Scout Camporee Held At Echo Bay

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

Local Boy Scouts gathered last weekend for the annual spring Boy Scout Camporee. Traditionally an event featuring canoe activities, the Camporee was held at Echo Bay on Lake Mead.
Scout troops began setting up camp on Friday evening.

But the competition portion of the camporee began early on Saturday morning. Scouts headed for the lake with a cry of “Let the games begin!” The canoe games, that is.

The highlight of the spring camporee every year is a head to head battle for canoe superiority bragging rights. The boys competed in a series of about 10 events that were designed to be both fun and competitive. Some combined running with canoes, some combined swimming with canoes, but all the events incorporated canoe prowess.

Before every event, the Scouts were given a demonstration on how to accomplish that skill. For example, the boys were taught the proper ways to get into and out of a canoe, to paddle, to right a swamped canoe, to return to shore if your canoe has been swamped (either accidentally or on purpose as is sometimes the case with young scouts), and to board a canoe from the water.
The canoe events included some straightforward and logical skill tests as well as some more inventive contests.

One perennial favorite is the Ironman relay. In this event, the Scout Troops work as a team to perform a complicated relay involving a long string of skills both on shore and on the lake.
Throughout the morning, points were kept for each troop according to how they placed in each event. When the points were tallied at the end of the morning, the troop from Moapa came out on top. They were presented with a trophy paddle emblazoned with the words “2017 Champions.”

Scouts and leaders alike all seemed to have a great time. Boy Scout Ryan Robison said, “My favorite event was the Ironman race. It was a lot of fun to watch. I also liked paddling the canoes around the buoys. I had a great time and the camporee was a lot of fun.”

Local Scout Hunter Landini also had a great time. “I liked the whole camporee, but I really liked the canoe part. I think my favorite race was the one where we had to canoe really far. It was a great.”
Boy Scout Warren Potts, whose Moapa troop came in first place, agreed that it was a fun experience. “It was fun because I think canoeing is a lot of fun and the races were creative. My favorite race was the one where we had to paddle with only our hands and no paddles out to the buoy and back. It was great. It was also fun to get first place.”