Troop 281 Cincinnati, OH

May 15th saw the scouts gearing up for one of the most anticipated campouts of the year: the Whitewater Campout! The troop rarely gets the ability to have such a campout due to the factors of cost and scheduling, so many of the scouts going were already getting adrenaline pumping in their veins even before the convoy of vehicles left the church parking lot! The location of the campout was in West Virginia, as the title no doubt explains, and so would require a lengthy drive. The plan was to drive about 6 hours overall between the church and the campsite, 2 hours for a single leg of the trip one way and including two 1-hour stops in between (the first to refill the humans, the second to refill the cars). However, as said in a famous poem by Robert Burns, “the best laid plans of mice and men, often go wrong,” the trip down to West Virginia had its problems. The first of those problems being when at the first stop for dinner, the choice was at a “Sonic” drive-in eatery, where they’d ap...

The most recent troop meeting began a little earlier at 7:00, but only for those who were going on the whitewater rafting campout this upcoming weekend so the plans as to how to carry out the trip could be established. Half an hour later, the real meeting began as usual. To start off the meeting, Joel Neuhart hosted a short skill session on the 8 and ½ points of safe swimming, which was a good refresher for those going on the upcoming campout. After the skill session, the scouts headed into the chapel to cast their votes for the next Senior Patrol Leader (S.P.L.). The nominee votes had been counted from last meeting, and three scouts were eligible for the position: Bret Carwile, Joel Neuhart, and Avery Reynolds. After each of the candidates had given their speeches, the other scouts were given a sheet with the names of the three possible choices and were instructed to circle the name of who they wanted to be the S.P.L. before handing the sheets back in. When all the votes for the n...

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...

On Friday, April 24th, the scouts gathered to load the trusty Troop 281 trailer full of both personal gear and very heavy patrol boxes in final preparation for the next campout, Color Wars: Rematch! The anticipation for this particular campout was especially high, as the previous Color War campout earlier in the scout year had been ended early due to the unending deluge of cold rain the entire weekend. This time, however, the weather was relatively calm and warm, a complete 180 from the miserable conditions of the last Color War. From the start, everybody knew this was going to be an interesting Color War. Due to the location of the scout campsites in the back of Camp Achewon, the trailer needed to be hauled as far up the drivable path as possible, but Mr. Carlson’s car was struggling to pull the heavy trailer even on paved roads, and without Mr. Ossman’s “Mighty Yukon,” the problem seemed to have no solution. Then Mr. S, the former Troop 281 scoutmaster, showed up and devised a plan ...

At the most recent troop meeting, the scouts were treated to a little presentation by Raptor Inc., a non-profit company that rescues, rehabilitates, and educates about birds of prey. The presenters, who introduced themselves as Dan and Bob, talked about local birds of prey and allowed some preserved bird claws to be passed around in the seated scouts. Dan and Bob had also brought three birds that were considered “permanently injured,” or in other words had problems that would prevent them from being able to live properly, and so can not be released back into nature. In order of presentation, the birds Dan and Bob had brought were a Great Horned Owl, a tiny Eastern Screech Owl, and a feisty Red Tailed Hawk. The Great Horned Owl was reasonably behaved, but the Screech Owl made a small release of excess weight on the church floor, and the hawk constantly wanted to try taking off in flight as well as leaving some excess weight on the ground as well. Overall, the presentation was well recei...

For this week’s Historian column, I will be covering two events: Zack Obbie’s Eagle Ceremony and the swim meet at Anderson High School’s indoor pool, as they both happened in the past week. On Sunday, April 19th, a gathering of scouts, parents, and friends assembled the church’s Fellowship Hall to attend another Eagle Court, this time to grant Zack Obbie the revered, lofty rank of Eagle Scout. After Mr. McNeese welcomed all who had come and called the “Court” to order, Dillon Whitehead led the color guard to post the colors. The “Trail to Eagle”, a staple presentation of eagle ceremonies and courts of honor in the troop, explained each rank in detail ranging from the starting rank of Scout to Life Scout. When the Life Scout rank was done, the curtain on the stage rose to reveal a giant replica of the Eagle Scout medal, and present on the stage were three of Troop 281’s Eagle Scouts: Jason Whitehead, Chase Whitehead, and Mr. Siebenburgen, who spoke in turns while explaining what the Eag...

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...