Leaving Camp Early

[Craft Lady]

I am just wondering how bad it will be for my son to leave Summer Camp a day early.

I have already registered him and paid part of his way to summer camp. (I almost paid his full fee but wanted to wait.)

Then last night I get the call that my baby brother is getting married. The date of the wedding is the same day as my son's last day of Summer Camp. He is a first year scout so to me summer camp is a BIG deal this year and next at least.

If my husband were to come to the family night dinner and then have my son leave with him when the family night dinner is over they would have to drive 5 hours to get to the town the wedding is in but they would be there in time. His grandmother from Arizona, his grandfather from Tennessee, his Uncle that he does not get to see often will all be there, so that will be a great deal for him to miss on top of his Uncle's Wedding.

All that my son would miss at camp on the other hand, would be the closing of camp and the clean up and pack up the next morning.

I am going to ask the SM about this tomorrow night. I am fairly sure he will be OK with this. My BIGGEST concern is this, that the other boys will be upset thinking he bailed when it was time to work. Or am I worrying about nothing.

I figure my other option is to shell out the extra money to send my son as a provisional camper a different week, or see if he would be allowed to go with the troop that meets at our Church. (Since I know the troop leadership, he knows the boys etc. They keep trying to get him to join the troop however it meets the same night as the Cub Scout pack. My son said when looking at troops that he wanted a troop that met a different night so that he could be a Den Chief with his former pack.)

Any way I am rambling. I am just wondering what problems it might cause if my son "bails" on his troop or it is viewed that he bailed on his troop.

Jennifer
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Not involved with Boy Scouts yet, plan to be a MB counslor just giving my son time to adjust to Boy Scouts before I get active again.
Cub Scout Day Camp Craft Lady and Committe member.

[JazerNorth]

I would say priorities would win out on this one. Take him out early. You do have another option though. Most Scout Camps have a lone scout troop that he can go with. The Camp provides a week where any scout can attend camp, where they would be with a bunch of other lone scouts in a troop. He wouldn't go with his Troop, but he would be able to attend the full week.

JazerNorth

[Mrw]

The only problem I see is that your son will be a litttle bit miffed about missing the closing. This should be offset by the wedding and getting to see his Grandma and uncle etc. Let him go with the troop he is in as that helps build the team. All the merit badge stuff will be finished before Dad picks him up. The other boys will more likely tell him it sucks to have to go for a 10 hour car trip (there and back) than be ticked about him missing the clean up work.

[Nuts4Scouts]

He is not "bailing" on anyone, & I doubt that the boys will see it that way. It is a family event he has no control over. Also, since everyone will know well in advance, they can plan for his absence at tear down time.

Relax, it will be fine.

[evmori]

The other thing is if he will not be eligible for the OA because he didn't complete is long term camp.

[Craft Lady]

Thanks that really helps.

I knew that last year at Webelos resident camp they made a big deal that no one could leave camp early for any reason, because they did not want boys thinking they could just leave Summer camp.

I talked to my son this morning and even gave him the option to skip the Wedding. (After all what 11 year is really that interested in a Wedding.)

He said he would rather miss camp then the wedding because his uncle is moving farther away after the wedding. He said but he was really sure his SM would understand, and so am I. My son and husband are going to talk to him tonight.

Thanks again.

Jennifer

[PaulSWolf]

The other thing is if he will not be eligible for the OA because he didn't complete is long term camp.

Actually, that may not be the case. It depends on when he arrives and when he leaves. The official requirement (taken from the OA web site) is

After registration with a troop or team, have experienced fifteen days and nights of Boy Scout camping during the two-year period prior to the election. The fifteen days and nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of six consecutive days and five nights of resident camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America. The balance of the camping must be overnight, weekend, or other short-term camps.

If he is there for 6 days and 5 nights, he meets the requirement. So, if he arrives on Sunday, and leaves Friday evening, he has 6 days and 5 nights.

[Mad Dog]

How flexible is the camp? We had one boy who could not do the whole 7 days at once due to medical problems ( severe alergies) He did 4 days with the trop and 3 days provisional. That way he got to be with his friends and do the full seven days. If you are getting ready for te wedding you may want him to come home more than one day early just to make things easier on yourself.

[Craft Lady]

Thanks again.

I did not know the requirments for O of A. However this should not be a problem. He will be going to summer camp next year as well. So over 2 years he will be at summer camp. Plus he will be going Sunday to Friday anyway.

I am not sure how flexable the camp is. We do know some on staff and they said it should be up to the SM. His SM is really cool. He is very understanding.

I am not too worried about getting ready. I plan to pack everyone's stuff and taking it with me in my van and leave a few days earlier. My biggest concern was that it was going to be very fast and overwhelming for my son. At least he will get plenty of rest in the car ride. So we opted to get a cabin instead of a hotel room and have a mini vacation after the wedding.

Thanks again for the feed back.

Jennifer

[WVBeaver05]

I wouldn't expect it to be a problem with anyone. In each of the last two years of Summer Camp we have had Scouts leave on Friday for valid family oriented reasons (e.g. Family reunion, start of vacation, etc.). In no case did any of the other Scouts even mention it.

YiS