Troop 281 Cincinnati, OH

At the latest scout meeting, the subject was Auto Mechanics, which believe it or not, is an actual merit badge. After the usual beginning for every typical meeting, the scouts were led outside to the parking lot behind the playground for the skill session, where the flower orders were originally set out. At that place, several of the assistant scoutmasters had set up three stations to teach scouts about different aspects of car repair or to give them hands on experience: Mr. Adkerson with a station reviewing basics for tire, engine, and brake care; Mr. Van Keuren with a hands-on lesson on switching out tires (on the trailer, as the adults probably were not letting scouts swap tires on the real cars); and Mr. Ossman and a crash course in various car parts (although, since there were so many different parts - along with various car manuals Mr. Ossman had - it looked more like a flea market seller’s table). While the adults did a good job not showing it, they were probably belying some co...

The troop meeting last week was focused on planning for the upcoming campout: Color War Rematch! The first Color War got rained out by an unending deluge of cold raindrops and was forced to end early on Saturday before some of the big competitions could occur. This time, however, when Senior Patrol Leader Will Carlson was asked if the gods wouldn’t rain on the parade this time for Color War, he said “I talked to them, and I think I got it sorted over,” so the weather should be better this time around. Then the scouts broke up into patrol corners and began planning what their menus would be on the campout. The Flaming Arrow patrol, being the newest scout patrol, did not plan a menu for some reason, but they say they will have a patrol meeting and will figure out their plans by the next meeting. When preliminary plans for Color War were made, it was time for the game, which to everybody’s delight was the ever-popular Dodgeball! Judging by the mad scurry for the balls when the game star...