Scouts go for a spin with "Wild Wacky Wonderful Wheels" week By ROGER BROW Special to the Blade-News
More than 170 boys and a few girls from several local districts (Enterprise, Indian Creek, Tayac, Horizon and DCScoutreach) attended the annual Cub Day Camp the week of June 16 at Bowie State University. This year's theme was "Wild Wacky Wonderful Wheels," and included just about everything that rotates - wheels on a car, train, Ferris, hamsters, roller skate, skateboard, bicycle, pizza and color wheels, the Earth, spinning tops, clockworks, etc.
Monday morning chaos didn't seem as bad as in past years. I think the Scouts and their parents were better prepared. Some parents spent the entire week with their boys and for the first time ever, girls attended.
Our second year at Camp BSU was really helped out by Mother Nature. We had to prearrange a little storm late Monday afternoon that would provide the perfect weather for the remainder of camp. She really delivered. Our program/director staff came through with "life-saving like" skills by getting all campers safely into our shelter when the storm came within five miles of camp. Having lessons learned from a disaster in Iowa was enough to move with utmost importance into a safe location.
Scouts enjoyed typical camp experience. We set the camp up to allow maximum usage of time. Beginning early each day, Scouts mustered at their camp sites, then were called to the flag pole for morning greetings and a flag ceremony. It brings a moment of pride to these tired old eyes when all these little campers snap a salute to Old Glory. A few more announcements and we were off to activities.
Attempting to keep the size of each group small enough to enjoy each station was a herculean undertaking. We like groups small enough to dedicate quality time with each Scout. Every Scout got to learn about nature, as nature intended it: outdoors! Trees, bugs, weather and an occasional animal were at our disposal. Thanks to Regina Halper and Marguerite Dobrosielski plus a bunch of young staffers, this station was well-prepared.
After that session, off to crafts. Each year Scouts design a "rounder," which is made of leather in the shape of the camp theme. The Scouts keep these throughout the week and add a bead, which they earn at each station, to the attached string. By the end of the week they should have dozens of beads, but mostly I end up finding a lot of them in the grass and surrounding area. Thanks to our Cindy Weaver, Anne LoBue, Stephanie Eberlein and a number of junior staffers, the Scouts were kept busy.
Sports staff, Michael Woodson and several worn-out Boy Scouts, were truly "outstanding in their field." They played soccer, kickball, Frisbee, tag and generally ran amok. On day two, they held a Cub Olympic, where Scouts attempted to set "world" records in the discus (Frisbee), javelin (pool noodle) and shot put (soccer ball) in addition to jumping and running. The last day they played Battleship, similar to volleyball, but instead of a net there was a tarp where they couldn't see the other team and instead of a volleyball there were water grenade (sponges). It was refreshing.
Then off to Shooting Sports. Nowhere else but Scout camp can boys be boys and shoot stuff. However, this year the girls showed up the boys. Two young campers became the talk of the camp. BB gun sharpshooters and archers were they, but that didn't deter the boys to pick up the pace a bit and maintain some decorum. Trained BB gun staffers, Steve Wolf and Joe Johnston kept the boys as sharp and on target as possible. They held a tournament at the end of camp, and several boys received high scores.
At archery, Brian Suddeth came back for another year. He and Alan Reid, Juan Estrada, Michael Whitely and some Boy Scouts kept the campers pointed down range and on target. Again this year, the honor of the golden feather went right down to the wire. Out of 170 boys and three girls, four remained standing. The youngest Scout, who happens to be a girl, made it to the last round.
Finally, Scout skills were the crown jewel of Cub Camp. The dedicated staff of Jerome Lee and Bob Herrman and some of the most skilled Boy Scouts showed the Cubs how to survive anything nature or the world could throw at them. From learning how to tie knots, to working with tools, using a compass, building shelters but most importantly how to properly administer first aid.
On the third day, older Cubs (or Webelos) set up a real Boy Scout campsite and were instructed the proper techniques for pioneering and camp life. The highlight was cooking their meals. For some boys, it was the very first time they ever cooked something (other than Pop Tarts). Hurray for them!
Meanwhile, the younger Cubs were going on extended maneuvers through the woods. Miles and miles later, after surviving swamp creatures and an occasional staffer, the Cubs re-entered civilization and enjoyed watching selected staff get their comeuppance. A device, fondly called the Waternator 2000, was built earlier in the day by these Scouts. It was a simple device using lumber, nails and a pulley that hoisted buckets of water into the air. Upon the countdown, these buckets were ceremoniously dumped onto the heads of the staffers that supposedly saved many a life that past Monday.
Bowie Volunteer Fire Department Co. 19 hosed the campers down. Bowie City Services brought out the vacuum truck and garbage/recycle truck. Thanks go to Jim Hendrickson. We were invaded by the Prince George's County Police Department. At least eight squad cars, bikes (motor and pedal), Bowie Police, county sheriff and assorted K-9s assembled on the field and let the Scouts ask questions. Sirens blaring, horns honking and loving every minute of it, county police Maj. Robert Liberati stood tall as hundreds of Scouts enjoyed PG's finest. Afterward, Liberati tried his luck with BBs and archery.
As usual, all the adults were instrumental in ensuring that camp ran efficiently, from professional Scout Sam Williams, whose responsibility it is to ensure that we meet all national standards, to camp director Ben McFarland, along with administration assistant Rosie Gonzales and right-hand man Jake McCury, who ensured that the paperwork was done and all Scouts were checked in and out properly. Who could leave out one very key leader, Jerome Wilcox, at his own first aid tent? He was no Clara Barton, but he made sure there were enough Band-aids and bug spray to take the ouch away. Co-program directors, Glenn Grayer and myself, working tirelessly since last year's camp, saw to it that this camp was better than before. How do you take a kooky theme like "Wild Wacky Wonderful Wheels" and turn it into a solid five-day nonstop show?
Unpaid, overworked and exhausted volunteers did a lot again this year, but they couldn't possibly make it work without the dozens of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who were also at the point of exhaustion, but they kept that Scout spirit no matter what. My hat is perpetually tipped to you all. Anytime you take a bunch of teens and preteens out of their natural environment and put them into a camp full of kids with BB guns, bows and arrows, hammers and pointed sticks and they live to tell about it (and come back year after year), then I firmly believe that tomorrow is safe and secure in the hands of these boys and girls.
Finally, what would camp be without those parents who elected to spend the whole week corralling, herding and reasoning with each and every Cub Scout? They had to be there on time, round up 10 to 20 Scouts, make sure they had their paperwork in order, they had their lunch, drank lots of water and make it to the bathroom in time. All done with minimal time to them, in varying temperature over an area that kept them moving for all eight hours. Now that's dedication. Thank you, the staff couldn't have possibly done it without you.
Like I have said before, volunteers are always required, but sometimes not appreciated. Those long hours away from family or work to help make sure things run smoothly; it isn't always easy, fun or cheap, but it is very necessary. This volunteer has an enormous reserve of goodwill and is willing to put it all out to ensure that success is the result. If you can't volunteer, stay the course, get involved with your child to whatever level you can possibly do. Don't just be there because somebody asked, be there because you want to.
To learn about Scouting and how it is having an impact on your lives, visit www.joincubscouting.org/ or e-mail bowiescouts@comcast.net.
The writer is a Bowie resident and Cub Scout Camp program director.
