Scouthaven Notes

A few Cubs and their fathers from Pack 222 went to Camp Scouthaven on the weekend of July 24-25, 1999, and stayed at site 9 (Sea of Clouds). For many of us, it was our first time at camp, and we didn't know quite what to expect. We ended up having a terrific time, and thought we'd share some notes we've made so that our next time there will be even better.
In July 2000, four Cubs and four parents from Pack 222 attended the four-day resident camp, where we shared site 5A (Wombat Walkabout) with a Cub and his father from Pack 22 (St. Peter & Paul's Church in Williamsville). These notes have been updated to reflect additional things we learned from that experience. If you have anything to add, please let me know. I should note that Resident Camp is much more structured, and has a lot more activities, than the weekend sessions. If you can get the time, it's well worth doing; you and your Scout will have memories that will last a lifetime.

Things to Bring

In addition to the list provided by the camp, here are some things we wish we would have brought, are glad that someone else had brought, or remembered to bring but thought we'd mention anyways:

• The Pack flag and our Den flags. Visitors are grouped by Pack, and each campsite has a flagpole (there are hooks for an American Flag, provided by the camp, but the Pack flag can be flown underneath with a little bit of work). This makes for a nice display of "Pack spirit".
• Any Scout Bucks your Scout earned, such as from the popcorn sale. They can be used at the trading post to purchase souvenirs, snacks, or craft items.
• A battery-powered lantern, plus an extra for the outhouse facility at the campsite. It gets really dark out there!
• Toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, and anti-bacterial hand soap. Some of these are provided by the campsite, but it never hurts to have more.
• A large cooler of drinks, such as bottled water, juice, and gatorade, and another cooler of ice. It gets pretty hot and thirsty out there.
• A camera and some binoculars. There's a lot to see, and a lot of memories you'll want to capture.
• Rain gear. July 2000 was very wet, and we got very muddy. Bring lots of clothes, plus boots, ponchos, and other such things. There is one washer and one dryer at the shower house, but bring your own laundry soap if you think you'll need to use them.
• Each campsite also has a fire pit for making a nice campfire. Unfortunately, you aren't going to have much fun unless you bring matches or a lighter to start it. Some newspaper for kindling is pretty useful, also. Firewood can be purchased from the caretaker for about five dollars per load (one load is usually sufficient).
• Graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. You can't have a campfire without eating s'mores!
• Other kinds of snacks are nice, too. We tried Jiffy-Pop popcorn over the fire, but we put it too close and it melted. We'll try this again, because other campsites had success with it. A loaf of white bread and some peanut butter and jelly were good choices to bring, also. Some may choose to skip the Dining Hall one night and cook hot dogs, baked beans, and other such things over the fire.
• Footballs, Frisbees, baseball stuff, playing cards, a volleyball set, and other games and activities.
• The idea about bringing a wagon to carry your items into camp is a really, really good one.
• A TV table for inside your tent, and a couple of lawn chairs to put outside it, and to drag near the campfire at night.
• An alarm clock, preferably one that lights up.
• A star chart or star wheel is useful on those really dark nights, as you can see a lot of stars.
• Your Scout's Wolf, Bear, or Webelos book. He can work on a lot of requirements in a short amount of time, especially those requiring tree or plant identification, geology, or other nature-related ones. Oh, a trip to the library to get a tree or plant field guide is worth it.

Things to Know

Here are some things that we guess you learn by going there, after which you know for the next time:

• Scouts and Leaders are expected to wear their uniforms at the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony, and each night at dinner. Other than that, the dress code is loose.
• Don't wear hats in the dining hall. This seems to be a big rule.
• Members of each site sit together at meals, at assigned tables, and one Scout/Parent couple are expected to waiter at each meal.
• Try to learn some of the traditional songs prior to camp, so that you'll enjoy the campfire and sing-a-long even more. Don't bother bringing your songbook to the campfire, as there's no way you'll be able to read it.
• There is a trading post where beverages, snacks, and souvenirs can be purchased.
• Drinking water, hot water, coffee, and juice are available 24 hours in the dining hall.
• Packs are encouraged to put a Pack banner over the entrance to their site, or some other form of Pack identification.
• Packs are encouraged to decorate their sites with items that meet the camp theme.
• There is a cell site nearby; my CellularOne (now Cingular) phone worked well. As the idea is to get back to nature, you probably don't want to leave it on all the time, but it's nice to touch base with home once in a while ...

Directions

From Maple East, the distance to Camp Scouthaven is about 55 miles, and takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. These directions worked well for us:

• Sheridan Drive to the 290 (Youngmann Expressway);
• The 290 to the 90 westbound (NYS Thruway);
• 90 westbound to the 400 (Aurora Expressway);
• Take the 400 all the way to the end, and keep going after it turns into Route 16;
• Pass through South Wales and Holland, and enjoy looking at rural downtown Americana (I love areas like this);
• Pass through downtown Chaffee (don't blink or you'll miss it), then look for Earl's on the left (a great place to eat, BTW);
• At the second traffic signal past Earl's, make a left onto Route 39 (about 14 miles after the 400 turns into 16);
• Take Route 39 for four miles, entering into Arcade;
• Turn right onto Route 98;
• About six miles after turning, look for Scouthaven on the left;
• Turn in the driveway and proceed slowly to camp;
• That's it!

A Map of the Camp

Click here for a map of the camp, which is a low-quality graphic. If you have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can view a higher-quality map.

Lasting Impressions

Finally, here's an e-mail message I sent out to our Den leaders when my son and I got back from resident camp, just to show how we felt at the time:

G'Day, Mates!

Tommy and I went to the four-day resident camp at Camp Scouthaven this past
weekend, and it was a BLAST!  For those of you who haven't been there, it's
a well-maintained, clean campsite with a lot of activities for the kids.  The
theme this year was "Scouthaven Down Under", celebrating the 2000 Olympics
in Australia, and the entire camp was decorated in an Australian motif.  There
were cutout koalas in the trees, cutout kangaroos by the side of the road, and
all the buildings and campsites had Australian names (the Trading Post became
the Tuck Shop, and our site was named "Wombat Walkabout").  We also had
lessons in how to speak Australian at most meals, and were encouraged to
greet each other with a hearty "G'Day, Mate!"  It was really done well.

The camp staff, of which there are at least 30-40(?), are a terrific bunch
of people who really enjoy what they do.  The four-day program includes a
well-structured schedule of activities: Tommy got to row a canoe; go fishing;
perform archery and BB gun shooting; make handicrafts; go on nature walks
to identify trees, wild flowers, and rocks; learn to tie knots and use a
compass; go swimming; and many other fun things.  Despite the fact that we
had some rain and it got somewhat muddy, the Scouts weren't deterred from
having fun.  Hot meals were provided in the main dining hall three times
a day, and there were always peanut butter and jelly sandwich fixings if
they didn't like the main course.  They also had a nice shower facility,
complete with flush toilets and a washer and dryer (which we needed due to
all the mud).  We also had entertaining sing-a-longs and skits from the
camp staff, and got to build a campfire in our own camp site.  The Thills,
Bricks, and Burtons shared the site with us, along with a Scout and his
dad from Sts. Peter and Paul Church, and it was a great group; I hope they
enjoyed it as much as we did.  I'd share a campsite with them any time! :-)

On Saturday night, Tommy and I went on the Webelos overnighter up on the
hill on the other site of Route 98 from the main part of the camp (I didn't
realize the Scouts owned a lot of land on that side, too).  We hiked up
the hill in the mud, camped out in a lean-to (we thought it would be a bunch
of sticks and a tarp forming a half-tent in the side of the hill, but it
was actually more like a garage with wooden bunks in it).  They sang songs
by the campfire, slept (sort of), and at 6:30 we trundled back down the
hill for breakfast.  Tommy had decided before we went to move up to Webelos,
and this fulfilled a major requirement for his Outdoorsman pin.

A nice thing is that this year they provided a list of what Wolf, Bear, and
Webelos achievements would be met at the various activities.  While they
don't specifically gear the activities towards earning them, the boys can
get credit for a whole bunch of requirements during the four days.  What's
more important is that the boys have a whole lot of fun, and get a real
flavor for Scouting.  They learn how to live in nature, appreciate it,
respect it, and cooperate with it.  They also learned how to not let
inclement weather slow them down.  :-)

So, were there any downsides?  Well, of course, nothing's perfect; we had
some problems with check-in (the health office was pretty inefficient), and
the overnighter had some problems, not all of which were the fault of the
staff (between the driving rain, thick mud, a truck breaking down, and
other problems, they still managed to pull off a successful night).  The
camp director, Wayne, was on top of every problem; no matter what time of
day or night, he was always buzzing around in his golf cart (I don't think
he sleeps).  All in all, the problems were pretty solvable, and as they
continue to refine the program, I'm sure they'll work themselves out.  This
is only the fourth year that Scouthaven has been open as a Cub Scout camp,
and they passed out an extensive survey so that they can get feedback, as
they want this to be the premier Cub Scout camp in the Northeast Region.

So, how much fun was it?  Well, let me put it this way:  As we were pulling
out of the parking lot on Sunday night, Tommy was already asking if we could
come back next year.  It would be really neat if we could get a large group
together; some Packs had 40-50 people (parents and Scouts combined)!  Packs
who had made this a tradition knew some things we didn't, such as the fact
that there were contests for decorating their campsites to match the theme,
and that they should make a banner for the entrance to their sites.  Some
of these Packs wore matching Pack T-shirts, and Pack 57 went so far as to
have their own Scouthaven Down Under shirts made just for the event!  The
display of Scout spirit shown by these Packs was truly impressive.

So, while it was nice to get home to a real bed and a decent night's sleep,
we left with a lot of great memories, which I think will last for many years.
I think Tommy and I were fortunate to share something special like this,
and I encourage you to do the same next year, and hope that you will encourage
the parents in your Dens to make an attempt to do this, also.  If there is
any interest, we'll bring some of our photos to a Pack meeting.

Good Scouting!