Summer Camp is a great time to earn merit badges in a class, with help from your counselors. Every year, members from our Troop, and Troops all across the PAC come to Camp Long Lake. This year about 52 scouts came from our Troop alone.
We arrived at camp ready for a fun week, but first, there were a lot of things to be done around the campsite and for our admittance into the camp. While everybody was putting their gear into the tents, the leaders were getting ready to send us over to the health lodge to make sure everybody turned in their health forms signed by parents and the scout's doctors. Once everything was done, we went to the fire bowl to see some great skits from our counselors and scouts from different Troops.
During the next five days every scout did merit badges ranging from Archery to Wilderness Survival. All the merit badges took place in different areas of the camp, where a teacher helped you with your merit badge requirements. Some requirements, called prerequisites, needed to be done at home. If you didn't do your prerequisites, or didn't complete all the merit badge requirements, then you had to do the rest of the merit badge by yourself and get it signed off by your scoutmaster or another counselor. Many merit badges were earned by all of our scouts as well as many rank advancements.
First year scouts would go to PFC, or Project First Class, where they learned and did requirements from Tenderfoot to First Class. They learned the proper way to build a fire, use a saw, and tie about 8 different kinds of knots. All of them are steps to reach first class, and to help with all scouting has to offer.
Two new things came to Camp Long Lake this year: the zip line and the water trampoline. The zip line was great - after a speedy flight through the treetops, you rappel 40 feet from the end platform to the ground. Then you can go back up to the start platform and do it all over again! The water trampoline added even more fun to Aqualand.
After doing all the merit badges and PFC, it was time for the scouts to head home, but before we did, we had some work to do. We had to take the cots out of our tents for the staff to take away, we had to clear out our snacks from the supply trailer, and we had to police the grounds. All to make sure we left the site better than when we came. So, after everything was done, and it was almost time to go, Mr. Lilek gave us our summer camp patches, and congratulated us on all our accomplishments.