You Click, We Pick

By Scott Daniels

The editors select the winning entries in Scouting magazine's 'Spirit of Scouting' photography contest.

Fog-shrouded canoeists, a fierce tug-of-war competition, and fun on a winter camp-out typify the variety of "Spirit of Scouting" themes for entries submitted by readers in this year's Scouting magazine photography contest.

The Grand Prize winner beautifully illustrates citizenship training, one of Scouting's three basic aims. Taken by Tim Sanders, it shows the photographer's son, Stephen, carrying the U.S. flag during a color guard ceremony at a Cub Scout blue and gold banquet.

Sanders, who served three years as Cubmaster of Pack 921, is now Scoutmaster of Troop 401, both chartered to St. Mark United Methodist Church in Greenwood, S.C. He says he wasn't aiming for any special effect when he snapped the photograph. "It just happened to turn out that way, and everyone who has seen it has said it is quite unique and patriotic."

The judges agreed.

Registered Scouts and leaders submitted nearly 450 photographs in this year's competition. Judges from the magazine staff included John R. Fulton Jr., photo editor; Olivia Ogren-Hrejsa, assistant photo editor; Jon C. Halter, editor; Scott Daniels, executive editor; Elizabeth Hardaway Morgan, senior art director, and Sherry Cole, editorial assistant.

Prize winners received BSA Supply Group gift certificates as follows: Grand Prize—$400; First Prize—$300; Second Prize—$200; Third Prize—$100; Honorable Mention—$25. In addition, all winners received a Diesel Multi-Plier one-handed opening multitool, courtesy of Gerber Legendary Blades, Portland, Ore.

Look for details in Scouting's May-June issue about our next reader competition, "Cartoon Captions," a contest open to all registered adult Scouters.

The winning photographs from this year's contest, plus the top entries from the magazine's annual reader competitions (on subjects that include photography, camping recipes, cartoon captions, and personal essays) back to 1998 are available on the magazine's Web site. Click here to view the "Contests and Promotions" page.

Grand Prize

Tim Sanders
Scoutmaster, Troop 401
Blue Ridge Council
Greenwood, S.C.
Scouter Tim Sanders of Greenwood, S.C., recorded this classic example of citizenship training, which is one of Scouting's three basic aims, when he photographed his son, Stephen, carrying the U.S. flag during a color guard ceremony at a Cub Scout blue and gold banquet.

1st Place

Ed Scheff
Chartered Organization Representative, Pack 74
Central Georgia Council,
Tennille, Ga.
Troop 305's Scoutmaster Cody McIlrath and his son, Chris, are among the unit's 12 canoeists on the Oconee River as a rising sun burns off a chilly December fog. Ed Scheff shot the scene during a two-day, 20-plus-mile excursion in an area bordering Georgia's Wilkinson and Washington Counties.

2nd Place

Robert Tong
Scoutmaster, Troop 48
Marin Council
Novato, Calif.
The brawn and oomph of an intense tug-of-war competition was recorded at the Marin Council's fall camporee at Camp Tamarancho, Calif.

3rd Place

Robert Tong
Scoutmaster, Troop 48
Marin Council
Novato, Calif.
During the annual winter trip of Troop 200, Novato, Calif., to Camp Marin-Sierra in Emigrant Gap, Calif., Robert Tong captured the action during a snowball fight between his son, Jeff (left), and Derek Donahue.

Honorable Mention

Curtis Doiron
Senior Patrol Leader, Troop 275
Last Frontier Council
Midwest City, Okla.
Rub-a-dub-dub, five boys in a tub. Actually, this photograph shows the swamped-canoe race held during summer camp at the Last Frontier Council's Slippery Falls Scout Ranch in Oklahoma.

Honorable Mention

Jim Dobbins
Committee Member, Troop 382
Grand Teton Council
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Troop 382's Carnivorous Zucchini Patrol pushes its Klondike derby sled across a snowfield to the next skill competition site at Pine Basin, an old ski resort near Swan Valley, Idaho.

Honorable Mention

Toni Habeck
Den Leader, Pack 79
Golden Empire Council
Vacaville, Calif.
What's more fun than friendship? Cub Scouts Andrew, Ben, and Grant, of Packs 79 and 975, Vacaville, Calif., pal around together on the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet, in Alameda Point, Calif., on San Francisco Bay.

Honorable Mention

Jeff Stout
Committee Chairman, Pack 65
Chickasaw Council
Collierville, Tenn.
Beams of evening sunlight guide Pack 65 Webelos Scouts to a chapel ceremony near the end of the first day of resident camp at Kia Kima, near Hardy, Ark.

Honorable Mention

Walt Sturrock
Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop 209
Verdugo Hills Council
Burbank, Calif.
Cooperation is the key factor of the "Ski Race," a team-building event for Troop 209 Scouts at the Verdugo Hills Council Camporee. Each troop enters six Scouts in a race that covers a 100-foot course.

Honorable Mention

Rick Bragga
Executive Board Member,
Heart of Virginia Council
Richmond, Va.
The thousands of lighted candles held by boys during the closing arena show at the 2005 National Scout Jamboree signify that the spirit of Scouting lies within each individual as well as collectively among all Scouts of the world.

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Copyright © 2006 by the Boy Scouts of America. All rights thereunder reserved; anything appearing in Scouting magazine or on its Web site may not be reprinted either wholly or in part without written permission. Because of freedom given authors, opinions may not reflect official concurrence.