1995 Herms Camporee Report

Well, the 1995 Herms District Camporee is now in the history books, and it's
turning out to be quite a year for Troop 24's 75th Anniversary Year.
Already this year, the Troop has produced three Eagle Scouts, the Apanuc
(village) Chief for the Order of the Arrow, and two more staff members (one
Troop 24 member has been on staff for the last 3 years) for the Council
summer camp. But back to the Camporee.

First, a Troop 24 Scout won the patch design contest in January. If you
have a graphical browser for the World Wide Web, you can view the patch at
http://www.emf.net/~troop24/council/herms-camporee95.html

Now fast forward to the Camporee itself:

Forecasts of rain might have dampened the spirits of the couple of troops
that didn't come, but it never rained hard, and the sun broke through in
mid-afternoon to allow for a 27-on-a-side football game and a starlight
game of Capture the Flag. Several troops that have been struggling over the
last few years put in an appearance and seemed to have a good time. One
den of FIRST-YEAR Webelos came and competed well against the top patrols.
Members of the University of California Berkeley Alpha Phi Omega chapter
were on hand to help out on Friday evening and Saturday.

Troop 24's Flaming Arrow Patrol captured the Presidential Ribbon for the
highest patrol score, and it wasn't even close, since they set two event
records for the day. The other Troop 24 patrol competing, the Cobras,
managed to come in fifth place, but missed second place by only 3 points.
The combined average score was enough to bring home the troop Presidential
Ribbon. The Flaming Arrows also received an honorable mention in the camp
cookoff contest. By the way, only 1 Scout among both patrols was older
than second-year, so it was not a case of having a lot of experienced Scouts
running away with the awards against younger patrols.

The Raven Patrol would have also competed, but a late outbreak of flu depleted
their numbers to below the level where they could actually compete, so the
Ravens joined the Flaming Arrows and the Cobras in Troop 24's strongest
showing in many years. Since they had already planned their menu for the
cookoff contest (judged separately from the rest of the camporee events), the
Ravens did cook for the judges and won a special mention for their dessert:
strawberries dipped in chocolate.

The Gil Talmadge Award for the most imaginative use of pioneering skills was
won by Troop 273 of San Pablo, and the "Pat" Patrignani Cord-on-Blue (a
square knot of 1-inch rope mounted on a blue plaque) cooking award went to
the Dragon Patrol of Troop 127, El Sobrante.

(History note: Gil Talmadge was one of the boys who led E.
Urner Goodman to take the job of camp director at Treasure
Island, an event that would lead to the founding of the Order
of the Arrow. Many years later as a Scouter in Berkeley,
Talmadge would help establish Oo Yum Buli Lodge in the
Berkeley-Contra Costa Area Council. He also initiated the
award which now bears his name to stimulate the use of
pioneering skills in "getting the boys off the ground and out
of the dust" when camping.)

Following the evening campfire program, members of the Order of the Arrow led
the camp down to the edge of Lake Berryessa by torchlight for the calling out
ceremony, also led by Troop 24 Arrowmen Erin H. (Chief) and Ari H. (Head
Elangomat). Four Scouts from Troop 24 were called out: Colin A., Kean-San C.,
Justin H., and Ian S.

Footnote: A year ago, at the Troop Planning Conference, the Scouts began
by setting goals for the coming year. Among those goals was winning the
Presidential Award at camporee. With two months to go, the Senior Patrol
looked at the patrols, decided they weren't ready, and spent their time
and energy training the patrols for the camporee. It is a testament to
the concept of a boy-run program that paid off for these guys, and I am
tickled pink that it worked out this way for them.

Alan R. Houser ** Scoutmaster, Berkeley Troop 24 ** troop24@emf.net
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **

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