| Pottomatame Woods |
| Busse Woods |
| Illinois Beach State Beach |
| Glenview Navel Air Base |
Camporees are camp outs were all of the troops in your district got together and competed for ribbons. Troops were judged on the safety and cleanliness of the campsite and on the troop’s performance in scout oriented contests Saturday afternoon. Winners were awarded ribbons that could be attached to the troop flagpole. Troop 955 was in the Indian Boundary District of the Chicago Area Council.
Yorkville was the site of my first camporee, which I already discussed earlier. It was also the site of another camporee when I was a senior scout. This is the time I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow (OA).
This later camporee was also my first as the troop’s Senior Patrol Leader (SPL). I can still remember us pulling up to our assign campsite. Mr. Weikart unhitched the troop trailer and said to me, "Bill, I’m going to drive the car back to the parking lot. Then I’m going to go to the Leader’s Cracker Barrel. You’re in charge of setting up camp."
A Cracker Barrel is an excuse for a bull session. The leaders sit around under a dinning fly and exchange greetings and war stories. The key to this event is that the leaders leave the senior scouts in charge to set up the camp. This allows the SPL and the patrol leaders to gain responsibility in taking charge and leading.
I had been camping at camporees for several years. So I knew the routine. First the patrol leaders and I would select where each patrol would set up and where the dinning fly and cooking area would be. Then we’d line up the patrol’s tents by using a long length of one-inch rope as a guide. Then we would set up the dinning fly and the patrol boxes.
There were other things we would do to set up our camp. If time permitted, we’d do it the first night. Otherwise we would finish in the morning. Things like setting up a rope around the perimeter of the campsite to define its borders. We tied white flags on the rope so it would be visible at night.
Then we’d assemble a gateway with our troop sign as an entrance, complete with a "doorbell" made from a tin can with pebbles on a string. The gateway was constructed from pioneering poles we always carried in our trailer. We would lash two A-Frames and connect them at top by a crossing pole. The troop sign hung from the crossing pole.
Next to each tent we stuck a small cross to hold two coffee can buckets. One bucket was filled with water and the other with sand. These were for fire safety.
The cooking area was well defined and each patrol had its duty roster on display. The troop’s first aid kit was out and readily available in an emergency.
These were all things that the inspection team looks for as they go visit and grade each site. The checklist is based upon efficient and safe camping practices. After a while, setting it up becomes second nature. Our troop always scored well on our campsite.
Wet! Wet! Wet!
Busse Woods is a Cook County forest preserve in Schaumburg near the Woodfield shopping Mall. The mall hadn’t been build yet so it still was a suitable camping site for a camporee. It had rained all week before we even started. The ground was thoroughly soaked by the time we arrived Friday evening. It was so wet, the water was just laying on the surface. The ground was too saturated to hold any more.
Several troops were already their setting up so all the best sites were taken. Our Scoutmaster chose a reasonably dry spot, at last there were no deep puddles, and we started to set up camp.
On of the rookie scouts came up to me and told me he forgot to bring a ground cloth. A ground cloth is a water proof sheet of plastic that you put down under your sleeping bag to keep it of the ground. Our tents had no flooring so a ground cloth is a necessity.
My Dad drove this time so I offered the scout my ground cloth and I pulled the carpeting from the back of my Dad’s car for me to use. It had a rubber backing so I thought it was a great idea. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize at the time is that the stitching process that binds the pile to the backing actually pokes hundreds of holes in the rubber!
I woke up early in the morning, between three and four-o-clock, soaking wet and cold. I was so glad when the sun came up so I could get out of the bag and change into dry clothes.
But the clothes wouldn’t stay dry for long. It was still raining and it rained all day long. We toughed it out and participated in all of the troop contests. The ground around or picnic table and dining fly was worn down to a foot deep puddle of mud. During diner, the camporee officials came to each camp announcing that thy were officially closing the camporee. We quickly gathered with the other troops for an impromptu awards ceremony. Then we packed up and headed home to our warm, dry beds.
Cold! Cold! Cold!
That’s about all I remember from this camporee. I think my memory must have frozen out there. I do recall sitting at the Saturday night closing campfire just waiting, hoping for it to end. It was late September or early October and the wind off of Lake Michigan was brutal.
After the campfire, our Scoutmaster offered to heat up some hot chocolate on his gas stove. But nobody took him up on his offer. Everyone just wanted to crawl into their sleeping bags to warm up.
This was not what one would describe as a picturesque camping site. It was just the flat field at the air base. The attraction was the jet fighters and other planes.
Pedro, the Boy’s Life magazine mascot, was there that weekend. I cooked a stew that everyone in my patrol nicknamed "Pedro’s Plop." Cooking on the charcoal grills could be a challenge sometime. Even spaghetti could be troublesome if you didn’t get the water for the noodles hot enough. I didn’t brown the beef cubes enough before I started adding the water and vegetables. Therefore, the gravy turned out more of a light tan color instead of rich, brown. Hence the nickname.
We used folding charcoal grills to cook on. They were 10" x 18" frames with folding legs on the sides so the stood about 18" off the ground. There was a pan for the coals and a grill to support the pots above it. We would start the coals with modified coffee can chimneys.
The cans had triangular holes around the top and bottom side edges that were made with a can opener (a.k.a. church key). The bottoms were removed so the can was now a tube. We would sit the can on top of the grill and place some kindling sticks, a paper towel or two, and paraffin shavings on top. The paper towels were mostly to prevent the paraffin shavings from falling through. Finally, we’d place some charcoal briquettes on top of the kindling.
It was quite an efficient contraption. Because it was sitting up on the grill, there was a good flow of oxygen to the fire so it started quickly. Once the coals were ready, we would lift the can off using a pair of aluminum pliers, then tip the grate so the coals would roll into the pan beneath.
Years later, someone took this idea and produced a commercial version that you can buy in the store. It’s made of a nice polished metal and has an attached wooden handle. It still reminds me of our improvised coffee cans every time I see one in the store.
