Report by David Kohrman
The Boy Scout space camporee in Kalamazoo was a complete success. Attendees were, um, David Kohrman and about 300 Boy Scouts.
The Lego contest began after lunch (about 1). Scout troops worked as teams for twenty minutes to answer questions about how they would solve problems for their colony then they made a model out of the K-8 Lego. It
was really cool to watch them all work together and put together some interesting models. It was also fun listening them explaining there designs. I particularly liked the answer one group gave to where they would get water. They'll fly five million gallons from Earth!
Seriously, it was fun. We had 2 banquet tables under a canopy. I brought 3 gray baseplates for the teams to build on. At one end I set up my ISD and X-Wing (the only space things I have built). I also brought some old catalogs and one of my buildings.
The kids really enjoyed it. I got lots of questions about all things Lego. The ISD was a huge hit. I have no idea how many times I answered the question how much it cost or how long it took to build!
Throughout the day they launched rockets. Some 40 percent must have malfunctioned. My favorite was the one that didn't move off the pad when the engine fired. After a few seconds the ejection charge went off blowing the entire top half of the rocket to atoms! All that was left was a smoking bottom half still on the pad! You didn't want to laugh but you just couldn't help it. Another rocket blew up in mid-air while several others crashed
spectacularly. Supervising the rocket launches was this guy who looked like Santa Claus in a Scout uniform barking orders at the kids.
All and all it was fun. Wish I could have had some space MOCs but even the UCS kits were enjoyed. The Boy Scouts were very appreciative. The K-8 is safe and sound.
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Camporee Pictures:
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