Troop 764 Scouting Times -- Volume 1, Issue 5 -- November 8, 1998
Troop Enjoys Perfect Stay at Philmont
Editor's Comment: The Philmont trip was from June 20 - July 2. This article was submitted with photos for publication in the Dunwoody Crier.
St. Luke's Scouts Tackle the New Mexico Mountains
June 20-July 2, 1998, the St. Luke's Presbyterian Church of Dunwoody sent two crews to the Philmont Scout Ranch located in the mountains of northeastern New Mexico near Cimarron.
Pictured here at one of the mountain peaks are the Motley Crew. In the foreground, from left, are: Jordan Wright, and Peter Schenck; and in the background are: Earl Owens, John Salo, Michael Lockhart, Scott Owens, Gary Wright, Michael Salo, and John Grace. Additional participants from the Scarlet Napes crew were Matthew Porwoll, Mitch Sutheimer, Justin Cook, Ted Fischgrund, Matt French, Phil Green, Kyle Hale, with adults, Marilyn Cook, Steven French, and Paul Porwoll. This photo is obtainable on the Web site discussed in this newsletter.
Philmont Scout Ranch is one of three national high-adventure scout camps. At Philmont, three hundred scouts arrive daily to begin the trek while at the same time, another three hundred return to base camp for the final campfire. The typical scout works about four years to attain the rank necessary to qualify and then trains hard for about four months preceding this ultimate test and preparation for manhood, as defined by scouting.
One of only five women on the trail at this time, Marilyn Cook calls this the experience of a life time for her and her son, Justin Cook. A veteran of marathon running, Earl Owens found this to be a true physical challenge for him and his son, Scott Owens. Eleven scouts from Troop 764 and their 7 adult leaders had an unforgettable experience. On-line photos and first-hand accounts can be found on the Scout web site.
Eagle Scouts Soar
Matthew Porwoll received his Eagle Award on August 30, 1998 in a moving ceremony highlighting Matthew’s scouting achievements and the benefits of scouting. Matthew was "proud and relieved" to achieve the highest rank in Scouting. He wants to encourage others. His father said, "He and Matthew’s mother were proud to wear their Eagle pins." Mr. Porwoll sees Matthew as the first of many Eagle Scouts to follow!
In fact Kyle Hale received his Eagle Scout Award on Oct.11, 1998. Kyle is quoted as saying, "I have accomplished a goal that I have set for myself when I first began scouting! I’d like to help my fellow Scouts achieve this goal too." We know Kyle’s Grandfather, one of the first Eagle Scouts and a scoutmaster for many years, was proud to participate in the ceremony and pin his grandson in this special ceremony.
Justin Cook will receive his Eagle Award at St. Luke’s on Nov. 19 at 7:30.
Fall Camporee at Bert Adams -- Oct. 23-24
This camporee, attended by all troops in the Atlanta area, was "fun" according to Brent Hale. There were competitions in tomahawk throwing, archery, and Coulter’s challenge. Kyle hale reported that he was "especially proud of his patrol, because they gave their best effort at all times!" These camporees are a way to learn more about how the patrol method really works in scouting!
PHILMONT SOUND BITES
Marilyn Cook: "For me, this was a once in a lifetime experience! Our physical conditioning really helped a lot, but we found out that we hadn’t done as much as we should have!"
Steve French: "It was fun; I want to go back."
Earl Owens: "My pulse rate was almost what it was when I was training for marathon running."
Scott Owens and Kyle Hale: "We think the Scouts recover and recupe faster than the adult leaders each day."
Cohutta Wilderness Trip
On September 12 - 13, a group of Scouts from Troop 764 went backpacking in the Cohutta Wilderness. They hiked the Hickory Trail and camped at Bray Field on the Conasauga River (where the troop camped two years ago). Once camp was set up, the scouts hiked up to another falls. The hike was rugged, and the scouts exhausted. On Saturday night, knots were learned and then practiced. A pioneering competition was held to test knowledge of the important knots.
NEW Web Site to Chronicle Troop Activities
Thanks to Mr. Owens, a web site is under construction for the Troop. The purpose of the site is to provide an alternative communication vehicle for publicizing troop acitivities and for publishing this newsletter.
By publishing on the web, all scouts and their relatives can see full color computer graphics, like the ones Mr. Owens has already posted from the Philmont trip. In addition, the first web offerings, include six days of Mr. Owens’ diary from Philmont.
If you ever wanted to know why the Stomp is funny, or not so funny, tune into Mr. Owens’ web site for commentary on Philmont.
There are links to many other scouting related sites. Mr. Hale is planning to maintain an advancements page that will be updated frequently. Most important, a Troop 764 Calendar page contains an up-to-date view of all troop activities. As long as Mr. Owens is given sufficient notice, the calendar will always reflect the latest changes in schedule.
On the next page, the calendar from the web site is shared, along with one of the photos from Philmont.
The Web site can be found by logging onto the Internet and then by entering this string: http://www.bigfoot.com/~troop764.
If there is sufficient interest, a computer tutorial can be arranged for those who consider themselves technicologically challenged. Please contact Mr. Timm if you and a parent are interested.
Editorial Note
Thanks to those who submitted their own articles on disk, email, or hand-written. Please send more to me at ntimm@lucent.com (Mr. and Mrs. Timm).
Please try the web site for full color graphics of the trip to Philmont. Click on Philmont Trip for the log and launch the graphics with another mouse click (one at a time, it takes a while to download a graphic this large over a modem.