One troop plans and coordinates the weekend activities and this year Boy Scout Troop 183 from Noblesville coordinated the weekend. This was the first Boy Scout Camporee I attended. (I told my husband after volunteering for Girl Scout meetings and camping trips with our daughter, that Boy Scouts would be his turn.) We were lucky that for our first family Winter Camporee, the hosting troop stays in cabins... everyone else was outside in tents. Yes, it was cold and yes, they were in tents! However, the Boy Scout motto is "be prepared" and that was clear throughout the weekend.
Some of the skills the boys competed in were starting a fire (remember, it was about 20 +/- degrees outside), tying knots and an exercise where the patrol leader, with limited site range, must follow compass instructions while his patrol is following. The tricky part was that the patrol was wearing goggles with white paint to simulate a blizzard situation and could not see anything. I heard that station had the most interesting results. The patrols received scores based on level of skills demonstrated, leadership shown by patrol leader and ability to work as a team.
Saturday evening finished with skits from various troops and was very entertaining. The skills they all learned this weekend were fantastic. For many boys, it pushes them outside of their comfort zones to speak in front of others and into leadership roles. I loved the fact that over 350 boys were outside Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning. If you have boys, you know it can be difficult to limit screen and video game time so a weekend without it, is golden from a Mom's perspective. I think it was a great opportunity for the boys and adults to detox from electronics and reconnect outside with friends.
I have been impressed with the Boy Scout program from the beginning. Of course I love the emphasis on nature and educational exposure (last year my son achieved the Aviation Merit Badge, pretty cool). However, I believe the most important skill they will learn is to push them as a leader. I see the maturity and leadership modeled in the older scouts and I am excited to watch my boys develop those same leadership qualities. However, the memories of having fun with friends will be what they remember the most (and after this weekend, possibly the mental picture of Mom with a hair net working in the kitchen cutting potatoes for over 500 boys and parents.) It was a great family weekend and I encourage families with boys, to consider Scouts and if you are in Noblesville... come visit Troop 183 or find one of the other many great troops. We meet at 7pm on Monday nights at St. Michael's Episcopal Church at the South Harbour neighborhood entrance.
1 comment:
Sounds like fun!
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