The Camp Honor Program

 

The Buckeye Council’s Pipestone Award is unique in Scouting. For over seventy years, Scouts of our council camps have earned the right to wear this venerable token. To this very day, the Pipestone comes to us from a spot in Minnesota where descendants of the Native American still work to retrieve this stone from the Earth. Nowhere else can this award be earned other than at Seven Ranges Scout Reservation. The Scouts who wear the Pipestone prize it highly.  Its spirit pervades our camp.

 

Pipestone is not a required program. It is offered as part of the overall summer camp program for Scouts to utilize it, if they so desire. Any coercion to participate is detrimental to its values. Coercion and peer pressure are not necessary to make the program function. The requirements have been structured so as to appeal to the Scouts strictly on their own merits. It is something that should attract and interest the majority of Scouts and be consistent with current Scouting advancement. Scouts who work to earn the five years of Pipestone are also being encouraged toward orderly advancement in rank.

 

The Unit leader should make sure that each member of the unit understands the camp honor requirements and is given the opportunity to participate.

 

Early on Monday, Scouts begin the adventure of qualifying to sit in the council ring of the honor camper.  Friday evening, those who qualify climax the adventure.

 

Finally, those who achieve the Fifth Year Camp Honor become members of the camping alumni who are devoted to the ideals for which Pipestone stands and to the Buckeye Council Camp Program.

 

ALL PIPESTONE REQUIREMENTS MUST BE COMPLETED BY 12:00 NOON ON FRIDAY!

 

 

FIRST YEAR:

 

Rank:                    Scout (Pipestone wood required)

Scouting Skills:       10 parts of any rank** or one merit badge.

Ecology:                Identify in the field: any combination of 15 trees, plants, or shrubs.  Identify 4 constellations and 8 insects.

Swimming:            Jump feet first into water over your head, swim non-stop using any stroke a distance of 25 yards.***

Good Turn:            Unit Participation.

Scout Spirit:           This is the daily practice of the living Code of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Camp Spirit is very important. A Scout could complete all the other requirements and not be eligible for the award because he did not live by the Scout Oath and Scout Law.

 

 

SECOND YEAR:

 

Rank:                    Second Class (Pipestone wood required)

Scouting Skills:       12 parts of any rank** or one merit badge.

Ecology:                Identify in the field: any combination of 25 trees, plants, or shrubs. Identify 6 constellations and 10 animals, mammals, reptiles, fish, crustaceans, or amphibians.

Swimming:            Jump feet first into water over your head, swim non-stop using any two different strokes a distance of 50 Yards.***

Good Turn:            Unit Participation

Scout Spirit:                    Same as for all years. See first year requirements.

 

 

THIRD YEAR:

 

Rank:                    First Class (Pipestone wood required)

Scout Skills:                    14 parts of any rank** or one merit badge

Ecology:                Identify in the field: any combination of 35 trees, plants, or shrubs. Identify 8 constellations and 10 birds.

Swimming:            Jump feet first into water over your head, swim non-stop using any three strokes a distance of 100 yards.***

Good Turn:            Unit Participation

Scout Spirit:                    Same as for all years. See first year requirements.

 

 

FOURTH YEAR:

 

Rank:                    Star (Pipestone Wood Required)

Scouting Skills:      One merit badge.

Ecology:                Serve as or assist the Unit Naturalist or Astronomer or serve in a designated leadership capacity.

Swimming:            Jump feet first into water over your head, swim non-stop 125 yards of which 25 yards must be a resting backstroke. ***

Good Turn:            Leadership on the unit’s project.

Scout Spirit:           Same as for all years. However, particular emphasis is placed upon Scout Spirit for the 4th year candidates. They should set an example for the younger Scouts. Example should be 90% of this requirement.

 

 

FIFTH YEAR:

 

Rank:                    Life

Scouting Skills:       Serve in a designated leader’s capacity.

Swimming:            Jump feet first into water over your head, swim non-stop for 150 yards of which 25 yards must be a resting back stroke AND pass or hold swimming merit badge.***

Good Turn:            Serve in a designated leadership capacity

Scout Spirit:                    Same as for all years.

 

 

 

Notes on Pipestone Requirements:

 

*        Requirements for rank must be completed, but a Board of Review is not required to have been completed.

**       Excluding Scout Spirit and a Board of Review. The Scoutmaster’s Conference may be counted if all the other requirements for that rank have been completed. If the required number of skills cannot be met, a merit badge must be earned.

***      Waiving the swimming requirement for one’s camp honor shall be governed by the guidelines set forth under the “Disabilities” section of this guide.

 

Special Notes:

 

Eagle Campers: A Scout who comes to camp with his Eagle rank is not required to pass additional merit badges in camp unless he does not have Swimming merit badge. However, fulfillment of the Scout Skills requirement for any year’s camp honor must be met by service in a clearly designated leadership position.

 

Definition of Requirements: Any 10 (1st year), 12 (2nd year), or 14 (3rd year) numbered parts of rank or any combination of rank numbered parts as listed in the Scout Handbook are acceptable.

 

Designated Leadership Positions: The Scout shall confer with his Unit Leader or the Camp Director, set a leadership goal that is mutually agreeable to the Scout and leader, carry out said project during his week in camp, and complete a written report on the project signed by himself and the leader by noon on Friday.

 

This must be made out by the camper and given to the Camp Director. Projects may be in the nature of specific counseling of Scouts who need assistance on a specific project to a unit leader or camp staff member, etc. The criteria to be applied must be “that significant personal growth through assistance to others is achieved.” Serious thought must be given to the project by the Scout involved.

 

John Burroughs Award Camp Honor Requirements:  Candidates for the John Burroughs Award may apply their accomplishments in this field toward their camp honor for which they are working. In addition, they must fulfill Rank, Swimming and Camp Scout Spirit requirements. A Scout who is proficient in nature may elect to take the three degrees of John Burroughs over a 3-year period or any level in a single year and apply the earning of that specific year towards his camp honor. A specific degree may only be earned once and only a degree of more difficulty may be earned a second and third year.

 

BSA Lifeguard Camp Honor Requirements:  Scouts working towards certification as a BSA Lifeguard during their week in camp may apply their accomplishments in this field toward the camp honor for which they are working. In addition, they must fulfill Rank, Swimming, and Camp Scout Spirit requirements. Certification must be earned by Friday at noon.

 

Explanation of the Second and Third Year Ecology Requirements: For animal identification, the candidate must identify in the field mammals, reptiles, fish, crustacean, birds, or amphibians either by sight or by identifying evidence of their presence (e.g. tracks, dens, burrows, droppings, calls, or feeding areas). Domestic animals are not included in this requirement.

 

Good Turn Requirements:  During the week in camp, every camper, youth and adult, shall participate in an approved project to maintain or improve Seven Ranges Scout Reservation. Emphasis should be on participation as a patrol effort, but an individual camper or leader may complete the requirements. A unit that wishes to carry out a significant good turn (i.e. a project which involves construction, special tools or materials) for the camp prior to its week in camp must request prior approval for such a project from the Camp Ranger. If the project is approved and completed, those unit members who participated in the project may receive credit for their good turn in camp that season.

 

Pipestone Wood:  Each camper, except fifth year candidates, is expected to provide one cubic foot of pipestone wood during his week in camp. This may be fulfilled by bringing the wood to camp on Sunday (tightly wrapped with twine) or by gathering it in the camp by Thursday afternoon. This is hardwood only, which has lost its bark naturally and burns quietly. It should be reasonably straight with no branches or protruding stubs, approximately twelve inches long (broken, not sawn), no thinner than the little finger and no thicker than the thumb.

 

Fifth year candidates need not bring wood to camp but should complete part of their leadership requirement by closely supervising the quality and quantity of wood collected by other campers. Wood bundles deemed acceptable by the troop leadership should be placed on the “pipestone wood trailer”.

 

SPL2B Camp Honor Requirements:  Senior Patrol Leaders who are participating in the SPL2B program must complete their advancement, ecology, and swimming requirements the week before their troop is in camp. The candidate will fulfill their leadership requirement while their unit is in camp.

 

Adult Campers: Adult leaders who attend Summer Camp are encouraged to earn their Pipestone as well. The camp honor requirements for adults are as follows:

 

Ø    Be a registered Scouter;

Ø    Attend Summer Camp as part of a Boy Scout Troop, Venture Scout, or Explorer organization.

Ø    Complete a Camp Good Turn as described above.

Ø    Complete attendance requirements described in the following paragraph entitled “Pipestone Attendance Requirements.”

Ø    Function fully in a leadership capacity to Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, or Explorers while in camp as determined by the Camp Director. Attendance without leadership service does not qualify an adult for camp honors.

Ø    Adults should not bring pipestone wood to camp but should exercise leadership by closely supervising the quality and quantity of Pipestone wood collected by Scout candidates using the standards listed above.

 

Pipestone Attendance: Youth campers must be in camp from Sunday Campfire through Saturday check-out to qualify for camp honors. Serious personal reasons are justified excuses for qualification. Vacations, athletics, and other such activities are not excusable.  The Camp Director shall be the final authority in determining the acceptability of a Scout’s reason for leaving camp in regards to earning camp honors.

 

Adult campers who spend four full days and three full nights in attendance at Summer Camp during the single given week that the unit for which leadership is provided attends Summer Camp meet the attendance requirement for camp honors. For this attendance qualification, one of the nights may not be Friday night.

 

Disabilities: The Camp Director is empowered to adjust camp honor requirements for Scouts unable for sound medical reasons, physical or mental, to meet the requirements prescribed. Unit leaders are urged to use restraint in requesting such adjustments. As support for such a request, the Scout’s current Personal Health and Medical Record must indicate specific limitations advised by his physician. Considering the unique circumstances of each case, the Camp Director will make substitutions of a fair and equitable proportion. Substitutions must be made by Monday and will then become the true objectives of the Scout in question.

 

Pipestone Scorecard and Report Forms: A special scorecard is available for each camper to maintain his own record. Unit leaders and junior leaders (authorized by the Unit Leader) will sign the Scout’s card and certify that he has met the requirements. All requirements must be completed by 12:00 noon on Friday. By 1:00 PM Friday afternoon, Unit Leaders must submit the official report to the Camp Office listing those campers who have clearly fulfilled the camp honor requirements.