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 |  Life, Adventure, Family, Writing what else is there? Random thoughts. |
| Today, the boy's old boy scout troop, Troop 2 out of Newhall, will have their annual chili cookoff. Even though the boys are out, I still enjoy a good bowl of chili so I reached out to the organizer who said, come on by and be a guest judge. Who am I to refuse? While I'm not actively involved in Boy Scouts anymore (now Scouting America) , I think I will probably always think of it as Boy Scouts. Andy joined the troop in 2013 and Joey joined in 2017. At first, I wasn't very active. My husband enjoyed all that camping stuff and he was pretty active with Andy. When it was Joey's turn he was all gung ho, but then got a job working vice in LAPD and the hours conflicted with the time Joey would need to go to scouts so I got involved. At first I just took him, but as less dads stepped in to be leaders, I reluctantly raised my hand. I started off as a Den Leader, then Cubmaster and became an assistant scoutmaster for Troop 2. I was an active committee member and I my position was activities. I helped to plan several summer camps and weekend overnight outings. Most were car camping outings, but there were a couple of backpacking adventures. I never camped when I was kid and honestly, I didn't really get into camping until my husband started camping with the boys. The one thing camping reminded me of was growing up in New Hampshire and being out in nature. Honestly, my appreciation didn't really hit me until I started camping. There's something to be said about getting up early, camp breakfast and camp dinner. It builds character. Back to chili. In 2018, Milia and I hosted the first annual chili cook off for the troop and it's been going ever since. We started meeting at Castaic Lake, but the venue has switched throughout the years. Joey's patrol won several awards for their "BIG BEEF CHILI" - that's what they called it. The boys did all the cooking. I just supervised the dutch oven and the coals and made sure no one got hurt. The last year Joey's participated in, their patrol won 2nd place. Not bad. If anything, I learned that everyone likes different kinds of chili. Question for you: Do you like your chili with beans or without?  |
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