By Kim Hilsenbeck

When Boy Scouts and their families from all around the Hays County area convened last week at Twilight Camp, they had four evenings of fun, special events, food and learning. The camp ran from 3-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday at Blanco Vista Elementary School just south of Kyle.

Program Director Paul Fidler said the summer camp is held in the evening rather than during the day to accommodate families.

“Many parents work,” he said, “and the evening camp works better.”

The scouts hailed from Buda, Kyle, Dripping Springs, Wimberley and other areas of the county. Fidler said they are part of the Sacred Springs District.

What happens at Twilight Camp?

“It’s an opportunity to get activities they don’t normally get during their school year,” Fidler said. “We do BB guns, archery and aquatics.”

The scouts had the chance to earn beltloops, a different one each night, for the various programs and projects.

They also ate dinner together and enjoyed various programs, activities and visitors.

This year’s camp included a Local Heroes Day, landscaping the Blanco Vista pool for a service project, canoe rides in the pool and special guests from the Comanche Nation.

On Wednesday evening, the scouts invited “local heroes” – area first responders from San Marcos Fire Department, Kyle Police Department and Austin Travis County StarFlight.

The heroes enjoyed a hot dog dinner. Afterward, two of the first responders who are themselves Eagle Scouts offered some words of advice for the campers.

Patrick Phillips, a member of StarFlight team, talked about the importance of service.

“One of the biggest things I learned in scouting was service,” he said. “That’s helped me a ton and probably led me into what I’m doing today.”