Re: All night camporee
golden cliff (c60clg1@CORN.CSO.NIU.EDU)
Thu, 28 Aug 1997 19:21:33 -0500
> The neat part is
> that we are holding an "All Night" Camporee. In other words a camporee
> where the program runs Friday night all night and then Saturday night
> all night and we sleep during the day on Saturday.
Jim & List,
Kishwaukee District; Three Fires Council is also holding a "Night
Camporee". I got the idea from a post by Bob Myers about the "Relief of
Mafeking" camporee his district did near Cincinatti, Ohio.
There is an excellent description of that program on the internet at..
http://host.scouter.com/x80kf4cnf/Mafeking/
Our camporee will be themed "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE". I thought more boys
could relate to that since it is a recent major film. We are still
developing some ideas for it. Many of our events will come directly from
the "Relief of Mafeking" program.
Patrols will be sent out on a series of "night missions". Night
orienteering will be a major part of "finding" their stations.
An adult advisor will travel with each patrol for safety.
The events will include Scouting skills, just plain fun, teamwork, nature
appreciation, and personal reflection.
They recieve their sealed orders for their next mission, one at a time.
There will be surprises. Adults will be warned of the surprises in advance.
Our Camporee will start on Saturday afternoon.
Registration...............2:00-3:00pm Saturday
Camp set up................3:00-5:00pm
Dinner at campsites........5:00-7:00pm
Opening Campfire program...7:00-7:30pm
Events.....................7:30pm-1:30am
Lights out & quiet.........2:00am
Revielle..................10:00am (8 hours of sleep)
Closing program...........10:30am Sunday
The events lasting from 7:30pm-1:30pm comprise 6 hours of program time;
which would be equal to a normal camporee 9:00am-3:00pm schedule.
We will serve a midnight snack/meal/crackerbarrel for the troops.
Some of the criteria for choosing this theme/schedule...
1. Allows Scouts to participate in other Saturday morning activities i.e.
Soccer, football, golf, bowling league, karate, etc., and still make
the entire Camporee. Hopefully more will attend because of this.
2. Host troop (that's us) can spend most of Saturday setting up more
elaborate stations rather than the usual rush of Fri pm/Sat am.
3. Take advantage of a moonless night in late September when the weather is
still typically mild. (Hopefully the stars will shine brightly.)
4. Totally different from previous camporees (for older Scouts who suffer
from "been there--done that" syndrome.) Hopefully more will come.
5. Younger Scouts usually never sleep before 2:00am anyway. This
way they're at least doing something productive. ;-)
6. No rush Friday night to set up camp before dark (or more typically in
the dark). They can take their time Saturday afternoon. Less rush.
7. Troops still have the option of coming out Friday night if they
choose, with the understanding that no program will be offered until
Saturday evening.
8. Fullfills every boys dream of running around in the dark while staying
up late (without getting in trouble).
9. Boys like to play secret agent. Scouting event with fantasy fun element.
"Scouting is a game with a purpose" (learning while playing)
10. Things seem bigger in the dark, farther, situations are exagerated.
Hopefully this will help make events seems bigger, better, more fun.
11. I've been attending camporees for over 30 years, I want to do
something different for a change. (adult "been there-done that" syndrome)
We hope to include an ROTC unit teaching night navigation skills in
addition to all the other programs. I will post a summary to my troop's Web
site after the event.
YIS, Cliff Golden
Scoutmaster Troop 33; DeKalb, Illinois
Three Fires Council BSA
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