They came festooned in tiny parachutes and swaddled in bubble wrap. So protected were the 90-some raw eggs that most were expected to remain unbroken and pristine after a 60-foot drop from a fire ladder truck.
The egg drop has been a tradition for at least 25 years for the Cub Scout day camp, which is being held through Thursday at the Gilpin-Leechburg Park in Gilpin.
This year’s theme for the four-day camp, “Prehistoric Planet,” drew about 93 Scouts on Wednesday from nearby communities including Kittanning, Leechburg, Parks Township and elsewhere, according to Amy Kamis, camp director.
In a week filled with dinosaurs, athletics, nature and a visit from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the egg drop was a highlight for the Scouts to test their ingenuity to create contraptions to keep their egg unbroken.
To see if the Scouts were up for the task, the Leechburg Volunteer Fire Department brought its 60-foot ladder truck. Firefighters hoisted a camp aide up on the ladder truck’s platform to throw out the eggs.
Some dropped like a stone, while others with homemade parachutes floated down at speeds determined by quality of homemade parachutes — made from plastic bags to fabric to helium-filled balloons.
“The most interesting package I saw was an egg in the middle of a jar of peanut butter,” said Rita Ditch, a program director of the camp, who had the honor this year of throwing out the eggs. Sure it was gooey, she said, but the egg made it.
“The vast majority make it,” she said.
Josh Young, 9, of West Leechburg was happy. Young used cotton and bubble wrap.
“But it was the two helium balloons that slowed it down,” he said.
John Cook, 9, of Leechburg did well with his small and simple package: His egg was snug in a box with a parachute — and a dinosaur.
“I like winning,” he said.
But Allison Kamis, 9, of Kittanning was not so lucky.
Try as she did, covering her egg in bubble wrap with a parachute to buffer the ride, and a Tyrannosaurus rex figurine to keep with the camp theme, it just wasn’t enough.
“I will try to see if I get the gooey-est,” Allison said.
It’s actually a category that will be judged afterward.
Even with a broken egg, there’s a victory for the best splat.
