Emergency Contact/Mailing Address:

• One of the surest ways to ensure that your son gets homesick is to allow him to telephone home.  We do not permit this.  Scouts may not bring cell phones or pagers to camp.  Cell phones and/or pagers discovered in the possession of Scouts will be removed from their possession and returned to the Scout's parents upon arrival home.  There are no exceptions to this policy -- don't ask!
   

• Several cell phones will be maintained in the campsite to meet the employment needs of the adults attending.  The Scoutmaster’s cell phone number is 810-569-4091 and should be used ONLY in the event of a CRITICAL EMERGENCY.  Consider a critical emergency to be an unexpected situation where you must come up two camp and remove your scout from camp early.  If you are not coming to get your scout, it’s not a critical emergency.  There is a deficiency of active “current bushes” in the campsite so it will be difficult to ensure that all cell phones stay charged all the time.  Obviously they stay charged, on and available longer if they’re used less.
   

• The Camp Tapico phone number is 231-258-9302.  Phone messages will be received at the troop site, but not necessarily immediately.  Camp staff will attempt to immediately deliver messages labeled urgent.  Except for CRITICAL EMERGENCY please do not leave a message for your son to call home.  If your son calls home it’ll probably be from one of the adult’s cell phones.

• US Mail (snail mail) should be sent to your son while he’s at camp.  You should begin mailing letters to your son two or three days BEFORE he leaves for camp so that he can begin to receive mail on the first or second day (there’s a reason it’s called snail mail).  Address letters to your scout as follows:

                        < your scout’s name >
                        Troop 219 – Pioneer Campsite
                        Camp Tapico, BSA
                        2408 Camp Tapico Road NE
                        Kalkaska, MI. 49646-9582