South Berwick camporee keeps Scouts busy
 Craig Osborne/ Democrat photo Jason Henson, left, and Teddy Warnquist carry fellow troop member Thomas Warnquist during a Chair Carry event at a Scout Jamboree in South Berwick on Saturday. The three are members of Troop 301. |
akrauss@fosters.com
SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — When the boys of Troop 338 got to thinking up a theme for this year's spring camporee, Matthew Shea was thinking green and brown and cool all over.
"Army-ish," the 12-year-old explained.
OK. But why that and not Scottish highland games or a weekend of ultimate frisbee?
That's easy, said his brother, Stephen, 16.
"It's cool," he said, his eyes widening under the brim of his cap, his energized hands pointing to the scene around them. "Look at this stuff — the jeep, the Army tent, the submarine, the KC-135."
OK, he had a point.
 Craig Osborne/ Democrat photo Brian Segalla of Boy Scout Troop 301 in York runs the water cup race event at a Scout Jamboree in South Berwick on Saturday. |
Troop 338, a member of the York County District of the Pine Tree Council, was hosting 270 people and 16 southern Maine troops for the weekend retreat set across 10 or so acres atop Spring Hill. Boy Scouts' ages 8 to 17 had their colorful tents set up side-by-side and many, many deep.
At around 3 p.m., the boys were engaged in feisty games of tug-of-war, working up their appetite for the night's campfire feast. Steak was rumored to be on the menu. Either that or hot dogs.
There was plenty going on to get everyone hungry. Stephen Shea staffed the log pool, where participants raced to pull a log tied to a rope 50 feet — without touching the log.
Billy Walker, 16, helped run the trap fishing. That took place by a ravine, and called for industrial rat traps and two sticks that couldn't touch one another. Oh yeah, the participants couldn't go in the water either.
"Most groups caught a fish," Walker said. "Only one group got disqualified."
Oh?
"Yeah, mine."
This year's Army theme brought with it veteran's appreciation. Scouts and their families worked to raise nearly $1,000 for the national VFW effort called "Operation Uplink." The money goes to calling cards for soldiers at war and hospitalized veterans. To say thanks, area Veterans of Foreign Wars helped organize the Camporee's educational stations.
Staff Sgt. David Hopkins, a member of the Pease Air National Guard, was there dressed in full fatigues, recalling his rise to Eagle Scout and how challenge-filled getaways like this helped him.
"You develop yourself as a leader," the 24-year-old said. "Those are life skills that evolve and serve as a foundation that good, ethical people need."
In order for the local troop to pull this off, they needed to clear the land at the Pond Road lodge and, as they did, gain the support of generous local businesses. Adult-aged Eagle Scouts, Scouts' fathers and others spent about three weeks working the site, hacking at brush and cutting paths that would stage the rope challenge course and 20-foot-high rope climb.
Mark Fecteau, 16, with Troop 320 out of Shapleigh, found himself on the rope, shimmying from one tree to another. He succeeded the first time, but banged up his ankle on a second stab.
"If you don't have balance, don't even think about it," he advised.
Lenny Andrews, the webmaster for Troop 338 who's son successfully ascended through the ranks years ago, helped with the site work. The reward for the hard work is seeing Scouts succeed at things they once thought too challenging, he said. He got a chance to see that play out Saturday after one boy climbed the rope.
"His eyes got bigger and bigger and he got to the top and he was like, 'Boy is this cool,'" Andrews said.
Ed Cockburn, the assistant scout master with Troop 317 out of Sanford, waxed nostalgic as he recalled his first days as a Cub, 33 years ago when he was 15. He can't get enough of it, he said.
"I'm an outdoorsman. I hunt, I fish — what better way to pass on the knowledge?" he said. "It's good youth development."
When the sun set and the fire got going, Troop 338 Scout Masters David Walker and Steve Shea were going to retire some weathered flags by burning at a ceremony and turned the scene over to a military chaplin for a non-denominational service.
HOME | LEADERS | PATROLS | EVENTS | LINKS | PHOTOS/FORMS | OUTFITTING | CONDUCT | EAGLES | HISTORY