August 2-4, 2019
The theme of this campout was Water Carnival and fun. On Friday, we left the church around 3:30 and headed to Camp Sequoyah. We arrived around 5 pm, where we then set up our campsite, ate our sack dinners, and then started making plans for the water carnival competitions which took place on Saturday morning.
Saturday we woke up, had a patrol breakfast, then after a troop discussion of the activities, everyone headed down to the waterfront. Our goal was to get the carnival finished by lunchtime because there was rain forecasted for the afternoon. Due to some patrols not having enough scouts, everyone agreed that two patrols would need to be combined with another patrol so that there would be an equal number of participants per team. The teams were Raccoon/Beaver, Bear/Panther, Hawk, and Flaming Arrow. The list of games we competed in was:
- Water Spaniel Special
- In and Out Canoe Race
- Life Jacket Relay
- Canoe Tug of War
- Greased Watermelon Football
Points were awarded based on how each team placed in each competition. After the points were all calculated, the team finishing first was Raccoon/Beaver, who was awarded a dump cake made in a dutch oven. Congratulations Guys! Not to be outdone, even Mother Nature wanted to have a part with the weekend by providing us with a two and half hour heavy downpour of rain. Good thing we got the carnival done on schedule. After the rain, we tried to cook our dinner on an open fire. Some patrols were successful, some were not, but it was a good learning experience for all. That evening, the troop canoed out together out into the lake for a unique closing campfire that reflected on the day of fun we had.
On Sunday, we woke up around 8 am, had breakfast, and broke down camp. Around 11 am, we had a church service led by Edward Boackle in the craft hut. After church, we enjoyed a delicious troop provided lunch. At 1 pm we left Camp Sequoyah and arrived at the church around 2:30. Thanks to Mr. Hataway and Mr. Hamner for putting the carnival together and also to the many adults for making it a success. Finally, thanks to Senior Patrol Leader Thomas Sartor and Assistant SPL Ryan Wilhelm for their superb leadership.
David Kirk
Troop 97 WebMaster
