In November, Troop 54 camped once again at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation (TVSR), this time for Woodsman Weekend, the re-branded event formerly known as the Turkey Shoot. It is now part of a series of events at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation called Treasure Valley Experience. This event was a shooting sports themed camporee.
There were six stations for the Boy Scouts: Rifle, Archery, Tomahawk, Pumpkin Toss, Geocache and Pioneering. For the Cub Scouts, they had BB gun instead of rifle and slingshot instead of tomahawk. The troop took on the Pumpkin Toss, a true test of Scout skills, in which the troop had to build a catapult from poles and ropes. After nearly two hours, the troop had assembled a solid machine. Two failed shots were followed by a third toss that sent our pumpkin flying 76 feet 6 inches.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the event was the lunch service provided to all participants and staff by Troop 273 of Dudley. According to a post on their Facebook page, they served 490 people in 55 minutes! This lunch consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich, a cup of chicken noodle soup, a bag of chips, an individual sized pie and a cup of hot chocolate. They accomplished this feat working out of the Baden Powell camp site.
The weather was unseasonably warm for the first evening and day, with temperatures rising into the high fifties during the day on Saturday. Then, it rained all through the night, with the rain giving way to sleet and then snow in the morning.
We arrived at night (there's that trend again) and found our site next to the Probus Building. We had five Boy Scouts, two Pack 54 Webelos Scouts, four leaders and one Pack 54 parent participating on the trip.
At the closing ceremony, awards were given for the shooting events (nothing for Pumpkin Toss).
For dinner, the Scouts made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. The adults had Sweet & Sour Chicken Curry with rice.
This was the troop's ninety-fifth consecutive month with at least one overnight camping trip.
Page updated 11/29/16.