From: Scoutmaster John D. McCarthy
Subject: Bertha Brock Planning Meeting
Dear Scouts and Scouters,
I wish to report on the results of the Bertha Brock Planning Meeting which I attended on Saturday evening (December 2, 2000).
* Scoutmaster Jim Kleiver and Assistant Scoutmaster Dave Brigham representedTroop 33 of Lansing at this meeting. Troop 33 is the hosting troop for the Bertha Brock outing.
* Scoutmaster Dave Cook and one of his assistant scoutmasters represented Troop 92 of Webberville at this meeting.
* I represented Troop 316 at this meeting.
* Troop 586 of Elsie/Ovid is expected to attend the Bertha Brock outing, but was not represented at this meeting.
* As explained in a previous email, Bertha Brock is located in Ionia and has avery 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.
* Each troop represented at the meeting received a map to Bertha Brock. 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.
* It was explained that the main event for the weekend will be sledding. Various safety rules were discussed at the meeting. I will enlarge upon these rules in what follows.
* It was also explained that the adults will be responsible for cooking the meals for the outing.
* 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. There was a drawing to determine assignments for these meals. I drew Sunday Breakfast for Troop 316. Let me know if there is anything you would like Troop 316 to do for Sunday Breakfast.
* It was also explained that Webelos are welcome to attend this outing. It was pointed out that this is a great opportunity for Webelos to fulfill their "camping with a troop" requirement for their Arrow of Light. Troop 33 will need to know how many participants to expect from Troop 316 and the Webelos of Pack 316.
* There are only 2 electrical outlets in the cabin.
*Troop 33 will be bringing 4 stoves, 5 dutch ovens and some extra pots and pans.
*There is minimal lighting in the cabin.
* There are 2 fireplaces in the cabin.
* Each troop will be charged $51.00 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. Perhaps it will be even less.
* 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 will be a flag retirement at 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 com ealong, please let me know this as well.
Best regards,
Scouter John
Last Revised 1/2/2001