“Once you get the dust of Horseshoe in your moccasins, you can never get it out.”

HSRAA
A Proud Benefactor to HSR Since 2000.



Campwide Activities

“The echoes of beauty you’ve seen transpire, resound through dying coals of a campfire.”
Ernest Hemingway

On Sunday, Scouts get a taste of the wackiness of the staff by watching them sing, dance and skit down by the Octoraro Bend. Each Friday or Saturday, the camp convenes in Achgeketum Circle (built in 1988) to recognize the accomplishments of the Scouts and also to perform a Native-American pageant for the parents who visit the camp.

A closing campfire pageant at Camp Horseshoe.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening during a summer camp week, the camp turns into one big game as Scouts scavenge, hunt, perform, run, tackle, jump and a host of other verbs in their quest to be the top patrol or troop that night.

Horseshoe campers wait at the flapoles for the campwide game to start.

From Boomtown to Staff Hunt, great things happen with a little darkness and some staff ingenuity. 

A prop for a Camp Ware campwide game.

Mark Hammond recalls, “Camp doesn’t do the Thursday night cookouts anymore, but from at least 1979 and much earlier I suspect, every Thursday dinner was outside. It was still prepared by the kitchen, but served by the rest of the staff. For a long time, it was a strict rotation of Mexican fiesta (Tacos) and Hawaiian Luau (ham and pineapple). The troops were encourage to return to their camp sites, dress up in Mexican/Hawaiian garb, and then return for the cookout. I remember them generally being in campcraft and the Picnic Grove.  Camp stopped doing it when they made Thursdays mandatory outpost days. From 1988 until it ended, the menu and theme varied widely (including pizzas on one occasion, hot dogs and/or hamburgers frequently).”

Staff serve food at the White House during one of the 1980s Luaus.

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Last updated November 4, 2025

© Horseshoe Scout Reservation Alumni Association 2025

Campwide Activities

“The echoes of beauty you’ve seen transpire, resound through dying coals of a campfire.”
Ernest Hemingway

On Sunday, Scouts get a taste of the wackiness of the staff by watching them sing, dance and skit down by the Octoraro Bend. Each Friday or Saturday, the camp convenes in Achgeketum Circle (built in 1988) to recognize the accomplishments of the Scouts and also to perform a Native-American pageant for the parents who visit the camp.

A closing campfire pageant at Camp Horseshoe.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening during a summer camp week, the camp turns into one big game as Scouts scavenge, hunt, perform, run, tackle, jump and a host of other verbs in their quest to be the top patrol or troop that night.

Horseshoe campers wait at the flapoles for the campwide game to start.

From Boomtown to Staff Hunt, great things happen with a little darkness and some staff ingenuity. 

A prop for a Camp Ware campwide game.

Mark Hammond recalls, “Camp doesn’t do the Thursday night cookouts anymore, but from at least 1979 and much earlier I suspect, every Thursday dinner was outside. It was still prepared by the kitchen, but served by the rest of the staff. For a long time, it was a strict rotation of Mexican fiesta (Tacos) and Hawaiian Luau (ham and pineapple). The troops were encourage to return to their camp sites, dress up in Mexican/Hawaiian garb, and then return for the cookout. I remember them generally being in campcraft and the Picnic Grove.  Camp stopped doing it when they made Thursdays mandatory outpost days. From 1988 until it ended, the menu and theme varied widely (including pizzas on one occasion, hot dogs and/or hamburgers frequently).”

Staff serve food at the White House during one of the 1980s Luaus.

Follow us on social media

Last updated November 4, 2025

© Horseshoe Scout Reservation Alumni Association 2025