The Father & Son Freeze-Out traditionally is a very popular event for the Boy Scouts of America.
But nothing like this.
Merely 15 months under Scout leadership, the Black Creek Scout Reservation, located off Poor Robin Road in Screven County, hosted the most-attended Father & Son Freeze-Out in the 11-county scout council in the last 31 years.
All total 646 registered for the Jan. 21-23 event as scouts participated in several father-son team games and slept in tents with nighttime temperatures hovering in the mid-20s.
That registered mark, however, does not include visitors and walk-ins.
“I think the numbers swelled over 700 on Saturday as we had day visitors who came on out,” said Everrett Prostrollo, who lives on camp property as Black Creek’s ranger. “Overall, it was a really great event,” Prostrollo said. “I am looking forward to next year being even bigger.”
Frank Patterson and other Freeze-Out organizers kept scouts busy over the three days as the scouts set up camp sites, prepared meals, earned badges, and collected game points toward father-and-son awards.
“We are proud to be in Screven County,” Patterson said. “It was great. It is a beautiful piece of property.”
Patterson said he will be glad to return to Black Creek and see how the property develops with the construction of new facilities over the years.
Black Creek became the scouts’ Coastal Empire Council camp after leaving the Blue Heron Camp in Riceboro. A master plan shows plans for the structural advancements of the camp like a 400-seat, air-conditioned dining hall, but for this event the only constructed facility was an open-aired pavilion capable of providing the scouts overhead covering.
Alan Stewart, assistant scoutmaster of the local Scout Troop 103, said while the scouts from the 11-county council were stationed at the 380-acre Black Creek Reservation, their financial impact was felt throughout the county.
Upon arrival to Screven County, the scouts and adults become patrons of hardware shops, eating establishments, and gas stations.
Stewart said he wore his scout uniform when he was buying items at a Sylvania grocery.
“I wanted them to know I was a part of the scouts,” said Stewart, who wants his troop to make a bigger impact in its scout numbers.
“Screven County had four scouts out there,” said Stewart, urging more sixth-grade and up aged boys to try scouting. “Where is the other 2,000 who needed to be out there?”
Boy scouts are males whose ages begin at 11. Cub scouts, who will have their medieval-themed Freeze-Out in Allenhurst, Ga., Feb 25-27, are boys in first through fifth grade.
Screven County also has Girl Scouts – Troop 226 – that meets the second and fourth Tuesdays each month for girls ages 5 to 18.
“If Statesboro can have five troops at one time, then Sylvania should be able to have one solid troop,” Stewart said of Scout Troop 103.
The largest number of scouts in attendance from one troop was 52.
At the start of the event, the scouts were scheduled to be checked in between 4 and 8 p.m. Jan. 21, but that time got extended when Poor Robin Road had possibly its first-ever traffic jam. Vehicles were backed up onto the roadway at times for more than a mile as some caravans of scouts traveled in excess of two hours to attend the event at Black Creek Scout Reservation.
That Friday night and Saturday evening the temperatures hit 26 degrees as campers burrowed themselves into sleeping bags in their tents.
Breakfast on Saturday morning was conducted at each individual campsite as the Boy Scouts were in charge of the menus – whether that be biscuits, cereal, pancakes, sausage or another protein-filled food to provide the scouts with energy to start a day filled with activities.
The assembly at the flagpole was of significance because years from now the scouts who attended the January 2011 gathering can say they held the ceremony in the lake and stayed dry doing so. The 45-acre lake remains drained as the Army Corps of Engineers prepare a report on what must be done as tree stumps must be removed.
“It is a novel thing. It is something they will never forget,” Prostrollo said of the lake flag ceremony.
Over time, the lake will be outfitted for scouts to safely fish, boat and swim.
A total of 35 father-and-son games were setup at the camp for the duos to earn points from each contest toward an overall prize. The first-place father-and-son team was Roger and Adam Wentz of Troop 337 from Pembroke.
For scouts age 14 and older, other events were available on the ranges. There was black powder shooting and a father-and-son team shooting contest. COPE, or Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience, events also were done. Project COPE is a series of inter-related events that challenge an individual and group level. Events are divided into the categories of initiative games, trust events, low elements and high elements. COPE has the objectives of teamwork, self confidence, trust, leadership, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving.
An Order of the Arrow luncheon was held under the newly constructed pavilion for those who were worthy. The Order of the Arrow is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America.
While the Order of the Arrow consumed barbecue, their fellow scouts returned to their campsites for the mid-day meals that they had planned.
After a continuance of the games in the afternoon, scouts prepared dinner and then attended a campfire in the lake. The gathering included a Wood Badge Beading Ceremony for adult scout leaders who had advanced training. Wood Badge courses aim to make scouters better leaders by teaching advanced leadership skills, and by creating a bond and commitment to the scout movement.
A White Elephant Auction was held later that night as scouts were able to “buy” items using Freeze-Out bucks. The items were provided by the troops who attended the event. Among the items available were portable chairs, candy, sodas, an inflatable Santa Claus, Lincoln Logs, and a drum set.
On Sunday morning, a non-denominational service preceded a recognition and award presentation. At 11 a.m., scouts departed from the camp onto Poor Robin Road.
“They improved the camp,” said Prostrollo of the scouts who made their individual camp sites more suitable to their tents. “They cleared the downed brush and debris from the (Jan. 10) ice storm. They left it cleaner than when they found it.”
It was cold at the Freeze-Out, but not as cold as it was for the scouts who attended a camp at Black Creek the day after Christmas. The camp ran from Sunday evening through mid-day Thursday. On that Monday morning, the scouts like the rest of Screven County had a blanketing of snow at the camp.
The temperatures during those nights dropped down into the teens.
“It is the first time we had snow at a camp,” said Kelli McCauley, the program director. “We’ve had Father & Son Freeze-Outs and it doesn’t get this cold.
“They will never forget waking up to snow on the ground,” McCauley said.
The Black Creek Heritage Camp had 31 boys plus adults and it was the scouts’ last opportunity to earn the 100-year Boy Scouts of America commemorative patch.