A Scoutmaster's Blog

In the last blog I wrote about Cwazy Rabbit Patrol and how they earned a pizza that was paid for by their scoutmaster. This turned out to be the first of three instances in which the spirit of the Cwazy Wabbit made itself known to the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68.

The troop went to a week long summer camp adventure at Many Point Scout Camp in 2005. Four boys attended along with myself and my assistant scoutmaster. Also attending camp that week was Paul, a friend of mine, with his troop of boys from Minneapolis. Paul has been a Scouting friend of mine for over twenty years.

Paul and I planned a few activities for our troops to do together during the week. One activity was a medallion hunt. Paul brought the coin, gave it to me, and put me in charge of the activity. I hid the coin in a public area of the camp and wrote ten rhyming clues which would be given out and meal times. The first few clues were pretty vague, of course, but then they started getting more helpful.

After they received the ninth clue one of my Scouts was sure he knew were the medallion was hidden. He ran to that place in camp and looked for it but was not having any luck finding it. Then a rabbit caught his eye. As boys will be, he momentarily forgot about the medallion and began following the rabbit. He followed the rabbit until he was behind the trading post. Then the Scout glanced up and noticed the medallion taped to the back of the 2×4 on which hung the trading post sign.

The Cwazy Wabbit seemed to have helped the boys from Troop 68 win their second competition.

In 2006, we attended Many Point Scout Camp for summer camp as it celebrated it’s 60th anniversary. This year, the camp staff had hidden a medallion as a special activity for the anniversary. Three clues would be given to the Scout campers during the week. The troop that found the medallion (actually it was a silver colored lantern) would receive a special prize at the Friday evening closing campfire program.

Wednesday night, after receiving the third clue, the Scouts from Melrose Troop 68 thought they knew the location of the medallion. The rushed off the that area of camp in which they thought it had been hidden. They searched the area. Just as they were about to give up one of the boys found the lantern. When he yelled for the other boys to join him he saw a rabbit hop out from under the nearby building. The spirit of the Cwazy Wabbit had made itself know once again.

Unfortunately for me, the scoutmaster, I had made a deal with the boys that if they found the medallion we would stop on the way home on Saturday for pizza, and that I would pick up the bill. I think the spirit of the Cwazy Wabbit enjoys emptying the wallet of the deal-making scoutmaster.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have had an interesting connection with rabbits during the last three years. In fact, I think rabbits could become the troop mascot if things continue…

It began late in the winter of 2004. The troop attended the council’s annual Ripley Rendezvous which takes place at Camp Ripley in Minnesota. Five Scouts from the troop attended. Two of them were newly graduated Webelos Scouts, two were boys who had not yet reached Second Class, and one was an experienced Scout.

The program at Ripley is based on patrol competition. Each of the twenty-some stations would test the patrols on their Scout knowledge, teamwork, and patrol spirit. The top three patrols of each of the four districts, along with the top three patrols overall, are recognized for their achievement at the Saturday evening program.

This year the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 were actually from three different patrols so they formed a new patrol for the outing and called themselves the Cwazy Wabbit Patrol. The came up with a pretty good patrol call before they left for the stations Saturday morning.

I knew this was a very inexperienced patrol so I made a deal with them Friday night. If they would take a spot in the top three patrols on Saturday night then I would buy the pizza on the way home Sunday morning. I thought I had made a pretty safe deal. I was sure there would be no way this patrol would take first, second, or third place.

It is amazing what boys will do to make their scoutmaster buy pizza.

When the Saturday night program began I was not very worried. Yes, the boys had done well at the stations during the day, and most of the station captains were impressed with the patrol’s call and spirit, but there were a lot of patrols at this year’s event.

It was time in the program to announce the winners. I am sure my jaw dropped when the Cwazy Wabbit Patrol of Troop 68 took first place for the Scenic District. The boys were very excited and were grinning from ear to ear as they went to the stage to accept their ribbon. I have a vague memory of someone saying how good the pizza would taste on the way home as they left me to approach the stage, or maybe I just imagined that.

The second shock came when the Cwazy Wabbits were called on again to come to the stage to accept the ribbon for second place overall. I knew then that it would be a long time before I would hear the end of this from the Scouts. But my smile was just as big as theirs was as the received their honors. They had made me proud. The boys’ faces were smiling the whole time they ate their pizza on the way home Sunday morning.

The spirit of the Cwazy Wabbit had made his first contact with the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 from Melrose.
(to be continued…)