The annual Catholic Scout Activity Weekend for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in the Lehigh Valley will be April 20-21-22 this year. This weekend is full of activities, excitement, and fun for the Scouts. It starts Friday night as the Scouts arrive at Trexler Scout Reservation located near Jonas in the Poconos. This year it will be held in Settlers Camp. Although the Scouts are tent camping, the staff provides all their meals in the dining hall. And the food is great; prepared by two professional chefs! The activities kick off that evening and don’t let up until the final assembly on Sunday morning. Every year the program is different although it follows the same basic structure. Friday night is get-acquainted time with a fun icebreaker activity, then everyone breaks bread together, re-creating the way that early Christians would gather, and finally the evening wraps up with snack time (called a cracker barrel by Scouts).

Saturday, after a belly-warming breakfast, the Scouts move through five or more stations, each one different, each one tied into that year’s theme. This year's theme is “Our Lady of Fatima”. In past years, the Scouts have met St. Paul and the Blessed Virgin Mary, eaten the foods Jesus ate, used GPS units to find their way, made decoupage icon plaques, candle lanterns, or stained glass souvenirs, and built their own chariots (and raced them!!). By late afternoon, the Scouts are ready to put on their uniforms and have Boards of Review for those candidates for the Ad Altare Dei or Pope Pius XII religious awards. After a fabulous dinner, there is Mass, celebrated by Fr. Eric Tolentino, the Diocesan Scout Chaplain. Father Eric, an Eagle Scout himself, always makes this Mass especially appropriate to Scouts. The evening ends with a game (this year it will be a dreidel game) and another cracker barrel.

Sunday is for packing up, cleaning the camp, and a final flag-lowering ceremony. Each participant receives a handsome patch and a pin to take home along with his hand-made souvenir.

This is a great weekend for Catholic-sponsored troops to attend as a troop in order to bring “A Scout is Reverent” to the forefront of their programming. Because all the meals are provided, it is also a perfect weekend to invite your Webelos along. They’ll have a great first camping trip with your troop. The Catholic Committee especially invites Girl Scouts to attend. In the past several Girl Scout units have made it a one-day event on Saturday and it has been very successful for them.
Even if the whole troop doesn’t go, individual Scouts are very welcome to attend. Arrangements can be made to accommodate individual Scouts who come without adult leadership. The cost is only $29 per person.
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he Catholic Committee on Scouting has sent out the registration forms for this event to all Scoutmasters. You can check the website at www.adccos.org for more information and copies of the registration form. In addition you can call Fred Flemming at 484-350-2560 or email him at fcflemming@gmail.com.