This year's Spring Camporee will be a "Projectoree," and will be held at Camp Wilson (in the Pohick Bay Regional Park) the weekend of April 30^th - May 2^rd. The purpose of this page is to educate all the Troops in the District as to what a "Projectoree" is, and how it works. This is going to take some explaining, so please bear with me; I will try not to bore you or wander too far afield....

1) Some History: In late 1994, several North Arlington Troops decided to get together and hold what I will refer to as a "neighborhood" campout for themselves and several neighboring Troops. Although an important factor in this development was dissatisfaction with the Patawomeck District Camporees, the primary motives were to build closer inter-Troop relationships, give our Senior Scouts real responsibilities in running a "camporee"-type event, develop Patrol teamwork - and have fun! Because "camporee" is a term which is reserved for Official District Events, we reached back into the history of the old Arlington District and termed our non-official event the "North Arlington Projectoree." The original projectorees were (as the name implies) oriented around patrols doing specific projects; in our case, the "projects" were the four goals stated above. In order to meet these goals, we developed a series of patrol competitions based on COPE-type games/activities. Some of the key points included:

• Exact time schedule - each Patrol was given a formal schedule to follow, and time changes were announced via air-horn; no down-time, no waiting in long lines
• Complete Patrol Participation - each game/activity *required* the participation of *every* member of the Patrol; no event had two or three older Scouts "doing" while everyone else just watched. Similarly, there were no lectures or "show-and-tells"
• The events were scored
• The schedule was based on "counter-rotation" of the Patrols - so each Patrol competed against different Patrols at all 10 games/activities
• Each game/activity was set up by a participating Troop and run and scored by Senior Scouts, with only "shadow" monitoring by Adults; Senior Scouts were also employed as ancillary staff for most of the administrative jobs (e.g., registrar, flag ceremonies, campfires, etc.)
• The events were either handicapped for different sized Scouts, or were "normalized" against the average age of the Patrol - thus, even the youngest, least experienced Patrols could "win" individual events or even the entire Projectoree if they cooperated and worked well together (and some very young Patrols did just that!) The top five Patrols received Award ribbons at the closing campfire.

Patawomeck Camporee veterans will recognize that the above protocol marked quite a departure from recent District Camporees.

The first North Arlington Projectoree was held in 1995, and was an outstanding success, as were the followup events in `96, `97, and `98. The event grew ever more sophisticated as we gained experience and re-tailored both the games, staff positions and organizational schemes. Attendance remained steady at 7 - 8 Troops, with increases from about 120 to nearly 200 participants, organized into about 18 Patrols. Service projects for the camp (Camp Wilson) were added, as were an O/A Tap-Out and Flag Retirement Ceremony at the closing campfire.

2) That brings us to the present and what was to be the Fifth Annual North Arlington Projectoree. This event was formally scheduled last Spring, following the 1998 Projectoree. With the split of Patawomeck into Chain Bridge et al., our thoughts naturally turned to bringing the rest of the District into the Projectoree concept - an idea which was heavily favored and encouraged by the District Hierarchy (since we represented a solid and experienced Camporee Staff.) However, a combined event inviting every Troop in the District was deemed infeasible due to the small size of Camp Wilson (which has only limited camping areas and a rather small competition field) and the fact that the Patrol competition protocol cannot handle more than 24 Patrols (which corresponds to about 10 Troops.) After several months of discussions on these problems, a solution was reached where we would run *two* Projectorees back-to-back on consecutive weekends.

The first would be the traditional version, with the Troops from North Arlington, on April 23 - 25; the second, with the Troops from South Arlington and McLean, on April 30 - May 2. Although not ideal, this compromise will also enable us to preserve what I personally consider to be one of the more important aspects of the Projectoree concept - building relationships between neighboring Troops where the Scouts already know each other. I will be running both events, and will be bringing along a "core" group of Scouts and Scouters - along with all the equipment needed to run the games - from the first weekend to help run the second (that is, you may rest assured that the "second" Projectoree will not be a "poor sister" event.) The second Projectoree will be identical to first in every way, except of course that we will replace or modify any of our new games which turn out to be dogs during the first weekend (no need to suffer twice!) As is fitting, both events will henceforth be termed as the Chain Bridge Projectorees, and this marks the formal demise of the prefix "North Arlington" (R.I.P.)

3) Now for some details. While all the discussions leading up to the dual-Projectoree compromise were in progress, we (the North Arlington Troops) were already well into the planning of this year's Projectoree. Thus, we have established the following 10 games for this year's event (Note - the descriptions are very short and suggestive only; details will be provided later.):

Acid Bath - The Patrol crosses an acidic pond by using a set of boards to leapfrog from cinder block to cinder block. A Philmont Challenge Course Game.

Ball Toss - The Patrol circles up in a 10 foot diamter, and tosses a set of 10 balls around the circle in exact sequence. When done, they reverse the sequence. When done with that, they expand the circle to twice the diameter, and repeat. A lot tougher than it sounds. Another Philmont Game.

Caber Toss - Each Scout tosses three cabers (logs) for distance; the logs are graduated to the size of the Scout. Another Philmont Game.

Cave Rescue - The Patrol (blindfolded) has to enter and search a cave to find a small child. A Woodbadge Game.

Egg Toss - The Patrol divides into pairs, and each pair tosses an egg back and forth, taking one step further apart after each successful toss. Messy but fun. Not done anywhere where people are sane.

Firebuilding Race - The Patrol builds a fire and tripod, and boils a pot of spaghetti. When limp, the spaghetti strands are used to tie 10 knots around a tarp pole. A variant of a game played everywhere.

Hot Lava Rescue Relay - The Patrol uses 11 small squares to work their way across a Lava Field and snap a mousetrap with a nut hanging off a sheer-lashed pole (the last free square is passed to the front of the line, enabling everyone to move forward.) Another standard Camporee Game.

Human Chain Tire Pass Through - The Patrol joins hands in a line, and all but the first and last members are blindfolded. Then, without letting go, the Patrol snakes through a tire suspended in mid-air. Another Philmont Game.

Nuclear Reactor - The Patrol works with ropes tied around an O-ring to pick up a container of spent nuclear fuel and move it to a storage container, then replace it with fresh fuel. Another Camporee classic.

Obstacle Course - The real deal, designed to kick some serious booty; the Projectoree's most popular event.

Most of these are (again) team-building COPE-type exercises which require participation by all Patrol members and are scorable. We believe they will constitute the best Projectorees yet.

Next are the staff positions, as follows:

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

Again, all of these positions are filled by Senior Scouts and Scouters (although some District Staff will doubtless volunteer for some of them.)

4) Now for some of the hard stuff .

First, Patrols *must* be between 6 and 10 members strong. Patrols which have 5 or fewer members throw too much bias into the normalization schemes, and are also non-viable for some of the games (all games *require* at least 5 members, and some require 6.) Troops with small-sized Patrols can still attend, but they will have to combine their Patrols in order to meet the minimum Patrol sizes; combining small Patrols will also enable more Troops to participate.

Second, yes, I really do *require* a $100 deposit to "reserve" your place in the Projectoree. This is in self-defense; I run the event out of my pocket, and cannot afford to eat the overhead if everyone bails out at the last second because of bad weather or a sudden flurry of sporting event reschedulings. The total budget for both Projectorees will probably crest $6,000 this year, and while that's trivial compared to some of my Philmont treks, it's still a healthy chunk of change. The flip side of this is that, for a number of reasons which I will not bore you with here, the Projectoree is quite inexpensive compared to the average District Camporee - only $6.00 for basic registration. Note that the entire deposit is credited towards your Troop's registration, and if you *do* bail out, you will receive a partial refund - minus your fair share of the administrative overhead costs. The deposits for the April 30^th - May 2^nd Projectoree are due to me by no later than Saturday, February 13^th - but remember, it's first come/first serve on reserving the first 24 Patrols, so you'd best get that deposit in quickly. Note that all checks should be made out to "Troop 111," and state Proj. 1999 and your Troop # in the memo section. E-mail me for the mailing address. Note that the accounts are run through Troop 111's Treasury, and a completely independent audit will be conducted by another Troop - and published - after the events are complete.

Third, each participating Troop is expected to provide an additional "deposit" of Senior Scouts and Scouters to act as Staff members during their Projectoree. I hope you will consider this a positive requirement, since those Scouts will be given real responsibility to run the show. Some of these Scouts and Scouters will need to visit the April 23 - 25 Projectoree on Saturday to "learn the ropes." This will make life immensely more hassle free the following weekend. If you are completely bereft of Senior Scouts, we'll be able to cover, but remember, this event runs on Senior Scouts, not District Staff.

Fourth, all participating Troops are *very strongly urged* to purchase the Alexander and Alexander BSA Insurance that comes with your recharter packages. This is extremely inexpensive (only $1.58 per registered Troop member), and covers what your families' personal insurance does not, including deductibles, for the entire year, for *all* your Scouting events. If you have just one claim from your entire Troop, you will recoup the entire premium, easily. A very cheap piece of peace of mind.

5) What's next? - Why, a meeting of course! Since Sunday nights appear to be the last vestige of free time for anyone anymore, I am scheduling a second Projectoree "get acquainted" and job assignments session on Sunday, February 7^th, 7:30 - 9:30 at St. Agnes Church, 1914 N. Randolph St. I would appreciate an email from EVERY TROOP by Friday, January 29^th, indicating whether you're interested and will be coming to the meeting; please use the <> at the end of this email to fill me in on your intentions. Yes, I will be bugging you by email if I don't hear from you; too many things are already in motion *right now* in order for me to wait on late-deciding Troops. ...and as noted above, I can only handle 24 Patrols, and it's first come/first serve.

6) Website Materials - In order not to make this the world's longest email, I direct everyone to visit the "Projectoree" subpage on the Troop 111 website: http://www.troop111.org/proj99.html. In particular, I urge you to read the 1998 Projectoree Guide and the 1998 Staff Positions Instructions - these will perhaps answer some of the questions you may have about this event.

7) A final, personal word - This is the promise I made to the District Staff, and now to you - "I will give you two outstanding events, to the absolute best of my abilities." At this point, I would like to think that virtually everyone in Chain Bridge District has a pretty good measure of those abilities, and know that I can - and will - deliver what I promise. In exchange, however, I need solid commitments of assistance from you the participants, because the bottom line is that the Projectorees will be just as great as *you* can possible make them.

Three Months to Go! Yours in Scouting.... - Dr. Bob

Projectoree 99 Page.
25 February 1999