Scoutmaster's Minute

As the Camp Director of Bear Paw Scout Camp, and therefore the unofficial "Scoutmaster" of the extended BPSC family, I'll be using this space to share some news and thoughts about Camp from time to time, hopefully on a monthly basis. Here, then, is the first installment (after months of nagging me, our Webmasters finally got out the thumbscrews and leeches...).

I was doing some reading the other day (what else am I gonna do? I'm studying English Literature, for cryin' out loud!) and I ran across a phrase that stuck in my mind. It's from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran:

"Work is Love made visible."

It struck me, as soon as I read this passage, how beautifully it applies to Scouting and, more specifically, to camp. Whether you're an Adult Leader getting a Troop ready for camp, a Scout hauling a heavy Patrol Box all the way out to Winnebago Site, an OA member putting up the umpteenth heavy canvas tent, or a couple of Webmasters slugging it out with HTML, you know how much work the camp experience can be (I won't even mention what it's like for a Camp Ranger -- just take a look at Andy's page:-)

Yet despite all the work, the long hours, the frustrations, we keep coming back again and again. We stay involved in Scouting, we stay involved with camp, and we do it all without batting an eye. Why? Because on some level, we realize that all of this work is an expression of our feelings for camp, for Scouting, for the youth whose future is in our hands. Our work in Scouting is indeed love made visible.

Keep that in mind this summer. If you're joining us at BPSC, take a look around and realize how much effort went into making summer camp possible, and realize how many people (including you) are involved in that effort. Realize how much of it is in the little things -- a fresh coat of paint here, a new window pane there -- and realize just how important those things are in the overall life of camp. Finally, realize how important -- and how easy -- it is for you to add your own effort to the sum total of what already exists. You've already done far more than you know -- what will you do next?

See you at camp!

_______________________

A few other things while I'm at it...

THANK YOU:
-- To our Webmasters, for giving me this space and for turning a long-dormant idea into reality...
--To everyone who has put so much effort into getting Camp ready for the '99 summer season -- too many to thank individually, but Camp would be impossible without you!
--To Mike and everyone at GDC for their friendship and support (check out their page! it's cool!)

Other notes:

--For Adult Leaders: please take a look at the updated Summer Program info -- no drastic changes, just some new options!

--Congratulations to all the Staffers (a half-dozen at last count) who completed their Eagle Scout this past year. (Some of them juuuuust made it -- but I'm not naming names:-)

--And congratulations to Brenda (Head Cook '96-'98) who recently gave birth to a bouncing baby girl! Now she's "Mama G" for real!!!
Webmaster's Note: Ditto!!!