Usually our troop hosts a “Lock-in” in February where the Scouts spend a night at the church and play video games, eat pizza and socialize. This year we could not do it, so the Patrol Leaders’ Council decided to try to replicate this event outdoors.
We booked a campsite with electricity at Lake Fairfax Park. Scouts and our Scoutmaster built a stand to hold up a video screen. The stand was made from two buckets filled with 25 pounds of concrete with a PVC tube in the middle. Then you slide in a 2×4 which has hooks attached. You use guylines and tent stakes to spread the poles apart. The screen we purchased was from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Mdbebbron-150-inch-Projection-Screen/dp/B0878RVTKX/ref=sr_1_11). We had a projector already from our Court of Honor events. The Scouts played a Smash Brothers tournament with two players at a time while others watched.
During the video game tournament, Scouts made Dutch oven desserts.
This outing had the highest attendance of any outing in recent years other than our Lock-ins at the church. It was voted the top outing idea in our troop outings survey.
For more details about the screen set-up, email troop1577scoutmaster@gmail.com.
