Troop 98’s

Spring Advancement / First Year Scout Weekend - 2011

By Jack W. (Scoutmaster)

Event: Spring Advancement & First Year Scout Weekend

Attended: Senior Patrol, Clan-Wolf Patrol, Eagle Patrol, TMNT Patrol, Viking Patrol, Mrs. Thomas, Mr. Moser, Mr. Webb, Mr. Celeste, and special guest appearances by Mr. Mahon & Mrs. D'errico.

Location: Camp Carpenter, Manchester, NH

On Friday evening March 18th, the older scouts and few brave adult leaders made their way to Camp Carpenter to setup and prepare for our Spring Advancement & First Year Scout weekend.

Saturday morning was brisk and breezy, but the sun was on its way out for a beatuful day. Troop Guide Matt T. and Scoutmaster Mr. Webb made their way to the parking lot to greet our 2 patrols of NEW Scouts for their first camping trip as Boy Scouts - the scouts were excited, and their parents a lttle nervous - it's okay Mom & Dad, we have this!

After a quick hike to our campsite, Matt had our First Year scouts attention as he discussed "Picking the Ideal Campsite" and practicing Leave No Trace. Meanwhile, our older scout patrols under the leadership and guidance of Curtis W, finish dishes and cleaned up the site in preparation for working on Pioneering for the day.

With the campsite setup, program begins. Let's talk camp kitchen, food storage and preparation, meal preparation!!! So which is better - camp stove, backpacking stove, or cooking fire? Well... that all depends. ON WHAT??? Storage - cold vs DRY... Pre-cook or NOT, that is is the question. How come you are rotating that Dutch-oven? Who planned this meal - I want their meal... ALL GREAT QUESTIONS! That is why we are here this weekend.

I'm HUNGRY, they said (in unison), so we ate lunch! Afterward, we split the patrols and swapped halfway through the afternoon between Fire Safety & Fire Lay and Wood Tools (Toten Chip). Which I am happy to say, all scouts in the First Year patrols earned their Toten Chip awards and are all know qualified to carry their pocket knives and know how to setup and properly use an axe yard.

Our weekend SPL, worked diligently with our older scouts on 2nd Class and 1st Class requirements inluding a short nature hike. With everything else going on, our Older Scouts led by example showing our newest Scouts that FUN can be had, even when you are learning something. Great work guys!

Supper time provided us all with quite a spread of different meal - spaghetti & meatballs, kielbasa with rice and mixed veggies, lasagna, chicken enchiladas, "Italian" Shepherds Pie, chocolate cake, baked apples, and a couple of dump cakes... I don't believe anyone went hungry! WOW that was a lot of food!

Then came the evening campfire... Some of you may know, that a few of our older scouts are staff for our Council's National Youth Leadership Training course; they were also at Camp Carpenter this weekend for staff development. As part of their development, they practiced their course Campfire skits for our scouts Saturday evening, well at least some of the skits.

After a long day in the sun and wind, we were all quite tired and retired early for the evening. Saturday night/Sunday morning got down to a recorded low of 26 degrees which means all who camped earned 6 Frost Points - more details to come on that one. I think everyone woke up a little on the chilly side Sunday, however, a couple of the early-risers helped with collecting firewood which provided some warmth to cut the chill.

Pancakes for all at breakfast followed by gear packing, tent packing, and hiking back down to the parking lot to be met by parents who appeared to be happy to see that their boys made it through the weekend with all of their fingers and toes.

What a great First Camping Trip for our NEWEST Scouts! A good time was had by all - looking forward to seeing eveything we learned this weekend put into action.