Day 34, Tuesday, June 21st.
This morning after getting up and having breakfast I started working on helping to build the fire for one of our Firecrafter candidates.
Some of you that read this blog may not know what Firecrafter is. I've copied and pasted something from the Firecrafter website for you to read. Here it is:
About Firecrafter
Chief Executive Francis Oliver Belzer created Firecrafter as an honor program to recognize Scouts at summer camp and to keep them involved from year to year.
The first Firecrafter ceremony took place at Camp Chank-Tun-Un-Gi on a summer night in 1920. At the close of the first camping period, the customary awards campfire was held in the camp arena. Among those expecting to be recognized were four Woodsmen who had completed all of the requirements for the new third camp rank. They waited through the campfire without being called, and as its closing minutes came near, they began to think they had been forgotten. Finally, just before the Scoutmaster's benediction, Assistant Executive Stanley Norton instructed the candidates to remain in the arena after the close of the campfire. And so the four bewildered Woodsmen waited anxiously while the other Scouts, Scouters, and parents drifted away.
When they were at last alone facing the dying embers of the campfire, they were put to the Unknown Test, and became the first to take the Firecrafter Oath that has challenged more than eight thousand Scouts and Scouters since that night. The ceremony was conducted by Francis O. Belzer and Stanley Norton, assisted by Rex Pruitt and P. D. Hoelscher, the camp physical director.
The year is now 2010 and instead of four Woodsman standing before Firecrafter Hill, over 300 Scouts, Scouters and some of the council's outstanding leaders were bestowed upon the knowledge of the Unknown Test this past year.
As we celebrate our 90th Anniversary, we continue to emphasize our creed and pledge of Faithful Service. Aside from the character building and leadership training objectives, Firecrafter is a service organization. Its members dedicate themselves to a life of service to Scouting, above and beyond what might be expected of a Scout. In more than ninety years of existence, Firecrafters have performed thousands of special service projects. Firecrafters are challenged to conduct camporees, campfires and other outdoor activities. In established camps they have built buildings, repaired facilities and constructed conservation projects. Each year Firecrafter assists the council in preparing camps for the summer camping season. Recently, Firecrafter has been active in providing information for camp promotion.
We as Firecrafter also believe that Enthusiasm and the Scouting Spirit are contagious. Firecrafter's goal is to instill this spirit through the candidacies and fellowship with other Firecrafters.
We are a growing organization and we believe that it is always easier to follow rather than lead. Often it is necessary to lead when one must defend one's beliefs or takes one's life in the right direction. Firecrafter forces candidates out of the following attitude and shows them that in some situations, one must lead the way to accomplish their goals. Leadership is a rare and valuable trait, which Firecrafter attempts to instill.
We are building on our council's outstanding leaders and shaping them into the future of Scouting. We encourage our Scouts not only to be leaders in Firecrafter, but to be leaders in their own troop and all of Scouting. We emphasize their continued quest for Eagle and hope that the experience of Firecrafter can help them to succeed in the skills needed to advance.
Here is a picture of the Firecrafter fire that we built. You'll notice the style and size of the fire is very different than most other fires normally built.
Here is another picture of the fire:
As you can see, the fire is quite tall. The center post is close to 6 feet tall. We put the pop-up awning over it just in case it started raining, but before it was lit the awning was moved.
Here is a picture of the fire burning. It's quite a site to see during the campfire program.
The fire is lit and burned during the Firecrafter candidate's campfire program, which is one of the requirements he must complete for his Firecrafter rank.
There are 3 Firecrafter ranks that a Boy Scout can earn at summer camp. The first rank is usually earned during the first year a Scout is at camp. It's the rank of Firecrafter Camper. The second rank, that is normally earned at the Scout's second year of summer camp is the rank of Firecrafter Woodsman. The third rank is that of Firecrafter itself. This rank is very challenging and is usually the only thing a Scout does at camp when he is going for that rank.
For more information on Firecrafter check out the Firecrafter website at http://firecrafter.org.
This year, we had 2 Firecrafter candidates. The candidate we were helping today was Sean. His campfire program was set for 8:30 pm tonight.
We started on his fire just after breakfast. Our breakfast this morning consisted of biscuits & gravy, hash browns, cereal, fruit, and orange juice. We worked on his fire until lunch time. Lunch today was sloppy joe, corn chips, peaches, and Kool-aid to drink.
After lunch we went back to the campsite and finished building the fire. You may not be able to tell from the pictures, but each layer of the fire is built from the center out. The first layer has sticks that are less than 6" tall. The second layer has sticks that are around 12" tall. Each layer just keeps getting longer and longer until the outer layer that is around 5 to 6 feet tall. The fire will usually burn for over an hour before it even gets to the large logs that make up the base. The base logs are notched and staked to hold them in place. It's really something to see a Firecrafter fire burn.
After we got the fire built we relaxed until dinner time. Dinner tonight was Jambalaya, peas, corn bread, Kool-aid, and banana pudding for dessert.
After dinner the adults relaxed while the boys practiced and rehearsed for the campfire program. The Firecrafter candidate is graded on his campfire program. One of the criteria of the campfire program is that it must be a minimum of 20 minutes long, with a maximum time of 45 minutes. The program should start out light and easy and build to the climax, just like a fire starts small and builds to the climax. The program should then taper down to the finish, which should be something soft and easy.
At 8:30 pm Sean started his program. The judges were all 3 in place to watch the show. He did a really great job with his program. It ran for around 25 minutes, which was right in the middle of the required time frame. He passed with almost a perfect score.
Here is a picture of the fire after the program had ended. Notice the staked logs and the large center post.
There were a few of the long poles that fell outside the fire ring, but for the most part everything burned straight down. That's the reason that there is a 10 foot safety zone all around the fire that nobody is allowed to enter during the fire.
After everything was finished for the night we sat around the fire and talked until we were all getting really sleepy. Then we all headed to our tents for the night.
Today was a great day. I had fun, the other adults in the Troop had fun, and all the Scouts had fun. What more could you ask for.
This is my 100 Days Strong. What's your's?
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