Boy Scouts join forces at 35th camporee

WELLESLEY ISLAND — Around 2,600 Boy Scouts from Canada and the northeastern United States invaded Wellesley Island State Park over the weekend to attend the 35th Annual International World Brotherhood Camporee.

The annual camporee had its share of rain — a joke among the scouts is that whenever the Americans host the event there is rain and the Canadians are the fortunate ones who always have sunshine — but another cloud was brewing.

Scout leaders and organizers are worried that the mandatory use of passports or enhanced identification cards to cross the Canadian border will lower attendance at the event, which is meant to bring scouts from the two countries together.

"It's hard enough with the current gas crunch, and now this. It'll make it harder to participate," said Donald H. Loomis, who has helped plan the camporee since it started in 1974. "Scouting is supposed to be for everybody, not just rich kids."

The cost of a U.S passport for those under 16 is $85, for those above 16 it is $100. The price for an enhanced non-driver identification card or an enhanced driver identification card is $30. Canadian passports are less expensive.

While the price for an enhanced identification card is far less than a passport, troops are self supporting and pay their way to the camporee through fundraising and donations. The extra cost for every scout and leader to have an enhanced ID could become a burden to the troop or the families of the scout.

"Not everybody has a passport. One of three scouts in my car on the ride down here had one, that's it," said Mary J. Hagerman, a troop scouter with the 1st Osgoode Troop from Osgoode, Ontario. "I think there won't be as many Canadians coming down and I don't think as many Americans will come up."

Others are optimistic that something can be worked out through which scouts will be able to use school identification cards with a birth certificate at the border.

"I don't think the passport thing will be an issue," said Richard J. Avery, Jr., the executive director of the Hiawatha Seaway Council. "This event is about bringing scouts together and it's rare to have this many troops in one place at one time. That idea won't change."

The weekend wasn't all politics, as outdoor activities and patch trading became the main focus for the scouts Saturday morning. Some scouts shielded themselves from the heavy and constant mist while others lay on tarps in the open field bartering for rare and unique Scout patches — some valued at up to $1,000.

"At the first Brotherhood it seemed kind of silly to me," said Robert S. Clark, who stood under a tarp with his father, Russell J., and a collection of 1,800 patches. "But once I got into it, I realized how much more there was to it."

His prize of the day: a Hudson Valley Council patch that was unique because it didn't have a landscape background and, instead, featured embroidered scouts on it.

While there were other activities he could have taken part in, this member of Troop 620 from Liverpool was content to attend to his business and work to improve his collection.

Others found themselves occupied with the tomahawk toss, a feature of the camporee since 1980. Kevin A. Ryan, from Kingston, Ontario, set up two tree rounds for scouts and leaders to throw tomahawks at, carefully teaching each scout how to stand as if they were about to throw a baseball.

The line of scouts would cheer the tomahawk thrower on when the target, a playing card, was struck. They would even cheer when the mark was missed.

"I did it last year, and hit the mark two or three times," said Colin C. Cumming, from Osgoode, Canada. "I didn't hit it once this year. But that's OK."

The event carried on all day Saturday with static displays of solar-powered cars and snowmobiles from Clarkson University, live reptiles from Reptiles Forever in Cape Vincent and a Dutch oven cook-off competition. Scouts also got the opportunity to use new technology in a geo-caching expedition, where they used global positioning systems to locate an ammunition box and a film canister.

"It's different with orienteering when you have a map and compass," said Cameron R. Hance, of Troop 144 from Hermon-DeKalb. "This leads you exactly to where you need to be."