2017 Frontier District Camporee - This weekend was the Frontier District Camporee and everyone in attendance had a great time. Troop 376 had about 25 people in attendance and starting on Friday evening, going all the way through Sunday morning the camporee was action packed with service projects, games, opening and closing ceremonies, a dessert competition, and movie night.
Our scouts were engaged and quite helpful no matter where we were in the schedule for the weekend.
Service Projects - the scouts worked with the Audubon Society to put up a number of bird houses. The scouts were treated to a fine interactive exhibit brought by the Audubon Society that featured an owl (not alive), various bird exhibits, and they looked at various bird skeleton parts. This was a true learning moment.
The scouts also worked with the Butterfly Pavillion to put together "seed bombs" and prepare the area of the field where hopefully there will be plenty of wild flowers next summer which will grow and flower as the result of the deployment of the seed bombs. Our scouts had a great time preparing the soil, preparing the seed bombs, and of course, deploying them. Next spring and summer is much anticipated for the new flowers to attract butterflies as they migrate through the state. This too was a true learning moment (or couple of hours).
Color Guard - Our scouts were tasked with presenting our National Colors on Friday evening during the Opening Ceremonies, and retrieving our colors on Sunday morning. They did another great job, and rather than a learning moment for our color guard it was more of a teaching moment for them. They modeled behaviour that would make any Boy Scout proud. They treated our colors with respect, they executed the presentation and retrieval with excellence, and they showed the other troops and packs in attendance how this type of activity was to be done. Additionally, they took personal responsibility and initiative with anything to do with the flags. They put them together when needed, and put them away when we were done.
Archery was one of the fun activities in which the scouts were able to participate. Dodgeball and basketball were also available for the scouts to blow off some steam.
On Sunday morning, one of our scouts led the Camporee in a "Scouts Own". This is a service generally on Sunday morning that is intended to focus the scouting family's attention on the magnificence of nature and of a Higher Being who loves us. This brief reflection is helpful over time to help the scouts identify very personal feelings about their environment, their religion, and life in general.
Our scouts also participated in the dessert competition on Saturday evening. As it turns out Troop 376 took first place in the Boy Scout division of the competition. The boys did a great job making a peach dish, and the judges were unanimous. Congratulations to the entire team!
In Scouting, everything has a meaning and a reason for being done. And the formula works very well. Each patch, on the uniform has a meaning. And everything on the uniform has been earned. Nothing is handed to the scout, or done for them, because that interrupts the learning process which is the foundation of the Scouting program.
Another teaching moment about this weekend follows and is aimed at our parents who go on campouts with the scouts. While well meaning, it does no good for adults who already know how to plan a menu, how to shop, and how to cook, to do all these things for the scouts. In the past, our troop has stuck to having the adults plan and cook their meal. And the patrols organize and cook their meals. The idea behind this was to have the adults model the behavior that food on campouts can be delicious and nutritious. If the boys do not plan well, they do not eat well. Basically, they are allowed to fail in a safe environment. If the boys only plan bacon for the weekend - they only eat bacon. Yeah, we know it's not healthy, but it will be also the last time the boys only plan bacon for the weekend. Many times we had scouts come over to find out what the adults were eating, which always looked better than what they were eating. So they had to fix whatever they brought. No matter how awful. If they continue to rely on adults to do things as they did in cub scouts, the boy scouts will not grow and learn how to do things. There is a reason cooking is a required skill that each scout needs to learn to earn first class rank. There is a reason cooking is an Eagle required merit badge. Cooking (and the other Eagle required merit badges) are life skills that need to be learned to earn.
Unfortunately, this weekend, as fun as it was, one of our scouts was cheated out of a first class cooking requirement completion. The adults on the campout had brought too much of each ingredient for just the adult consumption. Instead of not cooking everything, or taking left overs home, or simply sumping the remains on site, the well meaning adults decided to feed the scouts as well. So, this scout, who was prepared to complete his first class cooking requirement, didn't get that chance. And as it turns out, there is not another camping trip planned until February. Which means, without some creative problem solving, the scout will miss ANOTHER court of honor without earning his first class rank. That's a pretty steep price for the privilege of eating a meal made by someone else who doesn't need the practice.
We will be setting about how to construct something the scout can do that meets the spirit of the requirement without having to wait until February. When he goes on future camp outs he can take charge of the scout side cooking and complete not only the spirit of the requirement but also the letter of the requirement.
Some may be wondering why our troop insists on going camping starting on Friday and coming home Sunday. One night of camping kind of looks like it would be just as good as 2 nights of camping per camp out. Well, the Order of the Arrow opportunity requires 15 tent camping nights over two years. If the troop only camps one night per month, a scout would need to go to almost every camping outing to meet the requirement. So...if the troop offers the opportunity to go camping 2 nights every month plus one week of one summer camp, many scouts would be able to pick up their eligibility required nights with ease.
The weather this weekend was perfect for a Camporee campout, and everyone had a great time with the service projects and planned activities.
It was a good weekend.
