First Posted: 3/3/2014
Troop 160 participated in many exciting events during the month of February.
The most exciting event took place on Feb. 15 when the troop went on an ice climbing trip at the Delaware Water Gap. The excursion was led by Northeastern Mountain guiding. There were three guides along with the group to help troop members get harnessed up and prepare for the climb. The trip went from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each scout carried their full gear as they went to the waterfalls. The Troop climbed a few different waterfalls.
Each waterfall had a different difficulty so the scouts could choose which one they wanted to climb according to their skill level. There were 18 people that went on the trip. The adults were Mr. Finn, Mr. Gercken, Mr. Champlin, Mr. Parry, Mr. McGurl, and Mr. Jones. The scouts that went were Timothy Christman, Kyle Kostiack, Brandon Kelleher, Logan Finn, Caleb Gercken, Edmund Champlin, Elias Gray, Mike Parry, Matt Parry, Conner Kryeski, Ryan Flynn, Jimmy McGurl, Tyler James, and Andrew Gibson. During the climb, the temperature was in the mid 20’s and it snowed all day.
A second event Troop 160 assisted in was the Clarks Summit Ice Festival. The scouts collected garbage during each day of the three-day event. While the scouts were collecting garbage and recyclables, they were also walking around admiring the ice sculptures and enjoying some hot chocolate to keep them warm when they got a chance.
Another activity that took place was the Order of the Arrow elections. The second-year Webelo’s Cub Scouts from Pack 160 came to visit the Troop on Feb. 20 to get a feel for what it’s going to be like for them in less than a year.
The scouts will be earning the Arrow of Light, which is the highest award that can be earned in Cub Scouts. Shortly, these scouts will be crossing over into the Boy Scout troop. On the night of their visit, the boy scouts had different stations set up. Each station had different scout skills for the cub scouts to learn. Some of the basic scout skills were fire building, trail safety, knot tying, and first aid. Those are only some of the scout skills that are used.
The Order of the Arrow is a national honor society founded by Dr. E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson in 1915. The program is recognized as the Boy Scouts of America national brotherhood of honors campers. Bryan Melliand, Jonathan Ross, and Michael Robinson were elected into the Order of the Arrow on Feb. 27. Their next step is initiation. During initiation, the three boys from the troop, along with, other troops have to take an oath of silence and perform a day or two of service at one of the NEPA Council’s camps. During that weekend, they can only eat what food they’re given and must sleep under the stars.
Troop 160 also had one rank advancement this month. On Feb. 20, Ben Sebring earned the rank of second class.