Things got a bit exciting last weekend

[ozemu]

On Sat night we were camping in the front yard of a scout hall at the beach. Lovely spot. Then our girls said that someone was throwing things at their tent. We looked around. Nothing.

 

After a while it hapened again. And again. We adults were sleeping around the girls tent. Boys tents were not bing touched. I could see nothing but could hear things hit the tent. Thought it might be beetles dazed by nearby streetlight.

 

Other two adults were sleeping in their cars. I was under a fly with sides up so that I could see 360.

 

Then one car window smashed. We looked around. Nothing.

 

I go on sentry. Best place ended up in the tree actually.

 

90 minutes later three young blokes with a skin full come back, throw some rocks and sticks and yell a bit. I go after them and catch one after 30-40 yards.

 

We call the police and hand over one drunken 15 year old.

 

The ASM was a bit shaken. The window is expensive to replace but either scout insurance or our Troop will pay.

 

The best thing is that I turned 39 a few days later. 15 year olds have got nothing!!

 

Well I suppose he was drunk - and my legs ached a few days later.

 

And the Scouts all slept through the lot.

 

From now on we are not camping near a town. The bush and farms are much safer. It was a new experience for us. First camp in town for over four years.

[CA_Scouter]

We had an incident last year with a group of teenagers. It was April, and raining heavily, so we were the only two groups in the campground, though we were separated by about 5 campsites. Apparantly, they had been drinking most of the evening, so they decided it would be a good idea to run through our camp shirtless and scream and yell. Well, my ASM was the first out of bed and he marched down to their campsite to get them to quiet down, and he came back and told me that there were not only teenagers down there drinking, but ADULTS drinking with the teenagers. And to top it off, not all the shirtless teenagers were males!

 

We were in a spot without cell phone reception, but we told them should they wander through our campsite again, we would get up and drive out to a spot where we could call the sheriff. They quieted down after that and a few even packed up and took off.

 

This was our webelos campout, complete with all the webelos parents, so they had quite an invigorating first experience with the troop!

 

 

 

 

 

[scoutingagain]

"The window is expensive to replace but either scout insurance or our Troop will pay. "

 

And the 15 year old? His parents? His accomplices? Seems to me there should be some accoutability here.

 

I'm glad no one was hurt.

 

SA

 

 

 

[SemperParatus]

Ozemu,

 

Stories like that really reinforce the need for scouting's character development focus for the youth of this world. We too have had many experiences of non-scout campers acting in a less-than-respectful manner.

[Spiney Norman]

Sorry, to here about your excitement.

The thought of camping out on a warm beach, while it is a balmy 17' F here in Chicago, makes me wish I could be back there.

What town did you camp in?

My family spent two weeks this summer, your winter ( if that's what you want to call it), with friends from the Sapphire coast traveling between Bermegui and Sydney. You folks have really beautiful beaches!

[ozemu]

The difficulty with getting the young bloke to pay for the window is that I caught him an hour later. So we cannot link him to the window. Maybe they will accuse each other when the Police talk to them but we dont hold much hope. So we will foot the bill.

 

No-one was hurt. But the ASM in the car had her brother die a couple of weeks before and has had a rotten year in her job. This weekend was for her to unwind!!

 

The beach we were at was Brunswick Heads. Just north of Byron Bay in the NSW north coast. A long way from Bermagui. And to my way of thinking the south coast is coooold.

 

By chance the Police were asked some weeks before to visit the Troop the Monday night following the camp. Very opportune time. The Copper talked about clasp knives, bicycle safety and...drugs and alcohol and youth sentancing. He had a very attentive audience.