TROOP 1492 NEWSLETTER
November 4, 2011: Maybe I haven't been as consciencious at keeping the website up to date as I should. We have had an amazing run and it isn't over even close to over yet. During the summer of 2010 we had 6 Scouts from our Troop go to the 100 Anniversary National Jamboree at Fort AP Hill in Virginia. That trip started with a 7 day tour of the historic eastern seaboard from Philadelphia through Gettysburg and onto Washington D.C. for several days of touring national monuments and the Smithsonian. Then we headed out to Mount Vernon and George Washington's home. We did Arlington Cemetary and then went for a playday at King's Dominion themem park in Virgina. After a week of exhausting but stimulating touring we headed to the Jamboree for 10 days of non-stop activities and adventure. Our Scouts had a ball and so did our Committee Chairman Tim Bittner as a staff member and me as an Assistant Scoutmaster. Never a dull moment - nor a cool one as Viginia in July/August is steamy. What a bunch of lifelong memories we all built.
So what else has been happening in the last 22 months since I updated this website?
In 2010 we went to Winter Camp at Camp Sheppard near Crystal Mountain, we went to the aviation museum in McMinnville in Oregon and the Scouts earned the Aviation Merit Badge, we went to the Camporee at Camp Parsons, we went rafting on the Elwha River, the half of the Troop that didn't go to Jamboree went to summercamp at Parsons with Debbie and Deborah, we did a 32 mile hike along the Ho River up to Ho Lake. On this trip Tim showed his fishing prowess and caught a huge Dolly Varden or?? We then went on a somewhat wet backpacking trip to Camp Handy on the upper Dungeness - great trip. We did a leadership training weekend at Debbie's which included a 10 mile hike on the Olympic Discovery Trail and finished out the year at Edgeworks where the Scouts earned the Climbing Merit Badge.
In 2011, we have gone over to Seattle and hiked up to REI where we looked at everything and the Scouts climbed the climbing wall. We went to winter camp at Sheppard again. We went for a campout and backpacking trip to up on the Graywolf River, we went back to McMinnville to the Space Museum and earned the Space Exploration merit badge. We did a family camping trip on the Sol Duc where the Scouts and parents did some hiking and soaking in the hot springs. We backpacked up to Lake George on Mt. Rainier in the snow in June, then the Scouts went to Summer Camp at Piggott with Debbie and Trisha - a great time was had by all and many merit badges were earned. Then at the first of August we did our major adventure - a 50+ mile backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains just north of Yosemite in California. We had an incredible time and won the battle with the late mosquito hatch. We caught fish, blazed trails where there weren't any, swam, hiked out brains out and had a blast. The trip included a 2000 mile roundtrip drive. In September, Debbie took the Troop to Lake Crescent for a campout and Motorboating merit badge weekend. In October we did an amazing 25 mile backpacking back into the heart of the Olympics and up and over Grand View Pass and back thru Badger Valley to Blue Mountain. What a trip. This month we're going on a 50 mile bike ride and will wrap the year up with a weekend wilderness first aid course where the Scouts will be certified to provide emergency care in the field. A great two years and we'll have our plan for next year posted by November 11. Can't wait for the action.
January 13, 2010: Lots of water under the bridge since the last time I brought this up to date. We went to Summer Camp at Parsons - an awesome time. I believe the Scouts earned a total of 24 merit badges while at the event. We did a couple of car washes, earning money for the Jamboree. We sold hiking sticks at the Lavender festival and did reasonably well. Later in the summer we worked our fingers to the bone building more hiking sticks (35 of them) for our benefactor to sell at an executive Eagle Scout campout - more funds for the Jamboree. In the fall, we went on a great backpacking trip to Lillian camp up the Elwha. In early winter we went on a day trip to REI in Seattle and then headed to a climbing facility in Tacoma. The Scouts had a blast and learned quite a bit of climbing technique. We'll be going back next December to earn the Climbing Merit Badge. This coming weekend we're taking a 10 mile hike (with dogs) along the Duckabush River Trail near Brinnon. I just posted the new activities calendar for 2010 - check it out.
March 9, 2009: We had a great weekend at the Merit Badge Clinic in Chimacum. Eight Scouts went over after school on Friday night to work on the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. They had to start fires without matches (3 different ways), practice first aid, provide survival tactics, and build a shelter from natural materials - and then sleep in it. By 9:00 PM it was 30 degrees out and cooling off fast. The Scouts finished up their evening work and hit the sack. About 4:30 in the AM it was raining pretty hard, but fortunately stopped within about 15 minutes. Everyone was up and cooking and eating breakfast by 6:00 AM. The counselor then put them through a thorough test on all the requirements for the badge. Our Scouts past with flying colors. Everything was packed up and cleaned up by 9:00 AM and they moved to the church for the full day of badge work. At the end of the day, our Scouts had earned 17 total merit badges and had a great time doing it. Our next activity will be a pioneering program at our Tuesday Scout meeting. We're going to build a structure from poles and rope using lashing techniques. Next week we'll be learning to operater our new GPS systems and later this month we head for Camp Sheppard - our Winter Camp.
January 23, 2009: We just had our first Troop Committee meeting for 2009. Lots on the agenda - a lot of time was spent talking about our activities schedule for 2009. Check out the calendar on the menu bar to the left. We have 7 Scouts signed up for the 2010 National Jamboree and an incredible benefactor that is helping us with the huge cost of going. Thank you Bryan Gunnerson - our Troop is forever in your debt.
October 8, 2008: I'm just going to have to keep this newsletter more up to date. Activities since our last posting include at 4 day camping trip most of our Scouts went on to Camp Brinkley as Den Chiefs for Pack 4490. We had a blast - Blazing Saddles was the theme. Also in August we went on a 20 mile hike on the Olympic Discovery Trail from Port Angeles to Sequim. It was a really hot day and everyone was pretty fried by the time we reached Railroad Bridge Park. It didn't take much encouragement to convince the Scouts to take a short swim and cool off. In September we had two major events. First, we went to Orcs Island for a 3 day campout and hike. It rained some during the trip, but we had a great time. We did a 10 mile hike on Saturday that included a trek up and back down Mt. Constitution and around the lake at the base of the mountain. There were some damp clothes when we headed home, but no real complaints. The other activity in September was our Court of Honor. The following awards were presented:
Joshua M. Tenderfoot
Trenton M. Tenderfoot
Thomas D. Tenderfoot
William H. Second Class
Joseph D. Second Class
Will B. Second Class
Mikey C. First Class
Merit Badges: Mikey C., - Hiking and Woodcarving
Trenton M. – Engineering
At the beginning of October we started a Troop program for all the Scouts to earn the First Aid Merit Badge. Our next outing is going to be a Backpacking trip along the Elhwa on October 25.
July 13, 2008: Lots has happened since my last entry in the newsletter. We've gone on a number of 10 miles hikes, a backpacking trip up into Royal Basin, held a fundraising garage sale at the Boys' and Girls' Club and staged our first Court of honor where he handed out 7 merit badges, 5 Tenderfoot patches and one Second Class patch. We are putting together a set of By-Laws for the Troop which are now available on the site for your review. The Scouts also planned activities for the rest of the year - the Committee endorsed the plan and put tentative dates to the activities - please see the Activities Calendar menu item.
April 6, 2008: I just got in from our latest hike. We had planned on going on a hike up the Elwha River, but Tim checked in advance (novel concept) and found that there was 3 feet of snow on some of the trail we would be on. So, not to be put off from a good afternoon of exercise, we went on another hike on the Olympic Discovery Trail. This time we headed east from Sequim toward Schoolhouse Point. Attending the hike today were, the whole Bittner clan, Ken Hays and me along with, Mikey C., Will H., Will B., Joe D., Trenton M., Thomas D., and Noelle B. A great time was had by all though the Scouts did all lay down on the parking lot when we got back to QFC.
March '08 Announcement: We held our formation meeting in January and got a list of 40 activities the boys were interested in for this years program. The activities were collated and emailed out to all of the Scouts. I've recieved 3 or 4 back with 12 "monthly" actitivies selected. Once we have them all back, we can have the Scouts present the top 12 vote getters to the Committee for approval or recommendations.
On Friday night, February 29, Cub Scout Pack 4490 held their Blue and Gold Banquet and our 13 - 2nd Year Webelos officially crossed over the bridge and became eligible to join a Boy Scout Troop. At this moment, all 13 young men joined a Troop with 9 of them joining Troop 1492.
On Saturday morning, March 1, Five of our newly minted Scouts attended a Merit Badge Clinic in Chimacum and we came away with 7 total Merit Badges, earned in less the 24 hours of the young men crossing over into Boy Scouts. That might be a record. I personally didn't get a Merit Badge until I had earned my 1st Class Scout rank. Our next move is trying to determine the best night to hold our weekly Scout meetings. We also plan on having our first of many Scout Leadership Training Sessions later this month. It will be an overnight affair on Ken Hays' property. Watch this space for a date and time.
We also intend to organize another Merit Badge Clinic in concert with Troops 90 and 1491 for sometime in May.
Keep checking back on this page for updates and plans. Join us!!!
Michael Cobb
Scoutmaster, Troop 1492
March 8, 2008