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Category: Announcements

Hygiene Bags for Homeless Families

 

Nine Scouts from Troops 64/4064 spent two hours on a Saturday before the holidays to assemble hygiene bags (toothpaste, soap, deodorant, diapers and more) for Holy Family Day Home. Holy Family is a day care and resource center for underprivileged families. Some 71% of its families fell below the California median income level, 42% of the center’s families fell below the poverty level (as indicated by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, for a family of four), 20% of its children came with SF Free Homeless Childcare vouchers and 23% of the center’s families were currently or formerly homeless during the ’20-’21 school year.

 

Winter 2023 Court of Honor

 

Troop 64/4064’s Winter 2023 Court of Honor was jam packed: 184 merit badges, rank advancements and awards from Camp Oljato this summer, monthly campouts or backpacking trips, skills practice at meetings and independent work. On top of that, we had our traditional bridging ceremony for seven rising Scouts. We welcomed four girls and three boys to the troop with the ceremonial walk across the bridge: They start with the Cub Scout salute on one side, then finish with the Scouts BSA salute on the other. Then it’s the presentation of the neckerchief, slide and Scout Handbook. Our newest crew is ready for the challenge: We’ve arranged for a special “New Scout Group” that will meet half an hour before meetings to learn the rudimentary skills needed to succeed and advance. The troop’s older Scouts look forward to teaching their next generation.

La Honda Trailtop Campout

Ever made baked brie in a dutch oven? We did! It was a great way to warm up during a 40-degree campout over the Thanksgiving weekend. In addition to feasting on melted cheese, chicken skewers and pasta, we completed the Citizenship in Society merit badge and explored a primitive area of La Honda Creek. The rains hadn’t started in earnest yet, so the creek was relatively tame with logs to scramble over, pools to study, Pacific giant salamanders to find, redwood caves to enjoy and seven identifiably different species of fern (Lady Fern, Western Sword Fern, California Polypody, Brittle Bladderfern, Giant Chain Fern, Coastal Woodfern and Aleutian Maidenhair (aka Western Maidenhair Fern). Then we retired to tents with double or triple sleeping bags, had a good night’s sleep and finished off a successful campout with breakfast at world famous Alice’s Restaurant. Good times. Thankful and grateful for long weekends, good Scouting friends and clear skies.

Memorial Park Campout

“Into every life, some rain must fall.” That’s the old saying, as if rain is a bad thing. Especially on a campout weekend. We’d beg to differ. We had a wet and misty campout under the redwoods at Memorial Park Campground in Pescadero and it was one of our best. In fire-prone California, the dampness was a rare opportunity to practice fire-starting skills. And having a Scoutmaster along for back-to-back Scoutmaster Conferences is also a good thing. Everyone completed a rank or a merit badge. Add in marinated chicken skewers and couscous with apricot and Mediterranean spices for dinner and it just gets better. Top it off with bagels, lox, capers and tomato and for breakfast and everyone goes home happy. We expected this campout to be a small group – maybe six or seven at most – it being late in October and temperatures dropping. But 17 brave souls signed up and nobody regretted it.

Pinnacles is Officially an Old Tradition

 

There’s an old saying in Scouting: Do it once and it’s a tradition. Do it twice and it’s a long-standing tradition. Now in its second year, the annual combined Cubs and Scouts campout at Pinnacles National Park near the town of Hollister is officially a long-standing tradition. With 30+ representatives of Pack 163 Cub Scouts and 15+ from Trooops 64/4064, it’s by far our largest outing of the camping season. This year, we offered 2-mi, 5-mile, 8-mile and 10+ mile hikes, held a raucous campfire lead by Nate and Camilla, and ate some truly amazing food (at least, the parents did, with steak and quinoa salad for the adult patrol). Many Scouts completed rank requirements and a few finished merit badges. And, as usual, the raccoons invaded in the middle of the night. For one camper who slept without a tent, that made for some late-night amusement.

Camp Oljato

A full 20 Scouts – almost half the troops! – Attended summer camp this year at Oljato in the Central Sierras. They swam in the brisk and refreshing lake, slept in handmade shelters for the Wilderness Survival merit badge, baked apple cobbler over the campfire, gazed at the stars over the lake and had a fantastic time. Combined, they earned more than 60 merit badges and another 20 Firem’n Chits and Totin’ Chips. This year, Troops 64 and 4064 achieved Honor Troop as well, a special award for good scores on camp inspections and writing letters home.

Fly Fishing Campout

Five Scouts and two adults spent an idyllic day on the Truckee River in July, fly fishing and working through merit badge requirements. Guide Jasper Donley of Tahoe Fly Fishing in South Tahoe taught proper technique for casting, floating and picking a pool for success. Unfortunately, the fish weren’t biting that day but you should have seen the one they almost got – 100 inches at least, if not 200. A record setter for sure. Hot dogs, ham sandwiches, Oreo cookies, a beautiful moon and moderate temperatures made for a perfect two-day trip. The water was cold, though. All five came out of the water with numb toes.

Towle Camp Quickie

Sometimes simplicity is good. All it takes is a few people and a quiet spot to make a successful campout and that’s what we had at Towle Camp in Foothills Nature Preserve in the Palo Alto hills in August. While most of the troop took a well-deserved break from merit badges, meetings and leadership, three Scouts and two adults decided to keep the momentum going and fit in one more night outdoors. With an easy 20-minute drive from home, burrito bowls for dinner, eggs for breakfast and a quick service project before heading home, this was the easiest, most convenient and seamless campout ever. And you can’t beat the sunset. Towle only allows tent camping, ensuring peace, quiet and serenity.

Memorial Day Flag Planting

As is our tradition, a dozen or so members of Cub Scouts Pack 163 and Scouts BSA Troops 64/4064 gathered on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to place flags at gravestones in the Golden Gate National Cemetery. This year’s event included a flag ceremony and speeches, which hadn’t been done since before the pandemic began. Our troop was again assigned to the section closest to I-280, allowing us to pay special attention to the only row in the cemetery that has one, lone gravestone. That row belongs to Paul Majourau, a sergeant in the US Army Air Corps during World War II, who passed away on June 2, 1976. Because he’s the only serviceman who doesn’t have any next-door neighbors, we left two flags with him so Paul knows we’re thinking of him and won’t be lonely.  Our Scouts wave to Paul from the car whenever they pass the cemetery.

Triple Header Court of Honor

We were pleased to pull off a “triple header” Court of Honor on May 18th, awarding merit badges and rank advancements, bridging the next round of Cub Scouts to our troop, and celebrating an Eagle ceremony. Congratulations to those who earned any of the 33 merit badges and 10 new ranks, to the 10 Webelos who completed their Arrow of Light and crossed the bridge to Scouting BSA, and to Evan Demas for achieving Scouts’ highest honor. Even better, our ace emcees Anna Perone and Indra Bedner pulled it all off in an hour flat – to the minute. They run a tight meeting. That left plenty of time for … cake!

Wilderness Survival Shelters

 Building forts is a ton of fun, but building shelters if you’re lost in the wild is serious business. Shelters have to withstand wind, wet and perhaps multiple days. They should have enough foliage to keep the rain out. And a soft bed for sleeping. You can even make a pillow out of boughs or leaves. And so, Troops 64/4064 Scouts paid close attention to a demonstration of shelter techniques then put their learning to good use in constructing mini-shelters for practice. Out of four groups, two created “lean to” style shelters and two made “tripod” ones. All withstood the “kick test.”

Emergency Preparedness Drill

For a lucky few, the best and most entertaining requirement for the Emergency Preparedness merit badge is to take part in a practice drill. Troops 64/4064 were fortunate to be included in a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) drill put on by the Woodside Fire Department that included “moulage,” which is makeup that looks real. If you hadn’t known it was practice, nobody would have known that our Scouts’ cuts, burns, bruises, smoke inhalation, and head wounds weren’t the real thing. By pretending to be victims, the seven Scouts who took part learned not only what certain injuries look like when they’re smeared with bloodbut also how professionals treat them.

Annual Snow Camping Trip

On a beautiful April day, six Scouts and two parents took off for an epic snow camping adventure at Iron Mountain off Highway 88 near Kirkwood Ski Resort. Using snow shoes, poles, pulks to carry their gear and loads of sunscreen, the gang walked half a mile in from the road, built two snow caves (one for the boys and one for the girls), dug a kitchen and watched a rescue helicopter airlift an injured snowmobiler from a different group. That was an exciting lesson in high-country rescue techniques. All but one of the campers slept in their snow caves – the last one opted for a tent instead. After an early morning wakeup and hearty breakfast, the group walked out again and made a beeline for … hamburgers! Fortunately the snow was soft for digging – but even still, the girls beat the boys in the race to complete their caves.

Here’s the trip report:

We had an awesome time last weekend in the snow! After 4.5-ish hours, we successfully finished our snow caves and slept in them.
Here are some things we learned:
-Bring AT LEAST three pairs of socks because snow is wet (who knew?!)
-An extra sleeping bag is definitely good for not freezing
-Snowmobiles are dangerous (someone at another campsite had to get helicoptered out…)
-If you plan on stockpiling Oreos, don’t leave them in plain sight for other Scouts to “borrow”
Some good ideas we had were:
-Even if you boil the water, run it through a filter (the girls patrol found a dead worm in the Jetboil)
-Don’t put gear in the snow cave during the day or it will get soaked
-Don’t let the boys make Oreo and Nutella sandwiches for lunch (which they did anyway)

Portola Redwoods camping trip

Six Scouts and three parents had an awesome campout at Portola Redwoods State Park on April 1st and 2nd. On a mostly cloud-free but damp day amongst the big trees, they did a 14-mile hike with over 2000 feet in elevation gain in six hours that included climbing over at least 20 trees. Among other things they learned are that downed trees slow the pace of a hike a lot and that snacks are super important for keeping energy levels up. Knowing how to whip up a quick bowl of warm soup was one of the important skills the leaders taught. They also started the hiking merit badge.

Winter Court of Honor

Troops 64/4064 held their annual Winter Court of Honor on Thursday, Dec 8th at Valley Presbyterian Church. We awarded 77 merit badges, 24 rank advancements, one Eagle Palm award, six 50-milers, and one Eagle recognition (pending a formal Court of Honor soon). Ranks included seven Scout, six Tenderfoot, four Second Class, three First Class, one Star, two Life and one Eagle. The list of merit badges ranged from Canoeing (they capsized the boat but still got the badge) to Wilderness Survival (many important lessons learned in that one, including don’t build your shelter near a bog!). The most popular merit badges were Swimming, with 10 who passed, Snorkeling and Environmental Science at six apiece, then Kayaking, Motorboating and Climbing, each one passed by five  Scouts.

 

 

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