Ceremonies dedicated to the memory of fallen scout Brandon Lee Zigrang, of Clarion
The Wright County Scouts headed to Lake Cornelia on the weekend of Sept. 7th and 8th for the Fall Camporee and Dragon Boat Races. 98 scouters joined 15 volunteers who served as Dragon Boat staff, including three volunteers from Illinois, and one from Minnesota.
Eagle Grove scout Michael Umthun, a member of the elite Order of the Arrow, leads the flag procession to the opening ceremony, where scouts gathered with Scoutmaster Rick Dawson for the Opening Ceremony.
In the annual Dragon Boat race, time trials were held early in the morning. Then there was a youth race, where the four youth crewed boats went up against each other. Then, the winning crew in the youth race went on to challenge the one adult crewed boat. In both races, there were 22 crew members per boat. Each boat weighed 700 pounds, empty.
And now you know why the boats, somewhat styled after Norse longboats, are called Dragon Boats! Photo provided.
"The weather was perfect," said Scoutmaster Rick Dawson. "It was 27 degrees in the morning. It warmed up to 55 in the afternoon. Calm seas, all day long."
For the second year in a row, the adult crew won the Adults vs. Youth race, by a boat length. But this time with a new Captain, newly minted adult Dustin Dawson, 18, who is Eagle Grove's latest Eagle Scout, and led the adult crew to victory. Last year, he served on the crew of one of the youth boats.
Eagle Grove's newest Eagle Scout, 18 year old EGHS senior Dustin Dawson, who captained the adult boat to victory. Photo provided.
Another event held during the Camporee was a tug of war. Now, scouts know ropes as rope craft is one of the key survival and utility skills scouts learn. So, they used a rope made by Eagle Scout Cole Fourage of Eagle Grove, who laced 8 ropes together to make one "gigantic", according to Scoutmaster Dawson, 50 foot long tug of war rope. 60 scouts took part in the battle, with 30 on each team, on either side of that rope.
"Cole didn't want to participate," said Scoutmaster Dawson, "he was watching that rope. He did not want that rope to break. You know, it was his first one ever. So he watched that rope just go 'huzzzaaahhh' and just streeeetch." The rope didn't break.
The only prize in the tug of war was bragging rights, with Fourage earning them for his rope, and the two teams competing for them otherwise. "Team One" won, out-pulling "Team Two" in a best two out of three set. "It was incredible," said Scoutmaster Dawson, to see all those scouts battling it out in one epic tug-of-war. Not once, but three times in a row.
During the closing ceremony of the Camporee was the annual Dad Joke competition. However, in a twist, no actual "dads" were allowed to participate, only youth contestants were allowed. 28 contestants took part. Each contestant needed two jokes to enter, one to qualify, and one to enter in the contest. 4 volunteers served as judges. Scoutmaster Dawson, who won last year's contest, served as emcee. According to Scoutmaster Dawson, one scout's joke was a "HUGE story" that took over 20 minutes to tell. 8 scouts altogether made it through the qualifying round, while 4 moved on to the finals.
The beach was all set up for the Camporee's closing ceremony, as night fell. Photo provided.
With Dad Jokes the idea is that the worse they are, the better, as long as they still have a punchline that works. So, naturally, the worst joke that still made sense won. The winner was a Life Scout from Cedar Falls. Scoutmaster Dawson related the story of the joke being told, "So, the young man came up with a notebook," recalled Dawson, "and he goes, 'Dad jokes, right? Some are good, some are bad. Do you know why?" Everyone just looked confused, and then the winner "just turned his notebook around and it just had written the letter 'Y'."
Two prizes were on offer for the winner and runner-up, with the winner being able to take their choice. Prize #1 was a beverage tumbler with a built-in, removable bluetooth speaker bearing the Scouts USA logo. Prize #2 was a glow in the dark frisbee golf disc. The winner chose the tumbler.
A view of one of the "A Win for Brandon Lee" caps that were given to each scout in memory of fallen Scout Brandong Lee Zigrang, just after it was made at Eagle Grove's Red Head Tribe Logos. Photo provided.
What every scout took home was a stocking cap, made by Red Head Tribe Logos in Eagle Grove, with a custom embroidered patch commemorating the Camporee. The caps themselves were also custom embroidered, with the words "A Win for Brandon Lee'', in memory of fallen scout Brandon Lee Zigrang. The design was produced with the approval of Zigrang's parents. Zigrang tragically committed suicide this year.
