Scout College 2014

Recently, the Bay-:Lakes Council held its annual Scout College event at Lakeshore Tech in Cleveland, WI and although the number of participants were low, the event was well received...at least in the I Hate Dishes, class.
Thanks to my wife Jean and daughter Amber, Ed Gerczak and Ben Selner....you guys made the event extremely fun and highly productive.
Specialty items included Outhouse puddling, Hamburger Stew cooked in a pumpkin and fruit cocktail stuffed squash were exceptional.
See you all next year as you won't want to miss out on Scout College 2015.

Cooking with Ed

   This past weekend, my wife, daughter and I had the pleasure of doing a cooking demonstration for the boy scouts at Gandrud Chev on Green Bay's east side. While there, we met some interesting new Scouts and their parents (aka future leaders -although most haven't realized that yet) as we offered some new selections which have become favorites of the young boys.
    Ed and I have come up with some interesting menu items in search of quick and easy offerings for Scouts on the go while playing, camping or just being out in the field.
   Jean's taco bean soup, which can double as a dip with tortillas went over in a big way with the Scouts and interested parents while Amber and Ed served up cold s'mores and I rounded out the samples with mock calamari, tarantula spiders, a hush puppies and funnel cakes. Doughnut holes were also served and is an perennial favorite. And yes, Ed did make his famous box oven cookies!
 Comments ranged from, "I didn't know that you could do that!" to "Oh! How fun!"
  Some of the young Scouts and their sisters didn't quite know what to make of the mock calamari until they decided that they were actually hot dogs cut to look like the sea creatures and tarantulas.
  Fighting a breezy Friday afternoon and evening and intermittent rain on Saturday, the event was a tremendous success as the Voyageur District missed a recruiting record by 9 boys.

 

Revisiting Camp Bear Paw

Recently, I revisited boy scout camp Bear Paw in Mountain, WI, and had celebrated my 40th anniversary from the time I first attended that camp at the age of 11.  For those who know me and the story of the
Butterfinger candy bars and the raccoon, I had to go back to Fox campsite and relive that moment where my canvas wall tent was, and there was a similar tent in that approximate location which caused me to wonder if the resident scout for the week has had a similar experience to what I had so many years ago.

There are parts of Bear Paw that haven't changed over the years and the "Jesus tree" is still there as is the old mess hall, which now serves as an activity center. Remnants of past troop achievements are still on display in the hall as is past photos of the camp staff in the new mess hall.

Taking my wife through the camp and showing her the old campfire bowl where I received my Eagle medal has now been overgrown and you really have to look hard to find the location.

Improvements have been made to shower facilities and the activity areas throughout the camp and you can still watch the satellites fly over head in the night skies, hear the hoot of an owl and the cry of several nocturnal animals in the wooded areas.

The scouts haven't changed over the years, except for the uniforms, and all scurry to their activity areas, stopping at least once a day at the trading post for the latest and greatest "slurpy" or current sugar beverage.

40 yrs. ago it was a "suicide" ...a concoction of all of the carbonated beverages that were available from the soda dispenser. 

Going back to camp was a treat and it has renewed my interest in getting back to where I once was within the program.

So right now I will have to work on my endurance to swim the mile. It seems so much further than when I was a kid.