On Friday at 4:45pm 43 Scouts and 9 Scouters headed down I-95 en route to Camp Wilson. After a quick stop for dinner most everyone made it to camp in a couple of hours. We checked in and set up camp in our usual spot. Senior patrol leader, patrol leaders and staff Scouts attended the PLC to pick up their scoring packets and schedules, give their patrol names and get a briefing. The Livid Lemons (a.k.a. Bulldogs), Big, Better, Best (a.k.a. Dragons), Lumpy Llamas (a.k.a. Lumberjacks), and Crazy Koalas (a.k.a. Yetis) were ready to get going in their newly handed out shirts.
After a cool night with a middle of the night serenade from a couple of very loud, very close owls, the Scouts were up at 7am. After a quick breakfast, everyone headed for the main field for the opening ceremony. Luke Felix represented the us by carrying the troop flag in the ceremony. A few more instructions from the event leaders and the competitions began. 32 patrols in total competed in 10 events. The patrols competed in 5 events in the morning including the Obstacle Course, Fire-building Race, Canteen Pour and many others. After a hot dog lunch and short rest, the patrols were back at it for the 5 afternoon events. None of the 32 patrols were able to complete the task of building a fire, boiling water and cooking pasta for the Fire-building Race. Our staff Scouts helped out with the Obstacle Course. The weather was perfect for the day's competition.
After the 10 events, it was time for the Scoutmaster Chariot race, a favorite for all troops. Significant rain on Friday created a HUGE puddle in the middle of the field. Unfortunately, our troop was assigned the lane with the puddle. The Scouts quickly lashed their "chariot" and Mr. Forrer bravely climbed in. The Scouts began running down the field and were in the lead when they came upon the puddle. They were outmatched by the puddle and went down with a very soggy thump. Luckily no one was injured, but we lost the heat and were eliminated from the competition.
The grub masters prepared dinners of toxic mac-n-cheese (which ended up being sandwiches), burritos, walking tacos and teriyaki chicken with tomato soup. For dessert, there were s'mores and 2 delicious dutch oven apple pies.
At the evening campfire, new Scouts Cole Brownson and Alexander Mallus represented our troop in the solemn flag retirement ceremony. Both did an excellent job. Our troop performed the Shady Realtor skit again this year and again it received the most laughs. As the time for the overall awards drew near, the anticipation grew. The highest finish for our troop was the Lumpy Llamas patrol in tenth place. Although we didn't do as well as last year, the Scouts worked well together and we all got to know the new Scouts better.
Saturday night was a bit chillier. There were no owls, but lots of wind and rain. We awoke Sunday before 7am and immediately started breaking down camp. Everything was mostly packed up by 7:30am (a new record!) and the grub masters were busy cooking eggs, pancakes and sausage. After breakfast, it was KP for the troop gear and an efficient police line to pick up trash. After Roses, Buds, and Thorns and a few announcements, the Scouts were dismissed and another Projectoree was in the books! The Scouts did a great job this year and with lots of room for improvement, are looking forward to next year's competition.
Check out the photos over here.