Central Florida Scout Show

This weekend was a busy one right from the start. The Central Florida Scout Show was happening Friday and Saturday, and the Lauderdale Air Show, featuring the US Air Force Thunderbirds, was Saturday and Sunday. We figured we really needed to do the Scout Show on Saturday, so we planned to go to the air show on Sunday. Susan redeemed some of our points and booked Saturday night at the Clarion Inn north of Fort Lauderdale.

To help ease the drive Saturday morning, we booked a night at the C&D B&B Friday. As usual, Andrew had a fantastic time, spending most of his time playing with Penny. Saturday morning, we got ready and headed to the University of Central Florida football stadium to attend the Scout Show.

The Scout Show was pretty amazing. There must have been at least a hundred troops represented, including our little 318. We were doing a weather belt loop, which included drawing a weather scene, watching a weather forecast (projected onto a screen from the evening news), and collecting some rain samples over a week. There were a whole bunch of Angry Birds themed exhibits around. Andrew really liked one exhibit; it had five or six large nuts (the kind you put on bolts) on a ring and the goal was to get them to vibrate while spinning the ring. Andrew was a pro after a few tries. Another troop was showing how to weave bracelets from strings. Another had a large device made from old tin cans that would lift a ball and channel it down through “pipes”.

Outside, the Boy Scouts had even more amazing demonstrations. The coolest was the rope bridges that spanned about 50 feet. We stopped at one tent that was making shish-kabobs from hot dog sliced cooked on a large can with a little oil candle inside. With some bread, cheese, and grapes added, they were a tasty little snack.

The Orlando police SWAT team was present and had some things on display. Their armored vehicle was a big hit with the kids. I was most impressed with the K-9 unit demonstration. An officer with a large, very excited German Sheppard walked out on one side and another officer walked out 30 feet away. The “bad guy” cop put on his pads, then the other cop let loose the dog. The dog crossed the 30 feet in a flash and locked onto the “bad guy” with great ferocity. Then, at a single command, he let loose and returned to his master’s side.

All in all, a pretty cool show. Be sure to check out the next post to continue the story...