Photos from the Ventura County Star: Photo #1: Hunter Thomas launches a water-filled bottle pumped up with air pressure in the rocket launch event during this years Camporee at Camp Willett near Ojai. He is a member of Troop 505 in Ojai. Photo #2: Boy Scouts Alejandro Lopez (from left), Nathan Sharp, Hayden Harshbarger and Kenneth Wallis carry Colin Summers in a field-made stretcher while competing in this year’s Camporee. They are in Troop 128 in Ventura. Photo #3: Kyle Eidson gets his bearing during the orienteering competition. He is a member of Troop 179 in Ventura. From the Ventura County Star: Cub Scout Ryan Palmisano, 10, of Ventura, shouted encouragement as his fellow Cub Scout Pack 3143 members pumped air into a plastic bottle and watched as the bottle rocket soared more than 70 feet into the brilliant blue sky. Most of the boys end up appreciating nature - hiking, camping and backpacking, Bill Winfield said. And even if they dont follow through with those activities, they are more inclined to use and preserve nature. The Ventura County Council of the Boy Scouts event, one of the largest local Scouting activities, was sponsored by the Matilija District of the Boy Scouts with support by troops from the Camarillo, Channel Islands and Santa Paula/Fillmore districts. The theme was the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner. Winfield said the Boy Scouts emphasis on camping and outdoor activities with as little disruption to the natural world goes back to its founding by Lord Robert Baden-Powell in England in 1907. Scouting came to America in 1910. “Those goals are even more true today,” Winfield said “Back then they didn’t have to compete with video games. The Boy Scouts are the last nondenominational organization that tries to teach values.” With weekend temperatures reaching 89 degrees by midday, camp physician Dr. Carlos Barraza was on hand to give out water and take care of anyone overcome by the heat. “I’ve been telling them water, water, water, and it seems to be working. It’s kind of boring, but I like boring,” Barraza said, offering a left-handed Scouting handshake, which is a sign of friendship, to passers-by. Scouts first spruced up their campsites by making lashed tripods, tying three large branches together to create a stand, that either offered entrance to the gathering area for Troop 257 from Camarillo or a washstand for dishes built by Troop 179 from Ventura. The Scouts spent the rest of the day competing and participating in other activities. At the bottle rocket area, Ojai Troop 505 Scout Leader Trevor Ashton explained that safety was the No. 1 concern as he cautioned Ryan to stand back more than 5 feet from the rocket launch area. “These are empty 2-liter soda bottles that we fill with water and pressurize with a bicycle tire pump. Some have shot offover 100 feet in the air,” Ashton said. Other activities included a compass course where Scouts identified specific spots in a field using directions from a compass, and a canoe portage event in which Scouts vied for the fastest time running across the gopher-hole, cowpie ridden field carrying a canoe. At the ax-throwing competition, Santa Paula resident Kevin Hooper, who is a member of Boy Scout Troop 155 in Ventura, said he’s been attending Camporees for about five years. “It’s fun to do the games, and there are a lot of other people in other troops we can meet. We can compete with each other and see how well we can do,” said the 14-year-old, who noted that his favorite activity is knot tying. Winfield said oneof the strengths of the Camporee is that it offers a wide variety of activities so everyone can find some way in which he excels. “Everyone’s going to find something he likes,” he said. This is my first time doing the activities here, the Scout said after liftoff. I think its really fun and awesome. Ryan said his favorite activity was the bottle rocket at this years West Ventura County Boy Scouts Camporee at Camp Willett in unincorporated Ventura County. On Saturday about 400 Boy and Cub Scouts from 20 local troops descended on the camp, learning outdoor skills that Bill Winfield, Boy Scout Camp Ambassador, said he hopes will be with them for the rest of their lives.
Posted on: Thu, 08 May 2014 00:11:03 +0000
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