Spring Camporee May 13, 14 &15, 2005
Last weekend 11 Scouts and 4 adult Scouters from Troop 406 enjoyed the Spring Camporee held on the grounds of the Norristown Farm Park. Once an active farm operated by and for the benefit of the more capable patients of the Norristown State Hospital. Now most of the land has been turned into a really nice State Park. The tillable lands are still worked but not by patients but by contract farmers using modern farming methods. While the park is not open to general camping some of the grounds were opened to allow the Boy Scouts to hold their Spring Camporee. The theme was Retro Scouting. This included games, required activities for rank advancement and merit badges no longer available. Here is a run down of the activity stations that the scouts competed in. Semaphoring, Wig-Wag, Morse Code at one station, Pioneering (Troop 406) including rope making and knot knowledge, Public Health, utensiless cooking, stickball tournament, Dairying Merit Badge, Stalking, Trail Marking and a Retro Campsite.
Friday night found the Troop 406 Scouts setting up camp, making and enjoying a fantastic chicken dinner from Mrs. Motsek (Thank you!). This was followed by some rank advancement work, Scoutmaster Conferences and Merit Badge work. By lights out the evening turned quite chilly.
Saturday morning the campers awoke to the sounds of Matt playing Reverie on his bugle. It was a chilly morning but it didn’t take long for the sun to warm the air and create a beautiful spring day. This was a far cry from the forecasted rain. The Scouts enjoyed scrambled eggs, fruit and Troop 406 Donuts (Thank you Mr. Fryer). Then it was off to set up our Pioneering station at one of the picnic pavilions. Our SPL, Colin, and acting ASPL David volunteered to man the station through out the day with the direction of Mr. Drehobl and Mr. Pound. This allowed the 9 younger Scouts to form two patrols to compete and enjoy the various stations.
The Patrols experienced Dairying by milking “Betsy” the plywood cow, sneaking up on a blindfolded Scout at the Stalking station and why Public Health used to be a required merit badge for Eagle. Other fun events were cooking Bisquik on a stick, ears of corn in the fire, cooking eggs in orange peels and boiling water in paper cups, all part of utensiless cooking, all this and no cleanup, the ideal Scout meal! The retro Scout camp featured three different “official” BSA tents from thirty years ago, none with a floor, imagine that. There were also displays of old Scout handbooks, uniforms, backpacks etc. The trail marking was done in an instructional session and then a short “marked” hike through the woods.
The lunch break was scheduled at Noon until 1:30 when stations would resume. Our Troop headed back to camp for lunch. Each Scout made individual hoagies or sandwiches to their own taste inhaled large quantities of chips and pickles, water and cookies. Some relaxed some played football until it was time to resume.
The Signaling station was ¼ miles hike up the hill and it was located in a nice shady area. The first part of the station was a brief demonstration of Wigwag flagging, Semaphore flagging and blinker light signaling. The scouts then had the opportunity to try each. The second part of the station was a Morse code demonstration and hands on keying their names in Morse. That leaves the stickball tournament. Each of the eleven troop’s patrols was asked to schedule a time for their first game. The winners of each of the first games would move up until there was a “Grand Winner”. One Scout asked if Stickball was the father of Baseball, he was told it was more like the grandfather. Troop 406 finished third out of the eleven, Good showing Scouts!
The assigned cooks made a tasty Dutch oven dish pizza. One oven was with Pepperoni, one plain. The upper and lower crusts were made from crescent rolls with sauce and browned ground beef, plus two cheeses in between, yummy! There were no leftovers. To help fill any voids in the bellies there was a side dish of cheesy rice, fruit, milk and cookies. While cooking dinner the elusive bacon intended for breakfast was found nestled between two packages of ground beef. Maybe we’ll have bacon next time.
As the evening progressed the skies clouded and it looked like rain was imminent threatening the campfire activity. The rains held off and at dusk the Order of the Arrow torched the campfire and began their “Call-out” Ceremony for the newly elected Ordeal candidates. Troop 406 had three candidate’s names called, David M., Andy H. and Scoutmaster, Mr. Houseal. Once all new OA members were assembled they were lead by the Tribesmen to a meeting quiet meeting place. At this time the fireworks display began. Fireworks are a new feature not likely to happen at another OA campfire for sometime. It so happened that the local township was having a community day ending in fireworks that were less than ½ mile from the Camporee and were easily viewable for all to see. As the night turned dark the Scouts of 406 played a couple of brief games of Capture the Flag. The games were more of a test of the 12 points of the Scout Law, big on testing “Friendly” and “Cheerful”. After an hour or so of quieting time the Lights Out call was welcomed by the tired Scouts. The rains held off until everyone was nestled in their sleeping bags and the pitter-patter put anyone still awake to sleep in short order.
Sunday morning the Troop awoke to the Bugler’s tune and sunny skies once again. Breakfast was cereal, milk, OJ and fruit, bananas were the big sellers this weekend. Camp was broken, trailer packed followed by a Scout’s Own service. Grounds were policed and it was on the road again. The Troop arrived right on the scheduled target time of 11:00 AM at Grace Lutheran. Unbelievably the trailer parking spot was open despite a large crowd at the church. This was a first!
Next up Daniel Boone Patriot Days, June 10, 11 & 12, don’t miss out on the fun!
Mr. Houseal, Scoutmaster Troop 406