The Scribe's report

This year, the August campout was at Lake Eufaula. The objective of this campout was to work on the skiing merit badge. Several Scouts also worked on rank advancements.

On Friday night, we left with Gavin P. as acting Senior. With his help, we got the tents set up fast. By that time, everyone was tired and hot. When we went to bed, nobody could go to sleep, especially Travis C. And as a result we got K.P. the next morning.

We got up Saturday and started making breakfast. I learned the right and wrong way to light a turkey cooker.  For those who were there they know what I mean. After breakfast, we got suited up and went out on the lake. We split up in the two boats and switched around in the boats all day.

On the house boat, we jumped off the top. We also played card games on the house boat. On the ski boat, they just took turns skiing. Later that night, everyone fell asleep very fast.

On Sunday, we just packed up and left. That was about it for the Eufaula campout.

Two weekends later we went to the Norman Police Range. We went because we were taking a gun certification safety test. These Scouts passed their test with flying colors: Nick B. ,Chris J., Jordan S., Spencer L., Colton R-S., Brian W., Alex S., and Wayne S. Also Mrs. Wood and Mr. Brouster

A special thanks to the Cudes for making the Eufaula campout possible, to Jack B., who took time out of his summer to get BSA Lifeguard enabling us to swim on this campout, and to Mr. Reynolds who was our main source of food making.

Your Scribe, Brian W.

From an Assistant Scoutmaster's perspective

Our August water skiing merit badge campout was a great success, but we did face a few challenges.  We left the church with our fearless leader, Roger Cude, as acting Scoutmaster.  We made it almost one-eighth of a mile, and one Scout realized he had forgotten to visit the Church rest room.  We all stopped at 7-11.  Mr. Cude and Mrs. Wood had all their Scouts back in their respective cars, and drove off; not realizing Mr. Reynolds and his Scouts were still in the 7-11 (oops!).  Just as we thought we would not see Mr. Reynolds again, we hit an 1-40 traffic jam, and he found us. Arriving at our campsite at #9 Marina at Lake Eufaula, we were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't crowded. The Duds were last in erecting their tents, and we discovered we had mis-matched poles and some tent zipper problems. Mr. Reynolds dedicated his Saturday to tent repair, and had us all in good shape by the end of the weekend. Kudos to acting Senior, Gavin P., for organizing the camp setup and showing up the Duds!

-- Mrs. Wood

The rest of the story ... from another Assistant Scoutmaster

The day started at 6:00 am. for several of our Scouts early Saturday morning after a Freshman lock-in at Putnam City North High School. Chris J., Nick B. and new Scout Wayne S. headed to Lake Eufaula. Since the boys had not slept all night, it was an uneventful, (actually very quiet), 2-hour ride. The weather was warm and we hit heavy rain 11-miles west of Checotah.  As the rain kept going almost all the way to Eufaula, the fears of this being a typical Troop 168 wet campout were emerging. As we approached Highway 9 it was as if the clouds parted and the sun came out just for us.

We arrived with perfect timing for the Duds' Mountain Man breakfast. We sat down to eat and learned Mr. Cude had not yet arrived with the boat. After breakfast we received radio contact from Travis indicating they were on their way.

Within 20 minutes, the boats were loaded and the adventure began. The majority of the Scouts were on the houseboat and Mrs. Woods and myself set out to take four Scouts at a time on the ski boat. Mrs. Woods was in the water explaining to each boy what to do and I was piloting the boat. Each boy was given eight or nine attempts. Some got up, some didn't but mostly they all fell. Mrs. Wood tried to show the boys the correct way to ski, but after staying up for only a few seconds, she fell as well.

In another attempt to show the boys how to ski, Mr. Cude tried and was successful. Mr. Cude drove the boat while I gave it my best effort, even though it had been at least 20 years since I skied. After a few more boys attempted, I noticed a storm brewing. Since it was already 12:30 we decided to eat lunch and let the storm blow over. When we got back, Mr. Reynolds was busy repairing the tents.

After lunch, we all went back out to ski again. We had one successful skier, Travis C., who was able to ski around the houseboat several times. It was then my turn to ski. After skiing for a while, I tried to go outside the wake and ended up falling face first.

After a day of skiing, we all went back to camp for a well-deserved hamburger dinner cooked by Mr. Reynolds. The evening was spent talking about the day and a very tired group of boys retired early.

The plans to ski on Sunday were changed when the boys awoke still tired from Saturday. We broke up camp and headed home.

-- Mr. Brouster