Troop 1131 at Raven Knob Scout Camp 2008

Troop 1131, Report 4

Thursday, 7/3/08

We enjoyed a terrific campfire program last night. The staff started with a take-off on "American Idol."
One of the staffers plays an Australian dirigido. An older fellow read the traditional "Ragged Old Flag,"
and we ended the first part of the campfire program with a song called "America," not Irving Berlin's, but very patriotic. Veterans from the audience were called out to be recognized. The Order of the Arrow took over with Indian dancing and Singing and drumming. Scouts who are taking the Indian Lore merit badge joined the costumed dancers for one of the performances. The OA Call-Out ceremony at Raven Knob remains one of the best that I have ever seen. Scouts dressed as Indians shoot flaming arrows into the lake to signal the war canoes to come to shore. The canoes have red flares, and another Indian swam out to an island with a torch to light other fires and an Order of the Arrow frame. Our scouts were really impressed with the performance.

Our Taco Bar was a great success yesterday. Ian VanArsde l helped two of our first year scouts, Tyler Chandler and Andrew McNutt, prepare the food and cook the beef in Dutch ovens. Other scouts helped cut tomatoes, lettuce and onions. We had salsa, sour cream, and cheese to top the hard or soft shell meal. For desert, Allan Marteney cut up two watermelons that we had with Oreo cookies and "bug" juice. Attached are a couple of our cooking images: the Taco Bar and the Brian Hess at the pizza aluminum foil oven.

The troop woke a little earlier, 6:15 a.m., and quite a few of our scouts got into bathing suits for the "Polar Bear" swim. Other scouts straggled out of bed, and a few of the stragglers had only a few minutes in the water. The boys enjoyed jumping off the tower on the raft. I've attached a photo of Joey Kern in mid air with his "thumbs-up."

Today we will have our troop rifle shoot after lunch, and our own campfire in our campsite. The snack back in our campsite is will include my incredible Black Forest cobbler and ice cream. The sky has been clear at night, and the stars have been amazing. I have been hoping to show the scouts some constellations, but by taps, most of the younger boys are exhausted and asleep.

Philip Sternberg
Scoutmaster, T-1131