Scouts agree: Winterall quite good overall

Mother Nature cooperated this year, delivering ideal conditions for a successful Winterall, the annual winter festival held by the Scouts of the Fox Valley District.

"It was the best Winterall ever," said leader Joe Neville of St. Charles, Cubmaster of Troop 152. "The boys weren't arguing or complaining like they sometimes are. They had a lot of fun."

"Temperatures in the 30s and about 8 inches of snow on the ground is great," said Harry Trout of St. Charles, a leader in Troop 1.

Organizers said about 550 Cub and Boy Scouts attended this year's Winterall, compared with 350 last year, when the boys had to contend with brutal cold. Two years ago the ground was bare.

Scouts participated in Saturday events such as fire building, First Aid, group ski, the stretcher relay, the pancake flip (a favorite with Cub Scouts) and orienteering.

"We had a 2½-mile orienteering course this year," said Jacob Stout, 13, of St. Charles. A Life Scout in Troop 1, he has been attending Winterall for about seven years. "The course was marked by stakes and you had to follow it from stake to stake with a compass."

Trout and fellow Life Scout Brandon Slattery, 13, of St. Charles, have aspirations of being Eagle Scouts. They were both part of a group of 15 who slept in a tepee from Friday night to Saturday before Winterall. The tepee had a central camp fire which made it a warming center Saturday.

"It was tight and crowded," Slattery said.

Stout said he likes the challenges and the bonfire of the Winterall festival. He added that participating helps with skills.

"We grade them on the ability to make decisions as a group and to cooperate," said Troop 1 Scout leader Scott Beaver of St. Charles. "And we want them to have fun."

"I like the philosophy of it," said Bob Holmes of St. Charles, the 2008 Winterall chairman. "It's a day out in the cold and fresh air. They get exercise. And the events teach them to lead, and to follow."