Dear Mom and Dad,
I don’t want to come home tomorrow. I haven’t had enough time to play with my friends and to do all the cool things at camp. Do you think I could stay an extra week? I could ask Mr. Gage to just leave me here. I’m sure another troop wouldn’t mind if I stayed with them in New Shirmer. Now that I am a Tenderfoot scout, I’ll be able to take rifle shooting, canoeing, oceanography, and small boat sailing next week – if you let me stay.
Troop 1 got to raise the flags again this morning before breakfast. They must have asked us to do that again because we did such a good job last night! Graham S. got to call all the commands because he is our senior patrol leader. I can’t wait to do that one day.
Breakfast casserole
I think Sarge must not have slept well last night, because breakfast was absolutely disgusting. We had cheese grits that were like frisbees and something that Sarge called “breakfast casserole.” I think that was all the leftovers from the week blended up and cooked with some onions. Even my toast wasn’t cooked enough. Everyone at my table just ate their cereal and nothing else, and I got stuck with the Corn Flakes.
As soon as we had done our good deed for the day (cleaning up part of camp), we took pictures of each scout and of each group of scouts by grade. Troop 1 has taken pictures in the same place for 10 years, but the camp set up Bohicket Towne in our location this year. We had to ask the town governor if we could enter the town, but he said we could. Thomas N., Cole S., and Will N. all climbed up in the tree for their picture – I was a little worried that they might fall out if the limb broke!
Camper photos
Our campsite had already been inspected before we got back to camp, but we hadn’t finished cleaning yet. We still made a 97, but I was pretty sure when I saw our score that we wouldn’t win this year’s paddle.
My last full day at camp was fun. The counselors call the day “Fun Friday.” I played basketball, tether ball, and a lot of cards. I had to finish my essay for my Indian Lore merit badge, but I was able to turn that in long before it was due.
We had chicken sandwiches for lunch. They were good, but not quite as good as Chick-fil-a or Zaxby’s. I also realized that I won’t get to drink bug juice for another whole year!
Today was the hottest day I’ve ever lived through. Mr. Schwarz told me that the heat index was 110 degrees. I looked at his phone just to make sure, and he wasn’t lying! But it started raining a few hours before supper and we had to go to the dining hall for safety. I heard Mr. Greer from Troop 2 say that he was in the shower when the sirens went off and some counselors had to tell him to go the dining hall. I think he argued with them and said he didn’t want to go!
Supper was awesome. We had cheeseburgers, Ruffles potato chips, and ice cream for dessert. I think that Sarge should cook that at least four times during camp… especially on the day that he served chicken salad sandwiches! Gates M. was at my table again, and he didn’t eat any of his cheeseburger because he had TEN pickle spears instead! Mr. Lawton told him that he needed more protein – but I think he probably got lots of protein from the ice cream, so he should be ok.
It rained a whole lot more after supper, so we had to stay in the dining hall a lot before the campfire. Actually, there wasn’t really a campfire since that was in the dining hall, too. We gave t-shirts to lots of counselors and members of the camp staff to say thank you. I got to hold the microphone and give a t-shirt to Wonderland for keeping the trading post in such good shape. I wonder if he gets a commission on all the money I spent?
Lots of boys in Troop 1 got awards tonight. Did you know that Mac S. was the best shooter on the rifle range? And Ligon C. finished the mile swim for the second time this year!
After the campfire (that wasn’t a campfire), we saw a video with lots of pictures from this week at camp. Did you know that Mr. Lawton posts pictures of us on SmugMug? He said you could see lots of photos of me at http://troop1.smugmug.com/2016/Camp-Ho-Non-Wah-2016.
The saddest part of the day was that the Ultimate Frisbee game was cancelled because of the weather. I know that Troop 1 would have beaten the counselors again, though, so I guess it doesn’t really matter that we didn’t get to play.
I need to get to bed because I have to get up and pack early tomorrow. I can’t wait to see you, but like I said before, it would be great if you would let me stay another week.
I love you,
Your son
The Red Ruby is real!
PS – A boy from Troop 2 (the one in Georgia, not the one in Spartanburg) found the red ruby today! No one in Troop 1 thought it was real! They had searched for it for ten years!!!
PPS – I opened up the envelope to write you a little more. It is 1:20am now. I didn’t want camp to end, so I stayed up talking in the dark with Will N., Hank L., Alex F., Tyler S., and some of the leaders. I just don’t want to leave…