Boy Scout Pack 8

It started out to be the biggest group of the year but events during the week changed all that. With so much rain during the afternoons and so many ball games delayed and postponed until the weekend, the attendees were cut roughly by two-thirds.

I met Dow and his son at the gate at around 4:30 on Friday. He had the Boy Scout trailer with him and they were prepared for a great weekend. We made brief introductions and I headed out only to return later in the evening for some fellowship and a few pictures. Dow and company have been coming up to the Camp for years and they had everything set up an going strong by the time I returned. Supper was over but the smell of burgers and dogs still lingered in the air and smelled quite good. There was plenty and they were quite hospitable as I was invited to grab a plate. I met a couple of the other guys who were present and involved.

As Dow was dragging out the stuff for an after-dinner craft, a container slipped out of his hand and poured a couple thousand beads out on the picnic table. Like a waterfall, they ran all over the concrete floor. Only one of the boys was even close to the area when this took place. You could tell these leaders were pros at this as (John) without ever missing a beat yelled out "contest" to all the boys and they began running. He whipped out a dollar from his pocket, grabbed some Dixie cups and announced, "The one who collects the most beads gets a dollar!" You've never seen the likes of boys scurrying over that floor picking up beads. In five minutes they had them all up then carefully were pouring them out in their plates to count them to see who had won the contest. A winner was announced and the boy eagerly went away carrying the prize waving it to and fro. I made the comment that really Dow was the winner here! All the adults agreed.

Now you can tell those who have been doing this awhile. I took this picture of Dow's tent right before darkness set in.

When I arrived at the pavilion on Saturday morning they were having a beanbag toss contest. It seems that when they had chosen teams the first go round, one of the boys did not chose Dow for his team mate. I heard the boy say at the start of the next round he *wanted* Dow on his team....of course this came as his team got smoked in the first round.

There was plenty of exploring that took place along with a few organized activities as well. A long hike down to the main creek was made though I'm not sure if anyone ever made it in the water. Oh I almost forgot something. It seems after a recount two boys ended up tying on the beads and when John handed the second boy a dollar it looked to me like the very same dollar the first boy was given....hmmm !