Prairie Winds District Spring Camporee

Camp Mitigwa, 1820 Magnolia Rd,

Woodward, IA 50276

May 2-4, 2025

Camp Cooking Camporee

Camp cooking is the key theme of the 2025 PW Spring Camporee.  There will be stations hosted by Troops who volunteer to showcase unique, fun and tasty dishes which your Scouts learn how to make, sample and duplicate at their next camping trip.  The highlight event is the evening meal where your Scouts plan and carry out a themed meal, host and serve a judge who will observe and dine with the unit. Please register the Scouts in your Troop on the Council Website by Thursday, April 24th.  

Troop Camping

Troop camping from Friday evening to Sunday morning is available at Camp Mitigwa at the Casady Ridge sites, the Activity Field and Dragoon Field.  Webelos are welcome to participate as a guest of your Troop.  Upon arriving at Camp Mitigwa, you will check in at the office and you will be directed to a camp site or camping area.  There will be controlled vehicle access to take your Troop trailer to your camp site to be dropped on-site.  If possible, load as much of your gear in your trailer so we can accommodate the vehicle procedures we are asked to follow.  If the ground is soggy, we won’t be allowed to bring the trailers back into the camp sites. Personal vehicle parking will be in the main lot for the duration of the event. 

Fire rings / Fire pits

This is a cooking event, and the use of fires is expected, but we need to use either the designated camp site fire pits or your Troop’s portable fire pits.  We will have 6 raise charcoal ½ barrel fire pits that we can check out for cooking purposes. If you have an above ground file pit, please bring it.  No ground fires or in-ground fire pits will be permitted, please.  Some firewood is available at camp, but we ask that you help process an equal amount of wood that you use. You may also gather deadfall from the surrounding woods.

Cooking Station Rotation – Troops to lead – We need you!

For a few hours in the morning and a couple hours in the afternoon, we will have a rotation schedule of stations that your Patrols can take part in.  Each station will be based on cooking examples, demonstrations and meal samples. 

Troops who volunteer to lead a station will be assigned a Casady Ridge campsite with a fire pit since this is where the stations will be located.  Perhaps your Troop can demonstrate one of your favorite foods or you can learn a new recipe or technique that you’d like to demonstrate? Don’t be shy We want to make the stations interactive, where the Scouts are hands-on preparing and cooking the dish, which they will get to sample when it’s done.  There may be some dishes that are prepared by a previous rotation, which will be ready to enjoy during the next rotation.

If your Troop is willing to put on a cooking demonstration station, please contact Paul Podhajsky or Al Jergens and let us know what you would like to prepare.  We will purchase the ingredients for you, from a grocery list you provide, enough for a Camporee’s worth of sampling.

Allergy Notice:

Our Scout Troops may handle common allergens such as wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts, and soy etc. We cannot guarantee that the food is free of allergens from either direct or indirect cross-contamination.

The Featured Event – Themed and judged evening meal.

Let your Scout’s decide on a theme to base their evening meal around.  It could be a cuisine from around the world, or a theme based on a place, real or imagined.  Here are some examples to help spur their imagination: 

     -Mexican

     -Italian

     -Texas BBQ

     -Chinese

     -Indian / Curry

     -Thai

     -German

      -Great Britain

      -Mars / Space

      -Canadian Shore-Lunch

      -Cajun / Creole

      -Greek

      -Drive-in Americana

      -Big Breakfast Diner

      -Pizzeria

      -Thanksgiving

      -Crab Boil

      -Farm to Table

Your Troop will host a judge who will critique the meal “experience” (prep, plating, taste, costumes, and camp culinary vibe) using a broad list of  criteria during your evening dinner. Your Troop’s theme meal might want to include things such as décor, music, costumes, service staff, and reverence. 

Service Project

We will be doing a service project during our rotation time, so stay tuned as to what we will be asked to do.

Event maps and schedules will be handed out at the event.

For Camporee questions, contact:  Al Jergens at ajergens@iastate.edu or Paul Podhajsky at pkpod@podhajsky.com