Shakedown Camp

Shakedown Camp:

The shakedown camp will take place on April 21-23, 2017 at Camp Powhatan, which is located on the Blue Ridge Scout Reservation (13,679 acres) — only Philmont is larger!

DRIVING DISTANCES:

- Virginia Beach, VA -- 5 hours 45 minutes

- Richmond, VA -- 3 hours 45 minutes

- Roanoke, VA -- 1 hour 12 minutes

- Charlotte, NC -- 2 hours 28 minutes

1. -Raleigh, NC -- 3 hours 18 minutes
   

2. -Morehead City, NC -- 5 hours 48 minutes
   

- Chattanooga, TN -- 4 hours 52 minutes

- Nashville, TN -- 5 hours 48 minutes

CARPOOLING:

Carpooling is very much encouraged.  Please see the following page for contact information for participants from your neck of the woods:

          - http://www.wsj207.us/private2017/2017_PRIVATE/Participants.html

MAPS & DIRECTIONS:

          - https://bsa-brmc.org/sites/default/files/reservation map 5 16 08.pdf

          - https://bsa-brmc.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/pow map 09b.pdf

ROAD CLOSURE:

Due to construction, the Duncan Hill portion of Rt. 693 (Julia Simpkins Rd.) will closed Sat. April 22, 2017 from 7 am till 7 pm. Having at least 2 events at Powhatan this will create a major issue for those trying to come in Sat. If they cant come in Fri. their only other option is to come in via the back route. Those directions are as follows:

    From North and East of Pulaski take I-81 South to Exit 89-A onto Rt.100 South.

    Follow Rt.100 approximately 6.7 miles.

    Turn left onto Gardner Rd. (Rt.608)

    Stay straight for 4.6 miles to the intersection of Boones Furnace (Rt.607) and Julia Simpkins (Rt.693)

    Turn left onto Julia Simpkins Rd. and follow for 5.8 miles

    Turn right onto Max Creek Rd. and follow to Camp Powhatan.

This should not affect Friday evening or Sunday morning travel.

FAMILY MEMBERS:

We will depend on family members during the shakedown camp.  We will need help with cooking, driving, etc. to make this a smooth operation.  Please think of yourself as a troop committee member — you are essential to the success of the troop!  Please identify your talents when you register.

SHELTER:

We will be camping in the New River Adventure shelters (numbers 43-55 on the map).  Each shelter has a floor, roof, three walls, and eight bunk beds.  We will follow BSA youth protection standards:  We will be housed in these shelters segregated by gender and age:  men (18+), women (18+), boys, girls.  Families with small children that need to sleep with their parents, must provide their own tents and stay in the “Little Max” tent site tent site next to the dining hall.

Individual bathrooms and individual showers, both with warm water, are available within 50 meters from the campsites.  You may drive to the campsite to drop off and pick up gear (note the one-way traffic direction), but the vehicles must be parked in the main parking area across the street from the “Rock Ridge” campsites.

COOKING:

We will cook and have our meals in a dining hall.  Food and cooking gear will be provided.  We will use the dining hall for evening programs and in case of inclement weather.  It seats 350 people, so space should not be an issue.  Do not store food in tents.  Food must be stored in dining hall, in locked vehicles, in bear canisters, or hung up properly using bear bags.  We have approximately 40 bear residing on our our Scout reservation.

          Cooking team:

          - Libby Rothenberg, lead

          - Jacquie Gutierrenz, assistant

          - Anne Puchyr, assistant

Saturday lunch will be organized by another group at the Scout reservation (Sportsman’s Alliance).

WHAT TO BRING:

We will wear our BSA venturing uniform most of the time.  This includes the BSA venturing uniform shirt, BSA venturing shorts or pants, and BSA venturing socks.

You will receive your jamboree daypack when you arrive at the shakedown camp.  Things to keep in this daypack during the shakedown camp: notepad, pen, etc.; flashlight with extra batteries; water bottles, personal first aid kit.

Health form if not already mailed to Mrs. Stover:

          - http://www.wsj207.us/2017/2017/Medical.html

Copy of your 2017 BSA National Scout Jamboree registration confirmation:

          Go to:  http://www.summitbsa.org/events/jamboree/jamboree-registration/

          Click on “EDIT AN EXISTING REGISTRATION”

          Click on "Access your VENTURING YOUTH PARTICIPANT application!"

          Work your way through the application, updating it as needed.

          Print a copy of the page that contains "Registration Confirmation”

Sleeping bag, sleeping pad, change of clothes, sunscreen lotion.

There is no need for mess kits, cooking gear, or cooking stoves.  The dining hall will have what we need.

Please do not bring firewood from outside of the reservation; there is plenty of firewood on location.

WEATHER FORECAST:

          - http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=36.96498066041476&lon=-80.66385269165039

COST:

The estimated additional per-person cost will be $25 per person for the shakedown camp weekend, jamboree participants and family members alike.  This covers facility rentals and food.  These payments will be due at the shakedown camp:  Please pay by check payable to “Blue Ridge Mountains Council.”

Registration:

Please register via e-mail to bohn@wsj207.us by 8:00AM on Thursday, April 6, 2017.  We need to make our final reservations the next morning.  The list of registered participants at the shakedown camp will be posted towards the bottom of this page:

          - http://www.wsj207.us/private2017/2017_PRIVATE/Participants.html

Program:

Friday, April 21, 2017

Participants will be driving in from across Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Michigan.

They should have had dinner on the road.

Please do not arrive at Camp Powhatan before 6:30PM.

20:03 — SUNSET

20:31 — Twilight ends — no moon this evening

21:00 — PROGRAM START

          - Cracker barrel

          - Check-in; shakedown & patch order payments

          - Program overview

          - Get to know your troop

          - Measuring participants for their NSF uniforms

          - Medical form review

          - Passport spelling review

          - BSA Jamboree Registration Confirmation review

22:30 — Retire for the evening

23:00 — Lights out

Saturday, April 22, 2017

06:39 — SUNRISE

07:00 — Breakfast in dining hall (scrambled eggs, sausage, yogurt, toast)

          - Overview of patrol method

          - Patrol names

          - PL & APL elections (during breakfast; INITIAL ELECTION)

PROGRAMATIC NOTE:  We will have three patrols: Osprey (havørn), Woodpecker (hakkespett), and Bear (bjørn).  Each patrol will have a patrol leader (PL) and an assistant patrol leader (APL).  The three PLs will constitute the Patrol Leaders’ Council (PLC), and the task of senior patrol leader (SPL) will rotate daily between these three PLs.  The SPL-of-the-day will be wearing a red/white/blue shoulder cord so that he or she can be quickly identified.

08:00 - 10:00 — Live videoconference with Norway

          - Can the WiFi in the dining hall handle streaming?

          - We might need to adjust the time of this connection to accommodate activities in Norway

08:00 — BSA Venturing Youth Protection Training

          - US & Norwegian expectations

09:00 — Scavenger Hunt Transatlantic Scout Style

          - Transatlantic patrols get to meet each other (possibly using one PC per patrol provided by the venturing crew)

09:30 — The NSF and BSA uniforms

10:00 — What to bring; What not to bring

          - Sample backpack, daypack, and shipping bag on display

10:30 — Patrol meetings (PL lead meetings)

          - Identify pairs for backpacking tents, backpacking gas stove, and bear bag

11:30 — Ready the dining hall for lunch

12:00 — Lunch in dining hall (whatever Sportsman’s Alliance kitchen staff has prepared)

13:00 — Introduction to rappelling for 28 participants going to Norway

17:00 — Free time

          - Frisbee tournament (patrol teams)

18:00 — Dinner in dining hall (menu to be determined)

          - Starting during dessert, Paul Weary (BRMC Jamboree Chair) will be discussing the BSA NSJ experience,
            processes, and expectations

          - Questions & answers

          - Hometown News Correspondents; Social media

          - Signup for optional whitewater rafting during BSA NSJ ($65 extra)

          - SPECIAL OFFER:  BRMC jamboree troop patches will be on sale: $4.00 each

20:04 — SUNSET

20:32 — Twilight ends — no moon this evening

21:00 — Cracker barrel

22:30 — Retire for the evening

23:00 — Lights out

Sunday, April 23, 2017

06:38 — SUNRISE

07:00 — Breakfast in dining hall (french toast, sausage, cereal, yogurt, fruit)

          - PL & APL elections (during breakfast; FINAL ELECTION)

          - Final wrap-up before participants depart

08:00 — Scout service - a Scout is reverent

08:15 — Questions & answers

09:00 — Patrol meeting:  What to do as a patrol before the jamborees?

09:30 — Clean up camp

10:00 — PROGRAM END - Participants depart Camp Powhatan