Third grade Bear Cub Scouts from our Iaoapogh Mountains District came to Camp Yaw Paw in Mahwah on June 6-7 for a weekend of fun, outdoors adventure and glorious weather. This event runs every spring to help get scouts out in the woods for what may be their first overnight camp out. All packs in the Iaoapogh Mountains District are invited, so if you missed it this year be sure to keep an eye out for the event next year on June 5-6, 2010 !

Bears and their parents arrived Saturday morning, and were guided to their sites by Boy Scouts Daniel Literati and Chris Salamone from Troop 7 in Ridgewood , and Girl Scouts Britta Potter and Gaby Puche from Troop 148 in Ridgewood . A total of 47 Bear Cubs from the following Packs were registered for the event:

Cubs set up their sites and had lunch, then assembled at the amphitheater overlooking the lake for the Opening Ceremony. They reviewed schedules and safety rules, and heard about summer day camp at Camp Yaw Paw from the director, Mike Wirth.

The afternoon activity was an orienteering map hike around the camp, traveling along the trails marked on the map and finding markers that each had a different letter. The objective was to find all the markers, and unscramble the letters to reveal the coded phrase, in the shortest time. Winners were:

First Place : Pack 27 Glen Rock & Pack 88 Waldwick (combined team) – 27 minutes, 0 seconds

Second Place : Pack 308 Waldwick – 28 minutes, 15 seconds

Everyone enjoyed a cold popsicle at the finish, then went off to do a scavenger hunt, fish in the lake or just enjoy time in the woods. After cooking their dinners over a fire , the Bears returned to the amphitheater for a campfire emceed by Carson Potter of Troop 7 in Ridgewood, performed skits that they had prepared, and enjoyed a couple of classic skits by some of the adult leaders.

The weekend event ended with a closing non-denominational service on Sunday morning and each scout received a cool patch from the event. Some families stayed on longer that day to enjoy the camp. All reported having fun and are looking forward to Webelos Weekend on October 17-18, 2009 .

Thanks go to the scouts mentioned above who helped with the event, and to the following adults:

• Larry Chiarelli for helping to welcome arriving scouts
• Don Fehrle for firewood and camp assistance (and all the great work he and others are doing around camp)
• Bob Rycharski for the map hike and camp assistance
• Caretaker Doug Terpstra and Summer Camp Director Mike Wirth for addressing the Opening Ceremony
• Bob Sandler (Pack ) and Ron Redfern (Pack ) for helping with the non-denominational service
• And a special thank you to Jim Moran and our Senior District Executive Rich Bachmann for getting roped into some skits at the campfire!

This event is fun and easy to run, as the packs themselves handle all the camping details. We hope that more folks will be interested in helping out in future years. It is really great to enjoy camp through the eyes on an eight-year-old boy for the first time!

And don't forget Webelos Weekend on October 17-18, 2009 !

Carol Gyzander, Bear Weekend Coordinator