The great Troop 285 contingent at District Camporee. Front row, from left: Steve R., Jay M., Ryan M., Chris H., BJ D., Matt R., Tommy M., Kyle S., Nick H., Josh W., and Greg S.
Back row: Robert Maguire, Dean Shaffer, Caleb K., Donnie C., James W., Jerry S., Dan R., James W., Rick Mondick, Nate D., Frank T., Gerald Stratton, John H., Jonathan S., and Ian O.

May 1 and 2, 1999, was a memorable weekend for Troop 285. Camp Frank Rand welcomed the troop with open weather arms for the annual Sandia District Spring Camporee. This was a weekend where the troop got to enjoy just about all the kinds of weather that the New Mexico mountains could throw at us - we had rain, snow, sleet, and then sunny weather late Saturday and all day Sunday. Temperatures stayed in the 40's until the sun came out and warmed us up a little. The theme for the Camporee was Gold Rush Days. Mainly this theme was carried out in the inter-patrol competitions. Our three patrols, the Training Patrol (with their older Guides), the Staff patrol, and the Flaming Arrows (who picked up a couple of scouts from the Wolverines, too), jumped into the events on Saturday with a lot of enthusiasm, considering that we had rain off and on during the morning, then snow showers most of the afternoon. Some of the competitions included:

• The injured miner
• Staking your claim (explore and draw a map)
• High and wide (measure height and distance of objects in the woods)
• Mine openings (pass your patrol members through a bungee cord web)
• Nitro transport (pick up a coffee can using eight ropes attached like wheel spokes to a central small bungee cord circle)
• Tree and plant identification
• Rock and mineral identification
• Flap jack flipping
• Stretcher construction and use
• Knot trail
• Gold panning (real pans! real-looking "gold" nuggets!)
• Tent peg making

At the evening awards ceremony, things started with a District-wide Order of the Arrow tap-out ceremony. Among our Scouts tapped out for membership in the OA this year were: Andrew B., Nate D., Greg S., Kyle S., and Ian O. Congratulations go to these Scouts who were picked by their fellow members to enter the Honor Camping fraternity of Scouting!

Click on any of these photos for a larger image!

Gold Rush Days Competitions

An injured miner - just a broken arm and thigh. Kyle S. does a good imitation of an broken up miner, while Jonathan S., Nate D., and Ian O. get the splints on.	A knot trail proved not to be a knotty problem for Tommy M., Caleb K., Ian O. and Nate D.	Jerry S. pans out a big pile of nuggets.
Jay M. and Donnie C. getting down to paydirt.

Order of the Arrow Tapouts

Andrew B. getting his Order of the Arrow tapout.	Greg S. tapped.	Ian O. tapped.
Kyle S. getting his Order of the Arrow tapout.	Nate D. tapped.

Around the Cookstoves and Campsites

Flaming Arrows patrol cooking up dinner. Nate D., Ian O., Tommy M., Caleb K., and Josh W.	Staff patrol around the cook stove (no open fires allowed): James W. (at tent), Frank T., Kyle S., and Dan R.	Training patrol and guides lining up for food - Donnie C., Kyle S., Jay M., Ryan M., Matt R., Jonathan S., and Steve R.
Mrs. Sally Olesnevich and help, whipping up one of the great meals prepared by the Grannies. No, they weren't the only folks in the kitchen area; all the male grannies pitched in too.	Explorer Ship 14 (the Bat Crew) camped next to our camp; they were not quite as large as our group, but you should hear them yell when they win in competitions!

Last Updated - 2002-08-07

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Awards (back at our Meeting Hall)

Training Patrol waxed the entire rest of the camporee! They pulled in several first place and some second place ribbons! Way to go, guys!

Staff was amazing, too, garnering several first place and some second place ribbons! 285 all the way, guys!

Flaming Arrows patrol, even if they were a little short-handed, also gave a great effort and won several ribbons for the flag. Best of the Great SW, guys!