The Anthill Times - January 2000

January 2000

Upcoming Events
3	Meeting
7-9	Ski Trip
9	Committee Meeting
10	Meeting
13	PLC
15	Lion's Club Dinner
17	No Meeting
22	Pack 5 Pinewood
24	Meeting
28	Pack 5 Swim Night
31	Meeting

Troop 5 Hits the Slopes in January

By the time you read this, all ski permission slips should have been returned.

The

very popular ski and tubing trip to the Jack Frost/Big Boulder Ski Resorts has been scheduled for January 7-9. Jack Frost hoped to open in mid-December. The troop will go on the trip, regardless of conditions. We will again be staying in the dining hall at Camp Acahela.

Registration Forms, which must be filled out for this trip have been sent home. Adults are encouraged to attend. Scouts should bring cash for 1-2 fast food stops!.

Reminders: Bring lots of extra socks for warmth in case you need to change into drier ones (and to add to Dan's sock supply he brings home from every trip). Wear two pairs of socks, keeping a light pair against the foot for comfort, with a heavier sock on top. Prepare for the cold by wearing clothes in layers - you can always take off what you don't need. Keep your head covered to conserve heat loss. And don't forget eye protection and sunscreen.

15 January 2000

We need Scouts to help at the Lion's Club Dinner, 4:30-8:00 PM at the church

Sparking Interest Among Future Generations

by Fran B

Boy scouting is something of a mystery to the Pack 5 cub scouts, who really don't mingle with the older guys until their second year WEBELO camp-out. However, some current Troop 5'ers have tried to chanvge all this. In an effort to build a stronger bridge between Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting, these Troop 5 volunteers conducted a mini-klondike derby at the December cub pack meeting.

Josh and Chuck started it off by giving an overview of the real Klondike Derby, including the showing of a sled. Next up were the four second-year scouts remaining from the Pack 5 team that won the Webelos division of the 1998 Derby. Pete, Jon, Jon, and Brett showed their trophies and talked about how much fun they had.

The cubs then began to rotate through seven klondike-like stations, which were revised to fit a younger age group and an indoor setting. They were instructed and then tested on bird and fish identification, animal track identification, and were given a presidential portrait quiz. They watched a first-aid demonstration, and engaged in the hands-on activities of knot-tying and patrol-skis.

Additional Troop5 scouts manning the stations were Nick, Josh, Brian, Mike, Eric, and Max. The group was organzed by SPL Mike.

The cubs appeared to have a lot of fun and many expressed interest in participating in future Klondike Derbies. THanks for your efforts, Troop 5, and thanks for forging this bond between scouting levels.

Plenty of Pancake Help

Christmas music and the sweet smell of pancakes wafted through the air as uniformed scout servers asked, "Can I get you anything else?" Another successful and satisfying Pancake Breafast was help December 4.

Many thanks to al who helped Eric. More pancakes and guests were served than ever before. Maybe it was the nice weather or perhaps the sentiments of one large family sum it up the best. Overheard at one of the tables was the comment, "Where else can we feed nine people for under $16.00!"

Many families had one or more parents volunteer their time in the kitchen that morning. Many were nattily attired in stylish plastic aprons provided for the occasion.

Several adults were kind enough to help set up Friday night. Special thanks go out to Kate for the great centerpieces she made. Thanks to Eric for putting together a successful event.

Sea Base Crews Heading to Paradise This Summer

Troop 5 has scheduled a HIgh Adventure trop to Florida Sea Base in the Florida Keys. THe trip is known as a "Coral Reef Sailing Adventure." If the crew drifes to Florida, it will be a two-week trip. Some of the adults going are investigating the possiblility of flying and cutting the trip down to 8 or 10 days.

According to event coordinator, Buzz, the adventure involes six days of sailing the Keys aboard a 41' sailing yacht. Scouts will have the opportunity to swim, fish, snorkel, and sail the boat. Three nights will be spent aboard the boat, two of them anchored in safe harbor; the third will be spent in a marina in Key West. The remainder of the nights will be spent in a Sea Base Dormitory.

THere will be two crews, each consisting of six scouts and two adults. The lucky list includes: Josh, Don, Nick, Joe, Barry, Dan, Steven, Justin, Andy, Adam, Jeff, Dan, and alternates, Jeremy and Jon.

Washington Crossing Trip

by Chuck

The Washington Crossing trip on Dec 11 was an informative and interesting as well as fun and exciting trip. The trip divided the scouts intwo two groups: the first group hiked 20 miles. The scouts that went to Philmont completed the hiking merit badge. Those scouts were Andy, Dan,and Nick. Also, Joe was there hiking for sport. The adults that went with them were Mr G, Mr K, and Todd. The other group went on the historical hike which lasted 8.3 miles. The scouts had to answer questions along the path to get thebadge and pin. Those scouts were Mike, Chuck, and the "Scout of the Month" Peter. THe adults that went were Mr. F and B.

THe day started very cold but it warmed up by doon. The 20-mile group started right away while the 8-mile group had to wait for an or so because Mr. F had to drop off the 20-mile group to their starting line. Sure enough, everythign was flowing smoothly until Peter got lost. After a while we finally found him and started onw ith the long and winding hike. Most of the time that we hiked, we walked between the canal and the Delaware River, this was no Abbey Road. But the scenery was phenomenal on that beautiful day. We spotted some deer and a rocky Raccoon. We walked and walked hpoing to get to the top of Bowman's Tower and see the wonderful view. We hiked straight up the cliffs of Bowman's Hill only to find out that the tower was closed for the winter season. We felt like fools on that hill. But we let it be andhiked back down.

B knew all along and tricked us. I was a little disappointed that only 3 out of the 55 scouts in Troop 5 participated. I hope to see a lot more people next year.

by Joe

My gear was packed and I was looking forward to an adventurous day on my 20-mile hike. I heard we would be passing by Bowman's Tower, and I asked Mr G if we could stop. He said, "by the time we get near there you will be so tired you won't want to go there." After a few miles my feet were dragging along with the rest of my body. All I could think about was when this day end. Finally we approaced Bowman's Tower and I knew Mr G was right. There was no way I wanted to climb the tower.

As I came to the end of my 20-mile adventure, I'll never forget that everything comes with a price. The price I paid wass sore feet, now I know what Todd meant about wearing good shoes and socks. You also need to work hard to achieve your goals and my goals was working towards my hiking badge. It was a day worth taking, but I am glad it is done.