Thirty-four ruggedly tough Boy Scouts<\/b> of the famous Marine Military Academy Troop 22<\/b> participated in a campout the weekend of Friday, Jan\u00a031st<\/sup> thru Sunday, February 2nd<\/sup>.\u00a0 They enthusiastically embraced a primitive style camp at the Longoria Wildlife Area managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife in South Texas, 17 miles from campus.<\/p>\n The boys arrived late afternoon with the sun quickly retiring to the other side of planet Earth. They immediately leapt into tent set-up mode in the rapidly diminishing light. Camp sites established, make-your-own designer sandwiches followed as the main evening menu item. Scouts demolished four loaves of bread along with large packages of sliced ham, turkey, assorted cheeses, and supplemental items such as peanut butter\/jelly, chips, and fresh fruit. The chow seemed to vanish at the speed of near nanosecond!<\/p>\n Saturday morning and the boys ate a scrumptious breakfast prepared by Scout hands. And mom, the boys do their own dishes. Adult leader Mr. Steve Gerber is a retired Boy Scout careerist who can\u2019t get Scouting out of his DNA. He devoted many hours over the weekend supervising and working with our Scouts towards individual achievement with an assist from the troop youth leadership. The efforts directly resulted in 9 boys becoming prepped and ready for a very soon, upcoming rank advancement board of review. WAY way to go Mr. Gerber !<\/p>\n Over the weekend, Life Scout Cody Hubbard completed his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Cody was tasked with assisting the North American Bat House Research Project<\/span><\/b> by building artificial habitat \u201cbat houses\u201d to create 3 separate bat communities (9 houses in all). Each community will involve one larger maternity house accompanied by 2 smaller bachelor houses. Initial construction occurred on campus, with habitats transported to the wildlife area. Team Hubbard then attached each house on a 12 ft. pole (cement base) and mounted at various sites wilderness sites designated by TPWD management \u00a0in the Rio Grande Valley (Photos<\/b> – Mr. Sam Patten of TPWD seen transporting to the habitats).\u00a0One site was a splendid thicket where the team encountered what appeared to be either a tree squirrel or young bat perched in a tree and waiting to move into the new, rent-free housing unit. Strangely, he was dressed in MMA superhero athletic garb. Team Hubbard discussed a name for this newly discovered species. Yes, must be something scientific sounding. Bat man was too grandiose, bat boy underdone and too much like baseball, so they settled on batty bat-guy!<\/p>\n Mr. Andy Cruz owns troop member Mark Cruz. Mr. Cruz camped with the group all weekend. He was SO KIND in providing ice cream waffle cones Saturday night and a variety of cinnamon rolls to augment Sunday morning breakfast. The boys want to pass a super-sized THANK YOU to Mr. Cruz !! And then, of course, a campout isn\u2019t complete without the traditional campfire and Troop 22<\/i> smores\u2026.And Dr. Pepper\u2026.and SunnyD\u2026and\u2026.<\/p>\n Sunday morning involved a campsite take-down, cleanup, and breakfast. Scouts departed on the bus at 10 AM sharp. Upon campus return, several boys cheerfully volunteered to assist in troop gear cleanup and stowage. For this unselfish act, they were rewarded with a trip to the local Harlingen What-a-Burger for a tasty and satisfying treat. In total, the boys ate very well this weekend. They all returned to campus a few pounds heavier, and the troop trailer quite a few pounds lighter.<\/p>\n Great time, let\u2019s do it again in two weeks guys!<\/p>\n Troop 22<\/u> actively seeks donations or other assistance to maintain a quality program. Please contact the Scoutmaster, SgtMajor Jim Poe, at 956-423-6006×270 if you have questions about the Boy Scout program or seek to lend your support.<\/p>\n