Troop 54 attended MassJam again - the biggest event we have experienced, with 7,500 participants pre-registered. This time, we were in Subcamp 4, which had a more difficult entry and exit than Subcamp 1 (where we camped in 2008). Once we got the the neighborhhod of the event, it took about 1-1/2 hours to get to our site. We had to split a site with Troop 53 of Plympton, Massachusetts, leaving very little open space and forcing us to use the smaller of the tents we brought. Some troops got sites large enough to allow for an open courtyard in the middle of their tents.
We had six Boy Scouts and three leaders participating.
The weather was pretty excellent for this time of year. While there was no rain, a heavy dew/frost left our gear pretty wet on departure.
During the day, the Scouts visited the "action centers", which included Rock Climbing, Rockets, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), COPE (challenging outdoor personal experience), First Aid, Geocaching, Archery, Rifle and Sports (frisbee). The event had an exhibits and displays area with information about related programs such as high adventure bases. The snack bar did a booming business, and the trading post was pretty busy as well. An excellent multi-media performance called Life Unbound was presented in two parts, one each day, with numerous related activity stations scattered throughout the event. In additon, most of the ten sponsoring councils offered program areas as well; the sub-camp headquarters operated by the Mohegan Council and Western Massachusetts Council had a ping pong ball game for Webelos and a fire safety activity center.
To allow more time to participate in the activities, we attempted to keep meal preparation time short with easier meals, such as using pre-cooked bacon. The adult dinners were Oktoberfest Stoup (featuring cabbage and sausage) and Hearty Sausage and Mushroom Stew Over Polenta.
This was our troop's fifty-eight consecutive month with at least one overnight camping trip.
Page updated 10/19/13.
