DATE: Friday, October 24, 1997              TAG: 9710230307

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 18   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CAROLE O'KEEFFE, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   54 lines

BEACH SCOUTS TEST THEIR STRENGTH AND KNOW-HOW AT FALL CAMPOREE

More than 500 Virginia Beach Boy Scouts along with more than 100 adults, both men and women, spent a recent weekend at the Fall Camporee at the Northwest River Radio Station, a site with a wide clearing for mass meetings, games and instruction and a heavily forested area for tents.

One of the projects during the weekend was crossing the ``living bridge'' of ropes that took Scouts across a shallow ravine, not an easy accomplishment.

It was a day of learning one's capabilities and limitations, said Bill Dora, camp master at the twice annual Virginia Beach Boy Scout Camporee. ``Scouts learn about life, how to get things done alone and with teamwork.''

Walking the living bridge is one thing a Boy Scout has to do alone and in his own time.

Many other activities require teamwork, like boys constructing a litter with four lashed poles and T-shirts, to carry an injured or sick person.

Teams learned how to tie proper knots in several short pieces of rope to make a long rope to save a drowning victim, for example.

Teams also tried to score high points for identifying edible and inedible plants in the forest, an endeavor for which trial and error was absolutely not the recommended method of determination.

Several types of leaves, nuts and cones were displayed on a table. Scouts told how they would prepare nature's edible foods. It was important for them to know, as Dora explained, ``One leaf, if you eat it raw, it's an hallucinogen. If you cook it, it's perfectly OK.''

Boys were timed and graded on their abilities to build an emergency shelter from items found in nature or hauled among their supplies or how to alert an aircraft to trouble on the ground using symbols made from materials at hand.

Each troop brought its own food and supplies.

Sean Piereman, 14, Troop 99, has been Scouting for seven years. He said the best part for him is the camping out with friends, with the emphasis on friends.

Levi Lehman, 12, and his brother, David, 11, are in Troop 372. Levi Lehman enjoys camping so much that he goes once a month, learning about hunting and fishing as he does. He can distinguish such edibles in the woods as strawberries, sassafras roots and the curled new heads on particular ferns.

Eleven-year-old Chip Barry of Troop 364 walked the living bridge, but by the time it was his turn, it had loosened up enough that every move he made was magnified in the ropes. In it's best condition, the bridge must be stretched tightly.

When the bridge is in proper working order, some Scouts carry a heavy backpack for an extra challenge. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CAROLE O'KEEFFE

Chip Barry of Troop 364 walks across the ``living bridge'' of ropes

that took Scouts across a shallow ravine during the recent Fall

Camporee at the Northwest River Radio Station.

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