I was invited by the coordinators of the Big Muddy District Klondike Derby for 2010, to take part as one of this year's judges.  What was my event?  The A-Frame race.  That's right, an event that requires an attempt at tying something with Rope.  But let's put things into priority, the points awarded for this event were not based on how well you lashed the three poles together into an A-Frame, but how fast you could maneuver the course that had been laid out.  In all actuality, they could have stacked the three poles in a manner which they could be carried and simply tossed the rope over the corners based on the rules for the event.  But it was a good time for everyone involved, and some of the Patrols competing not only made an attempt at lashing the poles, but did a good job, including the fastest team for this particular event.

Being my first time at our District's Klondike event, I really didn't know what to expect, and with with the weather being extremely cold the week before, we were concerned about how bad the weather would be and how it would effect the turn out.  But the turn out was great, the weather was cold, but bearable, and luckily for me, I had three other events in my area that I could watch while waiting for one of the ten patrols to find their way to my event.

So, I am actually looking forward to next year's event, and depending on who coordinates it, I may opt to simply walk with the patrol that my son is in and see the rest of the events in 2011.  We shall see how that works out.

I would like to thank Troop 258 out of Concordia Missouri for inviting me to take part in this year's event.