by Wally Werner
Once there was a very large green bullfrog who lived in a modest sized pond. Even though many other animals and fish lived around this pond the bullfrog didn’t have any friends. You see, the friends he once had were gone. They were tired of his boasting and tried to stay out of his way. This situation changed when the geese began to migrate through the area. Two geese actually became his friends. They spent many a long day visiting, swimming and doing the things friends do. Then one day the two geese told the frog it was time for them to continue their migration. The frog was sad and asked if they could take him with them. He suggested that they let him climb on one of their backs and hang onto their neck. Both geese agreed that he was entirely too fat for one goose to carry. Further saddened, the frog began to think and finally came up with an idea. Listen, he said, How about we take a string and each of you take hold of a end with your mouth and bite down hard, then I will bite in the middle of the string and you can fly me between you. The geese pondered the idea and decided to give it a try. All were ready and the geese began to flap and run. The frog hopped along with the string in his mouth until he was lifted from the ground and was airborne. Oh what a feeling thought the frog. Onward they flew for days on end until they flew over a farmer out in his field.
The farmer looked up and upon seeing the geese and frog remarked, "My, my, a flying frog I wonder who taught those geese to fly such a big frog?"
Hearing this the frog said, "I DID!!!." That night the farmer feasted on very large succulent frog legs.
Check your ego; don’t let it get so far out of control that you lose your friends or worse yet, end up on someone’s plate.
Upcoming Events:
| Troop Elections and Pool Party |
June 4 |
| San Juan River Trip |
June 8 – 15 |
| Fat Tire Classic |
June 28 – 30 |
| Camp Alexander |
July 21 – 27 |
| Slate Creek Backpacking Trip |
July 21 – 27 |
| Philmont |
July 27 – August 7 |
| Cumbres-Toltec Railroad Backpacking Trip |
August 7 – 10 |
| Cris Dobbins |
August 4 - 10 |
| Cumbres-Toltec Railroad / Backpacking |
August 8 – 10 |
| Court of Honor |
August 27 |
Upcoming Eagle Project
By Scott
This summer I will undertake the final step towards obtaining my Eagle. Most Eagle Projects fulfill a physical need such as building benches in city parks, designing and constructing playground equipment, or repairing or restoring facilities at a religious organization. I have chosen a different path for my Eagle Project.
My project will be a memorial for the victims and heroes of the September 11th attacks on our country. It will describe the events of that day and the feelings of the community toward the attacks and be located at Homestead Elementary School. The memorial will be composed of separate pieces paying tribute to the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania crash site.
It will consist of two Colorado Blue Spruce trees which represent the Trade Tower Buildings, a monument consisting of a boulder with a plaque attached on its façade shaped in the form of a pentagon depicting the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and the outline of the state of Pennsylvania venerating Flight 93’s crash site. Engraved on the plaque will be an appropriate script memorializing the event.
This endeavor will primarily benefit the Homestead Elementary School and the surrounding community. It will serve as a constant physical reminder to the community of the dedication of the Police, Fire and EMT workers who serve and protect us daily. It will also help us remember all the victims who lost their lives unnecessarily. Just as The Lincoln Memorial helps us remember Abraham Lincoln’s great contributions to this country and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier serves as a perpetual recollection of the unselfish and brave sacrifices of those who fought to preserve our freedoms, my project will also provide this same benefit to the Homestead Community.
The budget of this project will be approximately $2000. Obviously, fund raising is a crucial part of the project. There will be a major fundraising event soon. At that time, I will need as many Scouts
as possible to assist me. Further details and time schedules will be delivered through the Troop’s email system. A much easier way to help me is simply to spread awareness among the community. If you would like to make a contribution, or would like additional information, please contact Jr-leaders@troop373.org.
Eagle Nest Wilderness Backpacking Trip
Depart Denver early July 21-Sunday
Return to Denver July 27-Saturday
A group will be able to go out July 24, Wednesday
For those not on this trip last year.....We enter the wilderness through private property, which saves about 8 miles of hiking distance for us.
We will also use as many llamas as can be acquired ( 4-7 )to help transport food and communal gear. Scouts and parents will still need to backpack in personal gear, tents etc. (It is still a stiff hike)
We are changing the organization of our trip to provide a Wilderness experience...Scouts will be assigned to groups based on age, rank and experience. We will strive to have 10-12 in a group--maximum ---including any wonderful parents who come. Each group will be separated by at least a mile from any other group. The beginning scouts will be at the lowest-closest (1and 1/2 mile from vehicles) and easiest spot for fishing. Older scouts will go farther into the wilderness based on age and endurance, camping along Slate Creek at various campsites. The top group this year will probably be at Slate Lake. We will communicate among groups by 2-way radios for coordinating activities.
We plan to have a Naturalist on this year’s trip to teach classes and an amateur photographer interested in teaching landscape photography. We will fly and lure fish, and get the younger scouts started with bait fishing. We will set up some rock climbing with adult leadership as well as hiking trips to explore the higher lakes and peaks in the area. (Geologists and birders would be great???)
Cost will be $50.00 per person includes food, communal gear and cost for climbing equipment.
Cumbres-Toltec Backpacking Trip
Depart from Denver-early August 7th-Wednesday
Return to Denver-afternoon August 10th Saturday
The Cumbres and Toltec is a scenic Narrow gauge railroad that travels from Antonito, Colorado to Chama, New Mexico. It travels along the Los Pinos river going back and forth over the Co-New Mexico border numerous times.
We will depart the train at a location of our choice and travel into the adjacent wilderness a short distance to establish our campsite....The next 2 full days will be full of activities such as fly fishing the los pinos River and group hikes to some of the local peaks.
We will wave the train down on Saturday and come back out to Antonito and our cars for the return trip to Denver....We will probably be able to stop at one of the wonderful Mexican restaurants in Alamosa on the way back home..
Estimated costs ----includes train ticket, shuttle, food adults $100.00 Kids $75.00
Troop 373 second session Summer Scout Camp will be August 4-10, 2002 at Peaceful Valley – Cris Dobbins Scout Camp.
The leaders and scouts of BSA Troop 373 can now start using the following Alias E-Mail List Categories for better targeted messages to the individual patrols, plc leaders, assistant scoutmasters, committee-chairs, etc… This uses the Troop’s E-Mail Server to send out your E-Mail messages to the requested audience.
everyone@troop373.orgOR
(Do NOT use
everyone@troop373.org and patrols together. This will cause duplicates)lynx@troop373.org
phoenix@troop373.org
scorpions@troop373.org
flaming-arrows@troop373.org
rattling-pedros@troop373.org
hornets@troop373.org
wolverines@troop373.org
frogons@troop373.org
venture@troop373.org
dragons@troop373.org
hawks@troop373.org
moose@troop373.org
Jr-leaders@troop373.org
Committee-chairs@troop373.org
plc@troop373.org
asst-scoutmasters@troop373.org
scoutmaster@troop373.org
alumni@troop373.org
friends@troop373.org
unassigned@troop373.org
Please send all E-Mail changes/corrections to
RichardEarle@earthlink.net Phone (303) 220-8796.
Catalina Island – Summer 2003
Scouts of Troop 373 - NEXT summer, from 6/22 - 6/29, 2003, we have 30 youth and 10 adult spaces at a Scout Camp on Catalina Island, off the coast of California. The approximate cost is $320 for camp plus cost of travel. It's unclear if we would fly out there (expensive) or charter a bus (less expensive) and have a road trip. The camp is big on aquatic sports including sea kayaking, snorkling, swimming and fishing. I do not have any further details at this time, but I'd like to see if we even have any interest in a trip of this sort. It would be perfect for the younger and newer scouts and any parents wanting a "water getaway"! Please e-mail me at <hjentin1@aol.com> if you're interested. Howie Entin - Asst Scout Master - Lynx Patrol
Visit our Troop web site at www.Troop373.org
QUARTERMASTER NEWS
By Spencer
We have recently adopted new check in and check out procedures for troop equipment. There are detailed instructions posted in the troop storage unit, but they basically involve filling out an invoice for equipment that you take. The goal is to allow us to track equipment and keep it in better condition.
The best procedures in the world, however, won’t work if we don’t observe the Scout motto: "Do a good turn daily." In the case of troop equipment, this means to return it CLEAN, DRY, AND IN AS GOOD A SHAPE AS YOU FOUND IT. Please stow equipment neatly and make sure the locker is secure before you leave. IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH YOUR GEAR, PLEASE NOTIFY A QUARTERMASTER ON YOUR RETURN AND GET IT TO THEM FOR REPAIR; DON’T PUT IT AWAY BROKEN!
I also strongly recommend that you test all gear, but especially tents, stoves and lanterns, before you leave town. It’s a bit late to find that your tent is missing a pole when you are trying to set it up after dark and it’s starting to rain.
Our storage unit is located east of Holly on the south side of County Line:
Mimi-U-Storage
6678 E. County Line, Unit F668
303.290.8056
You can make arrangements to get into the unit by contacting our Scout quartermaster
Troop 373 has some very good gear. Enjoy it and treat it with respect during your camping and high adventure trips this summer.
Being a New Boy Scout
by Sean
Since joining the troop, I have been introduced to many new things that are different from those in Cub Scouts. The major difference is working on rank advancements and what is required to achieve these awards.
Along with working on the rank advancements, I’ve been able to start the requirements for First Aid and Environmental Science merit badges. These are nothing like the things that I did in Webelos! I started the First Aid merit badge at the Merit Badge College in April even though I just found out that you’re supposed to have your Tenderfoot rank before starting on merit badges. At the Sand Dunes campout, some of us had to help a man with first aid for heat exhaustion. On the ride back to Denver, Kiran and I read all about the signs of heat exhaustion in our Scout handbooks--it really meant a lot more having seen how sick the man had looked!
Also at the Sand Dunes campout, Mr. Alfano worked with six of us on the Environmental Science merit badge. We tried to do an experiment on the best way to get oil out of water, like cleaning up an oil spill at sea.
I was really excited to earn my Tenderfoot rank at that campout! I’m glad that there were older scouts there to organize Tenderfoot Boards of Review for Connor McManus and me. Having the older scouts around to help me with learning the rank requirements is really cool! I really liked the skit that Chris, Kyle, and Tristan did with the girls behind them putting make-up on their faces like they were girls getting ready for Prom.
I had so much fun on the campouts at Cherry Creek Reservoir and at the Great Sand Dunes. I shared a tent with Ethan and Andy on the first campout; but there were four of us in the tent on the second campout--Justin, Blake, Kiran and me.
We learned so many things for Tenderfoot rank at the first campout. Mr. Werner worked with us in an "Ax Yard" for knife, ax, and saw. Matt and Eric helped teach us the safe way to make a cooking fire. Mark, Kyle, and Kyle showed us how to use a compass and how to tie knots. Chris and his dad helped us with first aid and poisonous plants.
It was really fun to cook dinner with Ryan when we made the "Two Stew For a Crew" in the Dutch oven with charcoal. I can’t believe that our patrol’s box oven worked for the chocolate cake---and that we used mayonnaise instead of eggs and oil for it!
Even though it was really windy and cold, the night hike with glow sticks on the Sand Dunes was so different. I couldn’t believe all the stars in the sky; I even saw a shooting star! Sitting around the campfire, eating marshmallows, and hearing stories and skits at both campouts is a great memory!
Although the campouts were so much fun, there was still work that had to be done. As the Patrol Leader of the Flaming Arrows, I think working together in the patrol can be hard. It is tough to stay organized and ready to lead my patrol at the meetings.
I like scouts most of all because it’s lots of fun, I’m learning so many new Scout skills, and I’ve learned how to do things for myself on a campout. I’m really looking forward to going to summer camp at Camp Alexander in July.