I was invited by the coordinators of the Big Muddy District Klondike Derby for 2010, to take part as one of this year's judges.  What was my event?  The A-Frame race.  That's right, an event that requires an attempt at tying something with Rope.  But let's put things into priority, the points awarded for this event were not based on how well you lashed the three poles together into an A-Frame, but how fast you could maneuver the course that had been laid out.  In all actuality, they could have stacked the three poles in a manner which they could be carried and simply tossed the rope over the corners based on the rules for the event.  But it was a good time for everyone involved, and some of the Patrols competing not only made an attempt at lashing the poles, but did a good job, including the fastest team for this particular event.

Being my first time at our District's Klondike event, I really didn't know what to expect, and with with the weather being extremely cold the week before, we were concerned about how bad the weather would be and how it would effect the turn out.  But the turn out was great, the weather was cold, but bearable, and luckily for me, I had three other events in my area that I could watch while waiting for one of the ten patrols to find their way to my event.

So, I am actually looking forward to next year's event, and depending on who coordinates it, I may opt to simply walk with the patrol that my son is in and see the rest of the events in 2011.  We shall see how that works out.

I would like to thank Troop 258 out of Concordia Missouri for inviting me to take part in this year's event.

I really didn't know what to expect when I was asked to help another leader hold a class on Knots at this years Big Muddy District Camporee.  In fact, I really wasn't certain what we were going to do until I finally met up with my partner about an hour prior to the beginning of the morning round of classes.  Based on what I was hearing I prepared a program which would take the Scouts through a series of knots that would be useful when they were out camping.  Those knots were, the Sheet Bend, Two-Half-Hitch, Taut-Line Hitch, and Clove Hitch.  Throw in the Square Knot just to be certain that they knew it, and that was the basis of my part of the program.

My partner, Richard, came prepared to teach them the Basics of Knot tying, introducing them to the parts of a knot.  He then proceeded to cover the Bowline and a couple of its variations.  In the time that remained, we covered lashings, having them work on the square and diagonal lashing until it was time for their patrol to move on and the next one to come in.

To be honest, I was a quite pleased with the level of knowledge that many of the Scouts had regarding knots.  I had a great time working with them, and the other leaders that took part in helping the class, and I even learned a couple of things myself from my partner.  My hope is that the Scouts had as much fun in the class as I had working with them.