Oil Creek State Park Backpacking Trip

At the start of the trip we had lunch.  Here Matt and Brett are making peanut butter sandwiches.

Dan is completing his final checks before we get on the trail.

Justin is hiding in the shade before we get on the trail.

Typical shelter.

Dan has found something interesting to photograph.

This is what he found.

I thought the subtle hues of these greens were pretty.  Other than that it is typical ground cover.

The boys sleeping in the shelter.  It sometimes takes a lot to get them going in the morning.

On the trail, I always seem to lag behind.

Tribute to Steve

On March 30, we held our Court of Honor in which Steve Neeley was awarded his Eagle Scout.  As a tribute to him, here are some pictures from his camping career through the years.

 

Thanks Stevie for your service, leadership and participation.  We had some great times.  The memories will last a lifetime.  I just wish I had a camera sooner.

I haven't updated this in a while mainly because I was waiting on pictures. Shortly after Christmas I misplaced my camera (which has now been rectified with the purchase of a new camera). I had to rely on others for pictures and one outing we have none. Anyway, lets get up to date.



We took a day hike in January along the Beaver Creek on the very Eastern edge of Ohio near a little town call Fredrickstown. The hike is about six miles total. It was a warm day for January - much of the ice was broken up along the creek. Above is the group with Shane playing with ice.


This is a picture of the "washtub" area, a popular area for floating on innertubes. It was a tad too cold for that this day.

Last Activities of the Year

We held the end of the year campout on November 14 and 15 this year. We had 9 youth and 7 adults attend the campout. For this campout we try to invite the Dads to come so we can say thank you for the support we receive throughout the year. Above we see Steve Neeley cooking breakfast for the others. He relieved me so I could eat. Behind him is Bishop Weeks, father of Tyler.

We had a contest for the scouts to do. They had to light a fire with one one match. If they did this, they would get a share of my leftover Halloween candy. For the last three years the scouts have failed for one reason or another - inexperience, wet wood, wind blowing out the match, etc. Alex Neeley is proud of his fire, however, the match did not catch.

Caleb Wright tried, but the wind blew his match out almost immediately. Shane Patterson laid a nice fire. It almost caught. He was using grass to augment his match. His wood was a little thicker and the angle of the wood was a little flat. As a result he needed more flame to catch his wood. Unfortunately, he ran out of grass before everything could get going.

This year we had two winners: the team of Justin Petrosky and Nate Rambo won a share of the candy and Matt Biernesser won the other share. Finally I was able to get rid of my leftover candy.

The last activity was Wreathes Across America. For this activity the scouts joined with our Young Women's organization. Donated wreathes are placed at the graves in the National Cemetaries all across America. The result is a touching tribute for the fallen and a greater appreciation for our veterans and the services they gave to our country.

Leaf Raking Service Project

On Saturday, November 14, 2009 our troop participated in an annual service project. David and Elsa Hays are an older couple who has a huge yard with lots of tress. Each year we try to help out by raking their leaves. Our troop joins with our Young Women's group to carry out the project. This year we had 23 youth and 13 Adults help get the job done.


In the picture on the left we see Matt Biernesser, Zac Titus and Brett Peacock raking leaves into piles, but where is Brett's rake? On the right Quintin Goettman and Justin Petrosky are working on the project.

In the picture on the left we see Cody Titus and Freddy Sumpman raking leaves with leader Dean Nelson. On the Right Dean is working with Matt Biernesser


Here we have a group photo of all who worked on the project. In the leaves are Deena Sumpman (mother) Alex Neeley, Freddy Sumpman, Zac Tame.


I tried to do a before and after sequence. The pictures are not from the exact same point but they do tell the story. You get the picture (ha ha).

Court of Honor September 2009

Tonight was a Court of Honor for our Scout Troop. As you can see we had two tables of awards. The picture on the left were the handouts from summer camp. The summer camp theme was about Space. NASA loaned several things to the summer camp for display. The scouts who went got some pretty cool pictures and patches. The picture on the right shows the merit badges and rank advancements. The broom was the award we earned for perfect camp inspections for the week.

To the left is Tyler receiving his merit badges from Senior Patrol Leader Steve and on the right is Steve walking away with the merit badge he earned (communications).

Here we see Quintin and his mother - he is trying to pin the mother's pin for his star rank advancement. Zach is picking up his merit badges that he earned at camp.

On the left is Brett pinning the Mother's pin on his mother with his Dad behind him. Brett earned Star rank. On the right is Kenny pinning the Tenderfoot pin on his mother. Kenny is perhaps the most excited scout I have ever met. He could barely wait for the court of honor - he was so excited to get the awards. Kenny joined our troop this past summer and has worked hard.

Shane is one of our newest scouts so he gets two pictures. He earned his Scout patch and is on his way to Tenderfoot. We have three new scouts. Eli was sick tonight and could not make it to the meeting and Caleb needs to complete his paperwork. We look forward to working with these young men as they continue their Scouting experience.

Justin is picking up his Second Class rank with his Mother. Lastly I had to throw in a picture of socializing after the Court of Honor. The cookies and milk were good. Thanks to all the parents. The next activity is the Camporee next month.