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Blog Entry 22 of 31 Musings, Ramblings and Scout Stuff

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Boys Scouts go back to the 'Badger'

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Contributed by: Joshua Godinez on 4/25/2008

I didn't know that Tejon is Spanish for badger, but there it is. Boy Scout Troop 104 from Mission Hills went back to the badger on April 11-13 when we attended the 2008 Camporee at Fort Tejon, just north of Frazier Park.

The theme for this year's inter-troop competition was emergency preparedness.

We got there Friday night and quickly set up our brand-spanking-new tents. Kealty tents that weigh only about 6 pounds. There's a little too much plastic on it for my taste, but the tent poles come in a single, integrated unit, so you just shake it loose and your tent poles are read yto go.

We didn't have to worry about the cattle having run through our camp this year, so we were able to avoid any embarrassing cow pie incidents like last year.

We had some new guys in our troop and we were also partnering with a new troop from Sylmar's Hope Gardens facility, some kind of shelter. Troop 2911 only has about eight guys in it, but they seemed very nice, especially the senior patrol leader, Eric, and the Scoutmaster, Chris.

They definitely had a lot of spirit. Even though for all of them, including the Scoutmaster, this was their first time sleeping in tents, they had no problems. They camped in the site next to us and we had them over to our site for cooking so they could borrow one of our patrol boxes that has a stove and cooking equipment.

My son, Matthew, had to get up early on Saturday because he is the head of the local chapter of the honor society in Boy Scouts. They're called the Order of the Arrow. They were fund raising by cooking a pancake breakfast. They had to roll out of bed at 5 a.m. so that the rest of us could show up at 7 a.m. to eat. It was meager, but tasty.

After the opening ceremony, I headed up to the rifle range with Doug Nuckolls. In a re-run of last year, Dylan Hoeck was the first Boy Scout to shoot and got the top score all day. Yeah, he's in my troop. It was gratifying to watch boys handling the .22 rifles, some for the first time, as they learned or proved their shooting skills.

Art Lopez, a dad in our troop, was kind enough to take my camera and go around the camporee snapping up memories. Archery, knots, first-aid, maps, compass, snowshoe and nature were the other required events. Bugling, uniform inspection, campsite inspection and patrol flag design were some of the additional points available.

I was dissatisfied with the short amount of time spent on competitions, but I have to admit that the emergency preparedness afternoon activities were pretty cool.

Kern County Fire and Rescue had a helicopter drop in and then drop some water on us.

Another group had an earthquake simulator. And the boys were able to role-play an emergency situation. Troop 104 had done this for ourselves earlier in the year at our wilderness survival outing.

Also unsatisfied with the short time frame, Brian Dillon received permission to reopen the rifle range in the afternoon and once again Doug and I were swamped with attendees.

This was when Doug asked if I'd be in a skit with him that evening at the campfire. Being a natural ham, I readily agreed. He gave me some costume pieces, squeezed me into one of his spare gun belts and we did a cowboy skit with a third Scouter (the term used to apply to any registered Boy Scout leader).

I got to shoot blanks from a real pistol. First time for me. Very exciting and very loud. I got the best part. I died very dramatically.

The campfire program included songs and skits from the boys, but also included a "Fear Factor"-based event with leaders. Somehow they roped in Chris from the new troop and he showed huge heart. Not only did he get the trivia questions right, he stood barefoot on a block of ice for 10 minutes, and also ate cow heart, lips and liver. He tied with another leader who did the same.

Our highest-ranking Eagle Scout, John Dillon, led a ceremony retiring 20 American flags. Finally, the Order of the Arrow enrolled its newest members in front of the crowd. Grady Martine and Jonathan Reader became the newest Troop 104 Scouts to be admitted to the honor society.

Afterward, I eschewed the cozy comfort of my tent and slept out under the stars so I could enjoy their blazing glory faraway from city lights.

The next morning, weacked up our campsite and loaded it into our trucks. We have a habit of being one of the first troops out the next day, not because we don't love the camping, but because we don't want to drag out what can be a quick process.

We headed down to the campfire ring early and helped the event organizers clean up the general equipment. Then, our chaplain's assistant, Spencer Jensen, led the assembled troops in a non-denominational religious ceremony with readings from the New Testament, Old Testament and a Native American saying as well as a couple rounds of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Next came the awards ceremony. All but one of our patrols received ribbons in different events. Finally, the spirit stick was given to the troop that scored highest overall in optional points after having placed in the top three for required points.

For the second year in a row, it went to Troop 104! It's a good thing, too, because we had forgotten to bring it with us. Whew!

With all of that the boys still managed to find time to challenge another troop to a scratch football game, which resulted in very little blood loss this year.

I don't know where they hide when they're playing since it's all trees and canyons there, but they always manage to sneak away so that the adults don't have heart attacks when they realize that two-hand touch has somehow turned into full-body tackle.

As we departed Fort Tejon, we recalled all of the good times and talked about things that can be improved. Once again, Troop 104 distinguished itself among its peers, but more importantly, we had a lot of fun.

If things stay on track, we'll be doing it again at Fort Tejon all the way through 2010, when the Boy Scouts of America celebrates its 100th birthday.

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