Cub-O-Ree '06!!!

General Nash District held its annual fall Camp-O-Ree/Cub-O-Ree at the Upper Gwynedd Township Park on during the weekend of 13-15 October 2006.  The event allows Cub and Webelos Scouts from the various Cub Packs in the General Nash District to visit a Boy Scout encampment and get a flavour of what Scouting at the next level will be like.  The various Boy Scout troops in the district each put on a different display of various Scouting skills and experiences for the Cubs and Webelos, who spend approximately twenty (20) minutes at each skill station.  The Saturday event for Cubs and Webelos is part of the district's fall Camp-O-Ree for the Scout Troops and Venture Crews, who set up camp Friday night and stay in camp until Sunday morning.

In the photos above are several of the Troop members enjoying a quick breakfast on Saturday morning prior to the beginning of the day's activities.  As a result of a scheduling conflict with the Order of the Arrow Lodge, most of the Troop's senior Scouts, and most of its junior leadership, were attending the Fall Lodge service weekend at Resica Falls as opposed to the district Camp-O-Ree/Cub-O-Ree.  However, eight Troop members braved the cold Friday night and camped out, along with Assistant Scoutmasters Tom Isban, Scott Forwood and Andrew Cowles, in order to get an early start for Saturday's events.  Zachary Brong served as the Head Cook for the weekend.  Assistant Scoutmaster Tim Wile also spent the day on Saturday, providing a short presentation to the Cubs, Webelos and their parents regarding the Troop and its activities.  Additionally, two Webelos Scouts joined the Troop to sleep over Saturday night.

Scoutmaster Harold L. Frederick, Jr., was unable to attend this year's event as he was convalescing from injuries that he received in a serious car crash earlier in the year.  As a result of Harold's absence, ASM Tom Isban was the leader-in-charge for the weekend.

The opening ceremony (pictured above) took place precisely at 0900.  Part of opening ceremony was a cheque presentation to the District from the "Blue Comets" motorcycle club in appreciation for the help that the district's Scouts and Cubs provided for the Club's "Lansdale Bike Night," which was held in September.  The monies donated to the District by the Blue Comets are used to fund camperships to help pay the summer camp fees for Scouts who attend Cradle of Liberty summer camps.

Once the opening ceremonies were concluded, the Cubs and Webelos started on their rounds visiting the various Boy Scout Troops and Venture Crews.  Since Troop 461's theme since the 1950s has been international Scouting, our Troop once again provided the Cubs with a taste of international games from various countries around the world.  One of the most popular of the games was the "parachute" game, which had a few variations that the Cubs and Webelos could experience.  The game itself is pretty well known world-wide, but the particular parachute that our Troop uses for the game was purchased in Austria!

Depending upon the size of the Cub and Webelos group, the boys would have up to three different games going at any one session.  Justin Seelaus, Andrew Isban and Andrew van der Kleut were the game leaders for the various games.  The Scouts tried to have the Cubs and Webelos try out several games during their time with us.

The round robin sessions for the Cubs and Webelos ended at 1540, at which time the participants, Cubs, Webelos, Scouts and Venturers, assembled for the closing ceremony for the Cub-O-Ree, which included sampling a giant ice cream sundae that was assembled by adult leaders of the various Cub and Boy Scout units at the Cub-O-Ree.  The ice cream for the giant sundae was donated by Turkey Hill Farms, who has donated the ice cream for the past number of years.

The weather or this year's Cub-O-Ree was a great improvement over what we experienced last year.  Last year's Cub-O-Ree was canceled by lunchtime because of high winds and heavy rain.  This year, it was a bit windy, but the skies were clear and a bright blue, simply a beautiful, crisp Autumn day!  Of course, entertaining Cubs, their siblings and parents all day can be an exhausting chore.  Once the last game session was finished, Andrew van der Kleut (above left) took advantage of a pause in the proceedings to catch a short nap before heading over to claim his portion of the giant ice cream sundae!

This page last updated on Sunday, 22 October 2006