Scouts gather for Conclave at Camp Binachi

Published 2:00 pm Monday, April 17, 2023

Almost three hundred Boy Scouts from throughout the southeastern region gathered at Camp Binachi on Saturday to participate in Conclave.

The annual event brings together scouts from the Florida panhandle, south Alabama and southern part of Mississippi to participate in classes, learn new skills and have fun in scouting.

Kendall Desport, a member of Hattiesburg-based Pine Burr Area Council and Section Chief for the region, said each council has a lodge of Order of the Arrow members, which is similar to an honor society within the Boy Scouts. Those lodge members were the scouts participating in the weekend’s activities.

“I like to consider us the best of the best of the best,” he said. “At Conclave, you basically have a collection of the best of the best of the best.”

Training classes ranged from fun activities such as line dancing to serious topics such as conflict resolution and how to become better communicators. Desport, who taught the lodge officer round table, said his class was a place for Order of the Arrow officers to share concerns and ideas and brainstorm solutions.

“The officers and executive board members of every lodge can come together and bounce ideas off of each other and talk about what their lodges are struggling with in order to improve their lodges,” he said.

While it is an annual event, the location of Conclave is rotated among the six councils that make up the region, with each council taking a turn hosting the event. The next Conclave is set to be held at Camp Tia in Wiggins.