I spent the weekend camping in a tent. Something I have done many times in my life, but not in a while. This was my first scout camp in a number of years. I was at Camp Opemikon, a Scouts Canada area camp site. This weekend was their annual camp called Rovent. Rovent which is an event for Rovers and Venturers, this year they also invited Pathfinders from the Girl Guide program. There are older youth between the ages of 14-25.
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Rovent is based on a medieval theme. Many participants came complete with costumes such as knights, court jesters, peasants, etc. They also had a royal family comprised of youth from the organizing Rover Crew. There was a story line weaved throughout the weekend. One of the highlights for the youth is the siege. They build catapults and launch bags of flour at each other. The air was filled with flour and they made quite a mess, but they sure had fun.
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My Venturer company did not attend, I went solo. I went to take a training course called Woodbadge I for Senior Sections. It is a compulsory course for new Venturer and Rover advisers. I spent the majority of the weekend in training so I didn't get to spend too much time walking around but I did manage to get around a bit.
Since I was going solo I found another group to camp with. The 1st Nepean Rovers adopted me for the weekend. I brought my own tent and personal gear of course, but they fed me. In addition to these fine folks I met a number of other great people that I know I will see again at future camps and events.
We had a good size group of people taking the course. We were asked to come up with a Scouts Own on Sunday morning at the closing ceremony. For those who don't know what that is, it is a spiritual reflection of some sort. I shared with them my story of what brought me back to scouting. They asked me if I was willing to share that with the whole camp so as part of the Scouts Own I did just that. What I said was the following.
My name is Joe Vautour and I am a 1st year Venturer Adviser. I have a rich background in scouting but I was inactive for a few years and I am just getting back into it. Like many of you I was a Beaver, I was a cub, and I was a Scout. I have been a Beaver Leader, I have been an Akela, and I have been a Troop Scouter. I have not been active the last few years, mostly because I was moving around a lot.
One morning two months ago, it was a Monday in August. All of a sudden out of no where I started to think about Scouting. About all the great times I had, the camps I had gone to, the people I met and the friends I made. I became very happy remembering all those great memories. Right then and there I looked up the phone number for Scouts Canada and I gave them a call. I told them I wanted to get back into scouting and they helped me find a group near where I live.
They very next day I was at work and my mother phoned me. My mother does not usually call me at work so I knew something was wrong. She called to tell me that a man I knew had passed away. His name was Robert MacVicar and he was a great man and he meant a lot to me. He was a retired fireman, in fact he was a District Fire Chief when he retired. He was very involved in his church, and in the community. And he was my troop scouter. This man had a huge influence in my life. As far as male role models in my life go, he was right up there with my father.
She them told me that he had a heart attack on Sunday. That is when it hit me. He died on Sunday and Monday I had this sudden urge to get back into scouting. I have no doubt that his spirit came to visit me and was urging me to go back to the Scouting movement.
That is my personal story that I want to share with you. Now each participant is going to briefly say what scouting means to them. For me Scouting is a lifestyle.
And then each of the other people taking the training said what Scouting means to them. I received many compliments afterwards on my story. There was over 300 people there in around the flagpole and it is not easy to hold their attention for long. But while I was telling my story you could hear a needle drop. I had everyones undivided attention.
I had a great time, met a lot of new people and I look forward to the next camp. See all my photos from the weekend on picasa.
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| Rovent 2008 |
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