Camp Geiger 2023

 Welcome to the Voice of Golden Words.

For those that don't know, this has been a blog running for nearly two years, detailing the views of this member of the Camp Geiger Staff. Where can you find me? Almost always you can find me at the Trading Post, feel free always to stop in the office if I am not on the floor of the store. The door is nearly always open.

Since this is an intro for the season, let me introduce myself.

My name is Philip Lovesee, and have attended Camp Geiger as a camper or as a member of the Staff, since 1978, having missed only one summer, when I served a mission for my church in Spain.

I am one of the exceptions to the whole host of Eagle Scouts on the Camp Geiger staff, being a Life for lifer. Not proud of it, and continue to push youth to make the commitment to get their Eagle award. For that, if nothing else, I can be the example of what not to do. It is something that I have always regretted, and while I feel I have served my penance, I always look back at how close it was.

While I live south of Kansas City, Camp Geiger is still my summer home. Why? Because the debt I feel I owe to the Pony Express Council for what I learned at Camp Geiger decades ago as a youth, and how I was treated as an adult leader bringing scouts to camp for over thirty years. Few programs compare to the Honor Camping Society at Camp Geiger, which is the Tribe of Mic-O-Say, for teaching Scouts BSA values.

The council provides an excellent venue at Camp Geiger, just north of St. Joseph, MO. The values espoused by Scouts BSA are reinforced and taught to youth through the tribe in a way that provides a solid understanding and foundation to build these youth from all walks of life into responsible citizens, with love of God, country, and other people. 

That cannot be emphasized enough: The method of teaching the values of Scouts BSA through the Tribe of Mic-O-Say is without equal, evidenced by the number of Eagle Scouts in the Pony Express Council, the maturity of the Staff, and the continuity of Scouting in the area.

Of course, for those that have made Camp Geiger their home, or at least have been an occasional or frequent visitor, that is old news.

This week, two events happening at Camp Geiger signal that the camp season is nearly upon us.

First, it is Hammerhead Day where many Scouts, Scouters, and friends of Camp Geiger come  to camp to help get tent platforms leveled, remove brush, paint buildings, and many other items that are needed to be done. Thousands of hours will be contributed on one day, with the only compensation being a commemorative hat (maybe?) and lunch.

Second, it is Staff Training weekend! This will be the second staff training session, where we will finalize skits, do intensive training preparing for a summer of instruction and service, find out our room assignments for the summer, and learn to work together as a cohesive unit, with one purpose: Serving the campers that will be visiting for a week, or more.

Your humble author is amazed annually that he can count himself as part of this very elite group. Even if I am not an Eagle Scout.

A couple of notes on the Voice. 

Fifth session for this season has been cancelled, as insufficient campers were signed up for that week. It is not reflective in a decline in campers for the season, thankfully, as the numbers are similar from last year, simply the choice in weeks is realigning. Because of this, they have moved Webelos Weekend, which was to be after the Scouts BSA weeks, to that week. Lesser staffs would struggle with the transition from Scouts BSA to Webelos back to Scouts BSA, but not the Camp Geiger Staff.

For updates on the blog, there will probably be a post after the weekend, with thoughts on how training went, and then when Staff Week hits, the week before First Session, the blogs will likely run weekly at that point.

If there was anything you would like to read about on the Voice, just message me in the comments, or through my email.

goldenwords311@gmail.com

Hope to see you at camp! 

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