BSA Troop 60 :: Boy Scout Troop of Farmland and Parker City, Randolph County, Indiana

 January 27, 28 & 29 was our annual Golden Eagle District Winter Camporee at famous Camp Red Wing. The weather was a bit warm but we all managed to have a great time. Friday evening set up was a little wet and muddy with no sign of snow. The temp was in the high 30′s to low 40′s and that made it feel somewhat like Fall Camporee. But low and behold the Saturday morning wake up call was to a white covered camp! The overnight snow fall was enough to cover Red Wing and give us that feeling of winter camping.

 The boys started out the morning with the flag raising and then a breakfast of egg and potato casserole provided by our great camp volunteer cooks. Once the belly’s were full it was off to the stations. We managed to cover 4 of 6 stations before lunch. Survival kits and First Aide kits were made at there stations, along with wilderness survival shelter building and a fun lesson in stretcher building. The boys had a lot of fun with every station and the leadership at each was fantastic. A Lunch of tomatoe soup and grilled cheese was consumed and then back to the stations to finish our final two. Number five was the First Aide station where the boys were tested on there skills before being shown by the awesome first aid staff. Were really lucky in our district to have such great and knowledgeable volunteers. The last station was called thin ice and it was a fun one and appropriate for the time of year. The boys learned rescue techniques and then were tested on tying the safety knot we teach them as a requirement. The kicker was they had to do it one handed. We had a few practice session’s and they all did it with ease. Overall a great day spent out with God and Nature and with some great boys. We had the pleasure of spending our station tour with two other troops and we want to thank Ben form 27 that served as our boys SPL and the guys from 28  for the fun fellowship .  

 Saturday evening was a carry in dutch oven meal with the cooks providing a great meatloaf main dish. The dutch ovens were judged for taste by impartial judges and we won the infamous  Golden Dutch Oven! That apple cobbler had to have been the best we have ever made. We now have to adorn it with something signifying out troop for the next Winter Camporee. All the ovens were filled with tasty side dish’s….well i will admit the chili from one troop was so hot i couldn’t taste a thing after i tried it! WOW was that hot!

 Sunday morning started with flags and a breakfast of bisquits and gravy before a great Sunday service. We had two scouts play and sing for us and Mike Dowd say a few words of encouragement to the boys. Awards were handed out and recognition given for the troops participation. Overall a great Camporee. I want to give  a special shout out from my ASM Keith Heckman and I to Aaron & Gino for putting on this camp. Camporee’s take a tremendous amount of planning and work to put on and these guys did a great job. I really want to commend both of them for keeping the whole camporee light and fun. I didn’t here any yelling, they were both awesome with the boys  and we laughed a lot at our gatherings. Thanks guys from Troop 60 boys and leaders alike. 

Steve Oliphant – Scoutmaster Troop 60

The Troop had a great time Hiking and Cabin Camping at John Bryan State park in Ohio this past weekend. We stayed at Camp Birtch in a cabin with a wood stove and an actual bathroom, a luxury for sure for our Troop. We normaly tent camp all year and the outhouse or the other side of a tree is our bathroom! We hiked about 7 or 8 miles on Saturday and made our way in the aftrenoon to Clinton and a stop at the old Mill. To bad the mill wasn’t operating but we did get some candy and some homemade strawberry jam. Several of our younger boys fulfilled requirements for there tenderfoot, Second and First class ranks. Good job guys.

 Sunday morning a few of the boys had to go but a few of us stuck around after breakfast and got another 3 or 4 miles in on the south side lower trails. The boys really enjoyed all of the giant rocks and the cliffs there used for repelling. We did get to see another troop doing some repelling on Sunday. Overall a great trip and a great time.

The Troop had a great time at the Fall Camporee held at camp Red Wing Oct. 7, 8 & 9. We had a few guests, Charles Haas and his son Chaz, a second year Webelo stayed the weekend with us. Charles ran the Archery course and helped a bunch with leadership over the weekend. I think Chaz had a pretty good time with our boys also. We had one of our Pack 60 Webelos, Tyler Gowin with us for the weekend. Tyler is a joy and he had a great time. Tyler even managed to win the cub scouts division in the derby make and race. Way to go Tyler! The troop had eight boys come for the weekend and all had a great time. The Troop ran a fire building station for the Saturday events and we give  a great big thank you to those guys who helped run the station for the day. Thanks also to Keith Heckman who stayed a good portion of the day to keep an eye on things at the station. The days events included BB shooting, Archery, Rope making, water rockets, canoeing, water life study, Scout essentials, fire building and a derby car build and race.

 As always we ate petty well. Friday night started off with a hog roast and Saturday night we had burgers and dogs at a family style pitch in cookout.  And who could forget “Jacks Fart”! It’s not what it sounds like! We awoke Saturday & Sunday morning to Jacks cannon being fired off. Its quite a loud report and even being in the furthest camp site we heard it loud and clear! And lastly a big thanks to Jim Davis for his Sunday morning service. Overall a great weekend with the boys and fellow Scouters and we thank all those who chaired, planned, helped, ran the events and especially the leaders who come to make Scouting what it is for our boys.

Yours in Scouting

Steve Oliphant 

September 17th was the Girts Archery Extravaganza at the Farmland Conservation Club. Four members of the Troop along with two leaders took part and had a great time. Although we did not attend as scouts we were certainly recognized as such from the many hours we have spent in the concession stand there and other funtions in the community. We all had a great time shooting our tradional bows and just being in the woods sharing some good time together.

For the past several years our Troop has ran the consession stand for the Farmland Conservation Club at there Spring & Fall Traditional Bow Shoots. Its been a good fund raiser for our boys and given them some good experiance and service to the many shooters who come out. I can’t thank enough the many vendors and guys from the Club who spend the time to mentor and teach our young men. The vendors are always especially generous to our guys and always willing to help them learn about this awesome sport. This time at this Fall Shoot we were privilaged to have Roy B & Steve W take us around the Big game course and show six of our youth and two adults how the course is shot and scored and they gave all of us some really good pointers to imporove our shooting skills. One of our boys Brandon Burton (15) was a natural with the bow. Brandon had only shot a few times with his friend and fellow scout Garrett Oliphant (15) over the past few weeks. Since Brandon was new to the sport he used Garretts Bow & Arrows. Brandon and Garrett went throught the 40 target Big Game course and scored there shots and Brandon won the Youth Division. What a proud moment for all of us. Great job Brandon and thanks Garrett for being so generous with your Bow.

 I also wnat to give a big Thank you to leaders Keith Heckman, Dylan Oliphant & Frank Turner for there help and Guidance. A big thanks to the parents who came out to help and/or drove your kids to and from the event and especially thank you to the boys for making and serving lots of breakfast, lunch and dinner items to hungary bow enthusiasts. The Troop thanks you all for the approximate $300 we made for upcoming Troop campouts.

Steve Oliphant - Scoutmaster Troop 60

Most of the boys from the troop were present this Memorial day weekend to serve up meals to the many participants that came to camp and shoot targets at the Farmland Conservation Clubs annual traditional bow shoot. The troop was able to raise nearly $400 for camp fees to help out the boys. We had a few of the boys do some bow shooting which they really enjoyed. Dylan did a canoe training class for our new scouts and parents and of course the boys had a night game of cammando’s. A troop favorite. Special thanks to Frank for heading it up and the parents who came out to help. Big thanks to the F.C.C. for this chance to help the boys and to be around a great sport and a great bunch of folks.

The Spring Camporee at Red Wing Scout Camp was a great time for all and a big success. A big Thank You goes out to our own leader Frank Turner who was the Camp Master and put in many hours to organize and head up the camporee. Our boys did the knot tying station and our own Eagle Dylan Oliphant headed up the Sunday morning Chapel Service. We had three of our new scouts in attendance, 6 older members and three leaders. Thanks guys for a great time and a great camp

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The boys worked really hard doing some cleanup at the maxville cemetary. They have worked two staurdays thus far and plan on doing some more over the spring and summer.