Space Added in Merit Badge Classes

At Three Falls, we try to strike a balance between satisfying your desire to see your scouts get the merit badges and activities they want, maintaining quality of instruction, and working within the constraints of time, facilities, and manpower. For that reason (or the qualities and constraints part, anyway) we do set maximum class sizes for most merit badge classes, and in some cases set minimum ages and ranks.

Low water levels in the lake have forced us to cancel Canoeing, Rowing, and other lakefront merit badges, which has increased demand for alternative merit badges. To meet that demand, we have moved some staff around and made other adjustments, and effective immediately have made some minor changes in merit badge availability:

• Swimming Merit Badge: Added a class during first period, 9 a.m. to 10:10 a.m., all weeks.
• Lifesaving, Archery, Fire Safety: Added a few additional spaces (larger class sizes) all sessions.
• Shotgun: Added a couple of spaces each class period, weeks one and two. Week three, this merit badge will be taught on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and we are not able to increase class size or add more classes.

We hope these changes will assist leaders in meeting their boy's merit badge needs.

Also, don't overlook our new Adventure Trek program for older scouts. Campers who have already earned most of the typical summer camp badges will spend their week participating in a series of challenging outdoor activities, starting with Low COPE and including climbing, rendezvous skills, black powder rifles, backpacking and mountain biking. There are still spaces left in the program all weeks, although the week one crew is nearly full. See the Leader Guide for details.

Summer Camp Leader Meetings

Summer Camp Leader Meetings for both Boy Scout and Webelos camp took place today. Thatnks to everyone who came -- we enjoyed meeting you.

A few important pieces of information:

• Because of exceptionally low rainfall this winter, the lake is extremely low, and we expect it will be empty by summer. As a result, we have made the decision to cancel all lake activities now, while individual Scouts and units have time to adjust their schedules. Canoeing, Rowing, Small Boat Sailing and Kayaking Merit badges have been cancelled, along with the Cardboard Canoe Race, and all Webelos lake activities.
• We have added several other merit badges: Photography, Welding, Citizenship in the World and Space Exploration, so Scouts have other advancement options.
• We're also adding Field Archery as a free-time option for Boy Scouts.
• Mountain Bikes are available for Boy Scout troops and Webelos dens to check out by making arrangements with the High Adventure Director at camp.
• Because of the cancelled lake merit badges, we are postponing the start of online merit badge signups until May 11.

The PowerPoint presentations from those meetings can be viewed here:

• Boy Scout Leader Meeting
• Webelos Leader Meeting

Three Falls Songbook

In response to a request at the leader meeting, here is the Three Falls Songbook

Cub Day Hiker Patch

Webelos Scouts attending resident camp at Three Falls can easily earn the Cub Day Hiker patch offered by the council High Adventure Team. This award is designed to promote the outdoor program in the Cub Scouting and give recognition to the participants.

Requirements:
1. File a Local Tour Permit one week prior to the hike (covered by your camp tour permit).
2. The hike should take a minimum of two (2) hours to complete.
3. Each Cub Scout should be in uniform (camp activity uniform is okay -- i.e. camp or pack t-shirt) and carry his personal equipment such as lunch, drinking water, and extra clothing (jacket, etc.).
4. Each Cub Scout should bring a pencil and paper to take notes, and each Den is to submit a short hike report to the Pack.
5. At least one adult in the group should carry a first-aid kit and be familiar with basic first-aid (you will be accompanied by a qualified staff member).
6. Carry out your trash and trash left behind by others.
7. On completion of the hike, fill out a hike award application and submit this with the Den Hike Report to your local High Adventure representative for approval (we'll help with this and sign the report for you).

You can take the award application to your local scout shop to purchase the patches. The Ventura County Council shop has them in stock -- other shops may need to order them for you.

Frontier Skills at Fort Lockwood

One often-overlooked program option during Boy Scout weeks at Three Falls is the Frontier Skills class, offered every afternoon from 2:50 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Fort Lockwood. Our rendezvous staff will teach participants a variety of primitive skills, including:

• Flint and Steel and other primitive firebuilding techniques
• Tomahawk throwing
• Black powder rifle shooting
• Tracking and stalking
• Branding
• Roping
• Bullwhips
• Dutch oven cooking
• Mountain man crafts

This class is especially suited to older scouts who have already completed most of the usual summer camp merit badges, and are looking for something a little different.

Leaders can sign their scouts up for the class using the BadgeTracker online signup system -- it's listed under Rendezvous.

Summer Camp Leader Meetings

This year's pre-camp meetings for Boy Scout and Webelos unit leaders are coming up soon. The Webelos Leader Meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 4, and the Boy Scout Leader Meeting will follow at 1 p.m. the same day. Both meetings will take place at the Ventura County Council Service Center, 509 E Daily Drive, Camarillo, CA 93010. We'll be in the meeting rooms upstairs above the Trading Post.

Because we usually get more people for the Webelos meetings (multiple leaders and parents from each unit), we'll hold a second Webelos pre-camp meeting on Thursday, May 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the LDS Stake Center, 1201 Paseo Camarillo, Camarillo, CA 93010. Both Webelos meetings will cover the same information, so there is no need to attend both.

For Boy Scout Leaders: We'll give an overview of the summer camp program, with a special emphasis on the new and changed programs we're offering this year. We'll also fill you in on any last-minute schedule changes. And we'll give you a demonstration of the BadgeTracker merit badge signup system. Merit Badge signups using BadgeTracker will "go live" right after the meeting.

For Webelos Leaders: We'll give an overview of the camp program, let you know what to expect and what you need to bring, and update you on any last-minute program changes. This is also a good time to turn in your Program Request Form, which we will use to schedule your activities at camp.