Webster Word

Summer Camp – Troop 965

Troop 965 of Webster and Level, MD made its annual trek to Camp Horseshoe for its summer encampment. Camp Horseshoe is a Boy Scout camp, associated with the Chester County Council of PA, located in a loop of the Octoraro River. The camp straddles the Maryland and Pennsylvania border.

The Troop took 38 scouts and 5 adult leaders to camp for the week from July 1 st thru July 8 th and was lead by Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) Jacob Scott and supporting junior leaders, Bobby Wloczewski, Max Knight, and Kyle Dowdy.

Camp was a week filled with earning Merit badges, activities, games, contests, and ending on Saturday with a camp wide competition – The Paul Bunyan Field Day. The troop performed well in each activity, placing 1 st in the string burning competition, and 3 rd in the pancake eating contest.

The troop earned 85 merit badges during the week, including 18 Eagle required. As a result of advancement requirements being completed during camp, 10 Scouts were promoted to their next rank. In addition, the Trailblazer patrol, made up of nine first year scouts, completed the Trailblazer program at camp. The Trailblazer program is a first year scout experience where the scouts focus on the scout skills for the Tenderfoot, 2 nd Class, and 1 st class ranks. They also visit all the areas in camp.

Seven scouts and two adult leaders were selected for “Tap Out” for Order of the Arrow. The scouts selected for “Tap Out” were Ryan Dowdy, Jason Gonch, Chris Ashman, Matt Collins, TJ Byrnes, Jesse Cox, and Nick Trimble. The two adult leaders selected were Tim Byrnes and Christine Kertis.

Other awards earned include: Scoutmaster Honor Award awarded to Brian Planczankis and Christine Kertis, and 100% Patrol awarded to the Dragon Patrol. The troop placed 2 nd in both the first aid challenge and the obstacle course, and hiked 98 miles of trails. Twelve scouts earned the Polar Bear Award by awaking a six o’clock each morning to take a dip in the swimming pool.

The week ended with a campfire for all troops in camp. At this campfire all activity patches earned during the week are presented. The troop earned the Standard Troop award and each of the Troop’s patrols earned the Standard Patrol award. The evening campfire ended with the presentation of the coveted Silver Buckle. The Silver Buckle is awarded to one member of each troop, who in the estimation of the scouts in the troop, showed the most scout spirit during the week at camp. This year’s winner of the Silver Buckle was Junior Leader Bobby Wloczewski.

Submitted by, Mr. Bill Caporellie
Summer Camp Scoutmaster