Greetings, Projectoree Patrol Leader!

You are about to take part in one of the best Patrol-based campouts ever! If you're a new Patrol Leader, this guide will help you understand what's going on at the Projectoree, and your role in it. If you've attended a Projectoree before, this will be an excellent review.

At past Projectorees, we provided all this information at the Friday night PLC. That made for a veerrrry looooong PLC, which is why we're giving it to you ahead of time this year. Yes, we'll still have a Friday night PLC (at 9:00pm in the Staff area), but it will be done in about an hour - if you read this Guide ahead of time.

Your role - As the Patrol Leader, YOU ARE THE MAN!!! As at all campouts, we'll need you to take care of your Scouts, especially the new Scouts, especially if the weather isn't so hot. In addition, however, your Patrol will be looking to you to lead them through the Patrol Competitions all day Saturday. You're responsible for making sure that you make all the events on time, that all your Scouts participate in each event, and for organizing your Patrol so they can succeed at each event. OK, let's go through this a little more systematically:

The Projectoree is basically a series of Patrol competitions on a very exact time schedule. There are 12 total games; 2 of these are "Long Games" (45 minutes each) and take place during both the morning and afternoon sessions. The other 10 are "Short Games" (22 minutes each), 5 of which take place in the morning, and the other 5 in the afternoon. Your Patrol will compete in both long events and 8 of the 10 short events.

In order to prevent big crowds (and long waits) at each event, we have a "competition schedule," which organizes all the Patrols to be at specific events at specific times. There will be a maximum of 4 Patrols at each event, and each event is set up to handle 4 Patrols simultaneously - NO WAITING AROUND! Your Scoutmaster will get a copy of the competition schedule at the Second Projectoree Organizational Meeting - ask him to see it. You will receive another copy yourself at the Friday night PLC. It will be on Pink-colored Cardstock paper.

Now, do we list each Patrol by name? Of course not! - we don't know all the Patrols' names, and even if we did, it would take too long to list everyone by name. Instead, you're given a number that corresponds to your Patrol name for all the events - so you might be Patrol #18, for example. When you look at the schedule, you will see that we have numbers for up to 30 Patrols. All you need to do is remember your Patrol's number, and the schedule will tell you what event you're doing, and what time you're doing it. It's just like a class schedule at school. By the way, you will also see that you will be competing against different Patrols at each event - not the same guys all day long. Finally, you will see that the time schedule is exact and very tight - you do not have time to "hang out" or drag your butts from one event to the next - you've got to move!! There's only 3 minutes between events. We will be using air-horn blasts to start (1 blast) and end (2 blasts) each competition - be listening for them all day long - and pay attention to your wristwatch, too! If you miss an event, you can't go back and make it up later!

Now, we indicated that the Projectoree is a competition, and - like any other competition - it will be scored. For most of the events, this is done by time - the less time, the better. [In order to make sure that small Patrols don't have an advantage, we will average your times by dividing by the number of Scouts in your Patrol, or have some of your Scouts run an event twice in order to bring you up to a full size (10 Scout) Patrol.] Now, in order to keep track of the scores, you will receive a score-card on Yellow-colored cardstock, which the staff members will use to record your score; you will get this at the Friday night PLC.

[The staff members will also have a blue score sheet to keep track independently for each event.] On your scoresheet, it also asks you to record each Scout in your Patrol by name, and give their height and age. The height is for the Log Throwing Contest (smaller Scouts throw lighter logs), while the age is for what we call "normalizing" the scores to make them fair for all Patrols. Each Patrol's final score in each event will be divided by the Patrol's average age; thus, older Patrols get divided by bigger numbers - this way, even very young Patrols can win! Note that we therefore need you to be absolutely honest on recording data on your scoresheet; "A Scout is Trustworthy." Don't leave an event without having the staff mark your score on your yellow scoresheet!

At the end of the day, you will need to turn in your yellow scoresheets at the First Aid Table on the main field of the Projectoree (this will be in an obvious place.) You are responsible for turning this in - we won't come looking for you! We will compute all the results, and the top Patrols will receive special award ribbons at the closing campfire.

Now, let's review the general Saturday Schedule of Activities:

First, we'll start off with an opening flag ceremony. Unless one of your Scouts is actually participating in the ceremony (in which case he should be in full uniform), all your Scouts should be dressed "ready to go" to the competitions. This means a Projectoree T-Shirt and a pair of gym shorts (or long pants if it's cold.) Your Scouts can also wear your Troop T-Shirts if they like; however, if they show up wearing regular street clothes, they will NOT BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GAMES!!! You should also have your copy of the schedule and (of course) your yellow Patrol Scoring Sheet.

The Flag Ceremony will be held in the main field; this is also where all the "Short Events" will be run. The "Long Events" will be held at another site down by the old Dining Hall, about 150 yards past the Comfort Station down the main camp road (about a 3 minute walk.) As soon as the flag ceremony is over, we're starting the games - so don't go back to your campsites!

Make sure you give each event a fair chance! - your Scouts will be looking to you for a positive attitude. If you act like you don't want to do an event, then your Scouts won't want to either. But if you're enthusiastic, they will be too. Finally, please treat all your fellow Patrols with respect: "A Scout is Courteous!"

The morning events will run from 9:27am `til 11:28am; then you'll get a break for lunch. Make sure that your Scouts drink plenty of water! - especially if it's hot, especially if it's sunny! If you have any injuries or other problems, go see the Adults at the First Aid tarp on the main field.

At about 12:30pm, you ll need to bring your Patrol back to the main field to start the afternoon events; these run from 12:37pm `til 2:38pm After they re over, we'll run an unscored event called the Scoutmaster s Chariot Race, where you'll carry your Scoutmaster (or another designated adult) on a tripod lashing around a race-course; like all the scored events, this is also a lot of fun.

After the Scoutmaster's Chariot Race is over, you are free to either go back to your campsite and "hang out" (or prepare dinner), or participate in any of a variety of extra, "fun" events. These may include: a soccer game, an Ultimate Frisbee game, the Obstacle Course (run for fun), a camp service project, and an Advancement session on Firebuilding. Whatever you choose to do, remember to have enough Scouts in camp to prepare dinner (but don't make all your little guys do it - spread the work around!)

Because of some injuries at past Projectorees after the events were over, we do not allow rough-housing games (like "British Bulldog") or physical contact sports (like football) during the free time events. Please make sure that your Scouts do not start any games like this, because the Staff will have to break them up immediately - and no-one will like that (including us!)

Quiet Time: 6 - 8!

All games will stop at 6pm, period. At this point, everyone should be in their camps, eating, cleaning up, and practicing their campfire skits. At 7pm, we will have Catholic Mass and Protestant Services, both on or near the main field. "A Scout is Reverent." It is urged that you wear your full Scout Uniforms to Religious Services as a mark of respect. After all Services are over, we will start to assemble for the closing flag ceremony and the walk to the campfire ring (8:15pm). Note that you should make sure that all your Scouts are dressed very warmly. The campfire can get pretty chilly, especially if the wind is blowing, because you're sitting there for almost an hour! (and that's a long time!) It's also a good idea for your Scouts to bring something to sit on, since the logs at the campfire circle can be wet, dirty and cold.

Other comments on the campfire: Please control your Scouts! We have had some real problems with certain Scouts getting out of hand at previous Projectoree campfires. We need everyone to be quiet and polite, especially during the flag retirement ceremony and the skits - and YOU are responsible for this! Problem Patrols will forfeit ALL their Troop's Awards!!! If your Patrol is doing a skit, make sure the Scouts talk as loudly as possible - otherwise, no-one will hear them; we do not use electronics. This has also been a problem at past Projectoree campfires. Once the campfire is over (around 9:45pm), you can return to your campsites and hold your own Troop campfires, up to 11pm.

- Dr. Bob

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21 April 2002