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Written by Jason Kivlighn
What an exciting camporee we had! Our newly formed troop, Troop 1776, named for the day our great nation received its independence, has just come home from camporee after receiving two blue ribbons, one red ribbon and a yellow ribbon.
It was January 28, 2000 and about 1800 hours and we gathered at the Valley Christian School. The four of us scouts, Jason Kivlighn, Brian Kivlighn, Micah Olsen, and Sean Harris loaded our gear in the Trudeau’s van and headed off to Camp Perry, accompanied by two of our Assistant Scoutmasters, Bob Trudeau and Marcia Trudeau. We arrived at camp at around 18:30. After we arrived at camp we realized we didn't pack near enough clothes. The temperature was in the 40's and there was a wind chill below freezing. We then grabbed our gear and headed to our campsite, Armadillo. There we were met by a Mexican troop. We set up our tents and immediately built a fire. The fire was so small it provided no relief from the cold. It was about 2000 hours and camp was in order. At about that time we were met by one of our Assistant Scoutmasters, Randy Kivlighn and shortly after came Bobby Trudeau. Mr. Kivlighn stayed shortly and then left for home to take a nap and came back the next morning. Still on Friday, our Scoutmaster, Ray Gonzalez, joined us. He had come early because he was attending to his duties as Camporee Committee Chairman. We later met our former troop, Troop 132, in the campsite Javelina. We talked and wished each other good luck. we then went back to camp, huddled by the fire and later went to bed in our pup tents.
The next morning we awoke to the biting cold. Everyone complained of the cold which deprived them of their sleep but were still in high hopes, for the competition was about to begin. We awoke at 600 hours and immediately built a fire. Our cook, Jason Kivlighn and assistant cook, Micah Olsen, began to prepare breakfast. They quickly whipped up some French Toast and cooked it over the fire. After everyone ate we made some last minute adjustments and touchups to our campouts in preparation for campsite inspection. Now it was 900 hours and we marched off to flag ceremony. Finally, it was 1000 hours and we moved out to our first event, Scout Quiz. We aced the test. Unfortunately the man in charge made a mistake and let everyone use their handbooks. Later, that was fixed. On the next event, which was Pathfinder, we chose the correct stake, but that was only the beginning. Then on to Knot tying, We all got our knots right except Jason who couldn't tie a sheet bend. We figured we could have done better and are going to work a little harder next year. Then we marched on to First Aid. Micah was the dummy. He had fell in a danger zone, breaking his right arm and left leg, both bleeding profusely and even stopped bleeding and we quickly applied the proper first aid. Remember this was only the scenario given to us. We were told we were the first patrol who got all the points. After that was Woodlore. We easily identified nine of the ten plants. After that it was time for lunch. We hosted the boys from ROTC with a lunch of Cheetos, Ruffles Potato Chips, ham and cheese sandwiches, oranges and kool-aid. After that we went back to the competition and next was fire building which was run by two of our leader Mr. and Mrs. Trudeau. The goal was to light a fire to boil water which would soak a spaghetti noodle. With that noodle you would have to tie it into an overhand knot to complete the event. We easily got the fire lit and soon the water boiling using a bird's nest, charcloth and flint and steel. When we thought the noodle was ready we quickly took the bucket of water and poured out the water and noodles which were in it. The noodles hadn't soaked enough and broke when we tied them. Now all the water was gone and we had lost hope. But wait! There was a noodle which had stuck to the bottom of the bucket! And there was just enough water to soak it in. We quickly boiled the little water left and got the knot tied. We tied the knot second. Then we went to Tent Pitching. That was a breeze. Next was pioneering. We had fourteen wooden poles to build anything we wanted. We build a table but it wasn't a very good one. It didn't even stand up. Next year I think we'll take more time to think of something original and creative. Our last event was Physical Fitness led by Mr. Kivlighn. Earlier in the week some of us went out to camp and built an obstacle course. We put up two 7-foot walls decorated with a minuteman and our troop number. They also put up the rest of the obstacles. This event was probably everyone's favorite. It was funny to see some of the scouts in other troops struggle over the wall but we quickly overcame it and went on to the log drag. We tied a timberhitch to it and pulled. It immediately came undone. We tied it back and it again came undone. This happened about four times. Finally we drug it to the finish line and started to the canoe carry. This we went through swiftly. After that was the one-man carry. Jason first hoped on Brian's back and Micah on Sean's through the tires. Then we ran full speed to the flag post where we posted our flag finishing the race. Competition was over! We messed around at camp, had dinner of sloppy joes cooked by Brian and Jason, and collected wood from the fire building event site. Then we went to the closing. It was the moment we had been waiting for. The first event we placed in was Pathfinder from which we got third. When we were about to think we didn't get a single first place we got first place in First Aid and then first in Woodlore! It was a close match. When came time to give our ribbons for overall scores Mr. Gonzalez said Troop 176 instead of 1776! We didn't know this at the time. We were afraid we didn't even place in this at all. Later on the night, though, we were told that there was a mistake and we got a red ribbon, which was second overall! There it was announced that it was a chilling 38 degrees and we would get our polar bear patches with the added in wind chill. Boy was it COLD!! We immediately built a bonfire and drank hot cocoa. This warmed us up. We were visited by two fellow scouts, Derek and Clay, from Troop 132 and they were goofing off and broke the pole of a pup tent. These were good scouts though and paid for it. Shortly after we all bundled into our sleeping bags and went to bed.
We awoke the next morning and made breakfast of tortillas or "Torqs" as we called them. After the Sunday Worship Service, we loaded our gear, took down the obstacle course and set off for home all ready for nice hot showers.
I think we did awesome, being our first Camporee of our new troop. We look forward to next year and next year we will strive to do even better.