Seward Bluffs Forest Preserve

Seward, IL

      The first day, Friday, the scouts met at the Church of the Brethren and departed from there at 6:00pm.  When we arrived we set up tents in the dark.  After that we ate cookies and sat by the fire.

     The next day, we woke up and made a breakfast of pancakes and sausage.  Then we set out on a hike and went to climb some trees.  We had a lot of fun, and Wesley climbed to the very top of one tree.  When that was done, we hiked back and made a lunch of ramen noodles.

     After lunch the Webelos, Jacob, Harry, Jacob, Todd and Seth arrived.  There were also the leader

Jason N.   We played a game that involved a rope web and everyone getting through it.  After that we did a relay race that had many parts to it.  Finally, the Webelos had to leave.

     That night for supper the scouts ate foil packs.  When we were done with supper, we played Capture the Flag under a full moon. 

     In the morning of the next day, we had oatmeal for breakfast, packed up our tents, and returned home at 9:00am.

     I think the scouts had a great time on this campout.  We had one Webelos on this campout, Drake, and his father, Matt. 

Scouts:  Zach W., Alek B., Eric A., Wes D., and Alex S., Evan C., Shane D., Josh D., Patrick S.

Leaders:  Greg W., Dave F., Steve B.

Eric A.

Troop Historian

Palisades State Park

Palisades State Park

Savanna, IL

October 15, 2006

     The activity started when we met at the Church of the Brethren at 12:00p on Sunday.  When we arrived at the Palisades , Dave gave us a short class in safety.  Wesley showed us where we were going to be rock climbing and rappelling.  The cliff we were going to climb had a large crevice in it.  We “hung out” until Dave & Greg had all the ropes set up.  Only a few people made the difficult climb to the top.  I think we had a lot of fun rock climbing and rappelling.

Scouts:  Eric A., Alex S., Andy P., Zach W., Adam M., Alex M., Wes D., Brandon W., and Josh D.  - Leaders:  Dave F., Greg W.  - Parents:  Jim P.

Troop Historian    -  Eric A.

Summer Camp '07 Part 2

Check out  more great pictures from summer camp! 
Enjoy!

Court of Honor '06

Thanks goes out to all of the Communication scouts and Mrs. Fane for the set-up and participation, to all of the couselors and leaders who helped the scouts earn their advancements, to the cooks, to the families for coming and bring tasty side dishes, to the leaders who brought boats for the water fun, and to Mr. and Mrs. Flenner for all of their hard work and giving of time for our Troop!
See you at the next Court of Honor in February!

Summer Camp

Summer Camp 2006

Canyon Camp   -  July 9-15, 2006

We left the church around 6p.  We got to Stockton, IL around 7:40p.  Then we got registered to our campsite.  This year we stayed at Far Horizon.  It was very far, and the hike was long.  After that we got our pictures taken.  Before pictures, we got our wrist bands and health issues done.

Wednesday was awesome.  It was parent night and OA tap outs.  Food was cake, Kool-aid, chips and sloppy joes.  The tap out ceremony was cool.  The staff members were dressed in Indian costumes and danced around a fire and sang.  Alek Blackbourn, Andy Pepper, Alex Shomaker, Austin Morgan, and Zach Woods all got tapped out.  For the camp relay we got 1^st place.  There was canoeing, fire starting, running, swimming, and even match getting. 

For the entire weeks food; breakfast was cereal, cinnamon rolls, bagels, and milk, bread too.  Lunch was meats, sandwiches, juice and vegetables.  Dinner was meats, vegetables, fruits, and milk.  We left Stockton, IL about 12:30p and got to the church about 1:35p.

Wisconsin Dells 2006

Wisconsin Dells

June 22-25, 2006

Hennepin Canal Canoe Trip

Hennepin Canal Canoe Trip
May 19- 21, 2006

Friday evening we met at the Church of the Brethren at 5:30.  We loaded our things into red waterproof bags.  We then loaded our things into the trailer and headed to the Hennepin feeder canal.  We unloaded our gear, food, and canoes.  We received some beginning instructions, put the canoes in the water, and loaded up the canoes.  We canoed down the canal for about an hour until we got the edge of a farmer’s field.  Everything was unloaded, we pulled the canoes out of the water, and carried the food and gear to the area where we were setting up camp.  After camp was set up we sat around the campfire, told stories and had a cracker barrel of cookies and vanilla wafers.  We discovered a tree branch that was hanging too close to the fire pit so Adam cut it off with my pocketknife. 

On Saturday morning we ate breakfast which was oatmeal and cereal bars.  We packed up camp and headed back down by the canal.  Dave and Jeff did a demonstration on how to properly canoe and in the end they gunched their canoe and showed how to empty it and get back in.  After that we loaded up and started canoeing down the canal. 

We made a stop at an aqua duct and waded in the Green River (and it was very cold!).  Then we decided to eat lunch there.  We had P & J with chips, jolly ranchers, gorp, and beef sticks.  There was probably lots of wildlife, but I only saw one turtle and two snakes.  At the end of the trip, it came down to Zack, Alek, and Steve to Alex, Shane and Dave.  In the end my canoe won.  We stopped at Hennepin lock 22 for the night.  Everyone unloaded and carried everything to the campsite.  After a short rest and getting camp set up some played Frisbee, some worked on building a fire and others started to cook supper, which was Ramon noodles, mashed potatoes, corn, and kool-aid.  We chased a raccoon into the field, played some capture the flag, told stories, and went to bed.

Sunday morning we packed up camp and cooked breakfast.  Our breakfast was skillets and orange juice.  When everything was cleaned up we put out class ‘A’ uniforms on and went to church.  When church was over we headed back to Dixon tired and sunburned.
 
Leaders:  Mr. Blackbourn, Mr. Flenner, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Fuger, and Mr. Porter
 
Scouts:  Alek B., Zach W., Jeff W., Andy P., Josh D., Alex M., Adam M., Cody P.,  Wesley D., Mike T., Shane D., Evan C.
 

Report written by Alek B.

Byron Nuclear Plant

Byron Nuclear Plant Tour

April 8, 2006

 We met at the Church of the Brethren at 8:30 and got to the plant at about 9:00.  What we did was learn about nuclear energy while we worked on the Nuclear Science merit badge.   We got an explanation of where the different parts of the nuclear plant were, how it worked, what it did, and how the power was made.  We got to use radiation meters, make models of the isotopes of Hydrogen, and see models of a the plant and of a fuel rod.  We made an electroscope and showed how it worked, learned about Radon, and also got to tour the simulator of the control room where the operators train. There was an instructor in the control room that taught us about the many controls and what they did.  Then he said to put our hands on our favorite button or switch and on the count of 3 we could press or turn it. We all took off running and pressing buttons and turning dials. That was my favorite part!  We brought sack lunches that we ate at 11:00.  We were given a pen, karabiner key chain and a actual size simulated nuclear fuel pellet.  We finished up at 2:00 and headed back to the Church of the Brethren. 

 
Leaders:  Mr. Blackbourn, Mr. Colglazier

Scouts:  Zach W., Alek B., Andy P.,  Michael C., Patrick S., Evan C.,  Joseph ., Michael S., Alex M., Adam M., Ryan F., Eric A., Wesley D., Mike T., Cody P.

Guests: Eric’s little brother (Jacob), Mrs. Morgan, and Cody’s grandma

 
Report written by Alek B.

March 2006 Campout

Canyon Camp - Stockton, IL - Raleigh Cabin

March 17 - 19, 2006

We got to the church and packed our gear into the trailer.  We left the church at 6p and got to Stockton at about 8:15p.  We then unpacked our gear and got it in the cabin.  For cracker barrel we had cookies.

On Saturday morning, we ate breakfast.  Breakfast was french toast and sausage and milk.  After breakfast, we went sledding down Suicide Hill.  Alek, Mikey T., Mike C., Zach and Eric all wiped out a lot.  After we were done sledding, we ate lunch.  Lunch was sandwiches with bug juice and Pringles and fruit roll ups.  We then went to go play football and throw tomahawks.  Mike B. Steve, and Dave were the only people able to stick the Hawks into the targets.  Then we went back to the cabin and ate supper.  Supper was foil wrap dinners made up of chicken, ground beef, potato, green pepper, onion, corn and mushrooms.  We had Jello and muffins for dessert. 

 We woke up Sunday morning and ate breakfast.  Sunday breakfast was cereal bars.  We left Stockton at 6:55a and arrived at the church at 8:15a.

 Scouts: Mike T., Wes, D., Josh D., Pat S., Zach W., Eric A. Alek B. Mikhael B. Evan C., Michael C. Bandon W., and a Guest Webelo Jacob A.

 Leaders: Dave Flenner, Steve Blackbourn, Robin Colglazier,

Mike C. - Troop Historian

Rochelle A-Frame

Rochelle Conservation & Wildlife Club

A – Frame Cabin

Date:  February 10 – 12, 2006

Activity:  Camping – Knot Tying - SIMULATED “Lost Scout Mobilization”

Location:  Rochelle, IL

Friday evening, we left the church at 6pm.  We arrived at Rochelle.  We got all of our gear into the cabin.  We sat around the fire, played cards, and then went to bed.

The next morning, we began to cook breakfast.  Breakfast was Omelets, Sausage, OJ, and Milk.  The people who cooked were Pat S., Mike T., Alex S..  After breakfast, everyone was playing on the ice.  It broke and Alex went “swimming”.  We ate lunch.  Lunch was grilled cheese and soup and bug juice.

After lunch we had to look for Jeff W. and Ben D.in the woods.  We had to use “walkie talkies”.  Zach W., Mike B., Eric A., Andy P. went on a hike to a really huge cliff.  We went down there and found a river covered with ice. (Scoutmasters note – SIMULATED “Lost Scout Mobilization” was a success with both search teams successfully finding the lost person in their search zones.)

 Sunday morning we had donuts, rolls, and oatmeal.  We got back to the church at 9am.

 Participating scouts: Eric A., Mike B., Shane D., Ben D., Josh D.,  Adam M., Austin M., Andy P., Alex S., Pat S., Mike T., Jeff W., Zach W., Michael S., Cody P. Leaders: Scoutmaster Dave Flenner & Assistant Scoutmaster Steve Blackbourn,  Parents : Robin Colglazier & Doug Porter

Scouts interviewed for report:  Zach W,

 Michael C  -  Historian