Boy Scouts Hold Annual Winter Camp
The first weekend of the Thanksgiving break is always a special time for Scouting America youth as their annual Winter Camp is held at Camp Attakapas in Trout.
On Friday, November 21, scouts from all over Louisiana and Texas arrived for Winter Camp where they would spend five days camping, earning merit badges and sharing experiences that will last a lifetime.
“That’s what camp is all about, the friendships and developing friendships, not just with members of their group, but others who are here,” said Vinson Mouser of Mansura, Program Director of Camp Attakapas Winter Camp. “We have around 180 this year, which is up from last year. Really, our numbers continue to climb since the devastating covid years. This was a good camp, good numbers and one of our best in regard to what we’d hope to achieve.”
Although each scout had the opportunity to earn multiple merit badges during their five days, Mouser said there is so much more to Winter Camp than just having another patch to put on a uniform or sleeping in tents during the often times cold weather.
“I hope that when they leave here, they’ve got a sense of citizenship with our flag retirement ceremonies and other flag ceremonies,” he said. “Those, along with many of our other activities, is part of what we do in developing young men and women.”
To start the camp, Cub Scout packs joined with the other Troops for a couple of days of camping and activities. Along with Jena’s Cub Scout Pack 14 and Boy Scout Troop 14, packs and troops from other parishes across the state participated in Winter Camp and this year, a troop from Orange, Texas participated also.
“Any troop can go to a camp anywhere in the U.S., so a lot of them use it as a way to explore other parts of the nation,” he said. “Their council may not have a winter camp, or they may just be looking for something different and want to travel and stuff. I’ve gotten some good feedback from the Texas group and they said they might come back because they really enjoyed the programs.”
Throughout the five days, scouts had the opportunity to earn merit badges in many different fields, such as rifle and shotgun, archery, and even Tomahawk throws, along with many others such as first aide, various citizenship badges, crime prevention, fishing, fire safety, public speaking, robotics, leatherwork, geocaching, backpacking, wilderness survival, and many more.
“I hope they picked a badge that they really liked but what a lot of people don’t realize is that these merit badges often help these young men and women pick a future career,” Mouser said. “They come here and this is where they’ll get their first taste of a career. So, whether it’s fire safety where we bring a fire truck out here and they learn about being a fireman or whether it’s EMS or search and rescue or even our STEM stuff, like robotics, a lot of them learn a career here and then they develop it. And that’s what this is all about.”
There were also many activities designed just to allow the youth to have fun, such as one night when they had “Night Infiltration,” a game where several troops combined forces with each other to search for a person strategically hidden within a designated area. The winning team won special privileges for the camp.
Also at winter camp, the annual Polar Bear Plunge took place on their final day, where campers who dared jumped into the camp lake to earn a special patch for their efforts. Although the air temperatures weren’t as cold as previous camps, the water was still cold thanks to the rain that fell Monday night.
Although the weather called for rain most of the days this year for winter camp, Mouser said everyone was pleasantly surprised to have only one day when activities had to be rearranged due to rain.
“When we saw the storms moving in Monday night, we did some schedule adjustments, but that’s what scouts do,” he continued. “They overcome, they adapt, and all that is part of the skills they learn how to do.”
Every activity, from merit badges to the games they play, are designed to promote the Scout Oath, “Duty to God and country, Duty to other people, and Duty to self.”
The Scout Law is also incorporated into every event and really, every second of the scouts’ stay at winter camp. The Scout Law says that a scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
The winter camp was also one of the first to use the newly expanded dining hall, which was completed with funding led by RMS (Resource Management Service) along with other industry partners.
“The renovations to the dining hall have really been a nice addition that was very much needed,” the director said. “There is so much activity around and in that dining hall so having the additional restrooms and showers back there was very nice.”
On the final night, parents were able to join the scouts for their final campfire program. The troops performed various skits and songs and many scouts were recognized for special awards earned during the week.
That final campfire also included a special Order of the Arrow call-out ceremony, where several scouts and adults were invited to join the honor society of Boy Scouts of America. There are several requirements to be invited to join the Order and two Troop 14 Scouts, Valcom Patton and Emma Rie Lurry. Also asked to join was Troop 14 adult volunteer Dewitt Lurry.
The final scene of the winter camp campfire allowed the scouts to see and experience the theme for the 2026 summer camp at Camp Attakapas, which was unveiled with Darth Vadar emerging from the woods.
The Star Wars themed camp will be held next June.
For more information about scouting, visit www.scouting.org, or contact Jena’s Troop 14 Scout Master Michelle Squires at (318) 374-9799.
