Boy Scout Troop 451 Durham, North Carolina

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From the Troop Historian Parkwood Christmas Parade - 16 members of Troop 451 marched in the Parkwood Holiday Parade accompanied by the troop bus on December 7, 2003. Scouts sitting on the bus' rear platform threw about 35 pounds of candy to the crowds of people gathered to watch the parade. Matt's mom, Christie, may have suffered the most because she drove the bus in the parade. We cranked up the bus CD player as loud as it would go and played "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" over and over again during the parade. Brendan got the bus stuck in the mud on the side of the road when we were lining up for the start of the parade. Members of the Parkwood Fire Department, who also had their fire trucks in the parade, refused to help us. A guy driving a tractor in the parade and a guy driving a tow truck in the parade also refused to help us. Finally, a Scout dad from Cub Scout Pack 486 hooked the bus up to his 4X4 Chevy pick up truck with help of Michael's dad, Mike, and pulled the bus out of the mud before the parade started. View Photos Thanks to Brendan for the report, if not for the driving exhibition.  Vertical Edge Overnighter - On December 6 and 7, Troop 451 once again spent a (late) evening climbing at the Vertical Edge. View photos. U.S.S. Yorktown - The Troop's latest trip to Patriot's Point (Charleston Harbor, SC) to camp on the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown took place from Nov. 21-23, 2003. About 40 Scouts and adults spent the weekend on the aircraft carrier and toured Fort Sumter. View photos. Occoneechee Council Camporee - From October 17-19, we went to the Occoneechee Council Camporee. We left at around 5:45 that Friday. We got to the campsite at around 10:30. The tent set-up happened in the rain. About 15 scouts went to the Camporee. On Saturday, nobody went to the Merit Badge Midway. Everybody looked for bullet shell casings. We found some really cool places. There was one place with earthen walls and trenches, probably used for war games. Some of the Scouts threw dirt clods at each other for a good 2 hours, at least. They had a show Saturday night, but when we got there there was only about five minutes left. Blue Ridge Mountains Camp Out - Eighteen Scouts and eight adults from the Troop drove to Floyd, VA, on Friday, September 26 and camped for the weekend. Everyone enjoyed the pizza at Mama Lazardo's and the bluegrass music at the Old General Store on Friday night. On Saturday everyone hiked the Rock Castle Gorge Loop Trail. It offered all kinds of different scenery such as creeks, a large grassy knoll overlooking the gorge, beautiful rock formations, a water fall, and remnants of old home sites. The gorge is home to more than 60 species of native trees, 25 species of delicate ferns and over 200 species of wild flowers. The weather and temperature were perfect for hiking. The sun was warm and there was a cool breeze. It was a beautiful day. We ate lunch on the trail in a cow pasture. The cows ignored us, but a bull snorted at some of the Scouts which sent them scurrying to the other side of a barbed wire fence which enclosed the pasture. It was more challenging than the hike we do on the rafting trip, and it is categorized as moderate to strenuous. Half of the Scouts hiked only the first half of the loop which was all up hill and about 5.5 miles long. The other half of the Scouts hiked the entire 10.8 mile loop. A local dog made quick friends with the Scouts at the trail head where we started the hike and hiked with them around the entire loop. The Scouts shared their lunches and water with him. After the boys loaded up into the bus and started towards the highway, the dog ran along in front of the bus until he came to his house and turned into the driveway. All the Scouts waved good bye. After dinner on Saturday, there was singing accompanied by a banjo and a couple of guitars until a little after 11:00 pm. Our hosts, Steve and Cindi, were extremely kind to us and very helpful. Before we arrived, they set up a latrine area and a generator and flood lights at the campsite so the Scouts had light to set up camp. They also made sure there was plenty of firewood on site. They met us in Floyd and then escorted the troop to the campsite. They also gave us a lot of ideas for camping and hiking in Virginia. Cindi sat on the Boards of Review. Both of them hiked with us along with their son and another Scout from their troop. One of their troop moms made cookies for us. (Thanks to Brendan for the awesome report!) View photos. Water Park - One of the Troop's best attended and most fun events, the annual water park was held at Camp Campbell at Kerr Lake from August 22 to August 24. The weekend was an incredible success! We had approximately 75 participants (26 Boy Scouts, 19 Webelos from Packs 451 and 486, plus lots of parents and Scouters, and a few siblings). Special thanks to all the parents who came out to help and provide support! The activities on Saturday included a zip line, water slide, monkey bridge, swimming, and boating with canoes, kayaks, motorboat, sailboat, and a few rubber inflatable boats. We put on a number of cooking demonstrations using a Dakota hole, box ovens, Dutch oven hanging over an open fire, and hard-boiling eggs by placing them with water into paper Dixie cups and then placing the paper Dixie cups directly into an open fire. For lunch on Saturday, we prepared hamburgers, hot dogs, chili, baked beans, potato chips, and watermelon. The watermelon and Chip's super-moist chocolate fudge bunt cake and dark chocolate fudge brownies, baked in box ovens, were a big hit with everyone. Instructions for making and cooking with box ovens can be found here. Lunch was served to the visiting Webelos and their parents. One of the Scout patrols impressed everyone by barbecuing chicken over an open fire for dinner. They prepared spicy hot chicken and chicken with a sweet honey glaze. That was a very nice improvement over the usual hot dogs. (Thanks to Brendan for the mouth-watering report!) View photos. Rifle & Shotgun Shooting - On Saturday, August 9, we had 10 Scouts and 5 adults go to Camp Durant for rifle and shotgun shooting. We fired over 500 rounds of .22 and over 300 shotgun shells. Two scouts qualified for the Rifle Shooting Merit Badge. View photos. Raven Knob Summer Camp - 39 Scouts and several adult leaders and parents spent the week of July 20-26 at Camp Raven Knob. The 34 Troop 451 Scouts completed 112 merit badges and 4 Snorkeling BSA, and had 38 partially-completed merit badges. The five non-Troop 451 Scouts completed 10 merit badges and had 12 partially-completed merit badges. Check out the group photo. From the historian: Raven knob was fun. I personally liked the food (believe it or not). I highly recommend Cooking merit badge to anyone who goes to Raven Knob next year. "Hammock City" is a bunch of trees that are perfect to accommodate several hammocks. The campsite was the same one we always have. This year we had 2 campsites, Piney Ridge A and Piney Ridge C. The "Capture the Flag" game was fun. Another troop took our flag and ran off with it, so we chased them back to their campsite. We tried to get it back, but they had a hose. Then, they threw the flag down a toilet. After that, we sprayed them with the hose. They gave us 5 dollars for the flag (it was a glowstick). Pool Party - We had 33 Scouts and 39 Scouters, parents, and siblings attend the July 15, 2003, Troop Pool Party at the Duke Faculty Club. We ate hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, and salad. We also treated it like a mini Court of Honor and recognized Scouts for their advancement since the last Court of Honor. Everyone had a great time and it sounded like most want to do it again next year! The weather was very kind to us. (Thanks to Brendan for the report.) Philmont 2003 - Scouts and adults from Troop 451 returned on July 3 from a 26-day expedition that was highlighted by backpacking at Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico. Earlier on the trip, the group visited Hot Springs, Arkansas and the Oklahoma City Memorial. After that (and a lot more driving!), Scouts and adults hiked to over 9,000 feet in Grand Tetons National Park, viewed Old Faithful and other thermal wonders at Yellowstone, drove through Las Vegas and walked across the Hoover Dam. The highlight of the trip prior to Philmont itself was a day hike in the Grand Canyon, in which Scouts and adults hiked the Bright Angel Trail from the South Rim down to the Colorado River and back up:  15.4 miles in just over eight hours! View photos. New Scout Campout - Several new Scouts spent the weekend of June 20-22 at Camp Campbell, camping and working on advancement. Whitewater Rafting, French Broad River - From May 30-June 1, 16 Scouts went to Hoot Springs, NC for whitewater rafting. We got at the campsite late at night. Some of the Scouts were unprepared, as their tents got soaked when it rained Friday night and Saturday morning. On Saturday, we went on a 5-mile hike. The hike was on the Appalachian Trail, and was a little boring for Scouts who had done it before. On Saturday afternoon, all of the Scouts got 1 hour of service in for building a bridge across a stream out of rocks. We went into the town of Hot Springs, where the Scouts bought some food. On Sunday, we went rafting. The water was too high for duckies (inflatable kayaks), but the rafting was as fun as ever. View photos. Festival of Flight Air Show - On May 24, 10 Scouts went to the air show at Pope Air Force Base. The best attraction was the red biplane that did crazy stunts such as stalling in midair. There were many planes and helicopters to look around in. There were also actual military guns you could lift up and military humvees. The main attraction was a performance by the Thunderbirds, an elite flying group. The food there was expensive but good. My favorite food was the Polish Sausage. We returned from the trip at about 8:45 p.m. "Lead Foot" Brendan drove the bus down to Fort Bragg and back. View photos. AT Backpacker - The Philmont pre-trip preparation trip was held May second through the fourth on the AT. It was a great learning experience, as we learned what meals are like at Philmont, and to never stand behind Ryan or Connor. It rained on and off all of Saturday and there was a thunderstorm Saturday night/Sunday morning. On the way back we watched Tremors and stopped at Golden Corral (excellent!). Although we couldn't wait for them to switch breakfast out with lunch at Golden Corral, it was still a very good trip. (Thanks to Drew for the report.) View photos. Mawat District Camporee - About 20 Scouts (mostly new Scouts) went to the district camporee at Kerr Lake on April 25-27. Jim built a monkey bridge, which was pretty fun. All of the new Scouts got advancement. The lake was about 20 feet above its normal level. The only bad part about the camporee was that it rained. A lot. Other than that, it was a pretty fun trip. View photos. Hargrave Merit Badge Weekend - Scouts took a number of Merit Badge classes at Hargrave Military Academy on the weekend of April 4. Vertical Edge Overnighter - On March 15 and 16, Troop 451 once again spent a full night climbing, belaying, and even sleeping at the Vertical Edge. View photos. Raven Knob Climbing & Biking - From February 28 to March 2, Scouts went to Raven Knob for rifle shooting, climbing, and mountain biking. They spent 2 nights in the Adirondack cabins. The Raven Knob campout was a small trip. Eight scouts and two adults went. Jim also went. It was muddy, to say the least. The mud was unavoidable. Everyone went lake walking. Just ask John A. He'll tell you all about it. It rained, so the rapelling wall was not in use. Mr. Sikes set up a rifle range. Jeremiah got the rifle shooting merit badge. Overall, it was a fun trip. Mt. Mitchell Backpacker - Troop 451 embarked to go on the Mount Mitchell backpacker on the 21st of February. When we arrived at our destination, it was 11:00 pm and we had to set our tents up in the rain. When we awoke the next morning, some Scouts found out that they hadn't set up their tents right - the hard way. It had rained the whole night, and rained most of the morning too. Some Scouts cooked under a tarp, while others cooked under an information shelter. We stuffed our wet tents into our backpacks, and got moving. After 20 minutes of searching for the trail, we finally found it. The rain and fog increased as our elevation increased. Upon stopping for lunch, Jim made an executive decision based on morale to turn around. This was a smart choice, as we found out later that it was too icy on the top and a bad storm was coming in. So we changed in the bus and went home, wet tents and all. (Thanks to Drew for the report.) Ski Trip, Timberline Resort, WV - The skiing trip to Timberline from January 24 to January 26 was good. About 20 scouts and 5 adults took the 6-hour drive to Timberline ski resort in West Virginia. Brendan got the nickname of "Lead Foot" from Jim. He used up about ¾ of the gas tank in only about 120 miles. We stayed in a house. It was warm and there were some beds, but about 8 people slept on the floor. We ate macaroni & cheese and beef stew for dinner, and French toast for breakfast. The food was pretty good. Almost everyone skied from about 10:00 a.m. to about 6:00 p.m. Some people stayed a little while longer. All in all, it was a fun trip. Nobody got hurt. What was most fun about skiing was going fast and watching other people fall. Skiing is only fun if you go downhill. View photos. Special Troop Breakfast - The Men's Fellowship group hosted a breakfast for the Troop on Sunday morning, January 19, at the Fellowship Hall. At the breakfast, Scouts who attended the World Jamboree reported on their experiences, and displayed their souvenirs. View photos. World Scout Jamboree - The Troop 451 World Jamboree contingent - Javier, Drew and Connor - departed from Charlotte on Thursday, December 26, bound for Sattahip, Thailand, and the 20th World Scout Jamboree. After attending the Jamboree from December 28 to January 7, the Scouts toured around Bangkok for a couple of days and then returned to the U.S. on January 10. View photos. Check out past events from:    2002     2001