Boy Scouts start summer day camp at Leesylvania

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As the sun rose this hot Monday morning, over 200 scouts gathered in a green clearing near the Potomac River at Leesylvania State Park prepared for one thing: fun! 

The Occoquan District of the Boy Scouts of America is holding their annual Summer Day Camp this week and the boys couldn’t be more excited.

For young men in scouting, Day Camp, and the excitement it offers, is the promise that many boys receive when they first join scouting in the fall. As the culmination of the scouting year, this is a great opportunity for the boys to work on skills and activities. 

At Leesylvania, boys have the opportunity to experience activities from BB Guns and archery to crafts and theatre, exploring these activities and finding new passions and hobbies in the process.

When scout, Michael DiNorma, was asked what he was looking forward to the most, he said “The Rope Bridge, I love crossing over it.” This bear scout or rising third grader says he’s “excited for all of our activities, but the rope bridge is his favorite.” 

Michael was also asked about the heat and he said, “it will probably get to me, but I do have a water bottle in my backpack.”

This week, the heat is a concern for the Day Camp staff. With day time highs in the mid-90s, and heat indexes over 100 degrees from Monday through Wednesday, the staff is preparing for the worst. 

With water coolers set-up through camp, the staff has instructed every parent at the camp to be keeping a close eye on all the boys, watching for heat related illness. Every boy is also being distributed a reusable water bottle, so they can stay hydrated.

Activities, like our day camp, wouldn’t be possible without the great volunteers that work on day camp planning year round to provide our participants with a great experience. The efforts of the day camp staff would also be difficult without the help of our community sSponsors, including Hometowne Auto and Tire, MTCI and Lake Ridge Rotary. 

These three organizations have made generous contributions to the Community Friends of Scouting campaign to ensure the sustainability of programs like this in the Prince William Community.

This post is brought to you by Hometowne Auto Repair and Tire.