ozemu 10 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Genuine question. I think it means a campfire meeting featuring hot chocalte drinks etc. Is there a purpose to the meeting or is it just a USA word for supper? Link to post Share on other sites
evmori 11 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Good noshing! Link to post Share on other sites
Fat Old Guy 11 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Long ago, before there was "Starbucks" coffee shops, men in small towns across America would gather at the local general store to discuss current events, the weather, crops, the problems with kids, the problems with wives, etc.. They'd also play pinochle, checkers, and other games. One common feature of general stores was the cracker barrel, a barrel full of crackers which evidently is the way that they came before we had modern packaging. The barrel served as an ad hoc table for the games and became a focal point. "Cracker barrel" is so much a part of American lore that there is a chain of popular restaurants with the name. Link to post Share on other sites
saltheart 10 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Great explanation! Never bothered to look it up myself. Gotta wonder, though...what if those ol' timers had done their business at the General Store across a beer keg instead? Link to post Share on other sites
Fat Old Guy 11 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 We'd have "keggers" at camp! "Ein prosit! Ein prosit!" Link to post Share on other sites
Bob58 10 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Saltheart, in most american frontier town there probably where a variety of "hard drinks" depneding upon the culture of the settlers & the portability & longevity of the brew. More importanbt in this case is the fact that cracker barrells would stand on end & be a natural gathering place, but the libations (liquid) were served from barrels laid on their sides (& probably w/ access more tighly controlled by the storekeeper.) Link to post Share on other sites
purcelce 11 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Cracker Barrel - (noun) A large, circular object that holds saltines. Link to post Share on other sites
red feather 10 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Cracker barrel is used at least in 'the troop that I am associated with' for the after the evening meal (dinner or supper depending on where in the states you are from) for a late night snack that may include dump cakes, crackers and whatever, smores or whatever the patrols may want for the snack. yis Link to post Share on other sites
Bob58 10 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Oh, I forgot to mention that at most of the camps / camping activities that I have attended the "Cracker Barrel" was a meeting w/ the camp leadership on the night of checking to review the expectations, ground rules & opportunities for the period of the encampment. For example a religious retreat is scheduled at a council camp... on Friday night the council reservation camp masters meet with all unit leaders (How to contact Camp personnel in an emergency, where one can obtain potable water, restrictions on lavatory access (youth protection, femaler leaders, etc) hours the trading post will be open and the retreat masters meet with the leaders of those units participating in the retreat re the last minute announcemnts re agenda. ( They might have spoken to all to invite others to attend. ) But as someone else mentioned... most importantly it is a chance to visit w/ others & share important information. Bob Link to post Share on other sites
eisely 13 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 My general impression of the notion of "cracker barrel" in scouting is any late night snack. Sometimes around a campfire, often in a lodge or dining hall, usually only adults or possibly including senior scouts. It is another opportunity to socialize and swap exagerrations. (I almost wrote lies, but then I remember that scouts don't lie). Link to post Share on other sites
ozemu 10 Posted October 22, 2003 Author Share Posted October 22, 2003 thanks everyone. cracker barrel does sound a lot better than supper. Link to post Share on other sites
SM406 10 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Our District Camporee Committee recently started something along the same lines of a Cracker Barrel. The Committee has a Friday night leaders meeting. They call this meeting a mug-up. Those that are invited to the meeting are encouraged to bring a mug up to the shelter for coffee, hot chocolate or sometimes even soup. This meeting is something of a toned down Cracker Barrel. SM406 Link to post Share on other sites
Davej775 10 Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 The Cracker Barrels we've had here in Delmarva Council are just as Bob58 described. Very important last minute information is dispensed and last minute details are ironed out. Its perhaps the most important general meeting of the Campooree event. Refreshments have spanned the scale from a few crackers and cool-aid to Multi selections of cheeses, deli meats, varieties of breads and spreads, soda, juice, and the obligatory hot chocolate. What a surprise to find how different 'cracker barrels' are through out Scouting via this board! DaveJ775! Link to post Share on other sites
NJCubScouter 1389 Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 As I learned this past Friday night at our district camporee, you have to watch who is in charge of preparing the snacks at the cracker barrel. I was standing sort of half-under a tarp (it was raining as it did for about half the weekend) listening to the ADC-in-charge making announcements about the next day's events, while under an adjoining tarp some boys (about 15-16 years old, and presumably from the ADC's troop) were turning a block of Swiss cheese into some sort of sculpture, and getting their fingerprints all over the cheese in the process. Not very appetizing, plus the resulting bits of cheese were just that, bits of cheese. It was probably a ten-dollar block of cheese and they're playing games with it and rendering it not something I wanted to snack on. I wanted to say to the boys (who were out of direct line-of-sight to the ADC), hey, guys, could you please just slice off some rectangular pieces of cheese so the adults can eat it? But it was so difficult for some of us to hear the announcements in the first place that I felt it would be an interruption, plus I knew it would be one of those moments where as I am opening my mouth to speak, the ADC would pause and everybody would hear me breaking into a discussion of the lashings competition with a comment about cheese. Plus with my luck, it probably would have turned out that I was lecturing the ADC's son. So I kept my mouth shut. Link to post Share on other sites
dan 10 Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Cracker Barrel for the troop is Friday Night after the campsite is set up, usually between 10pm and Midnight. This is done by patrols. Usually is made up of Summer Sausage, Cheese, Crackers, Taco Chips and Salsa, Bug Juice or Coffee. But the patrols could have just about anything they wanted. Cracker Barrels at Camporees are usually after the closing campfire and everyone partakes. Link to post Share on other sites
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