I am a member of BSA Troop 31, in Rochester, NY. Our meetings are held at the Third Presbyterian Church. Our troop's official website is located here: http://www.troop31bsa.org. It, too, still needs a lot of development. :)
4 Meigs St.
Rochester, NY, 14607
I've been in Scouts for a while, more than five years now. (I wasn't one of those kids that signed up as a Tiger Cub in 1st grade. I joined Pack 95 as a Webelos Scout when I was about 10.)
I really love it, with all the cool stuff we get to do.
We don't have meetings any day the Rochester City School District is closed. (No school no Scouts) A few of the meetings are boring activities, but there are a few notable fun meetings, like:
First meeting in January: Casino Night (Blackjack, Roulette, Poker)(No actual money involved)
Last Meeting In January: Unlimited Pinewood Derby (No stupid car weight requirements)
The Unlimited Pinewood Derby was on the 31st this year and I didn't even start on my car until the 29th. That's procrastination for ya. The car was well-decorated with money. I cut the block of wood myself using a coping saw, and I painted it with a can of white spray paint. BTW, coins do make excellent weights.
Our troop goes on 9 camping trips a year. Most of these trips are 'leave on Friday night at about 6 PM and come back by noon Sunday'. Coming back by noon on Sunday is important, because it gives us time to get ready to watch the 1 PM football games. Anyway, we have these short weekend trips 7 times a year, in January, February, March, May, September, October and November.
In May, September, October and November, we go on these weekend campouts and we pitch tents. For January, February and March, we stay in buildings.
Now I said we go on nine camping trips a year, yet there are only 7 short weekend trips listed. What are the other two?
Every April, during the school break, we go on a large trip somewhere. These are quite fun. In even-numbered years, we go on a backpacking trip. In odd-numbered years, we go on a tourist trip. 2005 being an odd-numbered year, we took a tourist trip to Boston. I didn't go to Boston because I had gotten into a 1-week special program at a local college. (for free! yay!) Also, I had to skip the April 2008 trip (whitewater rafting in PA) because my college spring break had been at a different time.
Some previous trips:
April 2007: Washington DC
Our campsite was located on the grounds of an Army base near Baltimore, our dining hall as well
April 2006: Grand Canyon
Definitely the biggie, one of the especially enduring memories
April 2004: Great Smokies National Park, Tennessee
This was the first national park I went to. (I've been to a bazillion of the NY state parks, and I went to most of those state parks on weekend campouts. (Weekend campout trips)
April 2003: Cleveland (stayed in an OH state park outside of Cleveland)
April 2002: Utah backpacking trip
Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks. I was too young to go on that one. Utah is the ONLY campout I have ever missed.
April 2001: Washington, DC
The Troop went on this one before I joined.
Massawepie is the name of the summer camp we go to each year. Most troops go for only a week, we go there for two. The place is in the Adirondacks and the local Scout council has owned it for quite a few years, more than 50.
The place is about 5 hours away. We gather up in the parking lot by School #1, and the bus leaves at about 8 AM Sunday morning. We get there around noon. We are there for the two weeks, and leave at about noon two Saturdays later. We end up back home somewhere areound dinnertime.
I suppose I could go on and on about what the place is like while we're up there. For this year's trip, I leave on July 10th. I'll put in a detailed description of Masswepie after I get back.
I was there for one week in 2001 and 2002. For 2003 and 2004, I was there for two weeks.
All of this cool stuff is funded by our Christmas tree sale. If you live in Rochester, NY, you have probably seen our tree lot before. It is "right across the street from that big stone church on East Ave." We have been selling trees for more than fifty years.
Each Scout ends up with seven or eight three-hour shifts over the course of the month, and works with three or four other scouts, one of the Senior Leaders (Senior Leaders are the older Scouts) and one of the parents. The troop sells more than a thousand trees over the course of the month. I'm not sure how much money we make, since the troop committee doesn't tell us. :)
As I said above, we go on camping trips 9 times a year. Recently, on the January 2005 trip, one of the Scoutmasters brought a digital camera: January 2005 Campout Pictures
I have more pictures, and I've been menaing to do more with them. :)
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