Historian

06/22/2013 – 06/23/2013

This June, the troop went on a trip to the White Mountains. There were many scouts that attended as well as many adult volunteers including Nick Rosen, Brodie Jackish, Levente Haber, Amby Tierny, TJ Coffey, Joe Suzedell, Eoghan Casey, Jeff Rosen, Sam Franklin, Tommy Olson, Joe Donohue, Mr. Hillman, Mr. Ackley, Mr. Jackish, Mr. Haber, Mr. Suzedell, and Mr. Rosen. We met at the locker the prior Thursday, to plan the trip. On Saturday we made final preparations for the drive up to New Hampshire.

Day 1 we stopped about halfway at a New Hampshire rest stop. Some of us bought snacks, while others just got out of their cars to stretch their legs. In just a matter of minutes, we were back on the road. After about another hour of driving, we stopped in Lincoln, New Hampshire for a short, but enjoyable hike to Georgiana Falls. Before the hike, we ate lunch and put on sunscreen. It was a bit more arduous than some of us had expected, but we climbed up fine. The view was breathtaking. When we all took our pictures of the waterfall and the view from it, we headed back down. Getting down was more challenging than going up, but all of us made it down fine.

We headed back into our cars for one last drive to our campsite in Twin Mountain, New Hampshire; Sugarloaf 2. We set up camp soon after we arrived, which was lucky because it rained just a few minutes after. We all made dinner, and went into our tents to sleep. Most of us fell asleep quickly because we were very tired, but we had another exiting day ahead of us.

The next morning we made breakfast, packed our gear, took down tents, loaded up the cars, and left for a short drive to the trail to Zealand Falls. This trail was much less steep, but far longer. We saw lush forests, small streams, huge marshes, and tall mountain peaks on our way up. After about two hours of hiking, we stopped for lunch. When we were done, we climbed up the short remaining part of the trail to the AMC hut, where we found yet another breathtaking view. There was also a small gift shop were some of us bought snacks and souvenirs (I bought a hat). We made our way down and finally reached the parking lot where our cars had been waiting for us. It was at this point when we realized that our amazing trip was over. We climbed into our cars and drove off to Cohasset only stopping at an Ice Cream shop and a gas station. We started unloading our gear after the 3 hour drive and left for home.

Respectfully submitted,

Joseph Suzedell – Troop 28 Historian

07/22/2012 – 7/28/2012

Camp Squanto is an Old Colony Council Boy Scout camp located in Plymouth Massachusetts. This is where a ton of troops come to camp for a week and have the opportunity to earn a variety of merit badges. This year, Troop 28 attended Squanto during week four. Week four at Squanto was from July 22 2012 to July 28 2012.   During the day at this camp, your troop (or group) is encouraged to participate in a couple of fun games such as stock and camo, war canoes, and even troop swim! Almost every night in the evening, scouts had an activity called open areas. At open areas, you were free to roam around and participate in a wide variety of activities like free swim, canoeing, sailing, rowing, kayaking, archery, shooting at the shotgun range and doing sports.

Every year, Squanto has a different theme. The theme is really important because each troop has to design an entrance to their campsite fitting the theme. This year, the theme was Prehistoric Squanto. Our troop built for our entrance a dinosaur and a time machine.    Squanto eventually has a night called theme night. On theme night, everyone dresses in costumes to fit with the theme. After evening colors, there are a variety of games that your troop can participate in. In one of them, you had to tie a knot to carry logs through an obstacle course and see who could sweep up the fastest time. That night was really fun.

There were 2 other fun nights at camp. The first activity that happened was the Apache Relay. On that evening, the camp hosted a gigantic relay race. This year troop 28 did really well. We came in 4th place.   The second fun thing was the opening and closing campfires. These campfires happened at night on the first and last night. During the camp fires, the camp staff would act out very funny skits. The other thing they did was encourage everyone in the audience to stand up and sing songs like “The Turtle Song” These were very fun because it was entertaining and had a lot of audience participation.

My second final thing that I want to talk about at Squanto this year is the new mess hall. Last year, after the last week was over, the camp wanted to renovate the mess hall. Unfortunately, the old mess hall was built in the 40s and was in very bad shape. It was such in bad shape that, they decided to build a new one. That is what they did. Inside the spring time the construction workers got to work tore down the old one and started building that new one. It was a very hard change to go from the old mess hall to the new one. It was hard for most returning scouts because for almost 7 different centuries a lot of scouts were served food in that mess hall. It was sad to see an old historical building torn down and replaced with a new one. But then again at least the new one is greener than the old one. With the new one, they have reusable trays and silverware. Also in the bathrooms, those have blow driers instead of paper towels to dry your hands.

My last topic that I would like to talk about is the weather while we were at Squanto. The weather was ok. It was crystal clear at some times but at others, we had thunderstorms forming. Like for example one day that we were there, we had four thunderstorms in one day. We had thunderstorms at night, thunderstorms during the day, and thunderstorms on theme night, we had a lot of thunderstorms. Another weird thing about weather is that the week before our week (during week 3), there was a very big and bad thunderstorm that rolled through camp. This thunderstorm was so bad that they get runners to run around and escort all of the campsites over to the mess hall. During this process in the campsite we stayed in 2 years ago before our troop got too big for it (In Delaware) a bolt of lightning hit one of the trees. After hearing this really freaked me out. At least no one got hurt in this awkward thing. Overall, summer was great at Squanto and I would love to come back next year because not only do you enjoy yourself but Squanto also gives you an unforgettable experience every year.

Respectfully submitted,

Adam Koropey, Troop 28 Historian

06/16/2012 – 06/17/2012

We left on June 16 to head up to Caratunk Maine. We stayed at a resort called Adventure Bound. This resort had a bunch of activities like rock climbing, a bunch of ropes courses, and you could even go white water rafting on a variety of different rivers internationally. The resort our troop went to offered white water rafting on the Kennebec River. When you did not have anything to do, they also had an arcade, pool, a TV with movies that you can borrow and watch and they even had a built in hot-tub! This resort was awesome.

On the first day, after we arrived and got settled in, our troop went and participated in a couple of ropes courses that all involved teamwork. They had 3 different ones planed for us and it was a ton of fun. The first one was called “The Catwalk”. On this one, there were two trees parallel to each other. They were connected by a gigantic log nailed on the top of both trees. This log was nailed about 60 feet off the ground! Two people were hoisted up on opposite ends of the nailed log. The two climbers hoisted up would have to try to come up with a way to pass each other and make it to the opposite side that they started on. This activity required patience cooperation and teamwork to complete but in the end, it was worth it.

The second ropes course that was a little different. On this one, you climbed up a single tree to a platform. When you get the top of this tree, you notice that in front of you is a trapeze like the ones they usually have in the circus. That is exactly what they had. They wanted you to climb up to this platform and then take a step back and leap with your hands above you to try to land onto this trapeze. It was really hard to get onto but once you did, you could do crazy stuff like pull-ups and see if you can hang upside down. This part of the ropes course was very cool and it also tested out your physical strength in a very interesting way.

The third part of the ropes course was a gigantic rope swing.   This swing was called Holy Cow. Unlike all of the other ones, this one was the most involved. First, you had to put the ladder up and get the climber secured in. Next the people with the latter had to get out of the way. Then everyone else had to pull with all of their might to hoist the climber with a pulley system. Finally when the climber was at the top of the tree, they had to pull a cord that releases them from the pulley and gravity pushed them all the way to the other side of the tree that they are swinging on with a separate rope. This one was the most awesome part of the ropes course that we did today. This is because in the time it takes from the time you are standing still from the time you pull the cord and gravity pushes you down, it is very scary on how much you move in like 3 seconds. You will have a blast the first time you try it. It is so much fun!

Later that night, we did a rock climbing course. They had one in the resort in the same room that had the TV. This rock climbing course was well set up. They had 12 different lanes and 2 different people assisting you climb the walls. The walls varied by skill level like the one on the right hand side was the easiest and the one on the far left was the hardest to climb up. This made it so easy to choose the appropriate skill level to climb up. If one was too easy, you could go back down and try another one. The rock climbing course was fun because the most challenging course to climb up took a lot of strategy and really made a good work out!

The next day was our final day at this resort. We packed up our stuff and carried them to our cars. We didn’t leave yet though. Our troop went right back into the main building and got briefed about whitewater rafting. Later that morning, we would borrow helmets PFDs and oars from Adventure bound hop on a bus and go to the river. The drop off point was about 40 minutes away from the raft. This was because the resort was located on the bottom of the Kennebec River.  After the amazing ride up to the top of the river, we unloaded our rafts from the bus and then Briefed again. The river is divided into 2 parts. The first one is the one where you get soaking wet and stuff. Then our group will stop and have lunch. After lunch we will set off again on the more mellow part of the river

The Kennebec River is very interesting. The water going into it is controlled by a hydro power plant. Part of our admission price for the resort pays the power company to control the dam in the hydroelectric power plant to let them release the water into the Kennebec River so that we can go rafting. I thought that this was pretty cool. Out on the first part of the river, I liked how the river felt so rough that it seemed like someone showing aggression to someone they really hate.   The two most awesome waves on the river were “Magic Falls” and “Big Mama”. This is because first in “Big Mama” you are going down the river very calmly and all of a sudden WOOOSH SPLASH!! The next thing you know, everyone is soaking wet. The wave Big Mama is also so fun because it is one big wave followed by 3 smaller ones. So, you experience the big one first and then the second ones help you dry off.   The second part of the river that was pretty fun was Magic Falls. On magic falls, it is basically a hidden drop in the depth of the water. It is basically like a gigantic jump that you go off of. The cool part about Magic Falls is that you cannot see the jump until it is too late. The Rafting on the Kennebec River felt like a once in a lifetime experience.

After rafting was over, we returned our equipment. Unlike everyone else in our group, Troop 28 went to a tiny room above the arcade to see a video and take a test. This test was one of the requirements for the White Water Rafting merit badge. It was an automatic partial because you also needed to get the canoeing merit badge to get the white water rafting merit badge. Overall, this trip was very awesome and I hope that someday, the troop will be able to come back here because it was awesome!

Respectfully submitted,

Adam Koropey, Troop 28 Historian