One thing about Scouting- if you stay in the program very long, you’re bound to have several good camps to recommend and camp stories that are good to relate around the campfire. I’ll share one of my favorite camps and stories with you. I would love to hear any of your stories either from an email reply or on the forum.

In the Fort Worth area we are fortunate enough to have 3 great camps that are all very different and offer lots of different activities. They also offer a completely different environment for Scouts to enjoy. Two camps are on lakes, one is on a river. Each offers programs for every Scout from the first year camper to the high adventure senior Scout. If you are interested in an interesting Scouting experience, give Worth Ranch, Sid Richardson or Tahuaya camps a try.

One of the best “out of council” camping experience we had was at Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch in the Davis mountains in west Texas. If you’re used to the Rockies, you won’t count this as a mountain experience, but if you’re from Ft. Worth, it was a nice change of terrain.

We have attended numerous camps, but I have never attended a camp that was more focused on the needs of the Scouts and adults. Programs were all thoroughly planned. Staff was well trained and available for meetings and discussions if needed. We had s broken piece on a steering part on a Suburban. The ranger spent half a day making a fix that would get us home. They offered an additional wheel and tire to help make the trip safer. When I said that I didn’t know when we would be back their way, I was told there job was to make our trip to their camp safe and fun. And eventually we would find someone “headin’ west.”

In addition on Wednesday evening the Council executives came to camp, cooked dinner for the Scout leaders and gave each adult a mug as a memento. Their comment was that this dinner was in appreciation to adults giving up their time so that Scouts could go to camp. In all my Scouting experience, this was unique.

My favorite story involves one of my sons during his first summer camp. We were at Worth Ranch and were reviewing the requirements necessary to earn the camps “honor camper” award. It was Thursday afternoon and we had 10 of the 11 requirements completed. The adults were looking at the rest of the requirements trying to convince ourselves that if we really stretched the meaning of one of the requirements we could say that we had completed that requirement. We had about reached a conclusion when my son, who had been sitting nearby, walked up and said, “A Scout is Trustworthy.” We then found an activity to do and completed the tasks needed to get the award. That award has a lot more meaning to me than many others I have received.

Hopefully you have enjoyed these stories. Share some of your stories with others.