Boy Scout Troop wants to go to airventure 2014--got some questions

[wonka]

I'm an EAA member and have been to Oshkosh for many years, usually taking some of my children with. My son's boy scout troop may want to visit next summer...I'm looking for some answers on how that could work:

What would the cost be per boy, per adult and per campsite, for our troop to camp. Would we all get member rates? Could they boys and adults get member rates through my EAA membership?

I would presume that EAA would want to encourage a troop of boy scouts to come to airventure as it might light the fires of aviation interest in these boys....I just need some info to pass along to the troop (and I need it by tomorrow afternoon).

Also, any ideas on special opportunities that the boys might be able to do at airventure? Does anyone help with the aviation merit badge during airventure?
thanks!

-Bob Brown
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 575, Winfield, IL

[FlyingRon]

I believe that the EAA only requires a single camper in each site to be a member. Of course you'll probably need to mark out several sites (you can get a second tent credential for a single site). Our EAA chapter has been coming up and marking out about taking about ten campsites for years. You might contact the folks at the musuem (if they haven't all been laid off yet), they appear to have an aviation merit badge program there http://www.airventuremuseum.org/educ...oy_scouts.html

There's a $18 daily / $60 weekly (this year) rate for Students (6-18). There is no requirement for EAA membership for that rate.

[rleffler]

As far as activites goes, there are a variety of hands on activities at Kid's Venture. For the older boys, they may be interested in some of the forum workshops.

I'm not aware of anyone working on MB specific activities during that week. If I were you, the easiest thing would be to sign up yourself or get one of the other adults attending to sign up. I used to do it, but when I got involved with the Explorer Post, I stopped doing merit badges. I'm sure that there may be other qualified MB counselors there, but finding them, and get approval to use one from outside your council may take some work on your part.

EAA states that you can have two tents per site, but if you've ever seen the South African's, they are more like 6-10 tents per site. Camp sites are $24/night per site. The open question is how many sites to get. The group that I've camped with has also purchased additional sites for a common area for cooking, socializing, eating, etc. You can get food from a local grocery store to keep costs down.

Ron documented the admission charges fo the boys. You are typically only allowed a couple guests on a single membership. So depending on how many adults you'll have, several of them may have to pay the full rate with the bonus of having an EAA membership paid for a year.

There are plenty of potential neat opportunities, but you'll have to spend time to coordinate them. You may be able to get some of the exhibiters to do special sessions for the troop as long as you can schedule it so it doesn't interfere with there sales/marketing schedule. You may also want to talk with the volunteer chairperson to find some volunteer opportunities that would appropriate for the ages of the boys in your troop. That way they can earn a t-shirt to take home.