'It's Our Favorite'
By Scott Daniels
From desert canyons and summer camp waterfronts to sailing ships and mud-filled obstacle courses, readers submitted photographs of their favorite places to go Scouting. Here are the judges' prizewinning picks.
Every picture tells a story, but you won't believe what happened to Ron Rosano after he snapped the Grand Prize winner in Scouting magazine's "Favorite Places for Scouting" photo contest.
"I had taken several pictures of boys jumping into the lake, and then we decided to canoe to another set of rocks that looked good for jumping," he said.
"The camera was in my lap, and I was getting ready to take another photo when one of the boys in the canoe unexpectedly, and without warning, went into the water." That capsized the canoe, and the camera fell to the bottom of the lake.
Fortunately, the waters of Lake Spaulding are quite clear. First Class Scout Alex Johnson spotted the Nikon F100 on the bottom and swam down to retrieve it.
"The camera was electronic, so I figured it was gone," Rosano said, "but that night I tried to at least salvage the film."
Shielded from light, deep inside his sleeping bag, Rosano opened the camera and painstakingly spooled the film back into its canister.
"The film was wet, and I wasn't sure if anything would turn out," he said. "Several days later I had the film processed. All the images survived, and I was very grateful for that."
Readers submitted nearly 600 photographs in this year's competition, each depicting a favorite place for Scouting. Judging were magazine staffers John R. Fulton Jr., photo editor; Olivia Ogren-Hrejsa, assistant photo editor; Jon C. Halter, editor; Scott Daniels, executive editor; Beth Morgan, senior art director; and Sherry Cole, editorial assistant.
Prize winners received BSA Supply Division gift certificates as follows: Grand Prize—$400; First Place—$300; Second Place—$200; Third Place—$100; Honorable Mention—$25. In addition, all winners received a Juice S2 compact multipurpose tool, courtesy of Leatherman Tool Group Inc.
Look for details in Scouting's May-June issue about our next reader competition, "Camp Food Favorites," a recipe contest open to all registered adult Scouters.
You can also find these photographs, along with other honorable mention winners, on the magazine's Web site, www.scoutingmagazine.org.
Grand Prize
Ron Rosano
Scoutmaster
Troop 59
Greenbrae, Calif.
First Class Scout Alex Johnson leaps into the crystal blue waters of Lake Spaulding. The lake, located at 5,014 feet in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Nevada County, Calif., is Troop 59's favorite place to go camping and teach Canoeing and Small-Boat Sailing merit badges.
1st Place
Donald S. Roberts
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1201
Fullerton, Calif.
Life Scout Daniel Roberts rests during a hike through the "Narrows" in Utah's Zion National Park. Walls of the slot canyon squeeze to 15 feet across in some places and extend upward between 1,500 and 2,000 feet.
2nd Place
Chuck Berger
Committee Member
Troop 494
White Bear Lake, Minn.
Star Scout Adam Steadland (left) and Life Scout Matt DeMay land a soho mackerel for dinner while sailing aboard the Miss Jerry with Capt. Gerald Dowling at the BSA's Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.
3rd Place
Mark Parsons
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 161
Shoreham, N.Y.
The legend of the Crab King, portrayed by Island Mate Vince DeBartolo, is re-enacted at a campfire for Troop 161 Scouts on the last night of their Out Island Adventure at the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.
Honorable Mention
Mark D. Doiron
Committee Member
Troop 275
Midwest City, Okla.
Troop 275 Scouts salute Old Glory at flag retreat ceremonies during summer camp at the Last Frontier Council's Slippery Falls Scout Ranch in southeastern Oklahoma.
Honorable Mention
Larry D. Whalen
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 185
Waterford, Mich.
On a backpacking and canoeing trip for first-year Scouts, Troop 185 members and Scouters huddle below a waterfall on the Gargantua River in Lake Superior Provincial Park, located between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, Ontario.
Honorable Mention
David Wherry
Senior Patrol Leader
Troop 165
Charlotte, N.C.
At dawn, assistant Scoutmaster Mark Wherry, left, and Scoutmaster Gene Gazda break camp at Flower Gap on the Art Loeb Trail in North Carolina.
Honorable Mention
Mark Doiron
Committee Member
Troop 275
Midwest City, Okla.
Evening's light splashes on Troop 275 Scouts at the waterfront of the Last Frontier Council's Slippery Falls Scout Ranch in Oklahoma. Pictured are Micah Dickson, top, and, left to right, William Walton, Matthew Wilson, Willy Thomas, and Joe Martin.
Honorable Mention
Mark Nagayama
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 693
Cerritos, Calif.
Members of Troop 693 spend a day whale watching aboard the Argus, a 1905 topsail ketch, based at the Newport Sea Base, operated by the Orange County Council in Newport Beach, Calif.
Honorable Mention
Lester Salay
Assistant Cubmaster
Pack 441
Northridge, Calif.
Los Angeles motorcycle officer Roger Stewart meets Pack 441 Cub Scouts at the Devonshire Police Command Station. The Cub Scouts learned about gun safety in the home, the 911 emergency response system, and got to visit with K-9 puppy "recruits."
Honorable Mention
William M. Clark
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 9
Worcester, Mass.
Scouts taking the Swimming merit badge sit on the docks of the Camp Sandy Beach waterfront at Yawgoog Scout Reservation in Rockville, R.I., while a Canoeing merit badge class practices paddling strokes in the lake.
Honorable Mention
Mark Parsons
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 161
Shoreham, N.Y.
Island Mate Vince DeBartolo, a staff member on Big Munson Island at the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base, drops into the arms of Troop 161 Scouts in the trust fall. A series of Challenge Course activities is designed to build mutual trust and teamwork among the crew.
Honorable Mention
Brenda T. Patterson
Assistant Cubmaster
Pack 30
Madison, Miss.
On the final afternoon of day camp in the Andrew Jackson Council's Eastern District, Cub Scouts and Webelos Scouts race through an obstacle course that finishes with a mud hole filled with ice cubes. These proud participants are from Packs 30 and 300.
Honorable Mention
Marc S. Tessier
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 98
Columbus, Ga.
Scouts at the Tukabatchee Area Council's Camp Tukabatchee in central Alabama work on Requirement 7 of the Rowing merit badge: Tip over a rowboat, right it, get in, and paddle 10 yards.
Honorable Mention
Nick Patterson
Advisor
Crew 451
Turlock, Calif.
Members of Venturing Crew 451, on shore leave during their voyage aboard the 90-foot sailboat Odyssey, branch out for a group shot at Skull Island State Park in the San Juan Islands of Washington.
Honorable Mention
Rick Bragga
Council Executive Board Member
Heart of Virginia Council
Richmond, Va.
Cub Scouts fish from the dock during the Dutchman Derby event at the Heart of Virginia Council's Cub Scout and Webelos Scout Adventure Camp.
Honorable Mention
David Largent
Assistant Scoutmaster and Advancement Chair
Troop 22 and Troop 007
Muncie, Ind.
A sunrise view of an island on South Arm Knife Lake photographed during Troop 22's trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Honorable Mention
Chris Barsness
Cubmaster
Pack 14
San Francisco, Cailf.
Thor Barsness climbs an ice wall on the Kennecott Glacier in Kennecott, Alaska.
Honorable Mention
Heidi Moser
Committee Member
Troop 377
Mount Penn, Pa.
Morning fog settles over Troop 377's campsite at Holt's Landing State Park in Millville, Del.
Honorable Mention
Jussi Keranen
Adult Volunteer
Troop 582
Seattle, Wash.
Troop 582 Scoutmaster Rich Wilkens and his son Billy cross the Klanawa River during a high adventure trip on the West Coast Trail of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
March - April 2004 Table of Contents
Copyright © 2004 by the Boy Scouts of America. All rights thereunder reserved; anything appearing in Scouting magazine or on its Web site may not be reprinted either wholly or in part without written permission. Because of freedom given authors, opinions may not reflect official concurrence.