A lot of work projects are on the docket for this spring. In order to help all of the camps at Ten Mile River to be ready for opening day, The GNYC Camping Committee and TMR Alumni Association look forward to having many people participate in the Wilderness Engineering workdays on Saturdays, June 7 and June 14. Both skilled and not-so-skilled workers are needed. For those who no longer enjoy the thrill of hoisting tent platforms, a number of "sit around a table" jobs are also planned. With everyone's help this will be another great year for our Scouts!

New adult leader training opportunities are now available online. Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat training can now be completed online through an application available on the National BSA Website. Using an interactive program, the site instructs leaders on the various points of Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat, and enables them to become certified in both of these areas. At the end of the course, leaders can print certificates indicating their successful completion. To start this training, click here to visit the National BSA Website. To learn more about training at TMR, visit the Training Opportunities page on our website. In addition, a link to the Guide to Safe Scouting has been added to this page.

In a continued effort to ensure the quality and efficacy of the TMR Merit Badge Program, we would like to remind all Adult Leaders who may plan on teaching merit badges while at camp, whether independently or in cooperation with the Camp Staff, to properly register as Merit Badge Counselors with your Borough/Council Advancement Committees. While this is required of all Merit Badge Counselors in general, it is especially important if you plan to work with youth from other units in a summer camp setting. As always, we appreciate all the assistance and support that is afforded by leaders who share their time and talents with all the scouts who come to camp. If you have any questions, please contact your camp's Program Director.

Unit leaders who've been to any Boy Scout camp know that one of the most important documents required of all scouts and adults is the Medical Form. To help parents and unit leaders avoid the pitfalls that cause Medical Forms to be incomplete and unacceptable, a TMR Unit Leader (Dennis Abenanty of Troop 510) wrote an extremely detailed, step-by-step set of instructions on how to properly complete the Medical Form. All unit leaders are encouraged to review this extremely helpful document, and distribute it to their scouts' parents. Click here to download this tremendously helpful resource. The document contains the detailed instructions, followed by the Medical Form.

The Pre-Camp "30-Day" meetings provide an opportunity for unit leaders to meet the members of the Camping Department face-to-face prior to the summer camp season to answer any questions, and handle outstanding business. All of the various registration and medical forms will be on-hand at these meetings, and early-bird payments will be accepted at each of the meetings as well. Click here for meeting dates, times, and locations.

Since many volunteers will be at TMR on the Memorial Day weekend, working as part of various work crews or attending the Suanhacky Lodge Honors Weekend, members of the Camping Department will be available in the Camp Keowa Dining Hall on Saturday, May 24th from 8:30 AM until 10:00 AM. Individuals who will be present that weekend, or who live nearby TMR, and would like to make an early-bird payment for camp can stop by the dining hall to do so. The Camping Department representatives will also be able to answer any outstanding questions.

The Ten Mile River Alumni Association is pleased to announce that Alumni Day will be held on Saturday, July 12th. The day will start with a brief program at Headquarters followed by lunch. Participants are then invited to visit the camp(s) of their choice. Alumni day is open to all campers, adult leaders and Staff Members who have been a part of the history of Ten Mile River. Members of the Alumni Association will receive all of the details in the spring. For more information on the Alumni Association or Alumni Day contact Bob Hayes.

To help units better prepare for their time at camp, the Reservation Outpost Schedule has been posted to the Outpost section of the tenmileriver.org website. There have been some significant changes to this schedule for the 2008 season, including the addition of the new COPE course at Keowa, and revised operations at the Village. Units who are planning to take part in any of the climbing, rappelling, COPE, Delaware River canoe trip, war canoe, or Village programs should consult this schedule.

The 2008 version of the Leaders' Guide has been completed, and is available for download here on the tenmileriver.org website. All unit leaders are encouraged to download the guide from the website, and use it when planning for their units' stay at camp. Printed copies of the guide are available upon request, by contacting the Camping Services Department (212-651-2955).

Aside from a summer of Scout Camping happening at Camp Keowa, this August will also see 300+ Arrowmen descend on Camp Keowa for the 2008 Section NE-2C Conclave. This gathering of Arrowmen from New York City, the Lower Hudson Valley and Connecticut will be sure to be an exciting and memorable event. On a sad note, it will also mark our final conclave as Section NE-2C as we know it today. We've had 7 outstanding conclaves thus far and our 8th and final conclave is planning to be even better! Be sure to register today for the 2008 Section Conclave at www.ne2c.org/conclave and come back to Ten Mile River to commemorate this historic occasion in the history of our Section and Ten Mile River. We hope to see you there!

As part of the BSA's project to update the requirements for all 120 Merit Badges, several merit badges have undergone changes which went into effect on January 1, 2008 The badges with requirement changes are: Backpacking, Metalwork, Sculpture, Water Sports (replaces Waterskiing), and Wilderness Survival. Merit badges offered at TMR are listed in bold.

For full details on these merit badge requirement changes, click here.

For information on changes from previous years, click here.

Units are reminded that, in order to secure their Hold-a-Place reservation for the upcoming summer season, a $25 per scout deposit is required to be paid by March 31. For more details, see the Camper Deposits section of the Camp Fees page.

The GNYC Camping Committee has met, and approved the summer camp fee structure for the 2008 Summer Camp Season. Check out the Camp Fees page for full details. The 2008 weeks of operation and program opportunities have also been published. See the Summer Camp Opportunities page for more details.

The current summer camp fee covers the cost of food, program equipment and summer camp staff. All other costs are underwritten by the Greater New York Councils through the Friends of Scouting campaign and special fundraising activities. Faced with escalating food costs and the strong desire to continue to improve the quantity and quality of our equipment, the GNYC Camping Committee has worked hard to minimize the increase in summer camp fees.

All Scouts should be encouraged to take advantage of the Early Bird discount by paying their camp fees by May 31st. Additionally, each borough has Campership funding available to help needy Scouts. Additional funding is available through private groups for Scouts in Queens and Bronx. Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) funding is available citywide for Scouts whose families are on public assistance. Contact your District Executive for more information on all of these opportunities. It has always been, and continues to be, the goal of the Greater New York Councils that all Scouts should have an opportunity to experience the wonders of summer camp regardless of their family's financial status.

Check out the Camp Fees and Summer Camp Opportunities pages for full details.