Simsbury Troop 175

Scout Loses it for Cancer

Troop 175 scout Sam S wanted to take our troop's participation in the National Be Bold Be Bald cancer awareness program to the next level. So Sam grew his hair out, and with permission from the school principal, had his head shaved at a school assembly! Sam also had a car wash and raised more than $1,300 for the Relay for Life Stooge Team in memory of his father. His team walked 34 miles in 19 hours!

Just one more example of a Troop 175 scout going the entry mile to make a difference in the world we live it.

 

 

2011/2012 Trips – the Challenges (and fun) Continue

  Here is a overview of the trips planed for the scouts for the coming year.

September - Canoeing in Maine

October – 2 day Bicycle trip on Block Island.  

November - Annual Webelos Challenge on our “home” turf, Onion Mountain in West Simsbury.  This is a great event where Cubs are invited for a full day of Scout activities and to work with our Scout patrols on making rope bridges, furniture, campfires, orienteering and zip lines. In the evening, the patrols will cook a meal with the Cubs followed by a Troop campfire with songs and skits put on by the Scouts. Cubs are invited to spend the night camping (with a parent)

December - We will do a scuba course and high ropes challenge.

January - Our annual ski and snowboard trip to Vermont..

February - The Klondike Camporee

March – This is our cross-over trip for Webelos joining our troop and we’ll be doing a local training trip for new scouts and parents.

April - Once again we will go to Tuckerman’s Ravine on Mt. Washington in the White Mountains. This is one of our most popular trips. 

Over April school vacation we will also offer a sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands on two 45 foot catamarans.

May - We will go to a private island in NW Connecticut for hiking and survival shelter building.  

June - 6^th Annual Boy Scout Adventure Race. This race was developed by Troop 175 and involves biking, running, canoeing, rappelling, orienteering and climbing in Simsbury in a 16 mile, 4 hour race.  The other two Simsbury Scout Troops join us.  Boys Life Magazine published a full picture, 6 page article of the race in April 2010, featuring Troop 175.   

After school ends, we’ll take a four day trip to Gettysburg. 

July - We do our annual 1 week camp at Camp Mattituck. 

Also, we will take our older boys up Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa  

August - 3 day family camp in Nantucket.

 

For a complete listing of troop events, Download Calendar 2011-2012

Troop 175 Scouts Build Bridge In Penwood State Park

Recently, Jon Epstein a life scout in Simsbury Troop 175 completed an eagle scout project at Pennwood State forest. Through the project he designed and built a 80 ft bog bridge across a swampy area. In order to raise money to complete he is project he held a car wash and took donations which helped him raise over a thousand dollars. Scouts from the troop volunteered over 100 hours of their time to make the project a success. The bridge is a great new addition to the park and will be there for many years.

Troop 175 Scout Goes Over the Edge

As Senior Patrol Leader for the adventure-oriented Boy Scout Troop 175 in Simsbury, Keegan  has participated in many experiences most boys only dream about. With his troop, he has hiked 82 miles at Philmont Scout Ranch, hiked glaciers in Alaska, sailed in the Caribbean, built survival shelters, rafted in white water rivers, hiked the entire Presidential Mountain Range in a single day, and completed hundreds of hours of community service.

Recently, he went over the edge to help support Boy Scouts in Connecticut. Keegan as asked by the BSA Connecticut Rivers Council to help demonstrate his skills and rappel down the side of the 17 story Connecticut River Plaza - 450 Columbus Blvd in downtown Hartford.

A Giant Step for Scouting was a one-of-a- kind fundraiser that provided an opportunity for participants to experience of a life time while raising money to help support their important role in developing today's youth. Monies raised go to support Scouting programs, including after school programs for urban youth and camperships for needy youth.  For over 100 years Scouting has helped young people become more productive citizens, leaders in their communities and business, and helped them develop a framework for ethical decisions.  Keegan was called upon to show how a scout get's it done.

"I've done a lot of rock climbing with my troop in Simsbury, but never done something 17 stories tall", said 16 year old Life Scout Keegan. "The views of Hartford and the Connecticut River were spectacular. I enjoyed my rappel and only wish that more boys could experience scouting like I do.  I also want to thank Connecticut Rivers Council for giving me an opportunity to experience something else that I will remember forever".

The Connecticut Rivers Council is one of New England's largest private youth-serving organizations, delivering Scouting programs that develop character, citizenship, fitness, and leadership skills to more than 32,000 youth and nearly 10,000 adult volunteers in 127 cities and towns in Connecticut. The Boy Scouts of America collaborates with hundreds of churches, school affiliated groups and other community organization that organize and operate local Scout groups.

Keegan is a member of Simsbury Boy Scout Troop 175, based out of St. Mary’s Church on Hopmeadow Street. The troop is made up of adventure seeking boys aged 10 to 18 who share a love of the outdoors and a wish to learn to be self sufficient and have fun. The troop is accepting new enrollments and anyone interesting in learning more can attend a troop meeting at 7:00pm Thursday nights or go to www.SimsburyTroop175.org for more information.

Troop 175 scouts have the opportunity to work on the Foresty Merit Badge. Please see the email that was sent out for the complete schedule.

In working through the Forestry merit badge requirements, Scouts will explore the remarkable complexity of a forest and identify many species of trees and plants and the roles they play in a forest's life cycle.They will also discover some of the resources forests provide to humans and come to understand that people have a very large part to play in sustaining the health of forests. The Forestry merit badge was one of the Original 57 Merit Badges issued by the Boy Scouts of America in 1911.

 

Forestry requirements

Prepare a field notebook, make a collection, and identify 15 species of trees, wild shrubs, or vines in a local forested area. Write a description in which you identify and discuss the following: a. The characteristics of leaf, twig, cone, or fruiting bodies b. The habitat in which these trees, shrubs or vines are found. c. The important ways each tree, shrub, or vine is used by humans or wildlife and whether the species is native or was introduced to the area. If it is not native, explain whether it is considered invasive or potentially invasive. Do ONE of the following: a. Collect and identify wood samples of 10 species of trees. List several ways the wood of each species can be used. b. Find and examine three stumps, logs, or core samples that show variations in the growth rate of their ring patterns. In the field notebook you prepared for requirement 1, describe the location or origin of each example (including elevation, aspect, slope, and the position on the slope), and discuss possible reasons for the variations in growth rate. Photograph or sketch each example. c. Find and examine two types of animal, insect, or damage on trees. In the field notebook you prepared for requirement 1, identify the damage, explain how the damage was caused, and describe the effects of the damage on the trees. Photograph or sketch each example. Do the following: a. Describe contributions forests make to: 1. Our economy in the form of products. 2. Our social well-being, including recreation 3. Soil protection and increased fertility. 4. Clean water. 5. Clean air. (carbon cycling, sequestration) 6. Wildlife habitat 7. Fisheries habitat 8. Threatened and endangered species of plants and animals b. Tell which watershed or other source your community relies on for its water supply. Describe what forest management means, including the following: a. Multiple-use management b. Sustainable forest management c. Even-aged and uneven-aged management and silvicultural systems associated with each type. d. Intermediate cuttings. e. The role of prescribed burning and related forest management practices. With your parent's and counselor's approval, do ONE of the following: a. Visit a managed public or private forest area with its manager or a forester familiar with it. Write a brief report describing the type of forest, the management objectives, and the forestry techniques used to achieve the objectives. b. Take a trip to a logging operation or wood-using industrial plant and write a brief report describing: 1. The species and size of trees being harvested or used and the location of the harvest area or manufacturer. 2. The origin of the forest or stands of trees being utilized (e.g., planted or natural) 3. The forest's successional stage. What is its future? 4. Where the trees are coming from (land ownership) or where they are going (type of mill or processing plant) 5. The products that are made from the trees 6. How the products are made and used. 7. How waste materials from the logging operation or manufacturing plant are disposed of or utilized. c. Take part in a forest-fire prevention campaign in cooperation with your local fire warden, state wildfire agency, forester, or counselor. Write a brief report describing the campaign, how it will help prevent wildfires, and your part in it. Do the following: a. Describe the consequences to forests that result from FIVE of the following elements: wildfire, absence of fire, insects, tree diseases, air pollution, overgrazing, deer or other wildlife overpopulation, improper harvest, and urbanization. b. Explain what can be done to reduce the consequences you discussed in 6a. c. Describe what you should do if you discover a forest fire and how a professional firefighting crew might control it. Name your state or local wildfire control agency. Visit one or more local foresters and write a brief report about the person (or persons). Or, write about a forester's occupation including the education, qualifications, career opportunities, and duties related to forestry.

Requirements for New Chess Merit Badge

Here are the new requirements for the Chess Merit Badge just released by the Boy Scouts of America.

Requirements

1. Discuss with your merit badge counselor the history of the game of chess. Explain why it is considered a game of planning and strategy.


2. Discuss with your merit badge counselor the following:
   1. The benefits of playing chess, including developing critical thinking skills, concentration skills, and decision-making skills, and how these skills can help you in other areas of your life
   2. Sportsmanship and chess etiquette


3. Demonstrate to your counselor that you know each of the following. Then, using Scouting's Teaching EDGE, teach the following to a Scout who does not know how to play chess:
   1. The name of each chess piece
   2. How to set up a chessboard
   3. How each chess piece moves, including castling and en passant captures


4. Do the following:
   1. Demonstrate scorekeeping using the algebraic system of chess notation.
   2. Discuss the differences between the opening, the middle game, and the endgame.
   3. Explain four opening principles.
   4. Explain the four rules for castling.
   5. On a chessboard, demonstrate a "scholar's mate" and a "fool's mate."
   6. Demonstrate on a chessboard four ways a chess game can end in a draw.


5. Do the following:
   1. Explain four of the following elements of chess strategy: exploiting weaknesses, force, king safety, pawn structure, space, tempo, time.
   2. Explain any five of these chess tactics: clearance sacrifice, decoy, discovered attack, double attack, fork, interposing, overloading, overprotecting, pin, remove the defender, skewer, zwischenzug.
   3. Set up a chessboard with the white king on e1, the white rooks on a1 and h1, and the black king on e5. With White to move first, demonstrate how to force checkmate on the black king.
   4. Set up and solve five direct-mate problems provided by your merit badge counselor.


6. Do ONE of the following:
   1. Play at least three games of chess with other Scouts and/or your merit badge counselor. Replay the games from your score sheets and discuss with your counselor how you might have played each game differently.
   2. Play in a scholastic (youth) chess tournament and use your score sheets from that tournament to replay your games with your merit badge counselor. Discuss with your counselor how you might have played each game differently.
   3. Organize and run a chess tournament with at least four players, plus you. Have each competitor play at least two games.

Immortal Membership list

Here is a list of current members of the Troop 175 Immortals.

 

Member                                    
1. Lee Adamowicz
2. Ryan Mead
3. Cortlandt Carter
4. Mike Vallen       
5. Max Drake       
6. Scott Miller    
7. Jeff Mead              
8. Grant Osborne         
9. Keegan Rice  
10. Carter Hill           
11. Dan Kalamarides        
12. Rob Carter               
13. Eric Barch           
14. Nick Carabillo      
15. Isaac Peacock        
16. Jack Vallen          
17. Mr. Bob Gilmore           
18. Mr. Peter Adamowicz    
19. Mr. Brad Mead               
20. Mr. Mark Drake                          
21. Mr. Bill Rice                  
22. Mr. Gerry Burke           
23. Mr. Gary Barch               
24. Mr. Hunter Peacock       

The Teaching EDGE

Recent changes in rank requirements have added teaching a skill to a new scout using the "EDGE" method. However many scouts still do not know what the EDGE method is and how to use it. Here is a brief overview:

There are four very clear steps to the EDGE method:

• First, you explained how to do the skill.
• Second, you demonstrated how to do the skill.
• Third, you guided others to do the skill, providing ongoing feedback.
• Fourth, you enabled others to use the skill, providing them with the time, materials, and practice to succeed.

Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, Enable… The first letters of those words spell EDGE. This teaching method is called The Teaching EDGE.  

Explaining is important because…

It clarifies the subject for the learner AND for the instructor.    

Demonstrating is important because…

It allows learners to see as well as hear how something is done. They can follow the process from beginning to end.

  Guiding is important because…

It allows learners to learn by doing. It allows the instructor to see how well learners are grasping the skill. 

  Enabling is important because… 

It allows learners to use the skills themselves. It also encourages repetition—an important part of mastering a skill. That’s why you let them do it while just watching and encouraging them and offering tips - but not doing it for them.