European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                 in 4it. Ita a Xit Hwi i. Quot a to a Quot a % a a a a of f 1 1 Quot cub scow Raleigh Moore crosses a make believe River using a rope Bridge. Of far right members of troop 36 from Rome compete against other teams to see who can build a Camp fire the quickest. A amps photos by Marian Hamilton a v by Marian Hamilton Mediterranean Bureau he boy scout motto is Quot be prepared Quot and 213 scouts family members and volunteers showed up at a wooded area near Camp Darby Italy last month fully prepared a for the annual Mediterranean District Camporee. Camp Tuscany which usually serves As a training area for Active duty and Reserve soldiers assigned to Camp Darby became a riot of color and noise on memorial Day weekend As nearly 100 tents sprang up overnight in the Woods. Members of each scout group set up mini Camps Complete with flags letting the world know which pack or troop was camping there. All participants belonged to the boy scouts of America but they represented a variety of nationalities including italian and japanese. Any boy attending american schools serving consulates embassies and nato bases is eligible to join the boy scouts. This year s participants came from As far South As Naples three quarters of the Way Down the Boot of Italy and As far North As Vicenza in Northern Italy. Quot we hold the Camporee every Spring Quot said Merilee Bisoni boy scout commissioner from Milan. Quot unfortunately this year we did t get anybody from la Maddalena Sardinia or Simonella Sicily but from Naples on up we have just about  there were cub scout packs from Milan Aviano and Michael Mills of pack 318 in vice a throws a wooden Quot javelin during the cub scout Competition. His toss of 47 feet 6 inches earned him second place. Vicenza and boy scout troops from Rome Naples Aviano Vicenza Saeta and Camp Darby. About 125 scouts Between Ages 7 and 18 attended. Bisoni who Heads up cub scout pack 318 from the american school in Milan helped organize the Camporee. She brought 12 cubs and their family members with her. Quot we be had really enthusiastic participation Quot she said. Quot saturday we had demonstration events a first Aid wilderness survival orienteering and fire safety. Quot for the fire safety demonstration we even had the fire truck from Camp Darby come. All of the demonstrations were really Well  n Leslie Campbell cub master of pack 323 at Aviano a brought 18 cubs aged 9 to 11, to the Camporee. Quot As the Mother of a cub scout and a boy scout i had to get involved Quot she laughed. Campbell was in charge of the cub scout olympics. Quot events include sit ups push ups Long jump 50-Yard dash 25-Yard hurdles javelin throw using wooden stick softball throw football kick and discus throw with Frisbee Quot she said. Janey Schultz a committee member and Eagle scout coordinator for International boy scout troop 007 from Naples attended along with 30 scouts from Naples from age 11 on up to 18. Quot i teach cooking Over a campfire Quot she said. Quot but i be let the boys know they re doing their own cooking Here. They re doing pretty Good a boy scout competitions included first Aid fire building orienteering skills relay knot tying and identifying map symbols. 1 however the boy scouts did not just compete against one another they also helped the younger scouts learn woodcraft and worked toward their order of the Arrow. The order of the Arrow is an Honory organization within the boy scouts that promotes the scouting spirit and includes a secret initiation based on american Indian rituals. Scouts must be invited to join. Hannie Sidahmed 15, whose parents work for the United nations in Rome attended the Camporee to further his path along the order of the Arrow. Quot i m going through the second rank called brotherhood Quot said Sidahmed who has been in scouting for six years. Quot i have to help put younger scouts through the ordeal the first rank of the order of the Arrow and write a couple of letters Quot he said. Jim Vitaletti 16, is a member of troop 236 in Rome where his father is a us. Embassy employee. He said assisting in conducting the Camporee was helping him proceed through the brotherhood rank. Quot these Are All volunteers running these events leaders and parents Quot Bisoni said. A another Volunteer was pfc. Steve Foley 20, assigned to the Camp Darby health clinic. He said he gladly agreed to. Help when he found out Camporee organizers needed a medic in Case of injuries or accidents. Quot to used to be a boy scout Quot Foley said Quot and it s neat to go Back and watch All the stuff they do All the competitions and the cookouts and singing around the fire. It brings Back a lot of  Foley recommended the experience for others. Quot i would really recommend this to other soldiers in fact i think it s Good to get out and work not Only with the kids but with the Community. You get to meet people in your own Community that you never really knew were there Quot he said. Quot it s like the Camp Darby group Here half of them i did t know were boy scouts. And yet i be seen them before so now i know a Little More about  Hannie Sidahmed advanced through the second rank of the order of the Arrow during the Camporee. Mothers quickly learn that raising boys is not All fun and games. Which Way is right by Anemona hartocoll1s new Day or mothers raising sons the Road often seems a lot rockier than for those raising daughters. After All girls Are much More familiar from their Anatomy to their emotions. Quot you hear a lot about the father daughter relationship it s considered special to be celebrated Quot says Elaine Celman a paediatric nurse practitioner in new York City. Quot not so mothers and  mothers Are All too frequently blamed for their sons problems and pathology. Quot it is often thought that Strong mothers produce weak sons Quot says Ann f. Caron a developmental psychologist and the author of Strong mothers Strong sorts raising adolescent boys in the 90s. In Iron John a guideline for the men s movement Caron says poet Robert Bly tells How Quot the boy has to steal the key from under his Mother s Pillow to free himself from his Mother and go off with the wild Man to learn How to live As a  the moral of the Story Iron John Good Iron mom bad. Iris Krasnow a Washington d.c., writer says she is thrilled to have four boys a including 3-month-old twins a under the age of 4, and she is taken Aback when friends ask whether at the age of 39, she will try to have a girl. Yet she thinks of herself As Quot an alien in a world that you be created Quot a masculine society embracing her boys and her husband a society in which she is often in the most profound and mysterious ways an outsider. Quot i used to say i would love to be surrounded by men Quot she says. Quot but j never thought it would be like this a pop pop pop pop they re such Guys is All i can  yes but what is a Guy and How much do we have to uphold those norms to produce functional sons in today s society a Quot i never thought of it As raising sons. I thought of it As raising children Quot says one Mother of two sons. But such mothers Are rare. Without a doubt there Are differences Between the Way to raise sons and daughters. And for those who dare to defy the norms there Are penalties. There were in my Case. At the same time i had my daughter a close Friend of mine had a baby boy. Quot he s such a boy Quot Gina once told me. Quot he kicks so hard when i change his  Well my daughter kicked too. But i kept silent. Far be it from me to impugn a child s masculinity. Three years later my son like my daughter was born with a Bushy head of hair. I adored it and i did t want to Cut it off. It was his baby hair connected to a state of Grace and nature that he would never again be Able to retrieve. And of course connected to me i had to trim the Bangs and just a touch around the ears but i let the rest grow wild and Down his Back a like Andre Agassi. To me there was never any doubt about his masculinity. He looked like a boy and acted like a boy. He was a boy. Quot toot toot Quot was and still is his favorite phrase a mantra that he goes around the House reciting whether he s pushing a train engine in his hand or not. But 1 quickly realized that for other people for those who did t know him the hair was some kind of incontrovertible Cue to his identity More powerful even than Pink and Blue. They looked at it and guessed girl Quot you know Quot one Mother said to me in an ominous tone when my son was about to turn 18 months Quot All the baby Sitters in his play group thought he was a girl. They thought it was very funny when he turned out to be a lady Quot i hated her. But two weeks later i Cut his hair. Caron feels that it s important for parents to conform to cultural norms to some degree. Quot when a boy gets older and has a sense of his own self and his own masculinity he can conform to any Norm he wants. But i think he has to know that he s a Little boy. The same for a girl she does t want to get the message that her parents would have preferred a  yet Caron suggests that such strictures can be taken Loo far. There is nothing wrong with boys playing House As Long As they realize they can be the father and still be nurturing rather than having to pretend they Are the Mother. 16 the stars and stripes saturday Ruff cat in 1994