Home 2007-2011 Strategic Plan Scout News Camping Camp Mensinger Leader Guide Staff Application Reservation Form Camp Map Activities Camp Mail Camp Song CIT Program History Patches Camp McConnell Camp Isom Camp Akela Cub Day Camp BALOO Camping Sites Camp Patches Yosemite Falls Walls Scouting Programs Join Scouting Soccer & Scouting Sea Scouts Districts Support Scouting Corporate Sponsors The Kernal's Korner Duty to God Forms Links Order of the Arrow Commissioners Calendar Training Advancement 2010 Jamboree Gold Dust Scout Shop Photo Album Camp Mensinger has Super Summer! Camp John Mensinger has been reborn this summer! The new-look camp has Scouts and Scouters from all over the Council excited. Almost 700 Boy Scouts and their leaders attended Camp John Mensinger this summer. Over 2000 merit badges were completed with the traditional camp badges such as shooting sports, aquatics, ecology and Scoutcraft badges taking the honors for most popular badges at camp. Camp Director Mike Rich was very proud of this staff. They went the extra mile for the Scouts and leaders at camp. Staff evaluations were consistently the highest seen in many years. The most consistent comments involved the new look of the camp. As veteran Scouter Keith Mahan remarked, “Camp looks the best it has looked in 20 years.” The brand new gravel road system plus over 20 tons of wood chips on the grounds combined to make this summer the most dust free ever. The brand new 3 acre visitor and Scouter parking lot has given the camp a new “front door.” The old parking lot behind the dining hall and commissary is now for staff only. The timber thinning operation helped to make the camp much less susceptible to forest fire as well as improving the health of the timber stand in camp. Over 20 tree snags have been removed to further make camp safer. The look of the camp has been improved according to surveys taken each week. A noticeable gentle breeze now blows through Camp Mensinger during the day which helps to cool things off. The dining hall has a new Ansul system, exhaust fans and fire alarm system. The new generator is so quiet that most people did not know it was operating. The septic systems throughout camp have been replaced and the new water system has been operating at capacity for two months. This year a new high adventure program was launched which includes the options of hiking up to 50 miles in the Stanislaus National Forest, a mountain biking option, sailing and motor boating at Beardsley Reservoir, canoe outpost treks, rock climbing in and around camp, and muzzle loading black powder rifle shooting. We hope that more Scouts will take advantage of this program in the future. Over 60 Troops made Camp Mensinger their home during the 2007 camp season. If you have not been to Camp Mensinger lately, you have not been to Camp Mensinger! As Camping Chair Bruce Olson says, “Try Camp Mensinger again - for the first time!” Merit Badge Program at Mensinger Productive Modesto Scoutmaster Russ Hefner puts it this way, “I like the vertical schedule at Mensinger. Scouts go to a merit badge class all day and at the end of the day they have earned the badge. The out-of-council camp we attended last year maintained the traditional horizontal program where Scouts took classes at the same time each day, like in school. Last year our 12 boys came back with one completed merit badge and a whole bunch of partials. This year, at Camp Mensinger, our Troop earned collectively over 40 badges. I am a believer in the Mensinger system.” Another Scoutmaster remarked: “Some of my boys had a tendency to skip a period after a couple of days of classes resulting in a partial badge being earned. The Mensinger system keeps them focused on one subject for the day and at the end of that day they have accomplished something tangible: a new merit badge earned. It helps boys to see the results of their work by being rewarded each day. “ The results of our surveys are in: 99% of the Scoutmasters at Camp Mensinger like the vertical system of merit badge instruction. Camp is fun but it is nice to come back with results too!