SCOUTS FIND ADVENTURE AND LEARNING OUTDOORS AT DAY CAMPS

Paul Jesse, left, and Michael Hitt, two Cub Scouts from Jackson, took a turn at trying cardio-pulmonary resuscitation during the Shawnee District Day Camp at Jackson City Park. The boys had earlier taken first aid "readyman" training.

Allison Toole, left, and Elizabeth Kimball, two Cape Girardeau Brownie Girl Scouts, washed their hands at their campsite at Camp Sacajawea.

Debbie Mehner, right, a leader at Camp Sacajawea, and several girls found rocks in the creekbed that they planned to use for projects.

Eight-year-old Andrew Freeman of Jackson said Cub Scout day camp was great. "I got to shoot BB guns three times this week already. and now we're getting ready for archery."

Freeman was among 161 Cub Scouts and Webelos who attended day camp at the Jackson City Park last week.

This week 128 Girl Scouts are day-camping at Camp Sacajawea just north of Cape Girardeau. The Girl Scout camp theme is "Around the World."

Monday morning the girls were looking forward to campfire-cooked meals. The Scouts will cook tacos, spaghetti, and chicken-and-dumplings over a campfire during the week.

Camp director Judy Sneathen said the Scouts also will fix the perennial camping favorite -- S'Mores.

On Monday morning, the third-grade students in unit four, like the other Girl Scouts, were setting up their campsite, making up passwords and gathering firewood.

These girls were veterans of day camp and knew what to expect.

They agreed that cooking over a campfire is lot of fun, but hard work.

"It really hard when smoke blows in your face," said Katie Wolz.

"And it's hard in the rain," said Christie Cato.

But the girls agreed that it wouldn't rain on their day camp.

Rachel Story was looking forward to hiking the "very long" trail at camp -- leaders said it takes about 15 minutes to complete -- and looking for wildlife.

Already on Monday morning one group had found a creepy, crawly bug that they placed in a wagon for all to view.

Sneathen said crafts, songs and stories with an international theme are planned during the week.

The most important part of day camp is meeting new friends and having fun, she said.

At Cub Scout camp last week, the goal was the same.

"The key thing is for them to have fun," said Dennis Todd, camp director.

This was the first year Cub Scout day camp lasted five days; in the past it has been three days. Todd said the extra days allowed boys additional experiences.

Among volunteers at the camp were about 40 Boy Scouts earning service hours and helping the younger boys learn scouting skills. The boys learned to put up tents, tie knots, handle knives and compasses.

But the BB guns and archery lessons were among the favorites.

Jacob Lindsay said his favorite part of camp was archery and the Indian dancers from an Explorer Scout troop who performed.

Bailey Hirschburg said although it was very hot during camp, it was fun. "We didn't need a compass," he confided. "But they made us use it anyway."

The flag marking the BB gun range told boys that BB guns aren't toys. They learned rules about gun safety before they picked up the rifles.

The same was true at the archery range. "Arrows only go one direction here," the instructor told them.

Geoffrey Enders, 7, said: "I really liked the BB guns. This was my first time to shoot. It was kind of hard to aim. I was nervous and kind of shaky. But it was fun."