Raven Knob 2004

Troop 1131:

We arrived safely at camp yesterday. The trip to camp was uneventful and the traffic was light on all the roads. I want to thank all the parents who helped drive the troop to camp. When everyone arrived, our troop guide got us organized for the troop photo. Then we headed to our campsite, Piney Ridge A, B and C. We've used this site for many years, and the camp automatically reserves it for us every summer. Check-in procedures have changed a little. We had our health rechecks in our campsite to insure more privacy. Most of the scouts settled into their camp wall tents. Patrick Krzykowski set up a hammock between two trees, and he put a tarp over the hammock in case it starts to rain. Eric Doordan, Ben Ayivohr, and James Phillips set up one of the large troop tents to sleep in. Ed Passarelli uses his own tent, and each year selects a spot downwind from the latrines!

The camp gave me a pager as they did last year. You can send messages to the pager by dialing 336-371-6065. Cell phones don't work well in camp, but the pager is quite efficient. Also, the camp has installed a wireless Internet for leaders to use with their laptops. The wireless connection is available in several locations around camp.

Our new Junior Leaders, John Jaskot and Matt Abbott have started out doing a great job. They attended a Leaders' meeting the first night and passed a lot of information onto the Patrol Leaders. This morning, I woke John and Matt at 6:40 a.m., then, in turn, they woke their Patrol Leaders: Eric Doordan, Randy Froehlich, Tim Galvin, Ricky Passarelli, and Ben Ayivohr. The Patrol Leaders then woke all the scouts. The bugle sounds at 7:00 a.m., assembly is at 7:20 a.m., and breakfast is at 7:30 a.m. So it's all quite organized.

At the Leaders' Meeting, we signed up for a troop rifle shoot and for troop archery. They have also installed a new "wobble shotgun range." It's an incredible facility with several levels of shotgun stations. The clay pigeons can be programmed to wobble in flight. We will take a dozen scouts to try out the range on Thursday night, but individually, scouts who have certain free periods can sign up to use the new range. They charge $8.00 for 25 shots.

Each year we ask all of the scouts to attend a nondenominational vesper service after dinner our first day in camp, Sunday. Although, vespers are offered almost every evening, we have so many other activities planned that few scouts can attend any of the other services.

Several of the scouts who are attending Raven Knob for the first time will hike up to the "knob" during lunch today. Ned Wolfe and Matt Wolfe will lead a group that includes Zachary Pampel, Jay Miller, Jake Leiber, Steven Leveque and others. The "knob" is a large rock outcrop overlooking the lake at camp. From the knob, scouts can see the lake is shaped like a raven.

Remember, the easiest way to send your son an email message is to log onto "ravenknob.com," and click on the "Send Scouts Messages" and then click on "Troop 1131."

Philip Sternberg
Scoutmaster