FCF SWD Winter Outing at Ozark AOG January 19th, 2024

Temps were a frigid 10 degrees and we had a great time.  Lots of leathercraft, trade blankets, dutch oven cooking.  Outside activities were limited  We did have a grass fire that really surprised all of us seasoned Royal Ranger Leaders.  What we all thought was ok was simply not so.  Yet the Lord is faithful and 30 Rangers stomped the grass fire out before it did any real damage.  A fine example of what can happen even when you think it won't happen.  We can talk "Ready for Anything" and sometimes we find ourselves right in the middle of that everything!  The very cold temps made outside things tough.  Trailers frozen, locks frozen, tires almost flat to name a few extra fun things. 

Report and pictures following.  Special thanks to Rob Batchman, Mark Jones and Dan Rockafellow for sharing their pictures with us.

Zip file of all these pictures.

Winter outing report 2024 by SW VP Joshua Pennekamp

We had a good turn out at this year's Winter Outing - about 39 guys showed up to this event, in spite of the bitter cold. We had a voluntary outdoor council fire service outdoors with some excitement to boot. Logan Fortner was our evening speaker and spoke about the FCF pledge and what FCF is, what it is about, and what it is for, and talked about the motto. After that we all ran inside to warm up and eat hot brownies, oranges, granola bars, and beef sticks, talk, laugh, and have fellowship while crafting the night away on different projects, and put the fire out. 

The Next day we started the morning off with a big breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and more. Logan Fifield was our morning speaker, and he did an excellent job. We had a trekking class recounting all the things we learned from our previous treks, and are looking forward to going trekking again this fall, and possibly going out this spring on an FCF float trip! We learned about the 4 important things to consider while trekking: eating, drinking, sleeping, and staying warm. The great thing about trekking is it really simplifies, but at the same time complicates everything you do, and makes you think more and be better prepared for going and doing wilderness testing. 2 of our trekking participants - Ryan and David, said that trekking really prepared them for wilderness, and they were grateful to have had the opportunity to go on a trek. 

We finished the event off with a great lunch of spaghetti and meatballs, fruit salad, salad, and the cooking contest participants’ dishes! These young men stepped up and competed in a Dutch-oven cooking contest - they made bread, cobbler, noodles, and some other things, all of which were very good! Thank you all for coming! We had a great time, look forward to seeing you all next year.