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Archive
- Scout Year 2006/07
Summer
Camp #2 at Camp Geronimo, North of Payson
The
"drought-busters" did it once again - simply by
showing up at Camp Geronimo, for the second year running
Troop 323 ended Arizona's drought. Not content with a
little rain, Troop 323 brought on thunder, lightning and
flash floods.
29
scouts attended Camp Geronimo from July 21 to 28 - over a third were
first-timers. Everyone had the opportunity to earn
merit badges including swimming, first aid, horsemanship,
climbing, survival, wood carving, environmental science,
archaeology, Indian lore, basketry, nature, lifesaving,
rifle shooting, rowing and many others.
Check
out photos from the camp in the Troop
Gallery
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Summer
Camp #1 at Fiesta Island, San Diego
2
firsts for Troop 323 were accomplished thanks to Mr
Derrick's organization - the first time we have done 2
summer camps, and the first time we have left the state for
a summer camp.
Camp
ran from July 7 to 14, and started with a drive to San
Diego, stopping at the Yuma Territorial Prison State
Historic Park. The Troop camped at Camp Balboa on
Saturday night, and then visited the USS Midway at Navy Pier
in downtown San Diego before signing in at Camp Fiesta
Island in Mission Bay.
Boys
participated in all sorts of water-based and water-related
merit badge programs - including small boat sailing, motor
boating, swimming, lifesaving, canoeing, oceanography,
survival - together with other activities such as wind
surfing, snorkeling, kayaking and surfing.
Wednesday
was a free day. Some of the Troop went for surf
lessons while the rest took a trip to Sea World.
Feedback
from everyone involved was that this was an excellent Summer
Camp: great value for money and great fun with great food!
Click
here for more pictures in the Troop Gallery
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Michael Baranowski's Eagle Project
Michael
recently completed an Eagle project in support of Childhelp
- a leading national non-profit organization dedicated to
helping victims of child abuse and neglect.
Scouts
from Troop 323 helped deliver a flyer door-to-door around
Moon Valley requesting donations of toys, and followed it up
a week later with a collection round to the same houses.
A
note of thanks from Michael:
"I
would like to thank everybody who came and helped with the
passing out and picking up of bags. The drive was a
huge success. All items accounted for, we collected
307!
I really appreciate the amount of support that was given for
my project, and I'm sure that Childhelp and the kids
receiving the toys do too. Thanks again!"
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West Clear Creek Outing - What a Blast!
Blast
furnace, more like!! With temperatures in the mid 90's
and the juniper gnats out in force, this was a hike to be
remembered!
So
why was it so great? - Because the scenery was spectacular,
we were in and out of the creek as we hiked, and we found a
picture-perfect, bug-free camping spot for the night.
About
20 Scouts and Crew joined the outing on May 19 & 20,
many of them our new Scouts on their first or second
outing. We hiked about 6 miles alongside the lower
portion of West Clear Creek, wading through the creek in
places and hiking high up on the canyon walls in other
places. Those who carried their fishing poles all the
way were rewarded with great fishing, and cooked a fresh
fish BBQ over the camp-fire.
Another
great feature of this hike was how everybody has understood
the importance of light-weight packing - makes a 3- or
4-hour hike much more bearable.
Check
out the Troop
Gallery for more photos of this outing.
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Tent
Mending Service Project
Every
year troops who attend Camp Geronimo are requested to
complete a service project to maintain the quality of the
Campground and the Scouts' camping experience.
Those
who have attended Geronimo will have seen bridges and trails
with a Troop's name carved on them indicating that Troop's
project.
Troop
323 has the task of ensuring all the tents are in good
condition prior to the new season. On May 12, Scouts
from the Troop headed down to the Heard Scout Pueblo at the
foot of South Mountain to patch torn canvas and replace
broken or missing tent flap ties.
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Golf Tournament Fundraiser Success
Thanks
go out from everyone in Troop 323 to Mr Dick Derrick for an
amazing job organizing our annual fundraiser. We
grossed $16,000 and after expenses, netted just over $10,000
- enough to run the Troop for over a year.
Thanks
also to Mr Ed Baranowski (master raffle ticket seller) and
his family for all the support on the day of the Golf
Tournament. We had 66 golfers turn out at a beautiful
golf course on a perfect day.
Finally
thanks to everyone else who contributed money and time to
make this a success - whether you bought a raffle ticket,
donated a raffle/auction prize, bid in the auction, found
sponsors or donors, played golf, bought "mulligans",
played "nearest the pin", joined the putting
contest or attended our mixer.
Well
done!!!
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New Training Coordinator
Mr
Chris Meyers has volunteered as our new Training
Coordinator. In this role he will take over the
twice-a-year very popular Youth Leadership Training
(formerly called Junior Leadership Training - JLT).
Thank
you for your help!
Thanks
also go to Mr Replogle for many years of great service to
the Troop - the leadership skills and personal development
of most of our older Scouts are testament to your excellent
work as our past Training Coordinator.
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Final
Results of Raffle Ticket Pizza Contest
An
amazing job was done by all scouts in selling raffle tickets
- all patrols extended their sales in the final week to
achieve total sales of 340 tickets. Another 180
tickets were sold on the day of the golf tournament!!
Bighorns
patrol gets the pizza party! (and should thank
Mr Baranowski for his stellar performance as a Bighorn!)
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50
Join Bell Crossing Outing
The
first opportunity for our new Scouts to take part in a
backpacking outing turned out to be a great success.
50 Scouts, parents and adult leaders joined Crew 323 members
on an outing to Bell Crossing, a swimming hole in the Wet
Beaver Creek wilderness area near Sedona on April 21 &
22.
Following
a 4-mile hike in, Scouts spent the afternoon under the
watchful eyes of our lifeguards swimming and fishing in the
creek, before preparing supper and spending the night
camping under the stars. Next morning, Mr Russell took
new Scouts and other interested participants on an
interesting stroll through the extremely rare and special
riparian zone around the creek, exploring the varied
plant-life. Mr Foulger showed how to identify Poison
Ivy and the Troop discussed actions to take in response to
contact with Poison Ivy .
Congratulations
to the new Scouts on your first Troop 323 backpacking
outing!
Check
out the Troop
Gallery for more photos
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A
Note of Thanks from Travis Meyers
"For
my Eagle Project many scouts, volunteers, family, and
friends came and helped me reroute an old irrigation line,
cut down bothersome tree branches, and cleared away some old
foliage at Shadow Rock church. The project was a major
success in that we had a great turn out of about thirty
seven people total, who mostly worked from beginning to end,
and got all of the work we had set out to do done in the
allotted amount of time. Thanks to stores such as
Target and Harkins Theaters, I had some money to provide
breakfast, lunch, and items for a raffle at the end.
Overall, the project was a huge success, and I will always
remember this experience for the rest of my life.
Thank you to all who volunteered and gave up your Saturday
to help me with my project!"
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Cubs
and New Joiners Cross Over to Scouts
Crossover
Camp was a great success - fantastic organization by our
newest adult leader (and former SPL) - Mr Mitchell
Rutherford; restaurant-class catering from Mr Don Diehn;
dazzling pyrotechnics by Chairman Willy Fahy; rope-bridge
building to put Indiana Jones to shame; great leadership
from the USA's only unicycling, juggling SPL; and, finally,
full participation from our new Scouts.
Welcome
to Troop 323!
Check
out the Troop Gallery for photos from the Crossover Camp.
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Senior Scout Involved in Rocket Incident
Upon
close examination, it was determined that the rocket missed
all vital organs.
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New
Volunteers Help the Troop
The
following adults volunteered to take over vacant Committee
roles:
Membership
Co-Chair - Mrs Kelly Sawottke (taking over from Mrs
Debbie Miller)
Outings
Coordinator - Mr Rick Skebo (taking over from Mr Tom
Williams)
Scoutmaster
Conference & Board of Review Coordinator - Mr Scott Sawottke (new role)
Thank
you for your help!
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Scouts Accomplish Credits for Cycling Merit Badge
4
Scouts plus some parents and siblings joined SRP's Cycle for
Food event on March 4 and achieved major goals on their way
to earning their cycling merit badge, as well as helping SRP
raise money for the Arizona Food Bank.
Sam
Clements clocked 18 miles and Parker Williams covered 35
miles. Eddie Cinni and Ian Foulger both accomplished
the "biggie" by riding 50 miles in under 5 hours.
The
ride started in Tempe, near Papago Park, and went south
through Guadalupe, into the Ahwatukee foothills, over the
hills into Phoenix and back to Tempe. For most of the
ride, we were accompanied by a group of volunteer radio hams
who made sure we did not get lost, and helped out when we
had flats. We also got our own personal police bike
escort who stopped traffic for us at intersections - now
that was cooool.
Organizers
from SRP sent an email saying how proud they were of all the
kids who participated.
Congratulations
to all 4 Scouts!
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Eagle Project Supported to the "Max"
On
Saturday March 3, over 36 scouts and adults turned out to
support Max Wingert with his Eagle Project. They
replaced over 400 square feet of old carpet below the
sanctuary at Shadow Rock Church. The room is used for
a variety of purposes including a homeless shelter for
families. The project took over 6 hours to complete
and it was a big improvement!
Max
passes on his thanks and appreciation to all those who
helped out.
Check
out the Troop
Gallery for photos
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Flagstaff Snow Contributes to Winter Outing Fun
On
the weekend of February 17 &18, 28 Scouts and adult
leaders from Troop 323 traveled to Flagstaff for the Winter
Outing.
Saturday
afternoon was spent at the Nordic Center where we
cross-country skied to the Yurt we had rented for the
day. Some of the group then spent a couple of hours
snow-ball fighting while the rest continued for a few more
miles of skiing, rejoining the original group back at the
Nordic Center Lodge. For most, this was their first
experience of cross-country skiing, and thanks to the expert
tutelage of Mr Clements everyone made great progress and made
it through their first ever cross-country ski outing.
Saturday
night was spent at Camp Navajo - a National Guard barracks
southwest of Flagstaff. Supper was "323
Stew" - basically a big pot containing a mix of all the
various cans of stew brought by each Scout - followed by hot
chocolate and Oreos.
Sunday
morning, the Troop went in search of a place to go sledding
- Wing Mountain (the planned destination) being closed due
to lack of snow. We found Crowley Pit, a pull-off just
past the Nordic Center, where the Scouts spent a couple of
hours before setting off back to Phoenix.
Check
out the Troop
Gallery for a few photos
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Court of Honor Recognizes 5 New Troop 323 Eagles
Ben
Whitmire, Joseph and John Replogle, T.J. Grandlienard and
Chris Hawk were awarded their Eagles and honored by the rest
of the Troop at their Eagle Court of Honor on Sunday Feb 12,
2007. Letters of recognition were received from dignitaries
from the political and business worlds.
Congratulations!
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Passing Scouts do their Daily Good Turn
On
January 27, Mr Baranowski, father of 2 of the Troop's Scouts
and member of the Fundraiser Committee, was stuck with the
challenge of taking down a dying mesquite tree that was
shedding branches and threatening to fall on his house.
3
passing Scouts - Max Wingert, Chris Hawk and Thomas
Gruetzmacher - saw that help was needed and joined the
Baranowski's in the safe removal of the tree.
Here
are some photos showing the results:
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Tucson
Outing a Great Success!
29
Scouts went on the Tucson outing making it the Troop's most
popular outing. The Double-V Scout Campground had
great facilities and gave us an opportunity to try out the
Troop trailer fitted out with all the new gear for the first
time.
Kartchner
Caverns were truly amazing - and thanks are due to the staff
who really helped us with our flexible head-count!
Pima
Air Museum enthralled the Scouts - and with Mr Ballou's
aviation expertise to help interpret what we were seeing,
was voted the most interesting event of the outing.
Check
out the Troop
Gallery for more photos from the outing.
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White Water Merit Badge Training Starts the Year with a
Splash
2
Scouts joined the Crew on the Brennard's White Water Merit
Badge Training (Part 1) on January 6 at Chaparral Lake.
Part
2 will be in early February and will involve canoeing on the
Verde River .
Pop
Quiz: Who was the only attendee to capsize?
Answers
in the Photo
Gallery.
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18 Scouts Ride 30 Miles of Sonoran Desert on Mountain Biking
Outing
Congratulations
to the 18 Scouts, accompanied by 5 adult leaders, who rode a
total 30 miles of strenuous mountain bike trails through the
pristine desert of North Scottsdale and Fountain
Hills.
The first day's ride took us 23 miles from
North Scottsdale (Cave Creek Road/Bartlett Dam) through
Tonto National Forest, Pima/Dynamite State Trust Land;
McDowell Sonoran Preserve, and into McDowell Mountain
Regional Park's Pemberton Trail.
The
2nd day's ride followed a night of rain (the first rain in
64 days and it falls on the night of our camp!!) and was a
7-mile fun loop in and around Pemberton wash, ending with a
great swooping single-track downhill!
This
was an outstanding accomplishment for all involved and is a
ride that any experienced rider would be proud to have
completed. Although "sold" as downhill all
the way, those taking part will know some of those downhills
seemed to be pointing uphill.
We
had a mix of ages (8 - 15) and experience (none to a few
years), a few mechanical issues to fix along the way, and a
few scuffed knees and elbows.
Thanks
to a great support crew - Mr Ballou & Mrs Wright waiting
patiently for those who wanted to bail early - sorry to
leave you so lonely, Apparently in Troop 323 there are
not any quitters. Even the Scout who had to stop due
to a mechanical problem, made up for missing the last
section by having to hike his bike out to the pick-up point
while everyone else rode alongside.
Next
to thank is Mr Gruetzmacher for preparing a fantastic
Family Feast waiting for the riders at the end of the first
ride.
And
finally, our team medic, Mr Christiansen, who rode at the
tail of the group fixing flats as well as knees.
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Scouts
& Crew Awarded the Canoeing Merit Badge
4
Scouts and 6 Crew all did an intensive training course
starting on the night of Friday November 17, and ending
lunchtime Sunday November 19 at Bartlett Lake.
The
training was led by Lynn and John Brennard, and earned all
participants their canoeing merit badge.
It
is also a precursor to further training planned in 2007
where anyone holding the canoeing merit badge may train to
earn their whitewater merit badge.
Many
thanks go out from the Troop and Crew to Lynn and John and
the other 2 trainers for great training and a memorable
event - who can forget the shock of that cold water as we practiced
our back flop exits, controlled swamps or Capistrano flips.
Thanks
also go out to Troop 110 who own canoes and trailer and
rented them to us for the weekend - they worked perfectly
for us.
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Joint
Crew/Troop Survive & Rescue Outing in the Superstition
Mountains
The
Troop had a fantastic outing on November 11 and 12, as guests of Crew 323 helping
them with their survival, search and rescue exercise, and
would like to congratulate all the Crew members who spent 3
days and 2 nights in the wilderness having to find their own
water and without food (except for a few energy bars).
The
entire event was an outstanding success, given that it was
the first of its kind for the Crew and our Troop.
Mr.
Russell wishes to thank everyone who participated for their
help in staging the event, and these thanks are echoed by
the Troop. It took a lot of work on the part of a lot
of people in ways both large and small, and we are grateful
for all contributions. Thank you to Tim Hawk for
helping out the whole time. In particular,
thanks go to Yvette Giesemann and Bret Wingert for their
help. Yvette was primarily responsible for the food
preparation with Bret's assistance, and Bret was
instrumental in securing needed equipment.
Mr.
Russell also passes on his thanks to the Troop for its
participation and Mr. Ballou for his wholehearted support
for the event.
"Rescued!"
Mr.
Russell has written a very interesting and complete summary
and assessment of the whole outing which is recommended
reading for all who participated. Others will find it interesting
to read as well. Click here for your own copy.
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