For our 42 scouts attending Camp Mach, your selections for merit badge classes must be turned in at the Troop Meeting on Thursday, May 26. This is our last meeting of the school year, and the last meeting before Camp Mach. 24 scouts turned in the merit badge forms on Monday, thirteen of you needed more time to think about it, and five scouts did not attend the Camp Mach meeting.

The merit badge schedule is available here: Merit Badge Schedule – Camp Mach 2011

5th grade campers: Please sign up for the Brownsea (First-Year Camper) at 9:00 and Swimming Merit Badge at 10:30. You can then sign up for one or two merit badges of your choice in the afternoon as long as they are not water-related (which require the Swimming merit badge as a prerequisite), and not First Aid, Camping, Environmental Science, Rifle, Shotgun, Archery).

Older campers who are going to summer camp for the first time: You do not need to sign up for Brownsea, but please sign up for the Swimming Merit Badge class, as swimming is a prerequisite for many other classes, and it is an Eagle-required badge. We recommend taking swimming at 10:30 when it’s warmer. (The 9:00 swimming class can be a little chilly.)

Anyone who is unsure of your swimming level: assuming you can swim at all, we recommend you sign up for the Swimming Merit Badge. If necessary, you can switch to “Instructional Swim” while at camp. If you are definitely a non-swimmer, you can sign up for Instructional Swimming now.

Parents or scouts who have questions about which merit badges are most appropriate, please feel free to contact any of the leaders, Liz Gomorczak (Camp Mach Coordinator), or Nancy Hopkins.

If you plan to ride the bus, please turn in payment to Mrs. Gomorczak ($100 made out to Troop 24).