Scouts Enjoy Beautiful Weather and Biking

Myles Standish State Forest - Plymouth, MA

This past weekend, 16 Scouts and 4 adult leaders from Troop 513 headed down to Camp Squanto in Plymouth, MA. While our Scouts are prepared to camp in any and all weather, this weekend featured nearly perfect weather, which was a first for many of the scouts!

Upon arrival at camp Friday evening, Scouts located our site. Despite the frustration of the dark, they worked together to locate strewn tent pieces and pitched camp successfully before moving on to setting up their kitchen areas for a late-night snack. Chips and salsa were joined by laughter and stories to round out the day.

Saturday morning began at the crack of dawn by Scout choice, despite leaders' protests. There was just too much fun to be had! Bugler Lexie played a short song, to applause, while our Senior Patrol Leader Jake hoisted the flag. The Basement 2 Patrol made some breakfast sandwiches, as did the Avocado Sushi Patrol. Our youngest Scouts, the Treehouse Patrol, ambitiously opted for chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. While they did their best, they have promised to seek further guidance on how to cook bacon from their fellow Scouts in the future. After cleanup, they made sack lunches and, at the call of their Bugler, went charging into the wilds of the Myles Standish State Forest. 

The Troop of 16 Scouts and three leaders left camp around 10:00am for the bike trip, which was planned by the Scouts at the September 24th meeting. After one minor non-injury wipeout and multiple dismounts for road crossings, the Scouts had their lunches at the Myles Standish Headquarters. After having lunch and pointing out a forgotten relic from the late 1900s (a pay phone), the Troop departed to complete the 10-mile round trip back to camp.  The Troop returned to camp around 2:00pm. Once the Troop returned to camp, five Scouts (Dom x2, Jake, Jack, and Rocco) looked into the Cycling Merit Badge, decided that they were not finished, and went back out for another five-mile ride.

The afternoon was filled with free choice around camp, many opting to play catch or make use of the fire pit. Leaders were pleasantly surprised when Scouts Ben, Declan, Jack, and Dean proactively worked on rank advancement! 

The bike ride must have been draining, as Scouts prepared dinner at the astounding hour of 3:30pm, and many patrols were eating their spaghetti,  pizza, and calzones well before 5:00pm. All's well, as it took equally long to clean up as cook, only to be reminded by Bobby about the “most important meal of the day...dessert!” (Confusingly, he said the same thing about breakfast this past meeting).

After the sun fell, the kitchens and bikes were secured in the troop trailer, and the Scouts were thoroughly exhausted. Everyone enjoyed a few moments around the campfire, retiring flags before turning in early. 

Sunday brought rain (the weather couldn't stay perfect for a whole 513 trip), although it luckily ended before the Scouts decided to wake again, before sunrise, and once again to the protest of leaders. After an unusually long time spent at Dunkin, we made our way back to Stoneham in time for some afternoon naps. It was such a great trip, Scoutmaster Jim McLaughlin even burst into a brief song (Scouts offered no comment on the quality of singing)!

If you are interested in Scouting, we offer programs for boys and girls from grades K-12. To learn more about Scouting in Stoneham, go to StonehamScouting.org.