, for instance.

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I would expect the  camp cost $295?pp, Health Forms, and YP are fully enforced. Same rules. 

Every Scout and Leader attending Camp Boddie must submit the Annual Health and Medical Record with all necessary information and signatures upon arriving at camp. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS! Campers without a proper physical form cannot stay at camp until a full physical form signed by a physician is provided....

Leaders or parents staying in camp fewer than 72 hours MUST HAVE A COMPLETED A,B, AND C Annual Health and Medical Record, THIS DOES REQUIRE A SIGNATURE. Due to the event participating is longer than 72 hours in length. Leaders arriving during the week MUST report to the Health Lodge for a medical recheck and turn in their Medical form.

From 2018 :Leader Guide

https://www.eccbsa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/Camping-Page/Camp-Boddie/2018-Camp-Boddie-Leaders-Guide-Updated.pdf

Oh and no alcohol ...

:unsure:

My $0.02,

Edited by RememberSchiff
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On 4/13/2019 at 7:58 PM, fred8033 said:

I'm not sure how much news this is.  Our many years of Cub Scout camps were very much family camp.  Some families had both parents there. 

Family camp may be just a re branding that the scouting program so desperately needs.  

ANOTHER rebranding?  

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