Summer Camp is a week long experience in "Scout Life", and a LOT of fun! It's held at Council-run scout camps and is staffed with some adult leaders and older & experienced Boy Scouts who spend the entire summer living at camp as councilors.

At Summer Camp, Scouts will be boarded in 8'x8' "wall tents" (large canvass tents with 2 cots, usually on platforms to keep them off the ground). Despite their open exposure to the elements, the tents do are great job keeping out the elements and protecting camping gear from getting wet.

During the day, all Scouts and Scouters from Troop 219 will wear matching Class-B t-shirts along with their uniform pants or shorts. It helps us look "uniform" and ensures the boys are in clean clothes (at least at the start of the day). All meals are served in the Camp Dining Hall. For dinner, all of our Scouts and Scouters will be in complete Class-A (field) uniform.

Scouts spend the day in "program" areas learning the Scout Skills they selected before coming to camp. However, there is plenty of "free time" for Scouts to relax, sample other program areas around camp, visit the shooting ranges, repelling tower, or swimming pool. There are often "camp-wide games" to make sure Scouts have plenty of FUN and entertaining activities their entire time at camp. There will be multiple camp fires and other ceremonies throughout the week, including OA tap outs.

Again this year, our Summer Camp destination is Camp John J. Barnhardt in Stanley County North Carolina, June 28th through July 5th (week #2).

We are proud to call Camp Barnhardt our 'summer home' again this year...continuing a "20 plus" year relationship! Over that time our Troop has had many GREAT experiences there with our Scouts and Scouters forming life long friendships and developing wonderful memories.

Camp Barnhardt has a wonderful chowhall, state of the art pool and shooting sports complex, a pristine lake for sailing, canoeing, motorboating, and waterskiing...a "mountain man" frontiersman program -- "The Barnhardt Rendezvous" for older Scouts...campwide games and competitions for Scouts and Scouters!

1st year Scouts will be attending the first year "Nighthawks" program. Nighthawks will experience all aspects of Scouting from team building exercises, cooking, to swimming...all while completing many advancement requirements for Tenderfoot 2nd Class, and 1st Class...can we say LETS BUILD A STRONG FOUNDATION?

Another awesome Summer Camp is in the books...Troop 219 had a tremendous year again at Camp John J. Barnhardt...10 Scouts, 9 Scouters, and even our Mascot Casey invaded Stanley County this year.

Here are a few of our accomplishments:

•  8 first time Scouts graduated from Nighthawks
• 20 merit badges earned by our older Scouts
• 1st Place in the lashing competition
• 1st Place in the Mountain Man competition
• 1st Place in the wilderness animal competition
• 9 Scouters earned the Scoutmasters Merit Badge
• 1 Board of Review
• Mr. Jerry teaching the Basketry Merit Badge 
• Troop earned the Superior Unit Award
• A whole week of FUN!!!

Unfortunately, our totem pole had not been completed or erected yet. We look forward to seeing it up around camp next year.

"SUMMER CAMP II -the Sequel" was released by Troop 219 Productions...

I wonder what next year will bring...????!!

Summer Camp 2011 at Camp John J. Barnhardt is just a memory. Troop 219 had another stellar year...2 new Scouts for Nighthawks, 2 "seasoned" Scouts earning merit badges, and 5 senior Scouts attending "Cannon Blast" High Adventure.

We left with 8 Scouters (adult leaders) and returned with 9...another Eagle Scout becoming an Assistant Scoutmaster!

The "space" theme was great, and look at all of our FUN and accomplishments:

• free time on the repelling tower
• 1 Scouter becoming a climbing/repelling instructor
• Scouters carving a totem pole (AWESOME EXPERIENCE!)
• 12 merit badges earned
• 2 Scouts graduating from Nighthawks
• Scoutmaster "belly flop" competition
• "Moon Rover" races
• building and launching homemade rockets
• 5 Scouts & 3 Scouters completing "Cannon Blast"
• all Scouters earned the "Scoutmaster Merit Badge"
• 2 Boards of Review

         and...

We earned the "Neil Armstrong Quality Unit Award" (GREAT JOB!!!!)

WHATS COMING NEXT YEAR!!!!!???????

P.S.... "Troop 219 Productions" released the first Summer Camp Video!

Another awesome year at Camp Barnhardt...seven Scouts and five Scouters helped celebrate the Boy Scouts of America's 100th birthday! 35 total merit badges earned - everything from shotgun shooting to aviation. Along with all of those merit badges, our boys also managed to find the time to place second in the "Back in Time" scavenger hunt and earn the Lord Baden Powell Quality Unit Award! CAN'T WAIT 'TILL NEXT YEAR!