Troop 5 – Bronxville, NY

On November 20, 15 scouts and 3 adult leaders went to a Hudson Valley orienteering meet in Fahnestock State Park just off the Taconic State Parkway.   If you’ve never been to one of these competitions before, they are a lot of fun and intensely competitive.  The object is to work your way around a course that has been set up in the woods moving from checkmark to checkmark as fast as you can.  All you have is a map, a compass, a scoresheet, a few friends and a lot of intuition.  I would describe it as a timed scavenger hunt in the woods.

When we first arrived, we saw a lot of army soldiers who were practicing on very difficult orienteering courses.  We were then assisted by a man who had been teaching and practicing orienteering for 50 years.  He gave us a little tutorial on what we were supposed to do.  Little tricks like always holding a  map with it oriented properly (ie even if it is upside down), the meanings of certain symbols and how to fold a map properly came in handy.  After the lesson, we split up into three groups of five and went on the beginner white course while one group braved a more difficult yellow course.  The course was pretty easy and essentially just circled the lake.  There were a half dozen or so checkpoints where we had to carefully mark our cards with special stamps so that we could prove we visited the checkpoint.  After lunch, everybody decided to go on a harder course.  Naturally the adults got lost along the way but we eventually found one another.  Some scouts went with Mr. Landy on the hardest course and some went with Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Weir.   

Orienteering was a lot of fun and a useful skill.  Best of all, all of the scouts on the trip passed their advancement requirement for orienteering where we had to follow a course with a map and compass for at least a mile.

We just got back from Tamarack and I want to report back to you. (See the photos page on the web site for pictures.)

The scouts had the best time.

The Tamarack Preserve is a Sportman’s club which is very exclusive.
They sure gave us the royal treatment.

When we arrived, they had 5 instructors teaching ours boys the ropes of firearm handling.
They had those instructors with the boys from beginning to end each day.
We learned the proper use of 22’s, shotguns, and archery equipment. We even learned how to shoot sporting clays.

At lunch break, we had wonderful lunches awaiting us on fine white linen tablecloths
right at the clubhouse.

Next we hiked to our campsite or should I say Shangrala.

The Tamarack provided us with  two cabins.

The lake cabin was half covered and half uncovered right on the lake.
This is where our boys sat on Adirondack chairs and chatted and whittled.
At the other side of this cabin was a wood burning fireplace where the boys warmed up at night.

The other cabin was built for the club like something out of Field and Stream. It was gorgeous. It was a log cabin with overstuffed chairs and gas lighting. It was overlooking the dam and waterfall. It was here that the boys played cards (old maid I think) and shared their war stories of the day.

Young scouts and older scouts got along famously. They played all sorts of outdoor games and ran around the fields until the sun went down and then some. It was such a pleasure to watch and listen to.  You should all be so proud.

For dinner, the boys worked hard on earning their cooking requirements.They made burgers and stew and all sorts of goodies.  Some of the new scouts even warmed up fresh apple slices and covered them with caramel and graham crackers. I am please to say the cooking was delightful.  The bigger delight is that the scouts all shared what they had with each other.  It was like watching Little House on the Prairie.

Next it was bedtime and the scouts all retreated to their tents and sleeping bags.

The next morning we woke, had breakfast, and the shooting sports started all over again.

Yes, white linen table cloths for lunch again.

I look forward to doing his again next year.

For those scouts that couldn’t make it this year, we hope you join us next year.

Sincerely,

Steve Ircha Sr.

In addition to our normal camping trips, we have some unusually exciting trips planned:

• Our historic trip this year will be a 3-day hike from June 25 – 28 through the Presidential Range in the White Mountains of New Hampshire that will include a trek to the top of Mt. Washington.  Mount Washington is the only peak in the Northeastern United States which exceeds 6,000 feet in elevation.  We will be staying in the Appalachian Mountain Club huts, which means we will be able to pack light.  Full information for the trip is in this flyer

• We have won a slot for a Philmont Trek from July 15-27, 2011!  Philmont Ranch is the Boy Scout’s premier national high adventure base, a large, rugged, mountainous ranch located near the town of Cimarron, New Mexico covering approximately 137,500 acres of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico. This is a rare opportunity for scouts to participate in a 12 day trek.  To participate, Scouts must be at least 14 by September 1, 2011, and cannot have turned 18 until after July 27, 2011.  We will be discussing the trek at upcoming Troop Meetings.  The official BSA site for Philmont is http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HighAdventure/Philmont.aspx and there is a good Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philmont_Scout_Ranch

Happy New Year!

Brennan Carley, Scoutmaster

This coming weekend (October 3-4) is our “Family Camping” Trip at Tiorati.  Attached is a revised flyer:  Tiorati 2009
A few important notes for the Tiorati camping trip:
– Parents are invited but not required.  Scouts can attend on their own.
– All scouts should tell their patrol leaders whether they are coming, and how many siblings/parents are coming.
– Patrol leaders are responsible for making sure they know who is coming from their patrols, including siblings and parents.
– Patrol leaders must tell the Senior Patrol Leader who is coming from their patrol.
– Patrol leaders must make sure that the scouts in their patrol who have cooking and related duties have enough food for all the scouts (and parents and siblings) coming for their patrol.

Please explore this site further to see all the new material that has been added!  We have pictures from recent events (including summer camp at Yawgoog) on the “Pictures” page, our historian Will T has written a complete troop history (on the “History” page), and Chris L has written a newsletter for the Gettysburg Trip (also on the “History” page).