Livingston, Montana June 2000 Volume 3 Issue 5
District Spring Camporee:
We had a great time this May at probably the best Camporee ever.
On Friday night we arrived and set up camp and got organized
for the Night Trek 2000. The patrols started on their 5 mile
hike at around 10 p.m. and had to complete skills tasks at 12
stations around the loop. They made it back to camp at about
4 a.m. The kids were really tired but they had a fun time and
did very well in the competitions. The Vipers Patrol earned six
ribbons including 1st place for Animal Track Identification,
2nd place for Knots, Orienteering and Tent Pitching and 3rd place
for Kim's Game and the Dessert Contest. The Raptors Patrol earned
two ribbons, 1st place in Tent Pitching and 3rd place in Knots.
The Cosmos Patrol was helpful in running the Orienteering station.
On Saturday we woke late and had brunch. We helped with a service
project for the Montana Department of Parks where Mr. Carlson
invoked the power of simple machines and did an incredible job
in railroad tie pulling. Brian cooked up some fantastic food
and impressed everyone with the ease at which he manipulated
four Dutch ovens at once. Saturday night we had the District
OA tapout where Daniel, Nicholas and Cory were tapped out.
OA Ordeal Weekends:
The Scouts finally found out who was elected in April
as Order of the Arrow Ordeal Candidates. Daniel and Cory went
up to K-M on June 9 - 11 and were successful in completing their
Ordeal weekend. Nick and Brian helped out during the weekend
and Nick earned his Brotherhood in the OA which Brian earned
last year. Nicholas will be going to Grizzly Base for his Ordeal
weekend on June 16 - 18 because he could not make the K-M trip.
Congratulations to these Scouts!
June Campout:
On June 10th five Scouts packed their backpacks and headed to
the OTO Ranch. We packed in about one and a half miles to reach
the ranch and decided to stop there after hearing about rattlesnakes
and big bears on the trail ahead. We took a self guided tour
of the OTO Ranch and learned a little about the history of the
place. Jonathan was the cook for the weekend and did a good job
of using the lightweight camp stoves which earned him his Fireman-Chit
card. We did a lot of work on Merit Badge and Rank requirements
and had a nice relaxing time. The backpack out to the car was
really easy and we tried to identify ten different forms of wildlife
but were unsuccessful. Since a lot of boys missed this trip we
will have another backpacking trip to look forward to in August.
Three More Eagle Scout Projects:
Nick has completed his Eagle Scout Project
where he did fingerprint and video identification for over 60
children from the area. He had a great assortment of child safety
professionals on hand to assist him and give out information.
Nicholas has been working on the city park
between the Ninth Street Island bridge and the Park Clinic. Weeds
have been pulled, trees were planted, grass seed was spread,
posts were painted and the place looks great.
Brian has been busy assembling park benches
that he had custom built. They will be installed on concrete
pads at the Rotary park near North Fifth Street along the new
bike path.
In all this makes four Eagle Scout projects
this Spring and there are four more Life Scouts that are thinking
about what they will to do improve our community. If you have
an idea for a project or wish to contribute to support any current
projects, please let me know.
