Wilderness Journal

A “heated” discussion about which dad is the fastest in the Navajo tribe went on for hours Saturday night until finally a late night camp fire challenge was issued.  “We race in the morning,” said a smiling Bobby Purcell to a chuckling Kevin Wiland.  “I will even spot you five yards.  I know that that I can win,” laughed Bob.  “Bring it!” Kevin responded.  “I was fast as a kid and I am faster than you think.”

The final morning of the Park Ridge Iroquois Nation’s campout, Bobby and Kevin ventured onto to Camp Tecumseh’s wet roads for a one-on-one footrace that Federation Chief Mike Charley would come to describe as “Epic!”  50-meters in distance with bragging rights at stake, the runners met at the start line early in the morning as Navajo dads and daughters paused from loading their cars to go home and instead lined the roads to watch the sprint.

“Go!” shouted Geoff Noth.   Bobby and Kevin bolted.  Bobby was off the line too soon.  False start. Do it again.

The racers quickly reassembled at the start line and readied themselves.  All of the spectators were quiet.  “Go!” Geoff shouted again.  The sprinters exploded off the line displaying surprising speed.   It was neck and neck.  Muscles and lungs burned as the competitors quickly closed the distance to the finish line meter by meter.  At 35-meters, Bobby pulled away in his racing Crocs.

Bobby raised his fist in victory as he crossed the finish line.  The racers and spectators were laughing and smiling as another camp out came to a close.  Bobby walked away with tribal bragging rights and a potential Crocs sponsorship.  It is rumored that the runner-up would assume the role as the Navajo’s chief for the 2019/2020 school year.  Kevin?

 

 This past Monday the Binz family led a Chocolate Fondue party like no other.  There were no warm and delicious chocolate strawberries and pineapple chunks impaled at the end of long thin metal skewers.  Instead the Binz family treated the PR Sauk tribe to dried crickets.  Yes, crickets…  WE ATE BUGS!!!

The boys have been talking and worrying about the cricket eating meeting for at least a week.  The scouts received a reprieve when the original meeting, which was scheduled a week prior, was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.  But now the time had come to eat both dinner and dessert at the same time.

The Binz family started the meeting with a science lesson (Joe Ott approved!) where each dad and son was required to diagram the anatomy of the cricket.  The Binz’s wanted the tribe to know exactly what they were eating.  The tribal members thoroughly appreciated seeing the wings, thorax, antenna and all of the other bug parts that were going into their mouths.  MMMMM… GOOD!

Kudos to biology major Matt Hachigian and his boys Mike and John for correctly identifying all of the cricket body parts.  They earned the first servings of cricket fondue.  Nick Hachigian was missed due to hockey practice.    Dad, Matt, surely brought some tasty bugs home for his son to try.

TIME TO EAT!!!  Chris Binz helped the scouts dip their crickets in chocolate.  After the dip, the boys went to their tables to sit down as the chocolate hardened and they ate their slightly crunchy chocolate dipped crickets.  YUM!  This is not on the menu at the Melting Pot.

“Can I have more?” was actually asked by several of the boys.  Many went back for seconds and thirds… really.  One of the dads commented that plain crickets tasted like sunflower seeds but with a different texture.  The taste was not too far away from that.  Apparently, insects are a great source of protein.  It is not part of the American diet but insects are consumed in parts of Asia and Africa.

The Sauk tribe would like to thank the Binz family for delivering one of the most original and educational craft meetings of all times.

If anyone is interested, Chris said that he was able to order the crickets on Amazon.com.  Enjoy!

 

Park Ridge’s Mighty Sauk Tribe (above) closed out the 2017 Christmas Tree Sale this past Sunday.  Dads and Scouts finished taking down displays and cleaned the tree lot before handing it back to the Park District.  Thank you to all who volunteered in this month long endeavor to make it a success.  Thank you to all who show up each year to buy our trees.  Thank you to the Park District for supporting our organization for so many years.

The Park Ridge Wilderness Scouts and Princesses use all of the the profits from the tree sale to help charitable and service organizations.  These dollars benefit those in need and support the community.

This year’s sale was led by Treemasters Joe Ott (center with the red Santa Clause hat) and Chris Bauer (blue Jacket next to Joe).  Their team included James Kolz, Matt Hachigan, Karl Sawyer, and Mr. Treemaster himself, Terry Jolineau.  Kudos to the Treemasters on a job well done!

 

 

 

 

 

Bill, Sophia, and Joanna Aslanides (pictured above) led the PR Navajo tribe craft meeting last week.  Bill, a food scientist, and his daughters showed the tribe how to make popsicles with a scientific twist by using measuring cups, syringes, funnels, and Frozip bags to create these colorful treats.  Flavors included Mango, Margarita, Blue Raspberry, and Watermelon.  Each family who participated went home with handfuls of popsicles to enjoy with their families.

The Park Ridge Navajo tribe spent Monday evening crafting the Halloween themed liquorish broomsticks and hanging bats.  Kevin and Josie Wiland led the group and demonstrated how to make the liquorish broomsticks.  Dave and Julia Farrell helped the girls with making and decorating the bats.  With close to 20 families represented, dads and daughters had fun working together.   Above, Abbey and Tim Sandrick display the broomstick and bat they made.  Happy Halloween Park Ridge Wilderness Scouts and Princesses!!!