TROOP
1320 NEWSLETTER
May
1, 2001
“All The News That Fits, We’ll Print”
_______________On the web at
“www.troop1320.org ”
SCOUTMASTER
NOTES
Challenges.
We all have to deal with them at one level or another. In Scouting there are the
challenges of dealing with others and working as a team in accomplishing a goal
such as setting up a tent, cooking a meal and cleaning up. There are more
physical challenges such as backpacking several miles or canoeing for the better
part of a day. We meet these challenges by being prepared and anticipating what
we will need as much as possible. Sometimes we discover that we are not as
prepared as we may have thought but we learn from our mistakes. In recent weeks
we have seen Scouts cook a meal together for the first time, pitch a tent and
generally take care of themselves in the out of doors. In the process we have managed to have a lot
of fun. Parents you may not believe it but your Scouts at every level are
progressing and successfully meeting more challenges with every outing. It is
for this reason that I strongly urge you to encourage your Scout to take part in
as many of our outdoor adventures as possible, including and especially summer
camp, as you will find that your son will benefit mightily from the
experience. Scoutmaster,
Paul Burke
Take me to the
River
The next outing for the Scout year is
our annual canoe trip over the Memorial Day weekend. This year we will be
canoeing on the Clarion River from Ridgway in Elk County to the vicinity of
Cooksburg. Everyone who has signed up for the trip must take and pass a swim
test. The test will be
given on Monday May
14, 2001 at the High School swimming pool during our normal
meeting time. This
test applies to Scouts as well as any adults who plan to take part in the
trip. So get out your Speedos and head on over to the pool.
On second thought it might be best if you used some discretion with the
Speedos.
Eagle Court of
Honor
The Eagle Court of Honor for Scott
B has been scheduled for June 2, 2001 at 5 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist
Church. Weather permitting this Court of Honor will be held at the outdoor
worship center on the hill just above the Scout House, otherwise the ceremony
will take place in the Sanctuary. Be sure to mark your calendar for this special
event.
Twin Echoes, echoes,
echoes….
We arrived at Twin Echoes near
Ligonier in the Laurel Highlands at 9
p.m. on Friday and were assigned a place to camp. The Scouts and the adults on the trip got
their tents set up including the Taj Mahal of tents provided by Mr.
Meloro.
Mr. Burke got a fire going to ward off
the chill of the night and the Scouts decided which fire shift they would take
in order to keep the fire going throughout the night. The adult leaders being
wise in the way of the world, and the woods, managed to avoid falling for this
one.
After a restful but chilly night the
Troop awoke to a cold and drizzly day. After cooking breakfast and cleaning
everything up Scouts were sent out to set up an orienteering course over the
entire camp, from the ridges to the lake.
Dylan .
Corey , Pat ., Dan and Lucas managed to complete the orienteering course with
Dan being crowned the Shmuffin Man for completing it in the shortest
time.
The day provided weather for
everyone’s taste, from drizzle, to sunshine, to snow, to clouds and wind. As
evening fell the sky cleared and all enjoyed a starry night in the cold mountain
air as we sat around the hot campfire.
Sunday brought more sunshine and
following breakfast, a Scout Service and cleaning up our camp site we headed for
home.
Scouting for
Food
The troop went Scouting for Food on Monday, April 30, 2001
during the normal meeting time. The
Troop met at the Scout House and then fanned out to neighborhoods in the
vicinity of our church sponsor to collect food for the Peters Township food Bank
as part of the annual Scouting for Food Drive.
Hey, Jake Don’t Trash my
Lake!
Troop 1320 adopted Peters Lake Park
some time ago and on the annual Clean up day for the Township we did our duty by
cleaning up the area around the lake. The clean up day was Saturday, April 28,
2001 and the Scouts met at the parking lot off of Center church Road at the lake
at 9 a.m. Mr. Englund, he of the
perpetually irritable and disgruntled outlook, took the opportunity to thrust
plastic bags into our hands and then barked orders at us to “get pickin
litter”. We were on site
for two hours and left around 11 a.m. The Scouts who took part,
Matt, Ryan , Corey , Joe , Brad , Trevor and
Dylan earned service hours towards
advancement or possibly towards the “Fifty Miler Award”
.
Rummage
Sale
As if the litter gitters were not
enough on the 28th Trinity UMC also held its Spring rummage sale,
sometimes referred to as junk for Jesus on that same day. Some Scouts who wanted
service hours and liked to get their mitts on some great bargains which the
unwashed masses may have missed were at
the Church social hall at 1 p.m. The
Scouts were given the task of helping to dispose of the unwanted rummage by
either throwing it into the dumpster or by tossing it into the family car for
further recycling. Believe it or not the Scouts actually got service hours for
this boondoggle as well!!!! What a
country!!!
C & O
Canal Trail Calls
Mr. Don Shepherd has graciously agreed
to take over the main responsibility for organizing this major adventure for the
July 4th weekend. The
Scouts who have signed up for this adventure are: Corey , David
, Dan , Jeff, Trevor, Dan, Kyle, Dylan, Ian, Joe and
Shawn.
The adults who plan to take part are
Mr. Shepherd, Mr.Burke-Sir, Mr. Grimes and Mr. “ I can’t pedal any further”
Wanninger.
Mr. Shepherd met recently with a
number of those who had expressed interest at a recent meeting and will be
putting together a series of training rides.
PARENTS:
FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
May 25-28
Canoe
Trip (Memorial Day Weekend) Clarion
River
July 6-8
Biking
and Camping on the Yough River Trail
July 4-8
Biking
and Camping on C & O Trail, Cumberland MD to Washington D.C. (185+
miles)
Aug. 5-11
Scout
Camp at Heritage Reservation
_________________________________________________
NewsFlash----Newsflash---Newsflash
Eagle
News---
Steve Underkofler and Ken Helfrich each were approved for and earned the rank of Eagle Scout at his respective Board of Review on April 25, 2001. Congratulations Steve and Ken. Everyone looks forward to celebrating your achievements at your Eagle Courts of Honor.
________________________________________________________
Troop
Committee Meeting
The
next meeting of the troop 1320 committee will be held on May 31, 2001 at 7:30 at
the Scout House. Richard Meyers, the troop committee Chair will conduct the
meeting. You can expect that matters on the agenda will include Community day as
well as upcoming activities for the Troop. All parents are welcome and
encouraged to attend.
The North Country Trail
Trip
When we got to the first campsite
on Friday night Jake, Corey, Matt, Spencer, Mike, and
Dean decided to sleep
in the shelter. In the middle of the night Matt
puked in the shelter, and
then Jake rolled in it with his sleeping bag
(he didn't notice until
morning.) Matt went into his dad's tent that
night. The next morning we had
some hudson bay bread for breakfast. We
then went on a prep hike to a beaver
dam. It was pretty cool. We stayed
there for about 30 minutes. Jake and Dylan
found deer antlers. There we
saw some geese and their nest with 10 eggs in it. When we got
back to the
campsite we had lunch. After that we left to find another
campsite. We
found an open field that was long but not wide. There we set up
our
tents, had dinner and went to bed. The next morning we had breakfast
and
went two different ways, Jake, Corey, Dylan, and Trevor went 8.5 hard
grueling miles one
way and the rest
of us, Mike, Dean, Matt, Spencer, Nick, and I (David)
went 3 miles back to
the original campsite. There we ate lunch and left.
We left at about 12:10. I
don't know what happened to the other guys.
By: David S
4/29/01
Editors Note—The other crew managed to
survive their hike and at the end they enjoyed, or rather tolerated, an
extremely cold mountain stream before heading home. Also while not apparent from
David’s account there were actually adults on this trip. The adults who
accompanied the Scouts were Mr. Moshier, Mr. Reid, Mr. Baumiller, Mr. Grimes and
Mr. Burke. It was a great weekend of camping and the second crew came across
some additional wildlife in the form of a porcupine on its hike
out.