The Great Plains District just held their fall camporee at Lewis and Clark State Park. 4 troops attended. We had 42 registered attendees. What a great number.
The activities I organized for the scouts were to make kites, Paint posts for the park, explod eggs with bb-guns, and set fires using flint and steel.
of course there was a whole lot of normal troop things happening. like cooking and yelling and capture the flag and some strange stick/gun/war game which they didn't have a name for but i'm blaming on video games. I am saying it's the video games because they made more reloading movements and weapon changing movements than i did as a kid. I'm not a big gun enthusiast but i honestly thought reloading just meant pointing the gun away from the target and pulling the trigger.
i am pretty sure no one really fell asleep till after midnight. and one of the troops left a lantern on all night, or at least i think it was all night, it was on when i feel asleep and on when i woke up. sure i fell asleep early and woke up after some of the older fellows but still that lantern was on.
no one died or was injured during our camporee (actually i think one scout twisted an ankle but it was minor and his mom was one of the leaders she wasn't worried about him and i saw him running around afterward as well). we did lose two troops on saturday after lunch though. i supose they were just anxious to start the activities again and so they did. but they didnt tell me or anyone else. it was odd. but it all worked out in the end.
some pointers for future camp organizers:
1 prepare:
bring extra glue and supplies.
a map of the area with designated activity spots for easy communication.
volunteers should know what they are doing. have a "staff training day" spend the time to walk through each event with the volunteer.
an accurate schedule, pick a clock time set it and make sure people understand the rotation scheme.
show up early and set up props and such to set the stage or theme of the event.
2 get help:
i bit off more than i could chew. don't do that to your self.
get people to help.
every event needs a volunteer heading it up.
every activity of the event need volunteers helping at it.
3 get the word out:
advertise effectivly.
preregistration is a great idea but 3 out of 4 troops didn't do it.
and dont forget to brag about it afterward.
call the paper, or bring a person who will be photographing everything.
yeah i had fun. Vanessa went camping with me too.
