Troop 30 scouts spent Sunday walking the orienteering course at Kennard Park — with a few Easter eggs thrown in by Assistant Scoutmaster Ian Clark.
The park was chosen in part because it is the site of an Eagle project that in 2020 which built a course with control points, or specific locations used as a reference point during navigation or orienteering. The control points make for an interesting course, but it may be too entry-level for a troop used to competing in orienteering events.
Assistant Scoutmaster Ian Clark, inspired by the course, created a map with challenges beyond the original orienteering plan. Scouts had added challenges like naming house colors seen from a particular direction marked on the compass. Scouts even navigated beyond the bounds of the course into Brookline’s Lost Pond Reservation to the bog, where Ian was waiting with cookies he had baked.
No phones were allowed during the event, as is our way at outdoor events. Scouts were matched up in teams with one older scout and plenty of scouts learning to orient maps. All scouts returned a little muddier than they came.
Scouting America Troop 30 