The Achpin Society

I am in the process of organizing a new group. The exact nature of the group remains to be seen, but it will mot likely be a non-profit organization.

The group will be called the Achpin Society.

I see this group as having a few main purposes:

1. Recognize and provide a means of contact between individuals who have worked at Pipsico Scout Reservation.
2. Provide camperships to Scouts who might otherwise not be able to attend summer camp at Camp Lions.
3. Work with experienced camp staff  to establish long-term camp improvement goals, to be presented to Tidewater Council and independently financed by the Society.
4. Develop a network of individuals, companies, and organizations which are willing to provide aid to the camp in the form of volunteer time, goods, services, or financial support.

The Achpin Society takes its name from the Lenni-Lenape verb for, “the state of being at home.” I feel this is an appropriate word to use as so many campers, staff, and volunteers consider Pipsico Scout Reservation, and Camp Lions in particular, a second home. I chose to use a word from the Lenape language because so many of the committed camp staff are members of the Order of the Arrow, which takes many of its legends and titles from the same language.

This project will take many months to iron out, especially as my teaching job takes most of my time and I am also working on an official Council project for Pipsico Scout Reservation.

That brings up an important point:
The Achpin Society is, both in its present conceptual state and for the future, an independent organization. We exist to promote and support Pipsico Scout Reservation and many of the members are current or former staff, but we are not in any way affiliated with Tidewater Council or the Boy Scouts of America.

-Otto

The Lure of Silly Sci-Fi

I spent much of last summer watching Andromeda. A friend gave me his collection and I could not resist watching one episode after another. Since my job as Handicraft Director had very clear beginning and ending times, I would slip into my room and watch a few episodes while other friends were working in their areas, or while everyone was playing the 10,000th round of Super Smash Brothers (in my circle of friends, I only bother playing against a couple of people, since the others are masters of the smash).

Now I find myself a little low on sci-fi to watch while I plan lessons.

I have seen all of Andromeda. All of SG-1. Netflix is currently out of stock in Farscape season 1 and they can’t deliver Stargate: Atlantis discs fast enough. My Firefly discs sit on the shelf… I love that show too much to watch it much more, because I don’t want to kill it. (I have seen every episode at least three times, many of them 5 or more).

The last couple weeks I have found myself re-watching especially good episodes of SG-1 and tentatively restarting Andromeda. the problem with this is that I have been watching SG-1 off and on for about four years, and have already seen every episode. As much as I love that show, absorbing 10 years of episodes in only 4 years (most of them in the last year) approaches the SG saturation point. And Andromeda is a problem because as fun as it can be, the series suffered from a woefully inconsistent level of quality, not to mention at least two major identity crises.

Enough. Time to get back to work.
-Otto