2011 Smokies Trip - Overview

June 20-25 of 2011 saw us traveling south to repeat the Smokie Mountain trip of two years ago.  The boy enjoyed the last one so much they wanted to do it again.  Monday and Saturday were travel days.  The weather cooperated with us almost perfectly.  We had rain in the evenings, but not during the day when we had activities - except for Tuesday.  As we were hiking down from Clingman's Dome we had a refreshing rain shower.  When it was time to pack up, we were blessed with dry weather.  Friday was dry, but on Saturday there was no dew anywhere.  We prayed for good weather on this trip and were granted this wish by the Good Lord.  We did the same two years ago and it worked then also.

Neglect

There have not been any posts for a while.  We had a fund raiser in the spring where we auctioned on service hours of the troop to gain funds.  That along with the Chili Cook-off replenished the Troop funds.

The troop has had some fun activities over the summer, beginning with our High Adventure Trip to the Smokie Mountains.  We had 8 youth and 4 Adults attend this year. 

Two weeks later was summer camp, attended by seven scouts.  We joined up with Butler, Greensburg, Cranberry, 4th Ward and Slippery Rock units, making a total of about 40 youth in the camp.  It was a huge success.

More posts will follow.

Summer Camp 2010

Here are a few images from summer camp this year.

Here we are waiting in the Chow line.  You can see Tyler and Quintin with Stevie not facing me.

Kenny caught this catfish, the biggest of the week.  He said it was 2 feet 9 inches, but maybe it was just 29 inches.  Either way, it was the biggest fish and a nice catch.

Lunch time in the mess hall.  L-R: Matt Biernesser, Quitin Goettman, Connor Ward, Alex Neeley, Nate Rambo (hidden by Alex), Zach Tame, Kenny Sumpman, Justin Petrosky, Tyler Weeks, Steve Neeley

As we took down the flags on the last day, a bat was lodged among them.  Tyler decided to pick it up.

On the last morning we could not do flag raising because someone pulled a prank.  It was NOT my scouts.  I actually suspect it was staff, but we may never know.

The Program Director Dominic Lehman.  He is a talented Director.

This is Reverend Tim Lehman, the camp director.  He runs an outstanding camp - he is a man that I have immense respect for.  The camp is fun, the staff is enthusiastic, the young men have a great time.  Thanks for a great week.

 Camp this year was the hottest I have attended.  Temps were in the 90s every day except Saturday.  Still it was a good experience for all.  Nate Rambo and Connor Ward joined us from other scout troops.  We had five units from the Pittsburgh North Stake camping together this year.

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.