Baden Powell Scouts Come With Their Buddy To Camp
During weeks 3 (July 4-10) and 4 (July 11-17) we have availability in our Baden Powell troop! This is an opportunity for your Scout and a buddy to come to camp without the traditional troop structure. At camp we will have the leadership set up and the Scouts will form a provisional troop for the week.
For more than 4 decades Austin China has spent time on camp staff and supporting local Scout units in South Carolina. He is known as a master camp song leader. Some guys just have “it” and you will see in this video how quickly he wins over the mostly middle school age audience and brings the house down.
Staff Opportunities Still Available (updated)
Every year we have to bring some new people into the family. With COVID making things a challenge to meet potential new staff members we are really pleased that most of our 2020 staff chose to return. However, we do have a few key openings so if you are a candidate or know someone who is please reach out!
Time To Make Plans In 2021
So far we have almost 400 Scouts and leaders signed up to attend Camp Barstow in 2021. We hope you will be part of the fun and adventure as we bounce back from the disappointment of last season. We are hiring the staff, making improvements to the camp,
What is Klondike Winter Camp
The Klondike Winter Camp is held December 27-30 annually at Camp Barstow. This Winter Camp is held just after the Christmas holidays. A volunteer camp staff provides program help, guidance, and supervision in the area of Scout-craft, Nature, Arts, and Heritage as well as many other specialty merit badges.
You can secure your spot for 2021 in just a few easy steps:
Select the week you plan on attending summer camp using the tabs on the right side of this page.
Enter an estimated number of scouts and adults attending.
Enter your name, e-mail, and phone number or log-in.
Before booking the registration and paying the deposit,
This past weekend we hosted an outdoor open house at Camp Barstow and welcomed Scouts, parents and leaders to see the camp in person. But if you could not make it just know that we will come to you! Please reach out to schedule a 15 minute camp promotion zoom with the Camp Director Jason Spangler or Program Director Chris McDuffie.
For several years now leadership from Camp Barstow has traveled to the Florida Camp Shows to introduce Scouts and leaders to how much fun they can have on Lake Murray. The weekend of October 3-4, 2020 you can find Camp Director Jason Spangler and Program Director Chris McDuffie once again answering questions about our camp.
Have You Heard Of The Bundles?
At Camp Barstow we have a different take on how to teach merit badges. We created this unique program design because of feedback from Scoutmasters and lots of conversations with our staff after summer camp 2 years ago. What came out of those brain storming sessions was the idea that Chris McDuffie our Program Director coined –
Sunday October 11 from 1-5 PM
Online free registration is now open for the upcoming Camp Barstow Open House on Sunday, October 11 from 1-5 PM. You are invited to join us for an afternoon that will include an action packed tour of camp with demonstrations and opportunities to get a taste of what we offer in the summer.
When the pandemic forced Camp Barstow to go offline in the summer of 2020 our Ranger and Properties Committee saw a rare opportunity to get some projects done at camp. Normally, there are very few weekends out of the year that some unit or group is not using camp. But with things shut down our volunteers sprang into action!
The virus ruined the summer for Camp Barstow and just about everyone else. But now it’s time to turn the page and look to summer camp in 2021. The best way to let you experience a taste of what we have to offer is to open our program areas and host an outdoor Open House when things cool off a little in October.
This year we can count three anniversaries that are being celebrated at Camp Barstow. This 2020 patch set honors all of those important milestones and is rich with nostalgia for our proud history.
1. The top patch commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Indian Waters Council with a throwback to one of the early shoulder patch designs from when the name changed in the 1970s from Central South Carolina Council.
Is camp still on?
Yes, as of April 28th, we still hope operate Camp Barstow Scouts BSA Camp – as planned – and only if it will be safe to do so! An incredible amount of planning and thought is being put into camp health and safety operations, and we will continue communicate any updates.
On Monday March 2nd at 10 AM we will activate the ability to sign Scouts up for their preferred merit badge bundles at Camp Barstow. Here are some documents that will help you navigate those discussions with your Scouts.
First off we have an appendix page which is a 1-sheet worksheet that we suggest you complete with each Scout.
Over the next few weeks look for more information about the new choices in our merit badge bundles program. This year we have added 21 merit badges to diversify and strengthen our program at Camp Barstow. In this post let’s talk about the only bundle option that does not include any merit badges!
Although we get around it’s just not possible for the leadership team at Camp Barstow to do troop visits everywhere. So on a Monday night in January of 2020 we decided to record the Camp Director doing a troop visit in Fort Mill, SC. The troop in this video is already signed up to come and the purpose of the talk was to get the Scouts and parents excited about registering and to answer questions.
VP of Properties here.
It’s the start of 2020, a huge Anniversary year for Indian Waters Council. You will see many announcements but one of them is the 90th Anniversary of Camp Barstow. Our camp has some of the best facilities. That’s evidenced by the many councils that have contacted us in the last year to inquire about what we’re doing.
This summer is the 90th anniversary of Camp Barstow and to honor that milestone we are celebrating the 90’s with our spirit theme. This theme will especially come alive during our campfires Sunday and Friday and pavilion parties held Tuesday and Thursday nights. We encourage Scouts to pick a character from the 90’s and come to camp with a costume so they can join in the fun.
One of the benefits of being a more customer friendly camp is that we max out at 225 Scouts and leaders per week. Apparently word is getting around that things are #BetterAtBarstow because Week 1 June 14-20 is now full. If your troop is looking to sign up we strongly suggest you follow the link on this website and submit your $100 deposit to hold a spot.
