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Jerry Hanning 

One of the other Scoutmasters in our district and I are known for putting on "original" or out of the ordinary camporees. When it comes time for either of us to plan one, we rely on each other for help. We're tired of the "usual" and do what we can to make things more interesting. This time, she and I planned a Highland Games event. The Scouts had a great time.

One of the things we suggested to the troops was to bring (and wear) kilts. To be honest, I was surprised at the number of Scouts who did. We also had some adult leaders in kilts. I was a bit afraid of there being a bit of teasing about it. However, with the size of some of those wearing kilts, it was almost non-existent. They also befriended the younger, smaller kilt wearers and all had a great time.

One thing that I think made it such a success was that we did not have the Scouts going to the games by troop or patrol. Scouts were lined up and counted off to put everyone into clans with people they did not know. After the games, it was quite obvious that new friendships were formed as we found Scouts from different troops in almost every camp site after the evening meal.

We had a caber toss which was the most popular with the larger Scouts. Although ours were smaller than those used in "real" games, they were heavy enough to be quite a challenge. We managed to get one perfect score.

At the hammer toss, more popular with the younger Scouts, they got some pretty respectable distances. Same with the stone put.

The tug of war, though, was the highlight of our Scottish Celebration. To make it fair, troops were combined and then divided into roughly equal size groups with some large, some small Scouts and equal numbers. This also encouraged Scouts to meet new people and work with them as a new team. At the end, we took the most and least successful two groups into one and the next most and least successful as one group and had one last tug of war. Well, we tried, anyway. With almost 20 Scouts on each end of the rope, the rope gave out.

To close the celebration, we had two cook-offs. The adults prepared their Saturday night meals and provided samples to the SPLs for judging. After which, all the adults in camp had a pot luck supper. The Scouts also had a cook-off and presented samples for the Scoutmasters to judge. The Scouts were also encouraged to have a camp-wide pot luck supper.

All things said and done, Kathy and I were told by the Scouts that we were not allowed to not plan another event. I asked at the awards if we would be "fired", the general consensus was that we could take a break but were expected to return with something even more fun and challenging next time.

Some of the suggestions included having Camporee themes that highlighted different heritages and the games played in different countries. 

Deb Morrow

Events were competitive, but only between age groups. We held such events as Haggis Hurling (water balloon launches), Mini-Catapults (practice golf balls with catapults), Driving Golf Range, Gnome Alphabet Scramble (scavenger hunt), Nessie's Egg Hunt (maze work), Caber Tossing (using PVC pipe and carpet rolls), Highland Lacrosse (Native American Red Stick game), and a few others. Everyone had a great time. The Cubs had their own closing and campfire about 4pm, and then Boy Scouts enjoyed roasted pig, and a potluck dinner! This was followed by an OA Chapter meeting, Chapel, and Campfire.