Greetings to All. Much to discuss:

1) Reminder
First Organizational Meeting - the first meeting for this year's Projectoree will be held THIS Sunday, January 10th, 7:30 - 9:30pm, at the St. Agnes Parish Center (1914 N. Randolph St.) Each Troop should attend with one Adult and one Senior Scout, and should (hopefully) bring some new game ideas.

2) Attendance Issues
As of today, Troops 162 and 624 have declined their invitations to attend. Troops 141 and 143 do not think they can attend, however, they intend to come to the meeting to keep their "slight interest" alive, and just see what we're all about. All other units have confirmed.

3) Meetings Issues
As was mentioned in the first newsletter, the primary goals of this meeting are to (A) develop the games for this year's Projectoree; (B) sign up Units for the various staff jobs; and (C) get some ideas for the T-Shirt and Patch designs. First, the Games:

You will recall that three games were "retained" by voted preference at last year's debriefing meeting at Joe's Pizza; these were:

1) Egg Toss, with slightly modified rules

2) The Firebuilding Race, as always

3) The Obstacle Course, extensively modified
This leaves us needing 7 "short" games. Recall that all games should REQUIRE participation by each Scout in the Patrol, take about 15 minutes to complete, and be somehow scorable.

We have had a number of popular games in the past that were not used last year (106's Pole Climb and 111's Over the Log come to mind), but everyone wanted fresh ideas this time. Here are some ideas from Philmont, Woodbadge and various websites; all require full Patrol participation, but can be modified to handle from 6 to 10 member Patrols:

1) Acid Bath - Patrol must use four 8 foot long 4 x 4's to cross a large acid bath, where the only safe points are cinder blocks standing just above the acid. The cinder blocks are carefully arranged ahead of time such that each is more than 8 feet from its nearest neighbor (so some thought is required in order to be able to make it across.) Lots of maneuvering and proper positioning required. Tough but fun.

2) Ball Toss - Patrol arranged itself in a circle of 10 - 12 feet diameter; Scouts call themselves off by number, with the next number having to be someone approximately opposite themselves in the circle who hasn't been numbered yet. Ten different colored balls are then tossed in rapid succession up the numbered sequence (that is, 1 to 2 to 3 to...) Very colorful and a lot harder than it sounds to do quickly. The last guy lays the balls down at his feet as he catches them. When done, the process is immediately reversed, going from 10 to 9 to 8 to... When that's done, the entire sequence is repeated after the Scouts double the size of the circle, from 10 - 12 feet diameter to 20 - 24 feet AND CHANGE THEIR NUMBERING SEQUENCE. In the latter case, much greater care is needed to make accurate tosses, lest the sequence be "frozen" while a Scout runs after a missed catch. Also a lot tougher to not mistakenly throw to the guy you were throwing to in the first circle; requires mental discipline. Scored by time, with usual normalization schemes.

3) Bucket transfer - The Patrol uses a bucket or several buckets to transfer water from a full 50 gallon trash-can to a 30 gallon trash-can. Transfer buckets cannot be greater than 1/2 gallon in size. Time is called when the second bucket overflows the top. I've been told this is a lot of fun, especially in hot weather. Definitely a game for the afternoon session!

4) Cave Rescue - A small child has wandered into a small cave and gotten lost inside. The Patrol must rescue the child, without flashlights. All that is known about the cave is that there is a winding 25 foot passageway with a 20 x 20 foot room at the end. The Patrol (blindfolded) must stay attached to each other by feel, and crawl down the passageway (a rope attached to sticks in the ground), with the last member holding onto a rescue rope to the outside, and do a search of the room (also outlined by a rope) to find the child (a large doll will do), then return outside. Proper organization of the search inside the room is critical to success. A lot tougher than it sounds.

5) Double Kim's Game - A Kim's game is where a large number of typical Scout items (40 - 50) are laid out randomly on the ground or a table and covered with a blanket. The Patrol gathers around the blanket, which is removed for 10 seconds for review; the Scouts can talk. After the blanket is replaced, they get 3 minutes to write down all the items they can remember, with bonus points awarded for specifics - a *yellow* handled knife, a *Baltimore* CSP, a *D-cell* flashlight, etc. 1 point for the item, another for the specific detail. When done with this exercise, they try again with a different pile, except this time no talking is allowed during the review, and only the Patrol Leader can use hand gestures to guide the Patrol. Scouts can talk during the writing exercise; same point system.

6) Human Chain Tire Pass-Through - Related but quite different from the Tire Pass-Through of the first 3 Projectorees. In this case, the Patrol must line up and form a human chain with linked hands. Every member of the Patrol except the two end Scouts are blindfolded. The Patrol then has to pass themselves through a tire suspended in mid-air (such that the bottom of the opening is about 3 1/2 foor off the ground), without letting go of their partners at any time. Much tougher than it sounds!

7) Magical Lily Pads - Another acid bath crossing exercise, except this time the Patrol is given 2 (or depending on the size, possibly 3) lily pads which can be picked up and placed on the acid for the Patrol to walk over to the opposite side (about 30 feet away). The Patrol must very carefully organize themselves to be able to get everyone on the one pad while the other is being repositioned. Each fall into the acid results in a Patrol member becoming blind (blindfolded), or losing the use of an arm (having it tied close to their body); their choice.

8) Silent Rearrangements - The Patrol arranges themselves on a long log or series of very small squares in exact age sequence. At "Go," they must reverse themselves themselves. When successful, they must then arrange themselves in ascending alphabetical order (first names), again without talking. When successful, they repeat one last time in order of ascending height. Patrols with less than 10 members will have small trash cans interspaced between them, which will have to be moved as well such that at the end of each rearrangement, no two trashcans are adjacent to each other.

This one was suggested by one of the Roundtable Staff members:
1) Beat the Reaper (a 15 minute first aid game). The patrol is led into a clearing in the forest where they encounter a team (usually two Scouts or Scouters). Just as they enter a serious accident happens. They have a set period of time to assess the situation, treat/stabilize the victim and evacuate the victim. Level of skill - first aid and emerg prep merit badge. Scouts are coached/judged by Scouter dressed as Grim Reaper complete with scythe and big clock. We have worked three scenerios: amputation of hand by axe/ eviscerating abdominal wound from machete, mixed 2nd/3rd degree burns with lacerations, and heart attack. Axe/machete (run twice) is more popular than burns (run twice). both are much more popular than heart attack (only run one year).

Advantages - Scouts love it, as realistic a first aid run as it gets.
Disadvantages - Requires a lot of advanced planing, big league special effects/makeup. Team running the show should be 5-7 people who alternate roles because running this is a big pain.

Hope this stimulates your juices on getting a few ideas up yourselves!

Next, staffing positions (no changes from last year); each of these have to be staffed:

Catholic Mass Coordinator
First Aid/Communications/Timekeepers/Lost and Found/"Rovers"
Flag Ceremonies/Campfire Program Coordinators
Games Coordinator
Protestant Services Coordinator
Publicity
Registrar/Treasurer
Scoring and Awards Coordinator
Site Coordinator
Staff Food Coordinator

Detailed descriptions of each of these jobs is located on the Troop 111 website, under subpage: http://www.troop111.org/staffjobs99.html

A quick review will indicate why I didn't email all this stuff to you. Anyway, please review theses pages, and come prepared to sign up for one or more tasks. Remember, we're all we've got to get these filled!

See you Sunday! - Bob

Projectoree 99 Page.
8 January 1999