2022 Winter Rendezvous at Maumee Scout Reservation

Put another Winter Rendezvous in the record books. It was the 28th annual Rendezvous, my twelfth as head cook. Good times.

This was the most difficult Rendezvous I have ever worked. We had some great helpers, but with Anna and Brian Waite home recuperating from covid-19, we were sorely lacking in experience in the kitchen. Kara Nichols and I were the veterans. Jeff and Ely Wuslich had helped before, but not in a leadership capacity. Everyone else was new: Kelly Smith, plus the leaders and girls of Troop 1119 (Kara’s home troop). We worked amazingly hard. And we pulled it off. In addition to the ordinary labor of cooking and cleaning for a crowd (we finally topped 355 registered), pandemic rules forced us to serve outdoors. This meant schlepping all the food down to Cheyenne Meadows for the Friday cracker barrel and the Saturday Feast; Saturday's cracker barrel we served out of the back end of the dining hall because we were too exhausted to move everything down to the Meadows again.

To serve at the Meadows (just down the main road from the dining hall), I brought one of the light arrays Deanne built for SAD sufferers, to illuminate the shelter. I also bought a propane patio heater, which helped keep the servers warm while they stood out there shoveling food at the hordes. Jeff and Ely built fires in fire pans for Scouts to cluster about while they ate. (I sold the patio heater to Tony Zizak, which meant I didn’t have to load it up and take it home to clutter up my garage.) All the chafing dish frames having disappeared from the dining hall, I borrowed frames from Rick and Mary Ellen Gaither.

The weather was clear and cold. No snow until we were leaving Sunday morning, but then, no rain or mud, either. A general cheerfulness pervaded the happy Scouts in attendance. And (to my gratification), when Tony asked everyone to shout out together at the campfire whatever they most enjoyed over the weekend, several yelled, “the food!”

Kara, Kelly, and I arrived about 2:00 p.m. Friday and got to work cleaning and cooking. We worked flat out until suppertime, when Jeff and Ely from Troop 193 and Troop 1119 led by Scoutmaster Alane Cottingham arrived. Everybody worked at blinding speed to pull off a very complicated cracker barrel of International Snack Foods. We served Chicharrones (Mexico), Poutine (Canada), Shortbread (Scotland), Salami and Cheese (Switzerland), Mandazi (Tanzania), Yakitori (Japan), and Fairy Bread (Australia). All were successful. A Scouter who grew up in Canada was particularly overjoyed at the poutine (and gave us a good report on it); I got asked for recipes for the mandazi and yakatori, and they may show up again.

Saturday lunch for the staff was Coddle, Soda Bread, and Bread & Butter Pudding. Then came the Feast. There were three entrees: Alligator Gumbo (which was a two-day production), Enchiladas Carnitas (ditto), and Meatloaf. We ran out of gumbo and meatloaf at the Feast, and the last Enchiladas were finished off for breakfast or taken home by staffers this morning. In addition, we served Soda Bread, Yellow Rice, and Crunch Salad, along with Bottomless Apple Pie and Dark Chocolate Brownies.

One of the events at the Winter Rendezvous is an open cooking competition. We had six entrants this year. The five runners-up (who all made amazing chow) were awarded large bars of Hershey’s Dark Chocolate; the winner received a full-sized chocolate football (just in time for the NFL conference championship games). Other events included shooting sports, Klondike Derbies for both Scouts and Cubs, a cooking demo for Cub Scouts, folks in period dress interacting with participants, a campfire on the beach. A Klondike Derby is a race where Scouts pull a sled and compete in various challenges on the course; snow being chancy in Indiana, most troops here have sleds with both runners and wheels.

Delivering meals to outlying staff members yesterday down on the rifle range, I found I couldn’t get my truck up the hill. In backing up, I started to go off the road and over a culvert. Ranger Ed came and pulled me out of my predicament. Then this morning, I found that my truck battery was dead; James Smith gave me a jump start and I was back in action again. (Not all the risks for the cook are burns and knife cuts.) I’m now safely home and thawed out. All my gear is mostly put away. Soon, I will get a shower and be clean again. Then will come a chance to sleep. Ah, sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care. And then we’ll start planning next year.