Troop 5 – Bronxville, NY

Kevin Bisconti                                                                                                             2/1/10

Eagle Scout Project                                                           Shelter 14 at Ward Pound Ridge

                                                                                           Pound Ridge, New York

            During the last weekend in January 2010 I completed my Eagle Scout Project, which I had started on the 17^th of January. The project took three days to complete after three months of preparation and waiting. My Football season ended a few days after Thanksgiving, during which I received an injury that would set me back on the project. I had originally planned to do the project some time over the Christmas break but was delayed once again due to poor weather and the lack of scouts and other friends that would have come up to help.

            When I was finally able to start the project on the 17^th of January our main goal was to take apart the old roof.  We arrived there at around 9:15 and got straight to work, we used pitch forks and shingle removers to remove the old shingles from the roof. We did this up until around 12 noon when we broke for lunch. After lunch we finished up clearing off the roof of the shingles. Also, we took out all the nails that had held in the previous shingles. The time then was around 1 PM when took tarps and stapled them into the roof to protect it against any rain or snow. Next I lead the scouts in a sweep of the area around the shelter to make sure that we had gotten all the roofing materials cleaned up. After that we drove all the trash down to the dumpster where we unloaded the pickup truck that the park had lent us. After we had emptied the truck we returned home, it was 4:30 PM.

            I was not able to return that following weekend because my school had midterms that week and I would not be able to get anybody from my school or troop to help me that weekend also I needed to study myself.

            However the following weekend on the 30^th of January I was able to get a small group of guys together and I had planed to lay down the felt paper so that we could lay down shingles the next day. When we arrived the roof had snow and ice on it so my first priority was to clear the roof the best we can. We did this by using shovels and brooms, to clear the ice. We were not able to clear all the ice so I decided that we would have to leave the roof uncovered and hope that the sun would be able to dry the roof. We did this because we could not lay down the paper over the ice or that would cause the wood on the roof to rot.  So we ended up leaving that day without laying down any of the felt paper.

            The next day I was able to put together a larger group of guys to go up to the shelter. We met at my house at 8:30 AM and arrived there at around 9:15. My plan had worked, all the ice had been melted away and now we where able to start laying down the felt paper. I led the scouts in rolling out the paper and aligning it properly on the roof. When we reached the chimney I had the scouts cut the paper to fit the area. At around 10:30 a man by the name of Chris Ferrara came to instruct us on how to lay down the shingles. He taught us how to measure and cut the shingles also how to lay down the chalk line that we would need to lay down the shingles properly. Mr. Ferrara only instructed us in these methods he did not help build the shelter’s roof. Since we only had one side of the roof covered with paper I decided to split the group up and have the two younger kids finish up with the paper on the other side of the roof while I had the two older kids join myself and Mr. Ferrara in cutting and starting to place the shingles down. The following steps are what were done that day as far as laying down the shingles

• Cut full shingles down into 6,12 and 18 inch pieces so that they can be laid going up in that order on the side of the roof.
• Once laid on in that order start tacking full pieces and lay them out as far as you can reach
• Once you reach the chimney cut the shingles down until they form a seal on the chimney
• Now on the other side of the roof you need to repeat the first step and connect the shingles from the other side
• When at the ridge of the roof fold over the shingle and nail down to the other side
• Repeat all these steps on the opposite side of the roof
• Once both the sides are done you place a cap on the ridge of the roof a cap is like a small shingle that goes on to protect the very top of the roof

            Once all of these steps where completed I lead the scouts in a sweep of the surrounding area to make sure that we did not leave any building materials around. This project came to an end at 4:45 PM on January 31, 2010.

Two Boy Scouts from Troop 5 in Bronxville were presented with the Ad Altare Dei (to the altar of God) award at a special mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday, April 18, 2010.  The Ad Altare Dei is the oldest religious emblem program available to Boy Scouts and is designed to help Catholic Scouts of the Roman Rite develop a fully Christian way of life in their faith community.  Steven Ircha and Savino Brusco, both 7th Graders at The Bronxville School, completed the rigorous program over an eight month period and had to be approved for the emblem by an official Boy Scout board of review.

Photo (Jane Ircha):

Steven Ircha (left)  and Savino Brusco (right)

Below is a link to “My Hometown Bronxville” which this article appeared in.

http://www.myhometownbronxville.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1658:boy-scouts-ircha-and-brusco-receive-ad-altere-dei-award&catid=9:community-service-organizations&Itemid=7

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