Waterloo Chronicle, April 4, 2007
The 21st Waterloo Scout Troop won the knot-tying trophy at the 2007 Owen Sound Winter Camporee.
The annual camporee, now in its 44th year, played host to over 500 scouts from Ontario and nearby U.S. states.
Winning the knot-tying trophy required the scouts to demonstrate that they can quickly tie and use a variety of knots and lashings.
Lashings are methods for attaching poles together with rope.
The scouts were also marked on their teamwork skills and how they helped each other to complete the tasks.
Out of the 30 troops competing, 21st Waterloo Scouts also won a third place in fire lighting and fifth in the rescue mission, an adventure race that tests many scouting skills.
The scouts proved that knot-tying is not just for competition.
They built a shelter by lashing cedars pole into an A-frame and putting a large tarp over the top.
They built half-walls out of snow and carved shelves into the walls for storing camping gear. In the shelter, the scouts cooked hot meals, including perogies,fruit cobbler and lots of hot chocolate.
"It's important to drink a lot so you don't get dehydrated," said third-year scout John Anderson.
The scouts pitched tents to sleep in, but for the second night, some built quinzhees to sleep in instead.
Bradley Norris, a second-year scout and patrol leader, explained that a quinzhee is a kind of snow shelter.
"You just make a pile of snow, wait for it to freeze, then hollow out the inside." The walls are thick and it is strong enough to stand on.
The air trapped in the snow provides excellent insulation for the scouts, who put straw on the floor to keep them dry.
The 21st Waterloo Scouts keep busy all year round. "We have weekend events every month, most of which are camps," said Liam Morland, a scoutmaster.
"We go hiking and canoeing. We have a bike hike every spring. Last year, we biked the path along the Niagara River.
"Each year we have a week-long summer camp. This year, we're going to a camp in the U.S."
But the purpose of scouting is more than adventure. "Scouting is a sophisticated educational system designed to build leaders for our society," Morland said. "We believe in learning by doing. Every scout has the opportunity to take leadership roles in the troop. The scout law gives scouts a grounding in values."
Young people in scouting develop skills in leadership, teamwork, citizenship, and values through outdoor adventures and learning by doing.
The Scout movement was founded in 1907 and now has over 28 million members worldwide.
