A Scout is Loyal

Elemental Patrol
Todd

Hello! This is Todd Oatman, patrol leader of the Elemental Patrol. Right now we have six patrol members; they are Erich Schroeder, Matthew Pietfield, Spencer Jones, Sean Keating and Tyler Patrick. All the outings we’ve been on have been fun. The scouts and I have learned many useful skills on our outings and have gotten requirements done. Many of my scouts are about to advance in rank, but need a requirement or two before advancing. There are also a few scouts advancing at this Court of Honor. I’d like to congratulate the Elemental Patrol for working so hard and for cooperating so much!

Killer Gerbil Patrol
Aaron

You’re reading a patrol report by Aaron Engelberg. My patrol now consists of David, Nick, Tommy, and my assistant patrol leader, Sean. My patrol has been doing great. I was very surprised when the people in my patrol got ready at least a half in hour before the rest of the patrols. I am proud of Sean for getting first class and David for getting Tenderfoot. Nick helped me a lot during the meeting and stuck with his job. Tommy has been very interested in boy scouts and always pays attention during the lessons. I was very proud of the boys when they got second place at Camporee. They are working together and we are off to a good and smooth start of our year. I hope to see all of you guys get the rank at the next Court Of Honor. See you there!

Know Nothing
Chris

The Know Nothing Patrol is this Court of Honor’s Honor Patrol. We rock!! We won by a whopping 100 points. The Know Nothing Patrol is lead by Chris Corley, patrol leader, and Benjamin Tan, assistant patrol leader. The members of the patrol are Matthew Root, Ed Yetso, Bryce Caudle and Justin Gronet.
We went through two name changes before we became the Know Nothing Patrol. The first name we chose was the Flaming Scouts. We chose it because it sounded really funny and a lot of people in our troop like fire. But the senior patrol rejected it. We then decided to go with The Fruits because Daniel kept calling people fruits. The senior patrol accepted it at first, but then a week later, they rejected it. The next meeting we decided that since we didn’t know what to call ourselves, we didn’t know nothing, so we called ourselves the “Know Nothing Patrol.”
Three people in the patrol are getting rank. Bryce and Justin are getting Scout. Chris is getting First Class. Chris upheld the tradition of the troop by not passing First Class cooking the first time, but he did pass it the second time. So if you want to try and be the one to break the tradition, you’ll have to try really hard.

SPL Corner
Derek

Del Valle
May 1-2, 2004
Derek

It was as early as 6:55 when I woke up on that promising Saturday morning. Now you may think that that’s not so bad for going on a 2-day trip and trying to get as much time as possible out of it. However the truth is, I was supposed to be there by 6:30, or some absurd hour like that. Now that I think back on it, maybe I shouldn’t have planned the trip that early, but as it turned out, we really needed it planned earlier, even if I was late. Here is how my dismal tail begins:
After I arrived late, the atmosphere was all bustling about, and scrambling to get going. My lateness was not such a good thing for this trip, especially considering it being one of my first trips as the new SPL. Not at all a good thing, but I can assure the troop that this shouldn’t happen ever again, mostly due to terrible threats from my parents, who happed to be the unfortunate recipients of a call at 6:50 in the morning… on a Saturday. (I am astonished to report that I haven’t become metabolically challenged yet).
Once we actually got into the cars, the ride wasn’t extensive. However as unwisely unpredicted by the senior patrol, the younger scouts had some difficulties with the management of their gear. Unfortunately this created a “miner” postponement to the preceding of the trip. Yes indeed, we ended up waiting no less than an hour longer than necessary before the SPL could get his “stuff together” and organize the younger scouts into actively participating in the processes

of unloading and gearing up for their extensive 1 mile hike. Yes there were many of those who thought we would never get there, but due to our amazing SPL we even beat those on the sailboat. (Granted the wind was uncooperative and thus gave the sailboat a handicap).
It would have been pretty hard for the trip to go downhill from there, so I am glad to report that the rest of it went rather smoothly in comparison. The scouts went about pitching their tents with only minor complaints. Then they got to eat lunch and have some time to play and sort out their plans to get requirements signed off. After lunch the senior patrol split up to each teach the scouts some requirements: we did a flag ceremony and properly taught them how to raise and lower the flag. There was fire building, and the proper safety, use, sharpening techniques, and handling of tools such as pocketknives, hatchets, axes, and saws. Along with whatever else the scouts needed to get signed off. These activities went on till around dinnertime, as well as sailing and fishing.
After the scouts finished dinner, and cleaned up (which also took quite a bit longer than necessary), the scouts then either gathered around a campfire where they mysteriously got a hold of several packets of marshmallows and from that point on until they went to bed, many scouts ran around in a very hyper state or went fishing. (This was the best time for fishing seeing as it was dark and the fish are more active at dusk). A couple adults actually caught some fish suitable for eating which were cooked up later that evening.
The next day also took much more time then necessary to get properly packed up. We did police lines for a while, but eventually they got the hang of it. (We are still devising a strategy that will most effectively accomplish this task). We managed to leave at a reasonable time in comparison to the sluggish rate at which this trip initially began.
All in all, the trip put the troop through some very valuable exorcizes that really showed us the areas in which we are most insubstantial. It was better to have these crises now than later (such as on the actual back packing trip, which is 4 days long).

Camporee
May 21-22, 2003
James

During the weekend of May 22, the troop attended the annual district Camporee at Camp Chesboro. For anyone who has never been to a Camporee, it is an outing where all the troops in our district have their patrols compete in various events. In the morning the weather was very wet, and we were all worried about camping in the rain. When we arrived at Chesboro, many troops were already setting up camp. The first thing we did, even before setting up camp, was to go through a uniform inspection. Unfortunately, since it took us a little longer to set up camp, our patrols got to the events a little late. The events focused on the things that scouts should know, such as orienteering, first aid, lashings, and even cooking. Like at our troop meetings, the patrols are graded on leadership, completion, and spirit. There was even a troop competition that allowed the senior scouts to help out the patrols. This event was a three-legged relay race of 10 people, where each pair had to carry a bucket of water, while spilling as little as possible. Along with the troop competition,

the patrols could earn more points by creating a skit and presenting it to the staff. Unfortunately, none of the skits from our troop were chosen to be presented at the campfire. Although none of our patrols presented anything at the campfire, Mr. Papay represented the troop well by leading the camp in a song. The following morning we received the results of the competitions. Our patrols did well, with the Know-Nothings and Elementals receiving third place ribbons and the Killer Gerbils receiving a second place ribbon. These feats were even more impressive since many of the other patrols were a lot older with more experience in the Camporee environment. Although I didn’t directly participate in the events, it appeared that everyone had a good time, I hope that all of you will return next year to improve on what you were able to accomplish this year. Congratulations to all the patrols and remember to continue practicing your skills for the Camporee next year.