Twenty-nine Scouts and eight leaders from Troop 53 of Lawrence joined more than 11,000 others from the Heart of America Council for the Centennial Campout Sept. 24-26 at Camp Naish in Bonner Springs. On Saturday, the Scouts walked across rope bridges, watched weather balloon launches, completed an obstacle course and participated in other fun events.

After lunch, they visited the located at the Scouting Midway located at the Centennial Campground. There Scouts played more games and viewed displays on the history of the Heart of America Council, international Scouting and a variety of opportunities for boys to expand their Scouting experience. They also visited an Indian village and watched Civil War re-enactors fire a cannon. After dinner, the Scouts went to the evening entertainment which included dances by the Order of the Arrow and Mic-O-Say dance teams, a magic act, and a performance by Liverpool, a Beatles cover band. After returning to camp, they watched a fireworks show from their tents.

Scouts attending were Connor Ballenger, David Balmilero, Will Benkelman, Josh Burrichter, Brett Carey, Spencer Conard, Ivan Davidson, Dylan Edwinson, John Eldridge, Andre Elliot, Marshall Griffen, Connor Harman, Dawachi Hooper, Natty Hoopes, Josh Kallenbach, Ethan Kallenberger, Nathan Koehn, Glen Lemmon, Johnathan Lesslie, Gabe Magee, Gabe Mullen, Dillon Rowland, Justin Siler, Matthew Siler, Kyle Trompeter, Anthony Van Schmus and Devin Van Schmus. Leaders attending were Brian Van Schmus, Bruce Elliot, Jim Mielke, Brett Carey, John Conard, Jim Kallenberger, Kip Grosshans and Loren Kallenbach.