From Around the Nation, Campsgiving is Underway
Campsgiving is HERE, and I have never been so ready!
No matter what the year, Campsgiving isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. There are endless ways to celebrate, from simply planning a weekend with your family, to masking up to spend time with your troop… or even heading to your nearby Scout camp to participate in a weekend full of good food and learning! I had the opportunity to talk with both Amy (the VP of Program for the Mountaineer Area Council) and David (the Scoutmaster for Troop 106 in Lakeland, FL) about their upcoming Campsgiving plans, and they had some really exciting stuff in the works.
Wild, Wonderful West Virginia Getaway
For Amy with the Mountaineer Area Council in West Virginia, this year’s festivities are totally new. She and the folks at Camp Mountaineer were looking for a way to get back to a sense of normalcy after months of disruption due to the pandemic, stating, “We all miss being at camp and being outside. This weekend is the perfect opportunity to safely get together and enjoy the camp while learning some new recipes and techniques for outdoor cooking.”
She and her team have planned a weekend filled with cooking lessons by local Scoutmasters and educational lessons by Kingsford Charcoal. They will have stations set up where Scouts and their troops will get to learn how to cook in a Dutch oven over a fire, in a Dutch oven over charcoals (just to name a few), and even how charcoal is made. The outdoor cooking program will revolve all around cooking meals (think beyond just hotdogs!) outside and will give Scouts the opportunity to discover something new to take back to their troop campouts.
That’s not all that Amy and the Camp Mountaineer team have up their sleeves – they also have a couple of giveaways planned that will not only benefit local communities, but will also give a boost to the winning troops!
First and foremost, the troop that brings the most nonperishable food items for their weekend food drive will win a celebratory dessert party, sponsored by Menawngihella Lodge 550, that the Scouts of that troop can enjoy together (don’t want to give away too many details on it, but I’m here to say that it sounds DELICIOUS).
Secondly, after participating in the various cook stations on Saturday, troops will be able to participate in a “cook-off” where they prepare a recipe together (outside, of course!). The winner of the cooking competition will receive a prize pack supplied by Scoutshop.org to add to their troop’s supply of outdoor cookware!
With it being their inaugural year of hosting a Campsgiving celebration, the team at Camp Mountaineer are excited to see how this weekend evolves. You can follow along their journey and weekend on Facebook – it might just be the perfect inspiration for your upcoming Campsgiving adventure!
Sunny Florida Weekend Fun
For Troop 106 in Florida, Campsgiving is not new – it‘s been around in some form or another since 2000 (in case that took you a moment to wrap your head around… that’s 20 years!). Their tradition is usually combined with their Webelos to Scouts BSA transition campout, which makes for the best celebration, although there have also been years where they’ve moved the Campsgiving weekend to January because it worked better for Scouts and their families.
In a “normal” year, their participants number upwards of 60-70 people and they cook multiple turkeys and hams, along with something like 10 pounds of potatoes, loads of stuffing, rolls, so many cans of green beans, and of course, desserts like peach cobbler. They have a team of mainly parents and some Scouts that are in charge of the different food stations to make sure that nothing falls between the cracks while all of the special activities are going on for the Scouts. That is one of David’s biggest recommendation to new troops – “Assign people to specific foods, activities, and duties so things aren’t forgotten.”
This year, they had a smaller gathering to ensure the safety of the attendees in light of the pandemic and decided to move the larger gathering to January. When I asked David how this year would look the most different, he said, “Lots more PPE and a smaller crowd, which also means less food than usual.” They held cooking competitions that allowed Scouts to get creative and kept social distancing, masks, and hand-washing a top priority.
With such a well-functioning and thought out event, I knew there had to be a major must-have or two on the list for David and his troop, and he said that they definitely couldn’t do without their specially designed “ovens”! Without those, it would be way harder to cook the main course meats, and their design allows them to cook the ham and the turkey together, rotisserie-style. His second-most-important, can’t-forget item (after some deliberation) was the big boiler burner (or 3!) they use to cook the green beans and heat their hot water.
David’s last bit of parting advice to new troops celebrating Campsgiving for the first time? Check the turkey-thawing schedule. I laughed until I had a flashback to the first Thanksgiving I was cooking on my own where I didn’t do this. We had a frozen turkey the day before Thanksgiving Day and I had to figure out how to thaw out the bird in less than 24 hours… I couldn’t imagine having to do that at the campsite!
Make it YOURS
To me, the best part about Campsgiving is the ability to make adjustments to fit it to whatever works best for the Scouts and their families. There is always planning involved with Campsgiving – as David talked about, it runs smoothest when there are specific people in charge of various functions and when time is taken to really do some research into portion sizes to prepare proper quantities of food.
Top 5 Takeaways
- Make a to-do list. Be sure to include all the tasks and activities leading up to the event (don’t forget a line for thawing the turkey!) AND happening the day-of! Assign specific functions to specific people – get everyone in on the action.
- Double-check your packing list. You don’t want to forget the gear needed to cook an integral part of the meal.
- Do research on portion size and get a really good handle on your guest list so you know who and how many you are planning for.
- Be sure to make reservations at the campground or park you are planning on using for the event (and especially this year, check their rules around group size and types of cooking allowed!).
- HAVE FUN! No matter what happens, this event is all about having fun with some of your favorite people. If that turkey leg gets dropped into the firepit, it won’t be the end of the world (I totally did that on the Scout Chef Kitchen I filmed this past weekend… and the show rolled on, ha!).
Moral of the story – get creative and make a plan. Traditions don’t have to be taken off the table, they might just need to be re-thought this year. Check in with CDC guidelines for safe gatherings, and then decide what is best for you and your Scouts this year! Be sure to share your photos with us by tagging us on Facebook,Instagram, and Twitter using the #Campsgiving hashtag. We will be taking a look at your photos on our Campsgiving Live Event coming your way on Friday, 11/13 at 1:30pm… and we will also debut some brand new Scout Chef Kitchen recipes that are straight up MUSTS this fall season!
