Troop 30 Scouts learned to paddle rapids by taking on the Kennebec River in Maine over Labor Day weekend.
Each Labor Day, the troop has an adventure trip for its more experienced scouts who are seeking a challenge. These scouts camped out in a Maine field, learned how to paddle on smaller rapids in self-guided boats, and camped overnight at a rustic site on Indian Pond. From there they boated to the Harris Station Dam and carried bigger boats to the head of the Kennebec River. From there they were guided through Class II and Class III and one Class IV rapids, and they swam through Class I rapids toward the end of the trip. Some even took kayaks out to paddle the rapids themselves.
On this trip, two scouts earned Second Class rank and all earned the ability to say they can mange themselves on a river.
Lots of BSA troops have a Class B Uniform, or a scout T-shirt with a logo and troop numbers. In Watertown, we learn how to screen print to make our own.
One of our scout parents, established artist Sheri Kennedy, took up the challenge of making Class B shirts that would match our summer camp week theme of the 80s. Working with a team of scouts, she led them through the process of selecting the best design created by the troop, refining it so it could be easily screen printed, and creating a screen so scouts could print the shirts on T-shirts to wear at camp.
Next comes the process where we print two shirts for 37 scouts and one for six adult leaders.
Following is the technique we used to print shirts.
On each scout’s Class A uniform, the formal brown shirts we wear, there’s a patrol patch signifying which patrol he/she/they is in.
How to keep patrol unity in a sea of neon-green shirts? Hand-carved patrol patches to the rescue! We learned how to block print these, choosing pink or purple ink, depending on the taste of the patrol. We have four patrols: These are Onion Warriors and Baconators. Not shown are Flaming Donuts and Banana Bandits.
This is the process of block printing a patrol stamp.
We hope you agree the end result was fantabulous. On Class B days, it was super-obvious who was with the coolest troop in camp.
Summer camp is always a lot of fun, but it also gives the opportunity for growth: Scouts learn how to find their way around a camp with another scout, not an adult, getting to merit badge classes on time, learning how to swim, getting to meals on time and sleeping in a tent with five buddies.
What we didn’t expect was a camp week cut short. With an outbreak of a stomach bug, camp closed two days early, and our scouts graciously worked to complete merit badges at speed while also learning to wash their hands at every opportunity.
Luckily, no one from Troop 30 caught the virus.
We learned to swim. Four scouts took on Wilderness Survival, camping out under the stars in shelters they made themselves. We dealt with an unexpectedly severe storm where, when adults checked in, scouts were doing what they needed to secure their tents and keep new-to-summer-camp buddies calm. We made a Hostess Snowflake-inspired cake in Dutch ovens. We won the site decorating contest.
We ended the week with four honor patrols: Baconators, Banana Bandits, Onion Warriors and Flaming Donuts.
What a week it was! The growing album of memories is below.
After a long drive and hot chocolate, Troop 30 nestled in a cabin in the New Hampshire woods to wait out a snowstorm. And the next morning, 23 scouts emerged, ready to ski.
Only one, Assistant Scoutmaster David Russo, braved the snow to sleep outside.
Below are the photos of our trip to Gunstock Ski resort and our epic snowball fight the next day.
Pack 30 and Troop 30 worked together Saturday to collect, deliver and sort 5904.9 pounds of food for the Watertown Food Pantry.
“It’s incredible what the scouts can do,” said Food Pantry Director Kathleen Cunningham, watching the operation.
Scouts flyered their neighborhoods, asking for donations to the food pantry to be left where scouts could pick them up. Then the morning of Nov. 19, scouts fanned out across Watertown and picked up nearly three tons of food and personal items for the Food Pantry.
Once delivered to the United Methodist Church at 80 Mt. Auburn Street, the thousands of cans of beans, soups, boxes of pasta and other food needed to be sorted to a scale the food pantry can actually use. For that, Troop 30 used the help of volunteers from the Pennacook Lodge Order of the Arrow, the Eastern Massachusetts branch of scouting’s honor society. They offered a day of cheerful service, helping to sort tons of food.
Scouting for Food is a national program of BSA Scouts, supporting pantries across the U.S. The Watertown food drive mobilizes helpful neighbors to keep the Watertown Food Pantry fully stocked through May.
The Watertown Council on Aging administers the Watertown Food Pantry, which provides food assistance to any Watertown resident in need. The food pantry is open on only Tuesdays, 10 am to 2 pm.
Deion Howe was celebrated in an Eagle Scout ceremony held on the lawn of the Walker Beacon High School, with most of the festivities happening on his Eagle Project.
Deion, a senior at Beacon High School, created the “Beacon Chill Space,” a patio for students to relax outside, as his Eagle Project.
The ceremony was officiated by Ethan, a Star Scout working on his Communication badge, and kicked off by Noah, a new scout who played Reveille on the trumpet.
Deion presented pins to his parents, and pins to two mentors, Scoutmaster Doug Syer and Assistant Scoutmaster Ian Clark.
Deion received his Eagle Rank on April 12, after a board of review with officials from scouting’s Sons of Liberty district. To earn the rank of Eagle, he needed to earn seven ranks and at least 21 merit badges.
Deion addressing Watertown councilors Tuesday.Thursday’s court of honor lead by Kaio.Deion gets the Mom pin ready for Kat Powers, mom and troop committee chair.Ethan gets his honor guard ready.Deion requested mac and cheese for his Eagle ceremony lunch.Before the ceremony.Ian teaches sewing.Noah on trumpet.Eagle.A scout is hungry.Ethan and Doug get Deion’s neckerchief together.
Deion’s ceremony wrapped up a week of events: Tuesday he was honored at by Watertown’s councilors who presented him a citation; Thursday was a court of honor, where scouts earning their ranks and merit badges then learned to sew them onto their shirts.
Deion, who first joined Troop 30 in 2015, first earned the Swimming merit badge, the first of six water-related merit badges he’s earned. He was the first scout in Troop 30 to earn the National Aquatics Award, and he reports his favorite badge ever was the Scuba merit badge, despite the requirement that he answer 109 pages of questions and get both certified in CPR and scuba diving, who merits recognized outside scouting.
Deion works particularly well with kids with special needs, and has served as Den Chief, mentoring Cub Scouts who eventually joined his BSA scouting troop. He has served as Quartermaster, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader and now as Senior Patrol Leader, the scout who leads the entire troop.
Through scouting, Deion became a regular volunteer at the Watertown Food Pantry. He’s become a babysitter specializing in a particular kind of kid, and is currently training to be a lifeguard this summer. He will be attending the University of Massachusetts in the fall.
Pack 30 on the left. Troop 30 on the right, with a bridge built between them.
Nine scouts from Pack 30 arrived on Saturday at Rock Meadow in Belmont with their families, ready for their last action as Cub Scouts: They were going to cross over to BSA Troop 30.
Pack 30 scouts walked with Cub Scoutmaster Taylor Boas to a hill where Troop 30 was waiting, with the U.S. and troop flags flying in the wind.
Using planks labeled with the points of the Scout Law — trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent — the BSA scouts built a bridge for Cub Scouts to literally cross over to their side. “This is your first step on the bridge to Eagle,” Troop 30 Scoutmaster Doug Syer said, and after remarks from den leaders Stephen Lipscomb, Steve Owens and Alex Bush, each scout crossed the bridge with his family.
Troop 30 in Watertown exists to offer all kids the opportunity to learn outdoor skills, conservation, citizenship and public service. To learn more, contact us at WatertownTroop30@gmail.com.
The Banana Bandits carry Gus on an A-frame they made at the Sons of Liberty-Flintlock districts 2022 Klondike Derby.
Two patrols join winter skills competition
Troop 30 traveled to the T.L. Storer Scouting Reservation with two patrols to compete in the 2022 Klondike Derby. Scouts from the Baconator and Banana Pandits patrols loaded sleds they pushed to stations throughout the camp. They threw hatchets, drilled holes in ice, demonstrated first aid skills and and showed they could haul logs with timber hitches.
The scouts of Troop 30 and Pack 30 delivered 5041 pounds of food Saturday, filling the shelves of the Watertown Food Pantry with everything from apple juice boxes to ziti pasta.
This is the second food drive for the scouts in 2021. The first, in May 2021, saw scouts collect 5186 pounds of groceries, cleaning supplies and personal items from Watertown neighbors. That makes the total 10,227 pounds for the year.
Our two Thanksgiving traditions are about community: The first is a turkey meal cooked in the woods, the second is our Scouting for Food Drive benefitting the Watertown Food Pantry. The combined efforts of the Troop and Pack consistently create the largest one-day food drive in Watertown every year.
“I can tell you, the scouts really hold up the food pantry,” said Kathleen Cunningham, Watertown Food Pantry director as the last of the over-filled food bins were put away. “Not only are they bringing in food, they’re going to their neighbors and getting the residents involved.”
Scouts distributed flyers in their Watertown neighborhoods and on Saturday morning, filled their parents’ cars with boxes and bags of groceries. Xavier Owens, a Cub Scout in the Webelos Den, collected 691 pounds of food in his family car.
At the United Methodist Church, the home of both the scouts and the Watertown Food Pantry, scouts from Troop 30 and the Arrow of Light Cub Scout den unloaded cars with thousands of pounds of food and then sorted them on the lawn. Patrol leaders Ethan and Tage organized the sort so tuna was separated into one bin, baked beans into another, and all the different soups got their own bins. While their team sorted tomato sauce from canned tomatoes, other scouts ran unsorted bags from cars to the lawn and yet others brought sorted carts of food into the basement-level pantry.
Service, community engagement and leadership development are essential to the BSA scouting program as youth lead their own activities. While Scouting for Food is the biggest drive of the entire Watertown organization, smaller acts of service are preformed throughout the year, including park cleanups and coat drives, and individual projects created and managed by the scouts themselves.
For more information on how your boy, girl or non-binary child can become a scout, contact us at watertowntroop30@gmail.com.
Scouting America Troop 30 