Aho Mighty CreekAnother ginormously successful campout is now in the archives of the Nation Tally Keeper.
January camps typically are accompanied by frosty temps requiring much Tonka for warmth. Creek Medicine Man, although unable to attend a significant portion of the campout, worked his Medicine magic and conjured up some fabulous Snow Moon Camp weather. Even beyond the mild January temps, he connected with the Great Spirit and we were spared the mighty winds and rains which were to bear down on us early Sunday morning. The mystical powers of Mighty Lizard must be passed on to the future Medicine Man.
The Mighty Creek was strong overall in numbers throughout the campout, although many came and went to keep commitments outside IG as well. Thanks to you guys for making the extra effort to participate as much as your schedules would allow.
The camp started off huge from the getgo with the initial setup being done virtually in its entirety by the Cougar family. Huge cudos to Wise Cougar and his little braves to get us going on their own. As the evening settled in Watching Fox, as promised dove into the kitchen area and produced the finest seafood payaya this chief has ever eaten (the outstanding home made sangria didn't hurt, either). As I did not get to wander to the other Golden Skillet entries that evening, I am not able to conceive how we didn't win it. That being said, the opportunity to eat it and participate in some excellent comraderie at the Creek camp far outweighs the winning of the Golden Skillet, so all future Golden Skillet entries are HIGHLY encouraged.
The tribe had the good fortune of the newest FNGs jumping right into the camping scene, as the Tiger (Rivas), Jessup and Corriveau (I know as I was leaving you guys gave me Phil's IG name, but sometimers is keeping it from my short term memory at the moment) families pitched tents/campers and hung with the Creek through the entire weekend. The Jessup little brave (I apologize for forgetting his name as well - there may have been one or two extra brain cells destroyed by fire water this weekend) is only THREE years old and hung with Creek throughout the weekend! Rock on Jessups!
Following the opening ceremony, our Medicine Man arrived with our new t-shirts, ushering in a new era for the Creek Tribe. I would like to express my gratitude in the wisdom of the Medicine Man in his final decision of the logo on the shirt, as Creek clearly now has the coolest shirts in the nation.
Saturday, as always, was non-stop from the moment of the rising sun all the way through the great Bond Fire Ceremony that night. Creek had great participation in the long run and our little braves ran their hearts out, doing a fantastic job for us. All earned well deserved long run ribbons. Josh, I promise your's is on the way (the nation was short a few ribbons but Bengal Tiger demonstrated excellent maturity in having to delay receipt of his well deserved award). The Creek tribe then proceeded through the most challenging of war games. The little braves rocked through the contests, and big braves tried to keep up. Basketballs were heaved through hoops from the most contorted of body positions, rockets were launched from what I'm sure is a truly authentic Native American weaponry replica, and the balance and coordination of all braves were tested with an infamous dodge and weave version of a three legged race. The Creek, as strong as they were throughout these most challenging contests, none the less walked away with no coup, leaving room to only do that much better next campout. Most importantly, we had a great time in our quest for the goose egg.
Following the war games, the little braves were quickly assembled to prepare for the Chief's Display Judging. All braves, big and small, worked expeditiously to set up the displays, and the little braves were givent their roles in the presentation. Creek was judged first, so we had the least time to prepare. Our little braves rose to the challenge, performed flawlessly. Even our newest little braves jumped right in. Two things about the Chief's Display Judging. It gives the Creek Chief good joy to see our little braves help each other out (particularly when a brand new brave who's never done this before needs a little prompting). The second thing is that it always impresses me to have these kids stand before a somewhat intimidating group of old chiefs and make their presentations. I think this particular event truly helps them build confidence in public speaking, a skill which is invaluable for the rest of their lives. Bottom line - Creek took home the Nation's Peace Pipe (which IMHO is the most important coup of all the coup) for being judged the best of all tribes in this event! Totally awesome job by the Creek Little Braves. I received many compliments from the other chiefs about their perfomance. Our new cool t-shirts being worn by every brave didn't hurt either (many compliments on those as well).
Following the display judging, a mad scramble ensued to prepare the firewalk and to get dinner cooked. A huge thanks to our newest FNGs, Ray and Vince for stepping up to get dinner going as our scheduled master chef, Gray Wolf was swamped with urgent nation wampum bearer duties. Their skills were quickly realized as the Italian sausage and grilled peppers were cooked to perfection. Thanks to the other Gray Wolf (Paul B.) for spearheading the firewalk setup effort. And thanks to Byron for use of his motorized horse in that endeavor. Paul I think you have serious competition in the 'ultimate set of tools at the campout' position from Byron (Byron is there anything that your truck doesn't have?).
The fire walk ceremony led to a spectacular bond fire, fed by numerous dried up Christmas trees which spewed large quantities of embers (away from the crowd of course) and was cool to watch. War Hooper was busy ensuring all ground sparks remained doused.
Watching Fox delivered yet another outstanding fare sample Saturday evening in our entry for the coveted Wing Basket. Serving up Mojito Wings (no Sangria this time) truly impressed the Nation Chief's respresentative (Nation Chief was down due to serious tooth ache - ouch!) and earned Creek the coveted Wing Basket. Outstanding work Byron! We should have taken both nights, but you did good. I think those may have been the best wings I've ever tasted.
Sunday morning came with the huge relief of our dodging the threatening weather which had consummed our thoughts (well maybe 5%) the previous evening. A fabulous breakfast was served up (again Ray and Vince) bringing French toast to the mix, a very nice change of pace. The links weren't bad either!
The closing ceremony brought many Long Run ribbons to our little braves, along with the Peace Pipe and the Wing Basket. A hugely successful campout!
Following the ceremony, Creek Braves, big and small took on the daunting task of purging and reorganizing our trailer. EVERYTHING came out, was filtered, and necessary items placed back in a much more orderly fashion. There was stuff in there that we didn't even know existed. We found an old box of records (which had a cool little safety deposit box inside of it) which I think went back to sometime in the 1800s. As nostagic as that stuff was, it is time for it to go, helping us usher in a new era and generation of Creek traditions (the first of which is our new tshirts).
Thanks to all braves, big and small, for making this campout, and this tribe a great success, and just cool in general. Your participation is appreciated more than you know.
Rock on Creek!
Chuckles 'Kingsnake' out
