Highlights from Webelos Action Camp
On October 4-6, Voyageurs Area Council held their annual Fall Webelos Action Camp (WAC). WAC is an all-weekend event dedicated to Cub Scouts in Webelos and Arrow of Light rank with the purpose of exposing them to activities they'll encounter in Scouts BSA.
“As they come closer to crossing over into the troop level, we want to give kids a taste of what activities they will be doing in the future, to get them excited for all that Scouts has to offer.” Pat Sirois, the Course Director said.
He and his team of dedicated volunteers and leaders worked tirelessly for months preparing for the event, and it paid off. The event had over 160 attendees between Scouts, parents, leaders, and staff.
At the Adventure Base Camp, Webelos participated in archery, BB guns, first aid, team building, fire building, knot tying, and an obstacle course. For Arrow of Light Scouts, they worked on canoeing, BB guns, knot tying bear bags in trees, water purification, fire building, and shelter building.
“The idea is multifaceted, we want to give the kids activities that will count towards adventures in their books, so they are accomplishing more in their rank, while simultaneously taking that programming and work off their unit leaders shoulders. Its one less thing their leader has to plan. We also use this as a recruitment tool as well, getting the Cub Scouts excited about the Troop.” Pat Sirois said. “All the Arrow of Light stations are supposed to simulate what they would be doing on a trip to the Boundary Waters.”
On Saturday evening, the Course Director and two other leaders invited everyone to join in a procession from their campsites to be part of the Council Fire. They enjoyed songs and skits put on by the youth Scout staff, as well as a reenactment of Robert-Baden Powell by long-time Voyageurs Area Council Scout leader, Jack Burklund. Serena Kallos, the Senior Patrol Leader, led the council fire alongside her two Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders, Matthew Mattson and Isaac Ortman. With less than 24 hours to prepare, they managed to pull off an engaging and memorable evening. “I couldn’t have been prouder of those Scouts.”
Sirois beamed, “I’m still getting emails from parents and leaders complimenting all our youth staff on how helpful and great they were.”
This event wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of the volunteers, staff, and youth staff. Special thanks to: Darla Pappas, Doug Setterstrom, Ryan Nelson, Mike McCabe, Pat Sirois, Brian Mattson, Keith Olafson, Paul Wernke, Mike Stauffenecker, Ethan Ault, Steve Borough, Chris Steinhaus, Mike Piatt, and Kadi Steinhaus.
Special thanks are given to the District Executives Erica Bauer, and Eric Neff for their continued support for our volunteers.
So, what’s next for the Webelos Adventure Camp? “With the upcoming merge with Northern Star Council we are so excited for the future of WAC. Next year we are hoping that it will be even bigger and better than this year, with more events and more Scouts!” Pat Sirois said. The future of Scouting is looking bright on the North Shore.