What's cookin'

After the meeting opening, Anonymous Patrol Leader Ethan and members of his patrol presented the program in the first of several troop meetings covering the requirements of Cooking Merit Badge.

Patrol members presented information and led discussions about the types of injuries that could be suffered and illnesses that could be acquired as part of outdoor meal preparation.

After the patrol's presentation, Scouts inspected the troop's inventory of tents in preparation for its upcoming hiking and fishing campout later this month.

At the end of the meeting, Scoutmaster Baird and SPL Andrew presented Andy with his 

Scout rank. 

Regime Change

        Troop 50 underwent its first peaceful transition of power this evening as elections were held for senior patrol leader and the two patrol leaders. Fears of campaign finance irregularities or turmoil at the polls quickly proved unfounded and Andrew was elected as the new SPL. He then selected Vincent to serve as assistant SPL. Andrew previously served as the patrol leader of the Anonymous Patrol and Vincent was the troop guide.

The new regime

         
        Following the SPL election, the scouts turned to the task of electing new patrol leaders. In a close election, followed by a runoff, Davis was chosen to lead the Average Joes and Ethan to head the Anonymous Patrol. Each patrol then met to select their assistant leader. Kyle was selected as APL for the Average Joes and the outgoing SPL, Jake, was the choice to serve as Ethan's assistant in Anonymous.

Anonymous leadership

Just some Average Joes

        
        The inauguration of the newly elected leadership will take place at the Court of Honor on June 3rd. At that time, the new leaders will begin to implement the "hope and change" they promised in their campaign speeches. Scouts selected to act as quartermaster and troop guide will also be installed at the Court of Honor. While the winds of change sweep a new regime into office, the future appears bright with promise for the scouts of Troop 50. Congratulations to our new youth leadership!

  

Troop makes strong inaugural showing at district camporee

The 2013 Saugahatchee District Frank Horky Spring Camporee was Troop 50's first showing at a district event, and the troop didn't disappoint! The camporee, held March 15-17 at Chewacala State Park, featured Scout-skill night games Friday evening, a Saturday camporee-wide service project, and a Saturday-evening awards campfire.

Friday's activities kicked off around 9 p.m. and put Scouts' ability to master various Scout skills in the dark of night to the ultimate test. The events were based on the Siege of Mafeking of the Second Boer War of 1899-1900, which was a pivitol experience for Lord Robert Baden-Powell (then Col. Baden-Powell) and inspiration for shaping what later became the Boy Scouting movement he founded. Camporee events tested patrols' ability to work as a team and troubleshoot during a variety of events that included dexterity, knot-tying, map sketching, memory, first aid, by-sight measuring, stealthiness and covertness, fire building, and star-based navigation. Events ended around 1 a.m. Saturday, and no one complained about it being bedtime!

Vincent working on a
portion of the park's
mountain bike trail.

After a leisurely start (which included the now-infamous bacon-wrapped Zebra cakes of the Average Joes Patrol) and opening flag ceremony Saturday morning, Scouts from all troops attending joined together for a few hours of service to the state park. Scouts and leaders worked with park volunteers to shore up, fortify and rebuild sections of the state park's mountain bike trail. In total, the camporee resulted in nearly 150 service hours by district Scouts.

Saturday's campfire brought a number of surprises for the troop, the most pleasant of those being the number of awards from Friday night's competitions garnered by the Anonymous Patrol. Their accolades included two first-place finishes in the compass course ("Navigator's Nightmare") competition and locating the North Star without a compass ("Star Light, Star Bright") as well as a third-place finish for drawing a map from memory ("Map Sketch"). Later, we found out the Average Joes Patrol had several fourth, fifth and sixth place finishes in many of the events and among the 11 individual patrols competing in the events.

Anonymous Patrol members proudly displaying the
various competition awards they earned.

The troop took a moment to observe the day of worship Sunday morning with a Scouts' Own service before departing.

At its Patrol Leaders' Council meeting the following Monday, youth leaders praised the troop for its strong competitive showing, its overall ability to work as a team, and its success in how the patrols really formed and worked together as individual units during the weekend.

View more photos of the troop's camporee experience online in the online photo gallery.

Take shelter!

Shelter-building

Troop 50 took shelter this past weekend at the Forest Ecology Preserve, where Scouts developed and put into practice the wilderness survival skills they learned during the past two troop meetings. As a result of their work, Scouts attending the campout earned the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. This was also the troop’s inaugural campout, which gave them a chance to check out troop gear and begin working together in their patrols and as a troop-team.

Fire-building

After creating their shelters, which included a combination of natural and fabricated materials, the troop’s youth leadership led sessions on fire building, orienteering and signaling. Our two patrols competed in a map-reading and orienteering course, with the final bearing leading to a gravity-fed shower for each patrol's future use.

SPL Jake, Instructor Vincent and
Anonymous Patrol members
William, Andrew (patrol leader)
and Josh with their gravity shower prize.

On Sunday, the troop held a Scouts’ Own service, where Scouts and leaders focused on how being equipped is important, whether it is being equipped for Scouts, sports or their spiritual life. The troop then conducted a service project for the preserve – exercising Scouting’s “Leave No Trace” principles by removing the traces of blazed trails and improper fire pits created without the preserve’s consent.

Average Joe's Patrol members
Davis, Kyle (patrol leader) and
Robert with their gravity shower prize.

In its Patrol Leaders Council the following Monday evening, youth leaders praised the fun everyone had, noted the shelters held up well, and the compass course was a good time. They also thought rotating troop cooking and cleaning among patrols worked well and spread the load among everyone. They also agreed that more orienteering practice would be helpful.

Check out more photos from the campout in the troop's online photo album

I will survive!

Troop 50 made wilderness survival the focus of its Jan. 14 troop meeting, which included visiting Webelos IIs from Pack 29. After the opening, our program patrol, the Anonymous Patrol, led the troop meeting in a review of wilderness first aid. Scouts, Webelos IIs, parents and leaders then joined together to attempt making paracord survival bracelets. Scoutmaster Andrew Baird reviewed the many uses for paracord in a wilderness survival situation, from providing material to lash, create survival shelters, fish, provide first aid, and even floss your teeth! The troop will exercise its wilderness survival knowledge during its first troop campout Jan. 26-27.

At the end of the meeting, Scoutmaster Baird unveiled the new Troop 50 flag and explained how flags create a sense of unity, identity and connectedness for groups like Boy Scout troops and as far back as the knights of old.

 

View more photos from our troop meeting on Troop 50's online photo album.

Meet Andrew, patrol leader of the Anonymous Patrol

My name is Andrew, and I'm the patrol leader of the Anonymous Patrol. I am in Scouts because I love to be outdoors, I am a leader and will help anyone who needs it at anytime, and I love to have fellowship with my friends who I can have fun with! I am a Life Scout, a member of the Order of the Arrow and have attended National Youth Leader Training. Although I am active in Scouting, I do many other things in my life. I play soccer on the JV Soccer Team for Auburn High, I go to church, I am in the Auburn High Marching Band and I love Auburn University Sports and Auburn High Sports!

The patrol leader is the elected leader of his patrol. He represents his patrol on the troop Patrol Leaders’ Council, works with the troop's senior patrol leader and other youth leaders, and appoints the patrol's assistant patrol leader.