DIRECTIONS, DISHES and DODGE BALLS?

ORIENTEERING

This previous meeting was mainly focused to hold Boards of Review for scouts who were ready to get to their next rank. However, as usual, most of the Troop did not need a Board of Review (seeing as how there was one not too long ago after the Survivor Campout), so those who were not advancing took part in the skill session of Orienteering, led by SPL Avery R. Using hand-out maps and specialized compasses (provided that the scouts brought their own), Avery went over the basics of Orienteering; ranging from how to set a compass to be able to be used with differing maps to how to orient yourself even without a compass.

DISHWASHING

Avery’s skill session wasn’t the only one that occurred that night, however, as right after the SPL finished, Scoutmaster Dr. Reynolds started his skill session on dishwashing. For those who don’t know, the Patrol Boxes (those giant brown heavy boxes that always get loaded first into the trailer) are equipped with tubs and tools to clean anything used to make food, usually the plates, flatware, etc. However, the task of washing dishes is time-consuming and can be loathsome to select scouts, and so it is a task most scouts don’t look forward to. For one particular patrol, they were so lax about cleaning their food-related materials, the Quartermasters found the eating utensils and the plates and other things both covered with remnants of food and other unhealthy things in the Patrol Box upon inspection post-campout (the patrol in question had to remain after most of the Troop had gone home just to clean the filthy plates, etc.). Thus, the need to review Dishwashing 101 was apparent, and Dr. Reynolds made sure that everybody knew how to properly clean dishes after all the meals on later campouts. It’s not a fun job, being stuck on dishwashing duty, but it sure is preferable to being forced to use disgusting-looking plates for dinner.

DODGE BALL

When Dishwashing 101 was over (much to the relief of some scouts probably), it was time for the game: Capture the Flag. The “flag” for each team ended up being a dodge ball, however, in order to make it easier to pick up from the ground (since picking up a piece of cloth would be very hard when running at speed). It quickly grew chaotic, even though there wasn’t really anything to make things go crazy, and the game was ended a little while after it had begun since the meeting was almost reaching the usual 9:00 PM end time. After a few announcements, Dr. R had the scouts circle up, and so closed the meeting in the traditional “all-at-once” clap.

Ben Hallenbeck, Troop Historian