| Bertha Brock Outing |
 |
| Dear Scouts and Scouters, |
| * Scoutmaster Jim Kleiver and Assistant Scoutmaster Dave Brigham will represent
Troop 33 of Lansing at this outing. Troop 33 is the hosting troop for the Bertha
Brock outing. |
| * Joe Walsh and I will represent Troop 272 at this outing. |
| * Bertha Brock is located in Ionia and has a very large sledding hill (it used to
be a bobsled run). We will be staying in a
large open-interior cabin able to house about 100 people sleeping on the floor.
The cabin is unheated with two large fireplaces on the ends of a 100 foot long
building. It has two lofts overlooking the floor below. The cabin is a CCC era
log cabin. |
| * The map indicates the following route to Bertha Brock (i.e. Brock County Park): |
| - Follow 96 west towards the Ionia State Recreation Area in Ionia. |
| - Take the exit for Route 66 North (i.e. State Road North). |
| - Follow State Road North to Route 21 West. |
| - Follow Route 21 West to Brock County Park. |
| * The main event for the weekend will be sledding. I will enlarge upon the safety
rules in what follows. |
| * There will be four main meals on this outing: Saturday Breakfast, Lunch and
Dinner, and Sunday Breakfast. Each troop is assigned preparation of one of these
meals for the whole group. Troop 272 will be responsible for Sunday Breakfast. |
| * There are only 2 electrical outlets in the cabin. |
| *There is minimal lighting in the cabin. |
| * There are 2 fireplaces in the cabin. |
| * Each troop will be charged their share of $270.00 for lodging and firewood. This charge does
not include food. |
| * Troop 33 mentioned that it will probably be leaving for Bertha Brock around
5:30 p.m.. As soon as possible after arrival, fires will be started in the 2
fireplaces in the cabin. Hopefully, the cabin will be fairly warm (e.g. at least
50 degrees) by the time we retire for the night. |
| * My understanding is that supper will not be served on Friday evening. I
believe, however, that there will be a cracker barrel that evening. |
| * My understanding is that the cost for food will be split among the four
participating troops. I trust that all four of these troops will make every
effort to keep the cost for food within reason. At this point, I am not prepared
to give an estimate for this cost. I would hope that it will not be much more
than $10.00 per person for the weekend. |
| * Bring your Scout uniform to this event. As usual for troop outings, you are
expected to wear your uniform in transit to and from this outing. In addition,
you will have to wear your uniform on this outing for some of the events at this
outing. |
| * There may be a group campfire on Saturday evening. |
| * Each troop should contribute a skit to this group campfire. |
| * You should bring some games (e.g. board games) for "down-time"
inside the log cabin (i.e. for the time between coming in to the cabin for the
night and "lights out", the time when we retire for the night). |
| * No video games are allowed in the camp (for the duration of the outing).
Every effort will be made to promote camaraderie within the camp. |
| * You should bring extra clothes so that you can keep yourself dry on this
outing. |
| * The camp rules for sledding will be covered before you are allowed to sled
on the hill. One particular concern that was discussed at the meeting is that we
will be sledding with other people on the hill, as it is a public sledding site.
Everyone must make every effort to show respect for the other users of the hill.
|
| * Only experienced snow-boarders will be allowed to snow-board on the hill,
and only in an area which will be designated for this purpose, if the need
arises. |
| * There will be no sharing of sledding equipment on the outing. If you want to
sled on the hill, you will have to use your own equipment (e.g.inner tubes,
sleds, runner sleds, ...) to do so. |
| * The hill is lit on Friday evening, and you will probably be able to get some
sledding in before down-time on Friday night. |
| * If you end up sleeping on the lower floor of the cabin, as opposed to up in
one of the lofts overlooking the lower floor, you can expect that the cement
floor of the cabin will be wet from condensation and the tracking in of snow from
outside. Hence, you will need some way to keep yourself dry while you are
sleeping. A cot was recommended for this purpose. Alternatively, a good pad was
recommended. The usual concern of having cold air under a cot in winter camping,
which could lead to hypothermia in outdoor conditions, with breezes blowing in
under the cot, was not considered to be a concern inside the cabin, where it is
expected that the temperature will be at least 50 degrees. |
| Please let me know if you have any questions. If any Webelos wish to come
along, please let me know this as well. |
| Best regards, |
| Scouter John |
|
| Last revised 1/12/05 |
| John D. McCarthy |