Visiting a new Boy Scout Camp....

Well I had a bit of time today, I was going to ride to Camp Ben Hawkins on Friday down in Byron Georgia.  but I was driving to Griffin and my bike started to malfunction.  I was able to coast into the scout center and wait for the wrecker to take the bike to the shop.  I am not happy with this.

  But anyway...I drove down today dodging the rain.  I was looking for an alternate campsite for my troop especially for wintercamp.  Our council wants us to use their facility exclusively, but I believe that you use the council stuff most of the time but you also need to switch it up to give the boys more exposure to other camps and broaden their experiences and keep them excited about the program.
    Well I went down there and checked it out and it was more of a primitive camping than what we have today in our council camp.  It reminded me of what camping was like back when I was in the boy scouts in the late 70's and early 80's.  I took some pictures of the camp, it is more rustic but it is one of the oldest BSA camps in Georgia if not east of the Mississippi.

This is a totem pole.  The BSA uses certain Indian themes in some of their ceremonies. This is used to honor the them, the core values of most of the tribes are honorable and worthy of remembrance.
   

Also the Indian figure is a symbol of the "Order of the Arrow"

Benjamin Hawkins

Camp Benjamin Hawkins is named in honor of a respected U. S. Army officer and U. S. Senator who played a significant role in the settlement of the City of Macon. Camp Benjamin Hawkins, a 500-acre camp located just 20 minutes from downtown Macon near Byron, Georgia offers a wide variety of exciting programs for new and advanced campers.
Used year-round by Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturers, and Explorers, Camp Benjamin Hawkins is a popular retreat for Cub Scout family campouts, camporees, training courses, day camps and other events.  When you visit, you’ll see why.
Thanks to a successful capital campaign, over $1.0 million in capital improvements have been completed over the past decade or so.  New facilities include an expanded 300 seat chow hall with two new decks and a Scouters’ lounge, new freezers, water system and electrical enhancements, 14 new program shelters, and a renovated trading post with bathroom facilities.  Also, we purchased a nearly new camp truck and new lawn maintenance equipment, and we built an archery deck, shotgun and black powder range.  A 1,200 square foot multi-purpose shelter, a 300 seat amphitheater, renovated A-frame showers with adult male, female and youth privacy, and a pedestrian bridge across Juniper Creek have also been completed. Did we mention new shooting sports equipment, whitewater canoes, climbing gear, tents and platforms and three new handicapped accessible Adirondack shelters? Now, we hope you’ll want to see more.
Praised by many Scoutmasters for its pristine, natural setting, CBH offers what many youth camps are abandoning -- a great outdoor, camping experience that gets boys back to nature and away from city life. Want to know more? Contact us at 478-743-9386.