Matinecock District Boy Scouts participate in annual 2015 Polar Bear camporee and scouting skills weekend

MATINECOCK DISTRICT BOY SCOUTS PARTICIPATE IN ANNUAL POLAR BEAR CAMPOREE EVENTS

The Boy Scouts of the Matinecock District headed locally to find perfect weather for their annual Polar Bear Camporee – and they found it at Schiff Scout Reservation, in Wading River, during the February 6-8 weekend’s adventures where they had been warned that they would need to “Use your winter camping skills as your troop participates in the fun of the Matinecock District’s Polar Bear Camporee/ Scouting skills competition as a part of every station as patrols haul their sleds along the Camporee Trail. It will be culinary skills versus weather conditions as entries prepared for the best soup competition.” The temperatures fluctuated between a “balmy” 39 degrees during the daytime and a “cool” 5 degrees overnight.

The 450 youths and their adult volunteer scouting leaders from 20 of the 28 Boy Scout Troops in the Town of Huntington and the western section of Smithtown Township (Commack, Kings Park, and Hauppauge) participated in the event, as members of 39 patrols competed at nine Scouting activities. The activities included fire building, pioneering, hatchet throwing, sling shots, and teamwork, testing the patrol’s scouting skills. As the Host Troop for the Polar Bear, the scouts of Troop 41 (Northport) developed and ran each of the station activities, following the weekend’s theme of “The Wild West.”

The scouts enjoyed the challenges of the Polar Bear Camporee by being properly prepared. They cooked hot meals over campfires at their individual Troop campsites. All 20 Scout Troops camped in the weather in tents and cabins. The Matinecock Boy Scout Troops that participated in the annual 2015 Polar Bear Camporee winter competitions were: Northport’s Troop 8 and Troop 41 (Host Troop); Huntington’s Troop 360, Troop 12, and Troop 78; Huntington Station’s Troop 106; South Huntington’s Troop 218; Dix Hills Troop 309; Commack’s Troop 125 and Troop 322; Elwood’s Troop 200 and Troop 174; Kings Park’s Troop 75 and Troop 539; Hauppauge’s Troop 343, Troop 3333, and Troop 3; East Northport Troop 5 and Troop 474; and Melville’s Troop 406.

The 2015 Polar Bear Camporee Soup Contest Award went to Troop 200 (Elwood) for their “New England Clam Chowder”. Top winners for the annual Klondike Sled Race went to (over 15 years old) Troop 322 (Commack)’s Bulldog Patrol and (under 14 years old) Troop 3333 (Smithtown)’s Artic Wolf Patrol. The “top overall score” patrol was Troop 406 (Melville)’s Patrol B. The coveted Scouting Spirit Trophy – for the troop that showed the best Scouting spirit during the camporee and judged by the Matinecock District’s Commissioner Staff – was presented to Boy Scout Troop 360 (Huntington).