One On On at Camp Firestone
November, 1998
At 7pm on November 6, 1998, Troop 72 began the two hour trek to
Camp Firestone for it’s annual "One-on-One". This is a great camping
weekend where each new scout is paired off with a "Seasoned Veteran" (hereafter
known as SV). The SV is a scout that is ready to share his knowledge of the great outdoors
with the younger scout.
"Yikes - did someone say it was going down to the 20's tonite - It's been in the 60's
all week! Whatdya mean ' a chance of rain'. Where are those darn extra
socks???"
As the group started to move toward the camp - hauling their filled-to-brimming
backpacks - it appeared as though fifty backpacks had come to life on their own &
were marching along independently. Half of the boys were smaller than the load they
were carrying.
The first night everyone used every object that they had brought to keep Mother Nature from stealing that last little bit of body heat as they crawled into their sleeping bags. Dawn drifted in and the snoring abruptly ended when Mr. Egger shot off his cannon at 7AM sharp! The Dads cooked up a great sausage and pancakes breakfast in the main lodge where the fireplace was roaring away, and the night's chill was soon forgotten.
After breakfast, the scouts were divided into their teams
and organized into four groups. Each group was sent to a different part of the camp, with
a leader . A Junior Assistant Scoutmaster (JASM) and an Assistant Scoutmaster were
responsible for evaluating and assisting each of the groups and would visit the groups
after they were settled in their sites. Wait a minute. We sent out four teams - but
we can only find THREE!!!
PANIC ATTACK!!
Every available leader was conscripted to find the lost boys. It seems
that one certain SV and his now infamous "LOST SOUL PATROL" had
missed a turn! When they finally arrived at what they assumed to be their
destination, they set up camp..... which was on private property!!!!
Try living this one down guys!!
No two sites were set up in the same way. Each team had their own unique
blend of campsite and equipment "disarray". Lunch was made by
wrapping an assortment of vegetables and ground beef in aluminum foil and tossing (sorry ,
"carefully laying") it in the hot coals of the campfire. They were all cooked to
perfection(ie: somewhat edible ) and voraciously consumed.
The afternoon was spent arranging the tarp tents for another cold night, gathering wood for the dinner meal and trying to figure out how to cook a cornish game hen in a homemade stove. Medic alert - a scout lost his battle with a rather nasty carrot and needed first aid for a sliced finger. When the time came for the evaluators to check the cornish game hens for thorough cooking, the hens ranged from perfectly cooked to practically raw. Not to worry - everyone finally moved their hen CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE FIRE to cook it and another tasty meal, complete with dessert, was polished off.
That night, after sites were readied for the night and food was tied up in trees in "bear bags", everyone met at the lodge for a campfire. A few moments for reverence, a few skits, camping songs and a cup or two of hot chocolate - then time for the adults to perform! Mr. Webb’s rendition of "Fishcakes" and Mr. Lutzo’s Old Mac Donald got everybody jumping and shouting. They'd have raised the roof..... if there was one!
An eventful night for sure - at least for SOME..... the
record was set by one tow-headed lad for the longest trek to the outhouse. First - up
to Dad’s campsite at 3AM to find out where the darn thing WAS ( & to
borrow socks to replace the ones he walked there in.) Then to the outhouse - then back to
his own campsite- Now that's a trek! His new motto: "Never wait til the last
minute!"
Meanwhile two scouts were in the middle of - their worst night mare!" Something
LIVING had crawled UNDERNEATH their ground cloth and was scratching around all night
- by morning one assured the other that he had seen a chipmunk coming and
going - but there had been ample time first to envision an endless
variety of fanged & poisonous possibilities !!!
Sunday morning and ... well let's just say this wasn't Mr. Kerrick's day at all ..... It seems Mr. Egger thought he was placing the cannon near the tent of two of the JASMs, who usually are a bit tough to get up. Unfortunately it was actually next to Mr. Kerrick's tent - who, thanks to the outhouse mission, was already a little short on sleep. (Watch out, Mr. Egger - paybacks are.... well - you know!) To really round out an eventful weekend for the Kerricks, they managed to melt all the fingers on a pair of gloves accidentally set by the campfire. Way to go, guys! Never let things get dull!
Some fashion of pancakes and juice was enjoyed at each campsite for breakfast - then clean-up, evaluation and ....tons of HOAGIES !!! No one went home hungry. It was a great weekend!!!
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