Troop 51 recently completed their annual Summer Camp at Pipsico, Richmond, VA from June 21 to June 27, 2026.

Sunday (6/21) – Arrival

As soon as the scouts arrived at Pipsico, they met their camp guide, picked their tents, and hurriedly changed their clothes to take their swim tests in the camp pool. After the swim tests, they unpacked their items and set their tents up. To welcome their first-week scouts, Pipsico had an opening ceremony located outside their dining hall, with lots of plays and skits hosted by the camp staff.

The troop’s campsite was not very big but was suitable to the amount of scouts in the troop. There was another tent area nearby where the adults slept. A picnic table was set up for both areas where the scouts would relax and interact with each other after attending their merit badge classes.

The food was delicious and meals were provided to those with food restrictions. Desserts were also provided after dinner.

Monday (6/22)

When the scouts woke up, they were ready to have some fun in their merit badge classes, as Monday was the first day of sessions. The first merit badge session started at 9:00 AM and the last session finished at 4:00 PM, with a 12:00 PM lunch time and a break time, “Siesta,” right after lunch. Some scouts who could not earn the Swimmer in the swimming test woke up early to try to successfully earn it after trying it a second time at 6:45 AM.

Pipsico offered a wide variety of merit badges, with many unique ones based in two waterfronts- one with a pool (for the Swimming and Lifesaving merit badges, and the Learn to Swim program for beginners and non-swimmers) and another next to the James River (for Motorboating, Small Boat Sailing, Kayaking, Canoeing, and all other water-based merit badges).

Each building hosted many fun and exciting badges. Pipsico also had a very organized first-year program, Huskanaw, which is classified as one of the best first-year summer camp programs in the nation.

It also had a “PEX” (Pipsico Experience) program in which the older scouts attended. Over the course of the week, they would go on four off-site trips, including Busch Gardens and whitewater rafting in the James River.

Tuesday (6/23)

As everybody woke up and headed to the morning flag ceremony, we realized that our troop got awarded the “Awesome Stick,” an award for spreading positivity to all scouts and being friendly, for the day. Whenever a troop gets awarded the Awesome Stick for the day, they have to add one decoration of their choice to display their contributions to camp or to show a scout skill. One of our troop’s scouts donated their basket (made in the Basketry merit badges) to put on top of the Awesome Stick as a contribution to camp. Another scout attached a few bandages to show preparedness for life as a scout skill, and to represent the scout motto.

This day was the first day some scouts participated in games. They played Gagaball, Human Foosball, and a little bit of Basketball.

There were also multiple sports events being held at the same time altogether called the “Pipsico Games.” There was some rain during the merit badge sessions, but most scouts were prepared and wore their rain jackets or ponchos. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were tasty, and the day’s dessert was canned fruit topped with coconut flakes and syrup.

Wednesday (6/24)

Unfortunately, there was a monstrous thunderstorm during the night, which disrupted many scouts throughout the entire camp’s sleep and left them feeling groggy in the morning. However, they recovered as the day went on.

On this day, the aquatics staff also hosted an event called the “Aquadome.” This consisted of multiple competitions, where scouts crawled under razor wire, ran with a soaking wet shirt on, and much more. Troop 51 won in one of the competitions, “Swimming with Fire,” where scouts swam while carrying a fire-lit candle.

By now, all scouts had completed half of their merit badge classes and many requirements for the merit badges. The Huskanaw scouts were also advancing with their completion of more and more requirements.

For lunch, scouts and scoutmasters had different experiences- scouts had a picnic party outside of the dining hall and adults had a feast inside the staff building.

Thursday (6/25)

By now, some scouts completed one or two of their merit badges with not many requirements. This meant that they would get extra time to relax on the last day of merit badges, Friday. The Huskanaw scouts packed up all of their gear and went on their own overnight campout this evening (right after merit badges) to come back tomorrow morning.

This was also the field trip date for many scouts taking merit badges like Nuclear Science (visiting a local nuclear power plant) and Citizenship in the Nation. All field trips were scheduled from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.

As the scouts were resting after their merit badge sessions, a scoutmaster from another troop came to our campsite and invited everyone to play frisbee.

After around 30-40 minutes, everyone came back and the scouts played a couple rounds of Mafia. The scouts also attended many Gagaball tournaments and attended an OA (Order of the Arrow) ice cream social in the shelter next to the Gagaball pit.

At the same time of the Gagaball tournaments and the ice cream social, there was a program where scouts could earn the Totin’ Chip, in which two of our scouts participated.

Friday (6/26)

The Huskanaw scouts came back at around 6:45 AM. During Siesta, all the scouts who went on their field trips on Thursday went to the two merit badge classes they had in the time of the field trip. The adults went on a walk on and around the Nature trail and visited the 400-year-old “Pipsico Tree.”

All scouts taking merit badges finished most of their merit badges on this day, as this was the last day of sessions. After dinner, everybody in camp attended the closing ceremony, where many troops performed their own skits and awards were given.

One of our scouts got awarded the “Handicraft” award, a recognition for the most dedicated and active scout in the Handicraft building.

Saturday (6/27) – Departure

After a great summer camp, the troop gave Pipsico a farewell and headed back home on a 3-hour journey. Everybody reached at about 12:00 PM.

Overall, Pipsico was a fantastic summer camp and the troop would definitely go back in the coming years. The staff was very kind, the merit badges were very fun, and the facilities were excellent.