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Troop 521 went to Boxwell Scout
Reservation for its 12th year in 2007. As we
have always done, everyone carried their personal gear on their backs to
camp. It sure felt good to get set up and settled in. |
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| The first couple of
days were very hot. Hydration was a challenge but not a problem.
Everyone spent their days either in COPE or merit badge classes.
The Pit Bull patrol also earned their Totin' Chips. |
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| By the middle of the
week, a cold front had moved through. We got some rain during the
night and then cooler temperatures. One night it actually felt
cold enough to crawl under the covers to sleep. |
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An important task for adults is
making sure they are well rested so that they can work with the Scouts
while they are in camp. Shortly after taking
these photos, the Scoutmaster took his afternoon nap. |
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| Two of the senior
Scouts spent their week going through the Basic COPE course. It
was hard work, especially in the heat, but at the end of the week they
got their graduation certificates to go with the blisters. |
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| Water Carnival was a
lot of fun. We were one of only two troops participating in all 3
events. We spent about 1/2 the week building our boat around a
large block of Styrofoam that we found in the campsite. We even
made paddles using the axe yard, duct tape, and parachute cord.
Finally, it was the day of Water Carnival. We carried our boat to
the Stahlman waterfront and got ready. The first event was a
greased watermelon capture. We didn't get a watermelon but we got
very very close. Then it was the swim relay. A scout had to
swim, holding a peanut butter sandwich, out to the dock.
Unfortunately, the sandwich took a dip in the lake. This became
much more of a problem when another of our guys had to eat the sandwich.
He managed to do it and then had to swim to shore to give the
Scoutmaster a well shaken-up can of root beer. The Scoutmaster
chugged the root beer and fortunately there wasn't much left when he
turned the can upside down on his head!
Finally it was time for the boat race. Once launched, both boats
immediately sank below the level of the lake. Paddling was a
challenge. Eventually, the only thing to do was slip legs into the
water and kick to propel the boats. We lost the race, but not by
much. This was the best overall showing that Troop 521 has ever
made in the Water Carnival. Our conclusion, next year "we'll be
back." |
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| With plans for next
year's boat already under discussion, it was Saturday and time to pack
up to go home. We'd packed up our gear the night before and needed
only pack up the cots and mattresses and load up our gear to go home.
Once loaded, we stopped for a final breakfast at the
Stahlman dining hall and headed home. |
