2004/2005 Campouts: Dec. 27-28, 2004   April 8-10, 2005
   Campouts are a big part of the scouting experience; for our Cub Scouts, camping means the Parent/Son Weekend at Camp Seminole, held each fall and each spring.

  The usual format is for the scouts to gather and set up in our assigned campground (usually Apache) at Camp Seminole.  In the past couple of years, we've taken to going out to set up on Friday night, so all day Saturday can be be spent doing "scout stuff".  Registration starts mid-morning, and the events begin at noon. The usual roster of events has the afternoon broken down into 45 minute segments, each occupied by either the obstacle course, archery range, rifle range (air guns), handicrafts, canoeing, or one of the other events.  The afternoon is sort of self-directed, and scouts can participate in as much or as little as they wish, though most scouts try hard to miss nothing!

   Saturday evening dinner is served in the Mess Hall, and it's always wonderful. Nobody leaves hungry!  After a short break, the scouts gather at the Council Ring near the lake, and the evening's program starts.  Skits, songs, special guests, bonfires, and other treats keep the scouts' full attention.  Once the Council Ring is over, scouts head back to camp for snacks, campfires, toasted marshmallows, ghost stories, or whatever else their adult leaders can cook up after a day full of activities.  (Hopefully sleep works itself into the schedule before late.)

   Sunday morning the Mess Hall serves up a fabulous breakfast, with coffee and hot chocolate for the early arrivals.  After breakfast there is a church service in the quiet, open air chapel by the lake.  After chapel, the scouts get busy striking camp.  There's usually a rappelling demonstration at the drill field the scouts can watch (only adults/Boy Scouts are allowed on the tower, no Cubs).  Each campout we manage to get a parent or two up the tower for the first time.  It's only 40' tall, and it's a sure cure for a sluggish blood flow!
Spring, 2005  Rain earlier in the week made the camp sort of muddy, but fun was had by all.  Lots of food, events, and home made ice cream on Friday night helped make it great!
Spring, 2004  Pack 27 hosted the Council Ring and the events at the campout. The theme was "Traditions Of Scouting", and featured the traditional younger boy events, a traditional Council Ring, and traditional skills for the Webelos.  The link on the date has lots of cool photos courtesy of Tiger Leader Terry Coggins.
October, 2003  Pack 27 had about a full third of the 300+ scouts who registered for this campout. Good weather, except for a little rain on Saturday night.  A good time was had by all.
April 26, 27 2003 This spring's campout was a blast!  While Pack 27 had the most attendees to the campout, barely 120 scouts registered for the campout, making it one of the lowest attended campouts in the last four years.  This, of course, is a good thing for those who attend!  Almost no lines, not even at chow time.  Plenty of food for seconds, too.  No lines at archery or the rifle range.  The Webelos did something a little different this time, as they fished Saturday morning and then hiked the whole Nature Trail Saturday afternoon. It's over 3 miles, and there's more to it than a 'hike in the woods'.  Saturday night's Council Ring finished up with a special event, as the old Camp Seminole U.S. flag was retired during a solemn ceremony.  The flag was divided into sections, and all those attending the Council Ring had the opportunity to pass by the bonfires, and contribute a bit of the old flag to it's retirement.  Sunday breakfast was especially good, and the weekend finished while watching Boy Scouts and Cub Leaders (even Cubmaster Perry) rappel down the 40' rappelling tower at the COPE course.  A good time was had by all.......... as usual!
  April 20 and 21, 2002  Spring campouts always have a lower attendance than the fall campouts (conflict with baseball, soccer, etc.), and this was no exception.  Just over 160 scouts registered for this event, but the lower numbers made it just right for those of us who were there!  Most of Pack 27 made the Apache campsite Friday evening, and spent Friday night setting up, visiting, and the scouts played games in the mess hall (ask them about the Noodle Race).  Saturday saw the usual lineup of activities, with one new one: Pet Care.  Some School students taught the scouts about caring for pets.  They had a dwarf rabbit and a box full of kittens, as well as an African Bald Python (just a short one).

Pack 27 led the Council Ring again, with Cubmaster Perry leading the whole crowd in the "Alphabet Cheer".  We sang "Home, Home At The Camp" and "Bird On A String", and saw several great skits.  The Tigers did a reprise of last fall's "My Bunny Lies Over The Ocean", and added a rendition of "Under The Spreading Chestnut Tree", complete with hand movements for the crowd.  The Bears did the "Olympic Blanket Tossing Team" skit, with the crowd chanting "Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!" in the background.  Bruce did set a new world record that night!  Four scouts (two Tigers, one Bear, and one Webelo) opened the Council Ring with the presentation of the colors, and Cubmaster Perry closed the Ring with the "Cub Scout Parent's Prayer". 

    Food, as always, was GREAT!  Mister Ranger Sir Young Kerby always does a great job of organizing the food preparation, and the huge hamburgers Saturday and the round bacon Sunday morning was delicious.  Miss Frances (aka Frances Wells, Pack 11 Head Mistress) did up the baked beans for Saturday in her inimitable way, with lots of brown sugar and bacon.  Speaking of Mister Ranger Sir Kerby, the camp grounds looked wonderful.  The grass was all neatly trimmed, and each campsite is gaining numbers sites within each site.  You can sure tell lots of hours were put into preparing for our arrival! 
    October 27 and 28, 2001 was the coldest scout campout I've ever had the  pleasure of attending. A full campground enjoyed sub-zero temperatures Saturday night, after having a great Council Ring campfire hosted by none other than........... Pack 27!! All scouts attending earned the Polar Bear Badge, and scouts in Pack 27 received a special commemorative Polar Bear badge which will be presented at the Blue and Gold Banquet in February. Luckily the water was off most of the time on the obstacle course, since Saturday's temperatures were not agreeable to wet clothes. Each den performed a skit Saturday night. The Tigers did a particularly great version of "My Bunny Lies Over The Ocean", complete with hand gestures, and the Bears presented a skit  called "The Ugliest Man In The World".
  April 7,8 of 2001 was another Parent/Son Campout. What a great weekend! Apparently the Palm Sunday conflict as well as it having rained heavily the prior week kept the attendance down to about 200, which made for a great campout for those who came! Lines at the mess hall were either short or non-existent. Several Boy Scouts were on hand to help with tent assembly, the Council Ring activities, mess hall, and whatever else needed to be done. The weather was absolutely perfect. The only drawback was the obstacle course, which could have been renamed Mud Alley. A few scouts turned up the water as high as it would go on the overhand ladder (the first stage of the course), and made a real event out of mud diving in the pool that collected beneath the ladder. The Museum has a lot of new entries, and there was a contest. If you answered all eight of the questions (and you didn't have to answer correctly), you got a new patch from some past event to add to your scout patch collection. The museum even has its own cool patch now. 

    Mr. Bear (Museum Curator) spent the entire weekend making the museum available, answering questions, and just generally giving scouts a view to the past. What a tremendous effort has been made toward making the museum what it is. There's even an old Pinewood Derby track hanging up in the rafters. For those of you who aren't familiar with the images on the patch, they represent the Pushmataha Council. The legend has it that Pushmataha, the great Indian warrior and general, was created when a bolt of lightning struck a mighty oak, and Pushmataha, fully grown and prepared for battle, stepped from the split in the tree. The fleur de lis, of course, is an internationally known symbol of scouting.

    Fall, 2000 Parent/Son Weekend Our Parent/Son Weekends are great times for our Cub Scouts; crafts, obstacle courses, council rings, meals in the mess hall, sleeping in tents, canoe rides, and lots more make the time pass more quickly than we wish it would. The photos in the link show some of the good times we had at this campout. This weekend of camping drew over 700 participants (that includes parents as well as scouts). It as a great time, with good weather, good food, and great events. Archery, air rifles, obstacle course, handicrafts (beadwork), canoeing, and other activities kept everyone busy the whole weekend. I don't want to leave out the Council Ring Saturday night, of course!