Clear Lake Cabin Trip

The boys had an awesome Cabin Trip weekend at Clear Lake, Putnam, NY. A favorite camping spot for the troop, this BSA Scout Camp offers a variety of tent sites, cabins, backpacking, hiking, and general outdoor fun. On the annual winter cabin trip, the boys get to experience winter hiking, while sleeping in the warm indoors. This year's trip was exceptional as not only was the hiking scenic and fun, but the ice was a foot thick and they got to hike across the lake.

Normally, the boys do not bring electronics for their weekend adventures, but with the long winter nights the boys bring entertainment options like movies, music and video games. The competition is good light-hearted fun and the noise level is something to behold! They sure had a great time!

Battleship 137 Rockets into Klondike History!

The 5 boys and 3 adults had an excellent Klondike experience, Saturday January 17, where Adam B., Peter D., David M., Evan O., and Mike V. boarded Battleship 137 for a chilly, winter wonderland adventure. After scoring 100% for required equipment at check-in, the boys shoved off for a whirlwind 9-station, 5-point per station, tour where they scored 36 out of a possible 45 points. Considering that the 5th point at each station was a discretionary bonus point based on the judges thoughts on the patrol's efforts, they boys did very, very well. The final tally was three perfect 5s, three 4s, and 3 threes. Great job boys!

Highlights:
* After watching the previous troop miss the 50-foot safety rope toss about 50 times, Adam B. connected on his first try and the boys pulled Evan O. to safety very quickly! 5 points!
* The boys constructed a tarp liter and carried Evan O. blind-folded around the course for another 5 point score!
* For animal track identification, the boys only reversed two out of nine animal tracks and got the bonus moose track for 5 points! All the boys were very knowledgeable about paw prints. Who knew?

Areas for improvement:
* Fire-building: Nice attempt by Peter D., David M. and Adam B. who had a brief flame going in the 5-minute time limit. It really is easy when you have the right tinder, so we need to brush up on our tinder choices.
* Knot tying: Adam B. saved the day here, but we need to teach all the boys the ropes and how to tie things up in three easy steps: tie, dress, and seat.
* Lashing: Knot tying on steroids, need I say more? Adam B. and David M. did a fine job getting the poles to lash together long enough to carry Mike V. around the track and back to the starting point, where everything fell apart into a pile of laughing boys.

Other fun areas:
* All the boys had fun tipping the scales to finally balance the sled and patrol on the platform beam trick.
* David M. instructed his blind-folded helpers Peter D. and Evan O. to put up a tent within 10 minutes! Great job!
* Mike V. had two near misses in the sling-shot contest and the instructor pointed out his technique for others to follow.

Scout spirit:
* The boys worked hard and fast to earn the Klondike patch, not only for performing the station events, but for showing their team work and scout spirit, which was especially noteworthy on this very cold day.

Great Hollow Redux

Troop 137 backpacked into Great Hollow, covering three trail miles over a mountain and through the woods to the Great Hollow waterfalls they went. They camped, they cooked, they all had a great hollow time.

Historic Gettysburg!

The scouts had a tremendously good time exploring the new Gettysburg National Military Museum and Visitor Center, experiencing the newly preserved Cyclorama, the new film, "A New Birth of Freedom", narated by Morgan Freeman, experiencing the Rememberence Weekend Reenactor Parade, touring the Battlefield and walking past the candlit grave markers at the Gettysburg National Cemetery Evening Memorial.

This was a wonderful example of 'a game with a purpose' as the scouts had a blast and also saw and experienced American history up close and personal.

Camp Sequassen Webelos Weekend

The Camp Sequassen camping trip was an awesome weekend. The boys did a great job leading, teaching and working with the Webelos this weekend. Everyone had a fun time and helped make the trip a success. There are some terrific Webelos crossing over and joining us in the Spring and the boys will have many more leadership opportunities.

Camp Sikorsky

Several Troop 137 Scouts participated in Camp Sikorsky, a kind of camporee with many other Troops from around the state, complemented with the added benefit of earning two merit badges each. The scouts visited aviation labs, massive flight simulators, attended an ethics forum, an emergency preparedness session and got to see lots of cool helicopters up close and personal. This included jumping into Black Hawks and seeing the entire helicopter manufacturing/assembly process. The boys also heard from an Eagle Scout that built upon his scouting experience to become a top surgeon and leader in the US Army including responsibility for over 3000 troops and all hospital and medical activities in Iraq. They saw and learned things very few scouts, or even adults, ever get to experience. A close up look at some of the fastest and most powerful birds in the sky!

High Banks Housatonic Rafting Trip

We had an awesome first trip to kick off the 2008-09 Boy Scout outing season. Everyone had a blast rafting on the Housatonic River, shooting the rapids and of course splashing each other on the way down. Troop 137 Scouts rescued canoers they found stranded in the middle of the rapids. They helped them get back to safety and recover their equipment down stream - great job! This only added to the fun and excitement of the day.