Camping is an essential part of Boy Scouts, and for the scouts of Orland Park Troop 318 it is an annual event every summer at Ransburg Scout Reservation in Bloomington, IN.
During their week at Ransburg, an upper-level trough covering the Midwest produced clouds and precipitation most days; the 63 scouts – 11 who were first year scouts – did not let it dampen their spirit.
“If given a choice, I would take the cooler temps and rain over the triple-digit heat indices we had last year,” said Asst. Scoutmaster Roger Sandoval, camp director of Troop 318.
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Senior Patrol Leader Alex Kowalski orchestrated every detail of camp life to assure the scouts under his leadership would have a successful week. His attention to detail earned him the coveted Ridge award for outstanding inspection scores based on troop and campsite organization, safety, and cleanliness.
Troop 318's Asst. Scoutmaster Marty Smith knew how to turn up the heat when it came time to compete for the Ransburg BSA Cast Iron Skillet award. With bread made from scratch and a Dutch oven, he created sausage bread that not only won first place for the best Dutch oven recipe, but also left the judges wanting for more. Asst. Scoutmaster Jackie Grenda received second place for her outstanding éclair cake.
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The week successfully ended with the Orland Park scouts achieving a total of 168 merit badges, and 19 rank advancements. Many of the adult leaders completed additional training to help them in their leadership roles – and along the path of Firecrafter (a fraternal scouting organization founded in Indiana dedicated to friendship, leadership, and service), three Woodsman camp ranks, two Camper camp ranks, and two Firecrafter camp ranks were completed.
