Obie Rangers is our Trail to First Class or first-year camper program where we hope to build the next generation of Scouting’s youth leaders. During this week-long program, staff will organize campers into an Obie Rangers patrol, teach them about the Patrol Method, work with them along their Trail to First Class, and help them earn the First Aid and Pioneering merit badges.
Merit Badges & Rank Advancement
- First Aid (To complete, scouts should arrive at camp with supplies to make a first aid kit and knowing the location of an AED at their Troop’s meeting location, school, or place of worship)
- Pioneering
- Scout (requirements 1b, 3b, 4a, 4b)
- Tenderfoot (4a, 5a, 5c, 7a, 8)
- Second Class (1b, 2g, 3a, 3b, 3d, 6a, 6b, 9a)
- First Class (2d, 3a, 3b, 3c, 7a, 7b, 7c)
Our staff will not sign off completed rank requirements in a scout’s Scouts BSA Handbook to avoid interfering with any Troop-specific policies on who can sign off on requirements. Instead, Troop leadership should refer to the advancement data available from Blackpug.
Activities
- Rank Advancement: Every day during open program from 2pm-3pm, scouts can come work with the staff on their rank advancement whether they are part of the Obie Rangers program or not. This is also an excellent chance for older scouts or even your whole Troop to gain experience teaching younger scouts.
- Totin’ Chip & Firem’n Chit: Stop by to earn the basics of both knife and axe safety and care as well as how to safely start a fire. Both classes take twenty-thirty minutes. The Totin’ Chip class is offered every day at 3pm, and the Firem’n Chit every day at 4pm.
Special Events
- Five Mile Map and Compass Hike: Every Thursday at 2pm, scouts can complete this Second Class requirement by helping navigate away from camp and back again.
- Paul Bunyan Woodsman Award: Stop by Obie Rangers to become a trail-clearing and wood-chopping expert just like the famous lumberjack. Then, spend some time helping clear or maintain new trail. Flannel shirts, coveralls, and giant blue oxen not provided.