Klondike Derby

This year the Troop attended the Katahdin Area Council's Klondike Derby held at the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.  It was a new adventure for us with a lot of new experiences.

Messing around in the gym

The weather Friday was questionable, raining most of the day, but threatening to turn over at any time.  We headed off and began our adventures.  After a few wrong turns, we made our way and unloaded our gear in to the gym which was to become our home for the weekend.  The boys enjoyed the accommodations of the gym and pool and soon it was time for lights out.  Putting a few hundred kids in the same room and then telling them to go to sleep really doesn't work that well.

Saturday morning we had a very hearty breakfast on the "mess deck" and then the boys participated in merit badge classes.  Lunch was cooked over the camp at Fort George.  One patrol made toasted English Muffin pizzas while the other made "grilled cheese bacon" sandwiches.

The afternoon was spent competing in events ranging from first aid and orienteering to sling shots and fire building.  The boys represented them selves well and performed admirably.  After dinner (Mexican) back on the mess deck we attended the award ceremony.  We hadn't really expected much, because we hadn't participated in this event and didn't really know how to prepare.  We were very pleased and excited that one of the patrols earned second place.

I had hoped that the activities of the day would tire out the boys and we could get to sleep with out hearing the silliness from the night before.  Alas, it was not to be.  I do have to say that I was very proud that our boys resisted the temptation of joining in on the immaturity.

Sunday morning started with another breakfast on the mess deck and ended with a tour of the State of Maine, MMA's training ship.

Summer Camp

Yes, it is that time already.  Time to start thinking about summer camp!  The 2012 Program Guide is now available.  It looks like there are a lot of new and exciting changes.  Download and and take a look.  Josh Gagnon, the camp director, will be at the February Round Table and we will start talking after that.

It is my understanding that the pricing will be the same and I will start looking for scholarship opportunities.

BSA recognized as a leader in Youth Protection

BSA's Youth Protection was brought up in the Sandusky/Penn State Abuse Scandal. The program is looked at as "somewhat of a gold standard". It's nice to see that what we are doing right is being recognized. Read the article linked below

Major youth groups make headway against sex abuse | ajc.com

Bottle Drive Results

The result are in.  Thanks to the hard work of 14 boys and 7 adults the Troop collected $456.17 in bottles as well as $53.00 in cash donations for a grand total of......         Wait for it!....

$509.17

This puts the boys who participated more than half  the way toward their fundraising commitment for the year.  And it is only the first week!  Great Job.

Troop Tribune

The January '12 edition of the Troop Tribune is available here.

Congratulations

Add caption

Congratulations to JJ Tobias, Troop 639 newest First Class Scout.

Bottle Drive

Great job at the bottle drive, today!!!  Thank you to all the Scouts, Scouters, and parents that helped out.  I won't know the final tally until Friday, but I am predicting $450.  Not bad for 3 hours worth of work.

December's Troop Tribune

Just follow the link:

http://www.box.com/s/hd7e5pvnc3lbe5orafeu

Occupy SDG

The troop spent the weekend of Nov 11 - 13 camping at Sabattus Disc Golf.  The people there were kind enough to allow us to camp on the Owl course.  We were supplied with discs and given the opportunity to play all the Disc Golf we wanted.  The weather was "brisk", but we had a great time.  Thanks to all the folks at SDG for their hospitality.

Congratulations to Jack Herard, Troop 639's newest First Class Scout.

Camp Gustin

We spent the weekend at Camp Gustin.  The weather wasn't all that great, but we had a good time anyway.  The boys spent some time working on advancement and exploring.  In the afternoon, they spent a lot of time building contraptions and "climbing" trees.

The food was good!  Breakfast was bacon and eggs and home made Egg McMuffins.  Lunch included pizza, hamburgers, and homemade french fries.  Supper?  Well what more can you ask for?  Stew, Mac & Cheese in the Dutch oven and of course, Jeremy's famous fried dough.

New Web Master

The Troop would like to welcome our newest web master, Jacob T.  He will be posting new info both here and on our facebook page.

Busy Saturday

We had a busy day on Saturday.  We started with a parade in Bowdoinham.  11 boys and 4 Adults attended.  It's a short parade, but a lot of fun.  In the afternoon,  we headed off to the West Bowdoin Baptist Church and helped Jeremy with his Eagle Project.  Jeremy is building a handicap accessible ramp out of the back side of the church.

Summer Camp

13 boys and 2 adults attended Summer Camp at Camp Hinds in Raymond this year. 6 of those boys are brand new scouts. We had a great week. The boys earned a ton of merit badges and had the opportunity to try new challenges. All the boys stepped up to the challenge and often out of their comfort zone.
I was truly proud of the team work that they displayed all week.

After settling in on Sunday the boys attended the Sunday night fire. While a few were hesitant to join in right away, it was not long before they were all up and singing along. They got up Monday, cleaned their campsite, had a hearty breakfast and headed off to merit badge class. I was pleasantly surprised to get back to the camp site and see that they had scored perfect 5's on their inspection.  A perfect score is hard enough as it is, but for such a young troop to pull it off is a tremendous feat.  I was soon to find out that this would be far from the first time boys would make their leaders proud.

Monday afternoon started with troop time.  The boys worked on first aid with SM Dave and knots with SM Greg.  Then we moved to the climbing wall.  The wall at Hinds is 40 feet high and quite imposing.  Again, I was happy to see all the boys give it a try and be really willing to try something that may have been a little scary for some of them.

By Tuesday the boys had really gotten into the groove of things and were really enjoying themselves.  Another perfect inspection and another fun afternoon doing troop activities.  Unfortunately, Dalton got sick.  Apparently, the pizza and his stomach didn't get along too well. Again, the boys made Greg and me proud in how the were willing to help out Dalton with visits and lugging gear and willingness to do what was needed.  The night nurse was impressed with how the boys "roamed in packs".  I was pleased to say that was because they take care of each other.  Long story short - Dalton got better and got to stay.

Wednesday morning 4 of the new scouts did a 5 mile hike up Rattlesnake Mountain and that evening 1 boy participated in the Wilderness Survival overnight.  Wednesday afternoon was the camp wide events.  One of the boys approached me and worried that, "We don't have very many older boys this year."  He was told not to worry, work the best they could as a team and what every happened, happened.  Well, work as a team they did.  One group had to find a hidden egg using their map and compass skills and then cook it over a fire in a paper cup.  Another group sent an orange through a series of  tortures including getting kicked half way across the camp, floated in the terrarium, and catapulted across the Council Ring.  A third group sent a piece of toast through a sort of relay race where it was run across camp, canoed to the waterfront and swum back to the Council Ring.  The finale was SM Greg having to drink the juice from the orange and eat the toast and egg.  Again, the boys made themselves noticed by placing in all three legs.

Thursday and Friday continued to be a lot of fun as the boys continued working on merit badges and participating in such activities as rifle shooting, tomahawk throwing, archery, and the almighty swamp romp. We packed up Friday, cleaned up camp and met the parents for the Friday night Bar-B-Q.  Most of the boys and their families stayed for the closing camp fire.  They were sure glad they did.  We were all made proud one last time to find out that not only had the boys scored the highest campsite inspection scores of the whole summer (1 point shy of perfect), they had won FIRST PLACE in the camp wide event.  It was certainly a great ending to a fabulous week.

There are many pictures for you to look at.  You can see them by going to Our Picasaweb Page or by clicking the pictures to the right.

More Moose River Pics

I've posted about 90 new pictures of the Moose River trip.  Thanks to Tricia Dau for sharing these pictures!  You can find them at Moose River Pictures or clicking one of the pictures to the right.

Moose River

Last weekend the Troop went on its annual canoe trip. 23 people in all made the trek with 3 staying at base camp and 20 making the loop trip. This year was certainly an adventure. High winds and low water made much of the trip a challenge.

We arrived at Attean Lake at noon and decided to head over to the camp site before lunch. The high winds made quite a chop on the lake and it took us well over an hour to get to the camp site. Little did we know that the wind would continuously haunt us over the whole weekend.

We headed out on the loop portion of the trip on Friday morning and got to the portage in decent time. The portage itself is 1.2 miles through the woods and we had a lot of gear to transport. It took us several trips and several hours to make the portage, but we did it. All the leaders were extremely proud of the boys who worked hard and didn't complain.

We were to find out soon that the hard work had just begun. We had lunch and started across Holeb Lake. The further we got the harder the wind blew. It was tough work keeping the boats straight and harder work to make progress. Ever so slowly we made it forward. A few of the canoes had more trouble than other and soon fell far behind. Fortunately, a very nice gentleman in a small power boat came to their rescue. By 5:00 we had made it across the lake, rearranged some of the canoe teams and headed down river toward the camp site.

Being on the river was nice. The wind was not our enemy and the current was our friend. The low water level, however, made it a little tricky to avoid sand bars and the such. We didn't make it to the camp site that we had hoped to make it to. Instead, we found a campsite around 6:30 and decided it was best to stop there. Good thing we brought tents this time. The cabins at Holeb falls were still over an hour away.

While Brad got the fire going and supper started, everyone else set up camp. We ate supper, cleaned up, went for a swim, and hit the sack early. It had been a very long day and we needed the rest.

The next morning started with a Moose sighting. Brad made sausage, eggs and hash browns. We had boiled some water the night before and we boiled some more. It was hot and we were going through water faster than we could filter it. We headed out by 8:30. With the wind to our back and the current on our side we hoped that being 6 mile behind schedule would not be a problem.

The day progressed well even though the low water level made it necessary to line or drag the canoes in several spots. We portaged at Holeb Falls and had lunch. We were now about half a day behind schedule, but Brad had built plenty of time into the plan so we knew that we were going to be alright.

Once again we had to line and drag our canoes down both Spencer Rips and Attean Falls. Shortly after the Falls we came to the lake. Lisa and Shari met us there with the power boat. Boy were we happy to see them. We were tired of paddling. It was a good thing, too. Without the boat we may never had made it back.

Captain Ron took over the helm and we tied the canoes into two lines behind. As we headed back across the lake the waves and wind got higher and higher. Soon I looked forward and the chop was so high the prop of the boat was coming out of the water every time it went down the back side of a wave. Then all of a sudden one the lines of canoes had come loose and floated behind us. After a few minutes of frantic retying we got thing squared away as one long line and headed off again. A few minutes later a holler from behind called for a full stop. One of the canoes was not balanced well and was taking on water over the side. Some adjusting of gear straightened things out and we made it back to the camp site without further incident.

In fact, the rest of the trip went without incident. The trip was a great example of how important it is to follow the tenets of "Trek Safely" Proper planning, proper equipment, and proper adult supervision made the trip not only possible, but made some potentially dangerous situations safe.

Thanks to Brad for planning and guiding the trip, to Ron for his nautical expertise and the use of his boat and to Lisa for planning and taking care of all the food. Thank you also to all the adults for their help and experience.

Court of Honor

Our Annual June Court of Honor was once again held at the Volk's house.  We started with a BBQ and finished up with the Awards Ceremony.  7 boys were inducted into the Troop, 5 boys recieved merit badges and 4 boys were presented Badges of Rank.  Congrats to all.

Merit Badges

            Devin G            Cooking

            Max M             Camping

            Jack H              Pets and Family Life

            Ben V               Cooking and Personal Management

            Tyler N             Camping, Personal Management, Family Life

Ranks

            Scout               Dalton S, Alex D, Thomas D, Ricky M, Jacob B, Reese R, Jacob R

            Tenderfoot       Liam K

            2^nd Class         Jonathan B   Jacob T

            Life                  Max M

Sugarloaf

I wouldn't call the trip a success, but we had a lot of fun.  After navigating an unexpected traffic jam in Augusta, we arrived in Carrabassett Valley around 6:30.  We set up camp, taught the new boys how to set up the tents and built a fire pit.  It didn't take us long to figure out that the mosquitoes were going to be a problem.  Welcome to Northern Maine.

We got up early Saturday Morning, had a quick breakfast and headed over to the mountain.  It was quite foggy and we expected light showers, but we headed up anyway.  About half way up it started to rain and it quickly turned in to a downpour.  We made our way to a lodge and waited under the porch roofs.  After a 45 minute wait the rain started to let up and we decided to head back down.

Of course, the weather cleared by the time we returned to camp.  We worked at getting ourselves dried out and had some lunch.  Plan B was to hike down the Narrow Gauge Pathway.  The trail head started just a quarter mile down the road and it provided a nice 4 mile hike along the south branch of the Carrabassett River.  We stopped for a quick break at the end and then the thunder came.  Needless to say we got a "little" wet getting back.

And of course, by the time we got back to camp the sun was shining again.  Supper was had, the evening campfire was built, and drying out commenced.

Many thanks must go to Peter Mendall for the use of his property.  It was a perfect location- minus the mosquitoes.

Tumbledown Hike

Sorry this took so long to post.  What was supposed to be a quick enjoyable shakedown hike turned in to a wet slog up and down the mountain.

Directions in the rain

The weather wasn't that great when we left, but the weather man said it was supposed to clear with only a chance of showers in the afternoon.  Well so much for that.  The closer we go to Weld the harder it rained.  We didn't let that dampen our spirits, though.  We donned our rain gear and headed up the mountain. 

Crossing the "Stream"

I knew that we would have a few streams to cross, but the first one was a doozy.  We scouted around looking for a good crossing.  In the end Al and Steve constructed a make shift bridge and we managed our way across.
The rain made the the going slow and slippery.  We picked our way up the mountain and as we crested the ridge it looked like it might clear up.

Snow Ball

Wrong!  We reached the pond at the top and settled in for a quick lunch.  Unfortunately, the wind and rain picked up and we retreated below the treeline.  So much for enjoying a swim in a mountain pond.

The rain did let up on the way down and we enjoyed the view around a beautiful water fall.  By now we were removing our rain gear and even starting to dry out.  The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful except that we had to cross that "stream" again.

I was very proud of how well all the boys did and with there attitudes.

Spring Camporee

This year's Spring Camporee was held at Frazier Farm in Brunswick.  Even though the date changed a zillion times, we still had 12 boys and 3 adults attend.   The theme of the event was "Games from around the world."   The boys spent Saturday playing different games out in the field.  It occasionally got a little physical, but we all had a great time.  Max and Jeremy both placed in the Caber Toss.

In the evening, as we watched the clouds thicken, many of the troops bailed out.  We decided to tough it out.  After dinner, Jeremy made fried dough for everyone.  We attended the closing campfire and then turned in for bed just as the rains came.