What a day our scout troop had at the 2023 Blue Elk District Klondike Derby. Being a first time scout at this event I didn’t know what to expect.

We met at the church at 7:00 AM and loaded our sleds and we were off to the Klondike Derby. When we arrived Mr. Howell got off the bus and checked the two patrols in. We were given our assigned events and we were off. I am so glad we were in the front of the check-in line. At the check-in pont they had us turn our sleds upside down to see if anything would fall off. My patrol made it through the first event with no problems.

Then we were off and running and when I say running I mean running as we had 13 events to complete before 4:00 PM. The events were as follows:Archery, Tomahawk Throw, Spider Hole, B-B Guns, Fire Building, Cooking, Bear Bag, Knots, First Aid, Splint, Stretcher, Lashings, Survival Shelter and Compass Course. These events were very challenging for our patrol as we were not working as a team and we had forgotten a lot of our scouting skills. We now understand why Mr. Howell stresses to learn so well that you can teach another scout.

When we got back to the church we unload our sleds back to the scout room. Mr, Howell asked everyone to be be seated and he asked each of us what we thought we needed to improve on and most of the scouts said teamwork, working together and scouting skills. I would have to agree.

I am hoping that we do this event again in 2024, I also hope that next year that we can bring all four of the troops sleds. I also hope that we have an overnight in the spring to allow us to work on these events again and to compete against the patrols in our troop.

I want our troop to do a better job in 2024.

The question has come up –  What’s after Eagle Scout? As an Eagle Scout your work is never done. After earning the highest rank in scouting, it’s time to take an even bigger role as a leader in your scout troop. You can start helping with organizing troop outings, working with the adult leaders and helping your brother and sister Scouts who aim to follow you in your footsteps. You can simply enjoy scouting as you no longer have to be so focused on advancement. You can actually sit back and see the scouting program from another viewpoint. As a Scout who has earned the Eagle Rank by setting the best example possible for others to follow, be willing to help others, to just enjoy scouting and have fun.

It’s not time to quit scouting.  It’s very important that you stay in scouts. You have taken a lot out of the scouting program. As an Eagle Scout it’s now time to repay your scout troop and the scouting program. Not to walk away. Your scout troop needs you as an Eagle Scout.

As an Eagle Scout you are the cream of the crop.

That’s what’s after Eagle Scout.

What a great evening our scout troop had Friday night December 9, 2022. We started out by helping the Fairmont Food Pantry put together  200 Christmas Boxes. I found out that our troop has been doing this for 25 years. This project was done in less than an hour. I could not believe we did all that work in that short of time. If you think about the Scout Oath and where it states a scout “should help other people at all times” I could not think of a better project to fulfill this statement.

Once we completed the Christmas Boxes and ate the pizza  that was supplied by the Fairmont Pantry We jumped back on our troop bus and headed back to Trinity Epicopal Church in Independence for a night of fun and a night of friendship.  The Scouts played games and talked until 11:30 AM when we were asked to go to bed. I was ready to hit the hay.

On Saturday morning we picked up our sleeping gear and cleaned up our scout room and headed upstairs to a great breakfast made by our troop leaders .

I would like to say thank you to all the scouts and especially our troop leaders  who came to the lock-in. Our leaders always see that the scouts have a great time on our troop activities.

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and ask everyone to remember why we celebrate Christmas.

What a great overnight! The Scouts and Leaders gott to climb, climb and climb. We climbed till midnight. But before we got to climb the scouts and leaders went through a very detailed training course by the great staff at Ibex’s. All the scouts 13 years of age got to take part in the Climbing Merit Badge. The neat thing about this overnight was that I didn’t at first want to climb to the top of the wall. But with many attempts and lots of encouragement from my fellow scouts and leaders I made it. I was so glad that I was able to achieve climbing to the top of the rock wall. I hope the troop does another overnight at IBex’s in the future.

The Troop had a great campfire. Each patrol had to perform a skit and a song and the scouts did an excellent job. The campfire was one of the best that I have ever seen our scouts put on. Our MC for the campfire was James Robbins. James did a great job.

To close our campfire the troop retired 200 American Flags that had served the United States very well. Our veterans who were present oversaw the very solemn ceremony. The veterans made sure that the flags were totally destroyed in the fire before retiring for the evening. In the morning they returned to the fire to retrieve the brass eyelets from the flags.

What a weekend the Scouts, Leaders and Cub Scouts had on the October Overnight. The troop played host to the Cub Scout families of Pack 185. The weather was great, the food that was prepared was great.

The troop had a cake baking contest. The Patrols had to bake a two layer cake in a paper box. See photos attached.

The Stunning Foxes won BEST LOOKING

The Arrow of Light Patrol won BEST TASTING

The patrol also cook two great meals in their dutch ovens:

Arctic Fox Patrol:

Dinner: Chicken Rice

Breakfast: Monkey Bread

Flaming Goats Patrol:

Dinner: Quartermaster Stew

Breakfast: Breakfast Burritos

Fearsome Flying Frogs Patrol:

Dinner: Chicken Rice

Breakfast: French Toast

Stunning Foxes Patrol:

Dinner: Chicken & Rice

Breakfast: Mountain Man Breakfast

If I could summarize camp in one word, it would be great! At first I was really nervous, it was my first year at Bartle. I didn’t really know what to expect. But once I got there, it was pretty good. It seemed like at first, it would be a terrible 10 days. But I once I got settled in, and was making good progress on my merit badges. I had already finished them in a few days. The other first years in my troop had hikes, and we got to see some great views of the lake. We also got to shoot some bow and arrows and a .22 caliber rifle. I had to leave early because of a personal issue, but for the time I was there, it was great!

On the High Adventure Trip the Scouts had to show determination, teamwork and flexibility. This trip was a true scouting experience for all the scouts and leaders involved.
During this adventure scouts parpicated a 12 hour bus ride, camping and canoeing.

Each scout had to work together to set up tents, cook meals and portaging(walking on land carrying the canoes, food and equipment to the next lake). On the lake there were many challenges keeping food safe from bears and other wild animals. Each night you had to put all your scented items in a bear proof barrel that you tied to a tree. You also had to keep all your gear that was in your dry bag neat so you could fit everything back in the bag when you were done with it.

During the trip our group stayed at four different campsites. One of the biggest parts of staying at a campsite is leaving it better than you found it. So we had to follow all the Leave No Trace policies. Out on the water we had a lot of fun and great weather. You had to beat the waves, wind and the rapids. You got to see lots of great scenery.

Each group had their highs and lows but over all this was a great opportunity to have fun.

Last outing the scouts participated in teaching and entertaining the cub scouts. Some activity’s were monkey bridge, BB guns, archery, and obstacle course. The scouts helped set up activities with a partner and a leader. Family’s were assigned a time for each activity. After teaching the scout were able to participate in activities before dinner. It was a fun time to get know some of are future scouts.

The zoo was really fun. We got to go all over the zoo, we split up into groups and looked at so many animals like seals and red pandas, then we ate lunch. Afterwards we went to merit badge class and got a tour of the aquarium. We ate dinner, got our stuff, and set up camp, then we went on a night hike to see the nocturnal animals. Later we went back to the aquarium, had a snack and watched a movie. Briefly that was our incredibly fun zoo trip.