GREENFIELD — “Spirits are high, and the scouting spirit is here.”
That’s how Troop 57’s Jonathon Deich of Belchertown described Saturday’s camporee, a twice-a-year event that pulls about 200 scouts and 16 troops from across western Massachusetts to the Franklin County Fairgrounds for a camp-out.
This year’s camporee took place under ever-darkening skies and worsening rain, but the weather did not disrupt anyone’s good time.
Dotting the fairgrounds were hundreds of little tents, bunched into groups of about a dozen, while Scouts walked around to different challenges, demonstrations and events.
According to Boy Scouts District Executive Lesley Birk, the camporee featured classic Scouting demonstrations and challenges — like fire-building — but also things many of the Scouts had never done before, like tomahawk-throwing.
The event also featured demonstrations from blacksmiths, firefighters and even scuba divers, which Birk said should make the camporee a well-rounded exercise in knowledge for the boys.
“It’s all really about team-building,” said Birk, as several scouts took on physical challenges — like climbing a rope to ring a bell, or making a firepit where they would have to make a fire without matches — and make way for a campfire site to be built.
Later, at the campfire, different teams of scouts would perform a song or skit for the rest, a good exercise in public speaking and performance, Birk said.
Soaked hats and dripping hair covered everyone’s heads, but no one seemed to care about the rain.
“It’s fun. Everyone’s having fun. Even though it’s raining, it’s fun,” said Sunderland’s Scout Master Joseph Makosiej.
Instructing several scouts close-by on how to properly cut wood chips from a log for a fire, Makosiej’s mind was on the task at hand.
“See, if they’re going hiking on a trip, they have to find and use their resources,” Makosiej said. “They’re not going to be hauling wood up the mountain, no, they have to find it.”
Sunday morning, the camporee planned to conclude with a non-denominational “scout service,” Birk said, as well as breakfast and cleaning up.
The scouts pay a small fee to use the fair grounds, Birk said, but they always leave it looking better than when they arrived. Before leaving, scouts will be given different merit badges for their achievements.
“They learn, they do things they didn’t know they could do, and they get a sense of accomplishment,” said the camporee’s assistant chairman Bob Cherdack. “We’re here to give the boys different opportunities.”
Scouts walking around the camp seemed to appreciate the volunteers teaching them about fisheries and wildlife, but also about topics like religion and spirituality.
Troop 57’s Domynic Baxter-Churchill said he enjoyed an activity that taught about different world religions.
“It made us think what we believe, and why we believe it,” Baxter-Churchill said.
But, overall, it was the wide range of activities Baxter-Churchill enjoyed most. He did something new every hour or so.
“It’s really fun, and you learn a lot while having fun,” he said.
Reach David McLellan at: dmclellan@recorder.com