Troop 28 Historian

01/29/2011 – 01/30/2011

This year, troop 28 had to use all three sleds during the Klondike to support the rapidly growing troop. All three sleds were leadership sleds. The Phoenix patrol had only one life scout, Robbie, and was entered as a leadership sled accidentally. However, they still got higher scores than the other sleds in some of the stations. The sky was gray and the snow was just a little over a foot high. For most of the sleds, the snow made it much easier to move them, but Jack O’Brien’s sled hit a snow/ice drift and broke the fronts of both skis making it harder instead.

As usual, the Klondike began at 8 a.m. and continued until 3 p.m. Even though we had a good 6 hours to finish (not including inspection) the sled with Jack T, Thomas, Brody, Luke, and I finished all but one station. The troop had mixed luck with the string burning; my patrol and the Phoenix patrol burned the string and the wire but the other patrol had a little trouble. All patrols did well on river crossing and have obviously improved from last year.

Even though none of the patrols actually got anything other than those patches that they give everybody just for participating, it was still a rewarding experience and it helped us learn what we were good at, like string burning, and what we needed to work on, like not running our sleds into snow drifts.

Thanks to all drivers for driving us there and back.

Respectfully submitted

Dylan Marat, Troop 28 Historian

11/13/2010 – 11/14/2010

On November 13 and 14, 2010, Troop 28 went on a two day hiking trip on Mt. Monadnock. The mountain is known as the world’s second most climbed mountain. Troop 28 had climbed Monadnock many times before this trip but didn’t always make it to the top. When we did the trip last year it was raining cats and dogs so we didn’t make it to the top.

At seven in the morning on Saturday, the scouts from Troop 28 were picked up in their designated cars and headed for New Hampshire. It was a 2 hour drive and around nine in the morning everybody started to show up at the campsite in Mt. Monadnock State Park. The campsite was spacious and had plenty of room for the tents and cooking area. We tried not to spend too much time setting up camp and were on the mountain by 9:30. It was a hot day and we were all tired and sweaty pretty quickly. Soon in our hike the slopes got very steep and tricky to climb. As we got higher the view started to become progressively more amazing because Monadnock is the only mountain for miles. As we progressed we started coming to false peaks which got on everyone’s nerves. Every once in a while as we got higher we’d see a ledge that looked like the summit but was only an outlook. When we eventually got to the summit we arrived in small groups that had split off of the main group. The view was spectacular as we broke up for lunch. You could see for miles and miles. There was absolutely nothing except miles of flat ground until we saw mountains on the horizon. After we had lunch and our energy was restored we headed back down the mountain. It took us a shorter time going downhill but everyone had sore toes from the angle when we got back to the campsite.

We got back to the campsite at around 3:00 and everyone was sore. As soon as we got back the cooks started making dinner. The cooks made delicious Dutch oven meals. This historian’s patrol had delicious mac’n-cheese with hamburger bits that was cooked in a Dutch oven. Another patrol made a tasty looking chili pie that took a while to make but was delicious. The last patrol had plain old macaroni and cheese. All the meals were delicious but not as good as the adults’ food. The adults made an Indian stew that smelled awesome. After dinner we cleaned up the cooking areas and did the dishes. When everything was clean and organized we did roses, buds and thorns. When everyone had shared their roses, buds and thorns, we retreated to our tents for a good night’s sleep.

In the morning, everyone quickly put down their tents and put gear in the cars. When camp was put down, we enjoyed a nice breakfast of bagels, cereal and oatmeal. Breakfast was good and filling so everyone was in a pretty good mood. After breakfast we did a sweep of the campsite and left.

Scouts that attended: Nick Rosen, Andrew Leighton, Jack O’Brien, Robbie Hillman, Greg Berube, Brody Jackisch, Jack Thomae, David Hillman, Levente Haber, Luke O’Brien, Dylan Marat, Joe Deyeso, John Clay, Cal Robbins, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Patrick Slater and Sam Greenip.

Adults that Attended: Kirk Jackisch, T.J. O’Brien, Pascal Marat, Tom Clay, Scott Robbins, Rich Fitzpatrick, Paul Berube and Marty Thomae.

Respectfully submitted,

Nick Rosen, Historian

10/23/2010 – 10/24/2010

On October 23, 2010, Troop 28 met at the Wheelwright Park entrance on Main St. in Cohasset to go on an advancement camping trip. During this semi-annual trip, scouts have an opportunity to work on requirements for advancement to their next rank. This trip was organized by Jack O’Brien and was special because the Webelos II group who will move up to boy scouts in April got to see the campsite and observe what we do as boy scouts.

After we met in the parking lot, we loaded our gear into Mr. Hill’s truck and he brought it up to the campsite. Troop 28 followed up the trail shortly after. Once we arrived, we set up camp and had lunch. We had until 2 pm to work on advancement, then the Webelos II group joined us. The Webelos that came were: Jerome Vainisi, Liam Geyer, Alexander Arnold, Sullivan Mulhern, TJ Coffey, Amby Tierney, Josh Liberty, Josh Rosen and Sam Gainey. These eager Webelos went on a short hike for an Arrow of Light requirement. Later that day their parents got to come see the campsite and talk to our SPL Robby about Scouts and Troop 28. At about 4 pm the cub scouts and their parents left the site and we resumed advancement.

Levente Haber and Adam Koropey made an awesome shelter out of twigs and branches for the Wilderness Survival merit badge. Later that night they actually slept in it. Other scouts earned their totin’ chip or worked on rank advancement. At around 5:00 p.m., the cooks started to make dinner. The individual patrols made things like hotdogs while the adults talked to us about better cooking and helped us make a sample of good cooking. They made an excellent broth that blew our taste buds away. For dessert, the scouts had s’mores but the adults were nice enough to let us have some of their dessert, apple crisp. It was absolutely delicious. After dinner, we did dishes and went to bed after roses, buds and thorns. It was a moderately cold night that most people probably slept through well enough.

In the morning we woke up and put down camp. After the camp was put down we had breakfast. One patrol had bagels while the other had pancakes. Again the adults talked to us about more elaborate and healthy meals. After breakfast we packed everything into the cars. When everything was packed away we went on a small troop hike around Wheelwright. After the hike we walked down to the entrance and left the park.

The following Scouts attended: Quentin Hill, Nick Rosen, Evan Ackley, Jack O’Brien, Luke O’Brien, Robbie Hillman, Reagan Butler, Sam Greenip, Adam Koropey, Cal Robins, Derek Benson, Ryan Conforti, John Clay and Jack Thomae.

The following adults attended: Mr. Ackley, Mr. Hillman and Mr. Thomae.

Respectfully submitted,

Nick Rosen, Historian