desertrat77 1144 Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 18 hours ago, Buggie said: One of our elder scout leaders was talking (hooray for Scouting Heritage MB) to some scouts about the days of yore... somewhere around the late 70's. Oh how I wish I had that recorded. Anyway, he talked about one of the SMs of the time after lunch was done brought out a live chicken. "Here's dinner. I'm going to teach you how to do this." At my second camporee, in 1975, live chickens were the key ingredient of the "mystery event" Saturday afternoon. Huge turnout at this camporee...I'd guess 30 SPLs had to make a horseshoe around the end of an enclosed truck. The rest of us scouts made a big horseshoe well behind the SPLs. The event (all timed): - There was a live chicken for each troop. Once released, en masse, the SPL had to grab a chicken and run with his troop (and the chicken) back to the troop campsite - Chicken killed, plucked/skinned/etc, cooked by the scouts in the campsite - SPL ran a mile or so down a road to the judges station. One piece of chicken for the judges, one for the SPL. Judges sampled their piece, SPL had to consume his. Then the clocked stopped. Great event. I'll never forget it. Mass confusion, tripping, yelling, chickens escaping, till we got back to camp. It was a lot of fun. Thankfully the SM was an old farm boy who grew up during the Depression. He coached us well. And I'll never forget who delicious that chicken was. Haven't had better since. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
MikeS72 436 Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 11 minutes ago, desertrat77 said: At my second camporee, in 1975, live chickens were the key ingredient of the "mystery event" Saturday afternoon. Huge turnout at this camporee...I'd guess 30 SPLs had to make a horseshoe around the end of an enclosed truck. The rest of us scouts made a big horseshoe well behind the SPLs. The event (all timed): - There was a live chicken for each troop. Once released, en masse, the SPL had to grab a chicken and run with his troop (and the chicken) back to the troop campsite - Chicken killed, plucked/skinned/etc, cooked by the scouts in the campsite - SPL ran a mile or so down a road to the judges station. One piece of chicken for the judges, one for the SPL. Judges sampled their piece, SPL had to consume his. Then the clocked stopped. Great event. I'll never forget it. Mass confusion, tripping, yelling, chickens escaping, till we got back to camp. It was a lot of fun. Thankfully the SM was an old farm boy who grew up during the Depression. He coached us well. And I'll never forget who delicious that chicken was. Haven't had better since. While not at a camporee, we did something similar on a troop level. We had spent time with several Green Beret's who had recently returned from Vietnam, working on survival skills. At the end of the session, we turned a crate of chickens loose in the camp site. Instructions to the scouts were simple: there is your dinner, catch it, kill it, clean it, cook it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
desertrat77 1144 Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Just now, MikeS72 said: While not at a camporee, we did something similar on a troop level. We had spent time with several Green Beret's who had recently returned from Vietnam, working on survival skills. At the end of the session, we turned a crate of chickens loose in the camp site. Instructions to the scouts were simple: there is your dinner, catch it, kill it, clean it, cook it. That's great! Link to post Share on other sites
mrkstvns 486 Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 On 10/29/2019 at 10:40 AM, MikeS72 said: ** Prerequisite for Dragon Slaying?? 🤣😋 How else would a Dragon Slayer get to the dragon if he didn't have a Dragon Boat to get him there? Seriously though, I had to go Google "Dragon Boat" to figure out what the heck this was. Found out it's essentially a large canoe with lots of paddlers... A look at the requirements for the Dragon Boating activity badge say that you can also use a "bell boat" to meet requirements. A bell boat is a bit different in that it's like 2 canoes strapped together to form a twin-hull vessel (like a catamaran without sails). BSA may not have a Dragon Boating badge like British scouts do, but it sure does look like it would be a heckuva lotta FUN! Link to post Share on other sites
mrkstvns 486 Posted November 11, 2019 Author Share Posted November 11, 2019 UK scouts at the "Explorer" level (ages 14-18) have some additional Activity Badges they can earn. One of the coolest is "Motor Sports". Looking at the requirements, I bet it's regarded as a fairly "hard" badge because it requires engaging in a motor sport for a period of 6-12 months. The requirements don't, however, specify any specific sports, nor does it restrict any sports as inappropriate or too risky. I assume that motorcycling, ATVs, stock cars, etc. would all be within bounds... Link to post Share on other sites
qwazse 4342 Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 On 10/30/2019 at 12:49 PM, mrkstvns said: How else would a Dragon Slayer get to the dragon if he didn't have a Dragon Boat to get him there? Seriously though, I had to go Google "Dragon Boat" to figure out what the heck this was. Found out it's essentially a large canoe with lots of paddlers... I took for granted that everyone knew about Dragon Boats. It's quite popular around the three rivers of Pittsburgh. Link to post Share on other sites
mrkstvns 486 Posted November 11, 2019 Author Share Posted November 11, 2019 1 hour ago, qwazse said: I took for granted that everyone knew about Dragon Boats. It's quite popular around the three rivers of Pittsburgh. Evidently, the hot summer weather here in Texas is just too much for a fire-breathing dragon to handle! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now