Troop 30 News

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.

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’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.