Bellevue Rod and Gun Club

Wagon Wheel Winter Camporee 2012 Recap & Photos

Wagon Wheel District Winter Camporee 2012 Recap

Jan. 20-22 – Bellevue Rod & Gun Club

The Participants:

The Wagon Wheel District Camping Committee presented Winter Camporee 2012 with a “Ready, Aim, Fire” theme at the Bellevue Rod & Gun Club in Bellevue, Nebraska on January 20-22. The registrations topped out with 227 scouts and 68 adults. The additional volunteers supporting the Camporee brought the total to just over 300. This was an all-time record attendance for a Wagon Wheel Winter Camporee going back many years.

The Weather:

The weather forecasts in week leading up to the Camporee completely destroyed what might have been almost spring-like weather predicted 7-10 days earlier. The temperature was reported to be right around 10 degrees at 7:00 am Saturday morning and high in the afternoon of 18 degrees. The scouts used their skills and their experience to overcome the cold weather (it’s a winter camporee anyway). The sun did not break through the cloud cover until just before the closing flag ceremony at 4:40 pm. On Sunday morning it was a balmy 30 degrees when we slide out of our cozy sleeping bags and began the tear down and pack up.

The Food:

The Friday night cracker barrel was served to the entire camp in the clubhouse. Nothing beats a bowl of soup and cup of hot chocolate to warm your belly before climbing into a chilly sleeping bag.  Saturday breakfast, as well as all the meals on Saturday, were served in two shifts, starting at 7:00 am.  Scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal and hot chocolate were prepared and served by an incredible kitchen crew led by Marcia Adams and Cathy Talmadge. Home-made sloppy joes were served on Rotella buns along with a bag of chips and more hot chocolate made for an energy packed lunch. Peanut butter & jelly was an option. The kitchen crew spent the afternoon making a whole bunch of chile for dinner. It was awesome! Hotdogs on a bun, nacho chips/cheese, carrots and fruit topped off a fantastic Camporee dinner filling our bellies to the brim. A Sunday morning “grab and go” breakfast with pop tarts and a box of juice was a hit.

The Events:

After opening flag ceremony at 8:45 am under the new flag pole at BR&GC, 227 scouts making up 34 patrols spread out to take on the challenges and demonstrate their skills at 10 camporee events.  With a “Ready, Aim, Fire” theme, Trap Shooting, .22-Rifle, 3D Archery & Black Powder were the main line events. Scouters from Troops 463(Chris Gibbs, Ryan Hruska, Steven Dalton, Ken Young), 305 (Ron Hefner), 80 (Curtis Loessee, Doug “Lucky”), 888 (Randy Riewaldt) & Crew 305 (Steve Dunham) provided the necessary RSO’s for these events. Meanwhile scouters from T-305 (Lon Brinkhous & Rob Hollandsworth) ran a Ball Throw event, T-476 (Jerry Kline) a Rescue Rope Throw, T-467 (Jim Briggs) a Javelin Throw, T-231 (Rick Pitts) an Outdoor Bowling Course, T-399 (Bob Kamphaus & Chuck Jones) Fishing Rod Casting and T-463 (Kurt Fox, Patrick Gold) Hawk Throwing. All were amazing events that challenged the scouts while having a ton of fun.

The Awards:

At the end of the day, the event scores were tallied to reveal the results of the day’s events. The budget allowed for Scout Shop Gift Cards to be awarded to the top 8 patrols. 1^st T-467 Eagles $200,2^nd T-305 Ravens $175, 3^rd T-308 Spartan Friends, 4^th 3-way tie T-99 Random Rams, T-476 Venture & T-888 Vacationing Penguins $100, 5^th T-888 Kit Fox  $50 & 6^th T-474 Jaws $25.

The Thank You’s:

Many, many thanks to the Camping Committee and all the troops who planned and executed events. Several compliments have been received for a “well organized and professionally ran” Camporee.

A huge thank you goes to Randy Parker, SM T-463 for serving as Winter Camporee Campmaster.  Randy did an outstanding job leading the camping committee effort for this Camporee.

T-464 leaders Marcia Adams & Cathy Talmadge gathered an awesome kitchen crew, creating delicious and perfectly timed meals. Wagon Wheel Scouters, Woody & Linda Kline, Eric Taylor, Kyle Mason,  T-80 Brad Bogard, SSgt Zach Stanley & SRA Josh Springer from Offutt AFB (T-231 ASM’s) worked hard all day preparing fantastic Camporee meals.

A big thank you goes out to the Nebraska Game and Parks office for loaning their 3D Archery equipment for our camporee. A very nice setup!

This Camporee could not have happened without Norm Grenon, T-467 and Bellevue Rod and Gun Club member who was our “club host member” for the Camporee. Norm worked with the club board to obtain approval to use their property for our Winter Camporee for free. What an awesome venue! Norm even drove to Lincoln on Thursday to pick up the 3D Archery equipment from the Nebraska Game and Parks office.  Thanks a MILLION to Bellevue Rod & Gun Club for their generosity!

Here’s a link to Winter Camporee photos taken by Doug Cutter.

https://picasaweb.google.com/116891322810870204302/WinterCamporee2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMPowejOuvz2pgE&feat=directlink