Hundreds pack Wasilla High for annual Scout-O-Rama

WASILLA — Six-year-old Andi Robson is cool under pressure.

The shy sister of a new Cub Scout in Willow Pack 34 was animated with excitement after launching her rocket. Along with her parents and four siblings, Robson was wide-eyed watching plastic 2-liter bottles shooting into the air. The activity was part of Pack 34’s interactive booth at Saturday’s 17th annual Scout-O-Rama at Wasilla High School.

She tried to explain the science behind making the bottles launch, sometimes 50 feet or higher. “Um, you use water, a pump and, uh …”

A simple wood stand allowed kids to attach bottles about a quarter full of water to a bicycle pump. The pump would build pressure inside the bottle until it exploded upward under a jet trail of water.

With five kids at home, mom Shantel Robson said she’s sure her family will be shooting off their own bottles at home.

“Yes, I’m sure we will, that’s why my husband’s down there checking it out, so he can make one,” she said.

Along with launching water rockets, hundreds of Valley Scouts combed the grounds at Wasilla High tying knots, checking out fire engines and military vehicles, playing games and competing in the Pinewood Derby.

Those trying their skills at knot-tying got another treat — homemade biscuit donuts from Big Lake Troop 340. Scouts Keegan Bombergen, 13, and James Carroll, 15, were popular as the donut makers.

“We do this every year,” Carroll said, adding many seek out the Troop 340 booth because of the donuts. “They’re very, very good.”

For Bombergen, Scout-O-Rama is a way to help younger Scouts with skills like tying knots. It also helps his troop’s members, because they have to learn the knots first so they can help others at the event.

“We can tie most of them,” he said.

Overall, Scouting is a worthwhile pursuit for young boys, Bombergen said. “They learn responsibility and really the basic survival skills.”

One of those skills is camping, which 14-year-old Isaac Kuenning said Troop 362 gets a lot of practice with.

“Our troop does a campout every single month,” he said, even during the winter. “I did the 100-below patch just last winter.”

Kuenning was referring to a special award Scouts can earn if they camp overnight in temperatures 100 degrees below freezing or colder.

Mostly, though, Bombergen said he likes the lessons Scouting teaches youth.

“It teaches you what it means to be an American, what it means to be a leader,” he said. “I’m a patrol leader, and it also teaches what it means to have citizenship.”

A First-Class Scout now, Bombergen said his goal is to make Eagle, Scouting’s highest rank.

Inside, Scouts enjoy the snack shop and remote-control helicopters and a computerized flight simulator with the Alaska Radio Control Society. Fred Keller, a 14-year member of the club, said he enjoys interacting with the boys. He’s also a big fan of Scouting, and said the principals of model building and Scouting build character.

“First of all, it teaches self-discipline, to follow directions,” he said. “It’s about responsibility.”

For more information on Scouting in the Valley, visit scoutingalaska.org/BearPaw.

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.