NNED Pow Wow 2007 - Taking The “X-Challenge”
By Commander Jay M. Woodward
“Pony X” Editor
On August 16th through the 19th, the NNED Royal Rangers held their annual Pow Wow at Camp Marist, on the beautiful shores of Lake Ossipee in Effingham, New Hampshire. Nearly 200 men and boys from all across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont gathered for this exciting weekend of fun, camping, competition, fellowship, and most importantly, to draw nearer to Christ. The theme of this year’s Pow Wow was “The X-Challenge”, which was short for “Extreme Challenge”.
This year’s Pow Wow was a back-to-basics approach, with a greater emphasis on basic camping skills and Outposts spending quality time together. It was also the second year in a row that Pow Wow was held at Camp Marist, as it has become an ideal location for Rangers. Earlier this year, Land Rush was held in order for Outposts to claim and prepare their campsites for Pow Wow, which gave them a head start when they arrived at their campsites on Thursday and Friday to register and set up. As District Commander Jerry Love observed, “Coming on Thursday for many of the Outposts made for a less hectic set up, and a better preparation for evening guest meals and the subsequent events that followed on Saturday.”
NNED Security Color Guard Coordinator Jason Wright served as this year’s Camp Commander. With Commander Jason stepping into this role, GMA recipient Ryley Paquette stepped into his boots as Security Chief, and performed an extraordinary job! “Although,” the Camp Commander added, “his boots didn’t hit the ground much from his 4-Wheeler! He did a great job keeping things safe and the Security boys shifts scheduled, rotated and relieved.” Indeed, Color Guard members were active and visible throughout the campsite through the whole weekend, patrolling the campsite and assisting the Camp Staff every step of the way. As Commander Kendall commented, “I was pleased to see the young [SGC] men step up and take responsibility.” In addition, there was a Staff campsite, known as “Geezerville”, that served as a model campsite for Outposts to replicate. It also housed the FCF Village, as well as a tower that served as a challenge for boys to climb during the weekend. Deputy District Commander Kendall Sperrey, who served as Camp Coordinator, said, “I was impressed with many of the Outposts. We had some great campsites.”
On Friday, there was a wonderful evening service to mark the opening of Pow Wow. Commanders Jason, Jerry, and Kendall officially welcomed everyone to Pow Wow, and offered Outposts the chance to perform songs, skits, and yells, as they would throughout the weekend. To kindle the spirit of competition, the famous Maine vs. New Hampshire Tug-Of-War battle was fought on the lakeshore, with New Hampshire finally emerging as the winner over Maine! Following this, men and boys were led into the presence of God during praise and worship time, and then our Special Guest Speaker, Pastor Josh Burns of Teen Challenge Manchester, came to address the crowd. Using the beautiful sunset God painted that evening, he warned of the consequences that come when we try to “paint our lives with our own paint brushes.” He was also joined by other men who had come to Teen Challenge, giving awesome testimonies about how God had turned their lives around! Commander Jerry commented, “The Guest Speakers…they rocked. Pastor Josh touched the very core of the message these boys needed to hear.” After Pastor Josh spoke, men and boys were treated to an awesome fireworks display!
On Saturday, the “challenge” in “X-Challenge” took center stage. From dawn to dusk, boys were able to take part in a wide variety of extreme events, such as FCF’s Seneca Run, Xtreme Paintball Challenge, Swim Races, Mountain Bike Races, .22, Air, and Black Powder Rifle shooting, a Cross Country Run, Archery, and the Iron Man X competition, a combination of Swimming, Cross-Country Running, and a Bike Race! Indeed, Iron Man X was one of the premier events at Pow Wow! And those were just the individual events being held. There were Team Events as well: Capture the Flag, Canoe Races, 3 on 3 Basketball, and Lacrosse, which has become an extremely popular sport in NNED! Participation in these events led to Gold Nuggets, which added up to valuable points for each Outpost. Also, nuggets could be earned by reciting this year’s Scripture Verse, 1 Timothy 4:12: “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
Ranger Kids weren’t left out of the fun, either. Saturday was also Xtreme Kids Camp! Led by Commanders Dan and Julie Dubois, Ranger Kids got to take part in a variety of fun activities, such as Ranger Kids Lacrosse, Air Rifle, Treasure Hunt, Capture the Flag, Sheep Roundup Obstacle Course, and the Remote Control Truck Course! Ranger Kids, their parents, and commanders all had a great time!
On Saturday evening, boys and leaders were treated to an Xtremely Wild, Wild West Adventure, put on by the Camp Staff, including a special appearance by Dr. Love and his magic Love Potion! Indeed, it was a rollicking good time! Yee-ha! After the show, things settled down, as praise and worship began, followed by the second message from Pastor Josh, as he spoke to the boys in front of the Council Fire, using this year’s Scripture verse to challenge them to be examples for Christ to others. Many boys and men responded to his message at the altar call around the fire. Commander Jerry commented, “The way the men and boys lingered after the altar call and prayed and shared….that was powerful. To watch boys embracing each other was quite moving for me personally. Christ walked among us that evening.” Later that night, there was another awesome fireworks display, which was twice as spectacular as the night before!
On Sunday morning, following breakfast, boys and Commanders gathered together for one final assembly. Following the inspections of Class “B” Uniforms, it was time for the “hardware” to be handed out. Awards were presented to the winners of the various events, and Outposts, depending upon the number of points they earned, received either the Bronze, Silver, or Gold Outpost award. This was the first year this system was used in NNED at Pow Wow; however, there was still the most coveted trophy: Top Outpost at Pow Wow. This year’s Award went, for the first time, to Outpost 8 in Bethel, Vermont! Following the awards and closing comments, boys and leaders were dismissed, and Pow Wow 2007 drew to a close!
This year’s Pow Wow was a highly successful event, and there are already plans for Pow Wow 2008, to continually improve the experience. As Commander Kendall said of Camp Marist, “We’ve only begun to develop that site.” Commander Jason promised, “The scoring system will be even better next year.“ Finally, Commander Jerry commented, “We are still working on ‘tweaking’ our events, but overall, we have some of the best events going.” Pow Wow 2007 may be over, but the men and boys of NNED Royal Rangers will continue to “Take The Challenge!”
