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What If - All High Adventure Camps Cancel


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One of my scouts annually goes to a camp for kids with diabetes.  They've already cancelled one of their sessions.  One of my ASMs was told Northern Tier, where we're going this summer (hopefully) will likely be making a decision in a couple of weeks.

When Philmont closed, troops could transfer to another HA camp.  I assume this year if 1 closes, they'll all close.

We've already committed to Sea Base in 2021, so we can't postpone NT to 2021.

If this happens, boy is it going to be a hit to BSA at a really bad time.

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The promised 15 April update from Philmont.  Upshot:  Go/No Go decision for each high adventure base will be announced on 1 May. https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/coronavirus/ High A

Yea my NYLT staff is doing some virtual training and presentation practice, but it's likely with the course taking place in early June, that it will be cancelled. 

If treks are cancelled, it will be doubly sad for some Philmont crews.  Many crews that couldn't go because of the Ute Park fire of 2018 opted for a 2020 trek.   Then I recall what happened to my

We are scheduled for Sea Base for early June.

I'm afraid at least part of the summer will get cancelled.  I hope we can just push back to next summer, as we specifically selected the time to avoid conflicts with members of our crew.

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7 minutes ago, Chisos said:

We are scheduled for Sea Base for early June.

I'm afraid at least part of the summer will get cancelled.  I hope we can just push back to next summer, as we specifically selected the time to avoid conflicts with members of our crew.

Based on the number of yahoo college students that are still spending Spring Break in Florida, I think the situation there is going to grow exponentially in the next week.  We all need to start putting our contingency plans together with a reality that life is not going back to normal for several months, and it may get even more restricted for a while during that time.  Until a vaccine is developed, there will continue to be flares of this virus in places until our bodies naturally develop an immunity.

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If treks are cancelled, it will be doubly sad for some Philmont crews.  Many crews that couldn't go because of the Ute Park fire of 2018 opted for a 2020 trek.  

Then I recall what happened to my dad in the mid 1950s.  Just as he was getting ready to board a bus in Iowa to go to Philmont, his scoutmaster received a telegram stating that Philmont was closed because of a disease (polio or measles, I can't recall).  Life being what it is, he didn't get a second opportunity.     

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1 hour ago, desertrat77 said:

If treks are cancelled, it will be doubly sad for some Philmont crews.  Many crews that couldn't go because of the Ute Park fire of 2018 opted for a 2020 trek.  

Then I recall what happened to my dad in the mid 1950s.  Just as he was getting ready to board a bus in Iowa to go to Philmont, his scoutmaster received a telegram stating that Philmont was closed because of a disease (polio or measles, I can't recall).  Life being what it is, he didn't get a second opportunity.     

It would be unfortunate for some that they had the double whammy.  I hold my fingers crossed that we are not all going to be locked indoors through the summer.  If we are, I am hopeful that these kids are going to be so bent on finally being outdoors when this is over that we are going to have them begging to go camping every weekend as long as the weather holds out!

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Summer camps . . .    Every organization that does such is in the same boat.  In our case,  (non-BSA) registrations are already way behind the usual. We have even had some requests for refund of deposits. 

Need to hire, train, schedule staff. Order gear and prep the cabins , pond,  kitchen, lodge....  How to do that with what we know already?  Scout camp?   Cub Scout Day  Camps?   Our county Parks run a very respectable program. Maybe. 

It will be a long summer, regardless. 

Edited by SSScout
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I hate to be the grinch, but most likely all high adventure and summer camps will be cancelled or limited to August. Cancelling the entire summer would actually mean good news with respect to number of hospitalizations because the curve will be stretched out. Italy thought China was an outlier and now everyone thinks Italy is an outlier.  And yet the US is not slowing things down as well as Italy is now. The US population density is much lower than Italy and we are younger, so that's good news, but it's still going to be rough.

My county went from 7 to 19 cases in a day (that's likely due to better testing) but even at 33% increase per day we'll be at 88k cases in a month. However, if the number of cases is a tenth of actual cases then our peak will be before that as there are only 360k people in our county. That's the worst scenario. The better scenario is the infection rate is slowed and it drags out a lot longer. One model I saw said an early (and bad) ending was mid July and a late (good) ending was some time in August.

I think the discussion might be more useful if it were: How can the scouts help after the carnage is over?

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35 minutes ago, MattR said:

I hate to be the grinch, but most likely all high adventure and summer camps will be cancelled or limited to August. Cancelling the entire summer would actually mean good news with respect to number of hospitalizations because the curve will be stretched out.

Yeah, in theory I should be planning to run a cub scout day camp this summer, but I don't think that'll happen.

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Jameson76,

That would be the cat's meow!  A Troop having its own week long Summer Camp would be Scouting at its best:)  I encourage you to try it...

One issue with "industrial" Summer Camps is that Scouts are too "busy", as almost every moment of their day is scheduled for them.  I encourage Scouts to keep one or two merit badge sessions free to do whatever they wish...nap, fish, hike, play basketball, swim, read, bird watch, contemplate the universe, etc.

 

Edited by InquisitiveScouter
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My daughter has training at the end of the month to be an aide for Girl Scout day camp.  They're making the training virtual, of course.  Since this day camp is at the end of June, it seems unlikely they'll have it, but they're currently doing what they can to ready if they do have it.  If nothing else, it keeps the girls active in scouting activities.

Our summer camp starts 6/21, which is the earliest we've ever gone.  Our school district used to not get out until late June.  They haven't canceled yet, but that seems unlikely.

Our NT trek is at the end of July.  I don't know what will happen.  We paid for 2 crews. With the cancellation of our mulch fundraiser, even if it's on, some won't have the funds.

There are greater things to worry about in this world, but we have to do our best with this.  At a time we're dealing with BSA bankruptcy and terrible news stories about BSA, this is quite a blow.

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3 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Jameson76,

That would be the cat's meow!  A Troop having its own week long Summer Camp would be Scouting at its best:)  I encourage you to try it...

One issue with "industrial" Summer Camps is that Scouts are too "busy", as almost every moment of their day is scheduled for them.  I encourage Scouts to keep one or two merit badge sessions free to do whatever they wish...nap, fish, hike, play basketball, swim, read, bird watch, contemplate the universe, etc.

 

That's been my problem with summer camp.  It's like they think if the leave too much free time, something horrible will happen.  I do like the Brownsea Island program at the camp we use.  It really helps the first year scouts get a lot of requirements done.

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14 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

That would be the cat's meow!  A Troop having its own week long Summer Camp would be Scouting at its best:)  I encourage you to try it...

So true!  Our troop has done that many times in the past.  A troop own summer camp week is better than any structured summer camp.  But, very different.  A council camp can offer a variety of experiences, intermix with other troops and is a more traditional summer camp.  It's also a consistent structure, program and tradition.  Scouts can like tradition.

A troop's own summer camp week is different and whatever the troop wants.  Our troop chooses a destination and a group camp site.  Then, our troop did day trips / activities and several of the adults were available to do location-appropriate merit badges.  One year it was water-oriented with water skiing, fishing, motor boating, canoeing and row boats.  Another year it was mines and caves.  Another year the bad lands and tours sites.  Another year the Rockies.  Another was a week of hiking.    

It also fits the calendar naturally.  The summer has three months without school.  Choose one month for scout-camp summer camp week.  Choose another month for troop's own summer camp week.  Choose the other month for a simple fun event. 

It also promotes troop culture and troop pride.  Council camps are about "scouting".  Troop camps are about the troop.  If you want your scouts to take pride in their troop, do your own big camp and big events. 

A side benefit is it reduces the density of adults on a single camp out.  Then, a single week is not swamped by all the adults at the single summer camp week and gives the scouts a chance to get used to summer camp without parents.  

 

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