TROOP 1320 NEWSLETTER

January 2004

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“All the News that Fits, We’ll Print”

Check us out online at www.troop1320.org

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤---Scoutmaster’s Notes---

Mr. Burke

Well, I agree that it is cold outside. I also agree that it does tend to be snowy and grey this time of year. But hey, that is no reason to hibernate like a bear. Instead we should be looking forward to the great activities that the troop has planned. Why already this winter we have been indoor climbing and have helped out the Salvation Army with their annual kettle campaign. (By the way we managed to raise over $600.00 for the Salvation Army this year).

January brings the beginning of the five week Snow Sport Merit Badge program at Hidden Valley and the Klondike Derby. (You can be sure that Troop 1320 will be one of the few troops camping out in tents at the upcoming derby!)

February will feature a weekend ski trip to Timberline in West Virginia as well as great programs with our weekly meetings such as First Aid and other advancement. So just because it is cold don’t complain about the weather, get out there with the troop and enjoy it.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Dolly Sods Hiking Trip

Jeremy K.

We took a hike down the mountain. It was a very rocky mountain. We had to walk around mud puddles and tall weeds. The older scouts carried their backpacks down the mountain and the younger scouts kept theirs in the car.

When we got down the mountain we had to wait for Mr. Burke to go find where we were going to sleep. About an hour later Mr. Burke returned and we followed him to the creek. The older scouts went to the creek while the little scouts ran to the cars and got their packs. When the little scouts came back we all crossed the creek and Corey dropped the keys to Mr. Burkes life (car) in the creek. Mr. Burke did NOT have a spare set of keys and Corey couldn't find them in the water. Luckily, Mr. Mosier met Mrs. Burke half way for the spare to Mr. Burke’s car. Mr. Burke told us to go pitch our tents before it got dark. Everyone except the adults got firewood for the campfire. The stars were very bright and we got to see the big dipper. Dean said that the northern lights were not visible unless you went out past the tree line. Dean K. learned to not to bring glass jars on backpacking trips ever again. We woke up Sunday morning, packed up, and ate breakfast. We had to cross the creek again with no shoes on. I think a piece of ice floated past me. Everyone hiked back to the cars, and then we had to wait for the other cars to come down the mountain. Troop 1320 had church then we went to Sheetz for the M.T.O.s and such.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Slippery Rock Climbing Trip

Stephen T

On Sunday December 7 Troop 1320 went on an indoor rock-climbing trip to Slippery Rock University. We had a very fun time climbing. There were six climbing walls and one bouldering wall where you had to climb across the wall instead of up. There were two easy walls, two medium walls, and two harder walls. Each wall was about 60 feet tall! We had the climbing area for two hours, although I wish that we could have had a longer time to climb. It was a lot of fun to climb; one of the climbing walls you had to climb on a corner was very cool. The trip was great and we all had a wonderful time. There were only three people who belayed you so you had to wait a while until you could go climbing again. After the two hours were up we had to stop climbing I wish that we had at least another thirty minutes. On the way home we stopped at Bob’s Sub Shop and got to eat some of their excellent subs. This was a really fun experience for me as well as many of the other scouts to go rock climbing.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Elk Trail Climbing Trip

Dan C.

Five members of Troop 1320 along with three adults took a trip to Elk Country to hike on the Elk Trail. Does Elk County have elk you ask? The answer is yes, and we even got a chance to see some. We saw one while driving to the head of the trail. It was dark so we didn’t get a good sight of it. Unfortunately we didn’t see anymore while we were hiking. We spent the first night at the head of the trail so we could start hiking in the morning. We woke up the next morning and, after the cars were driven to the various locations along the trail, set off on our hike. The first section of trail was the hardest climb but we easily managed it. A cold morning turned into very nice hiking weather. We stopped for lunch at a set of large rocks, filled our water bottles at a stream, and then continued our trip. After some more hiking we got to the location we were to stay at. So…we left the Elk Trail, climbed down a hill, and set up camp a couple hundred yards from the trail. We had a fire started and were beginning making dinner when we had some visitors. There were three hunters who had a cabin a down the stream a little bit. They were not to happy that we were on their land, or at least what they thought was their land. Mr. Burke showed them our permit and told them how we had hiked on the trail and come down the hill to camp. According to the ‘local’ hunters, we were at least 7 miles from the trail. After a few minutes the men found out that they were wrong and didn’t actually own the entire Elk Forest. They departed and we continued our dinner. We awoke the next morning, packed our stuff up and took off. After an hour or so of hiking we reached the car and packed up to head off. We go to the rest of the cars and started to pull out of the forest when finally…we saw some elk up close. They were massive, much larger than I had imagined. There were four of them sitting/standing around. We got out of the cars and checked them out for a couple minutes. We left and went home satisfied that we had see the elk in Elk County.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Salvation Army Kettle

Matt M.

On December 13 and December 20 scouts from Troop 1320 volunteered to watch over the Salvation Army Kettle outside K-Mart. The first shift in the freezing cold at 9 AM was Dan C., Dean K., and Matt M. On the first Saturday we tricked my dad into buying us hot chocolates by moving the kettle inside until he bribed us with the hot chocolates to return to our posts outside. Shortly after this occasion Dean’s hands went blue because he forgot gloves. Luckily, Danny C. had a single hand warmer but unluckily for Dean he used it on himself.

Although the Salvation Army Kettle watching cannot always be the most exciting thing to do, we found many ways to keep up the holiday spirit. About an hour into our bell-ringing shift we met a shy and hostile creature that can only be described as “Cart Boy.” Although not much is known about him, we were able to come in contact with him. I found that if you get in his way while he is delivering the used carts back into K-Mart he would speed up and ram you into poles with his carts. I was the one to discover this little known fact. We continued to observe this odd creature and make holiday songs for him until it was time to leave.

At 9 AM the next week we came back to volunteer again. We found that the kettle had not arrived and we waited for the most important part of our job to arrive. When the kettle came, we found that “Cart Boy” was not working the early shift. Dan and I tried the call of the Cart Boy but received no response. It was apparent that Cart Boy could not handle the very, very could Saturday morning. During our shift it started to snow but we held our post until our shift was over. We had a lot of fun ringing the bell, collecting money for the needy, and spreading our own holiday cheer.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Troop 1320 Schedule

January 16-17 Klondike Derby @ Anawanna

February 20-22 Ski Trip to Timberline, WV

March 26-27 Camping at Twin Echoes/Backpacking Laurel Highlands Trail

April 23-25 North Country Trail

May 30 Memorial Day Canoe Trip

June 11-13 Oil Creek Biking-Backpacking or Otter Creek

July 2-14 Philmont

August 1-7 Heritage Reservation Summer Camp

August 18 Whitewater Rafting at Ohiopyle

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤