Troop 60 helped out at the Blackford County Civil War Days this past weekend. Our duties included trash pick-up, gate management and running an entrance booth. Here are some photos and a story from the Star Press about the event:
The boys of Troop 60 are selling popcorn to raise money for the coming year’s activities. The profit from the popcorn sales go toward summer camp fees, camping excursions throughout the year and other Troop activities. Please see your local Boy Scout for an order form.
New this year - You can donate $25 to our U.S. Military Troops! $25 worth of popcorn will be sent to our men and women serving overseas!
STORY AND PHOTOS BY ROBERT LEISTRA / THE STAR PRESS
Last weekend, 149 youths and 70 adults turned out for the Golden Eagle District Fall Camporee at Camp Red Wing. The theme for the two-day campout was “Take Only Memories and Leave No Trace.”“Leave no trace is something that gets pushed to the background,” said Dave Largent, camporee chairman.
Largent said that usually, by the end of the weekend, the Dumpster will be full of garbage, which is why he emphasized that everything used by the Scouts be taken back with them and nothing be thrown in the Dumpster.
“It (leave no trace) resonates with me, so I thought I’d force the issue,” said Largent.
The activities instructed Scouts in how they can perform all the normal camping duties, such as building a campfire, without leaving their mark on the environment.
“It makes it more enjoyable to camp and it’s respecting the people who come after us,” said Boy Scout Taylor Davis of Troop 77.
An introductory membership to the Leave No Trace national organization was awarded to a Boy Scout elected from each troop at the end of the camporee.
The camporee began with registration Friday evening and concluded Sunday afternoon.
by Matt Howell, Assistant Scout Leader (Webmaster)
Friday evening I arrived at Camp Redwing for the annual Fall Camporee. This years theme was “Leave No Trace“. Here are the 7 principles of Leave No Trace:
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
4. Leave What You Find
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
6. Respect Wildlife
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Frank took me out to Reece Airport (about a mile from Camp Redwing) and dropped me off to hike into camp with the boys of Troop 60. We got started around 5:15pm and made it into camp about 1/2 hour later. We setup our campsite and started on dinner which consisted of Sausage Grillers and chips. I had to run into Wally World to get some hot dog buns. This camporee was different because of Leave No Trace…all participants of the camporee setup camp in the large grassy field instead of the actual camp sites.
After dinner and evening flags, Frank and I went to our Leave No Trace station and taught two rounds of classes. We even had nature helping us out with a gartner snake that showed up for our “Respect Wildlife” principle. We turned in around 11pm.
After a great night of ground sleeping (rolling around from side-to-side all night), we awoke to smoked sausages and blueberry pancakes for breakfast. After morning flags, Frank and I made our way to the “Lone Cherry” campsite to setup for the morning classes. I was amazed that the boys paid attention to us and were interacting to our questions with enthusiasm. For lunch, Frank made us chicken noodle soup and we had granola bars as well. We were better off than the rest of Troop 60, they had beef jerky and canned cheese spread & crackers for lunch.
After lunch, Bob showed up and helped us setup our testing course. We had 4 decoy ducks, one fawn, a 3-foot goose and a couple of deer antlers we placed along a trail. The point of the exercise was to see if the boys observed the items and how they interacted upon seeing them. It was interesting because some groups found almost all of them while others, found only a few.
We cleaned up our area around 3:30pm and headed back to the campsite. The Troop 60 boys had a water balloon fight in their free time, while us leaders sat around and took it easy. About 4:30pm, we started preparing for dinner which consisted of hobo dinners (ground beef, sausage, squash, onions, carrots, hash brown potatoes, optional mushrooms, tomatoes and zucchini). The troop beside us also offered us their massive amount of chilli they prepared (yep, it was good, spicy and yummy). We headed up for evening flags around 7:30pm and had closing campfire afterwards. Highlights of the campfire included awards, skits, a Leave No Trace movie and a special “Baby Bird”, “Twist and Shout” & “LaBamba” medley. Very funny stuff. Once we got back to camp, the leaders prepared blueberry cobbler and the boys of Troop 60 went off to the woods for a game of “Commando”.
Sunday morning found us under a heavy mist and dew. We had a quick breakfast of cold cereal, pop tarts and quick heated oatmeal. Flags took place around 8:30am with Chapel following after. I was home by 10:30am.