Boy Scouts complete trek from Trumansburg to Marathon

This article was written by Liam G. B. Murphy, of Ithaca. Want to write for us? Email us at [email protected]

Despite a lack of snow, eight patrols of Boy Scouts from the Taughannock District of the Baden Powell Council competed in their Winter Camporee, entitled “South Seas Adventure," last month.

The complex competition required the Scouts, who came from Trumansburg to Marathon and all points in between, to demonstrate their skill at everything from crossing their entire patrol across a two-rope bridge, navigating with map and compass, starting a fire from the wet materials found from the recent melt to a high-tech scavenger hunt.

The annual Winter Camporee is a high point of the scouting year for the District, which includes all of Tompkins and Cortland counties, as it gives Scouts a chance to test their skills against many other troops.

The Scouting program is focused on helping boys develop leadership, a sense of team-work and value for the skills that each boy brings to his patrol. Scouting builds good citizens by helping the Scout realize and develop valuable skills which help not only his patrol, but his troop and his community. Many Scouts go on to use these skills in activities as varied as captaining sports teams, leading robotics teams and heading up academic research projects.

Among the more interesting competitions was a “Chef’s Surprise” competition sponsored by Homer’s Troop 79, requiring patrols to cook an entire meal for themselves from scratch and without prior planning, using only ingredients they were given on site.

The Scouts competed for the right to host the Taughannock District’s highly-prized “Taughann-Duck” pole for the year in recognition of being the best in two-counties.

This year’s competition was won by the Puffin Hole Patrol of Troop 55 in Ellis Hollow, near Ithaca. Troop 2 of Ithaca’s Spartan Patrol took second place with Troop 55’s Ghostly Tree Heron patrol coming in third.

Troop 34’s Cupcake Patrol from Newfield and the winning Puffin Hole Patrol from Ithaca’s Troop 55 both earned the “South Seas Finder” award for finding all fifty items in the scavenger hunt.

Boy Scouting welcomes all boys who are 11 years old (or 10½ and completed fifth grade), up to the age of 18. We prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. We are “boy-led, adult-guided” meaning the Scouts plan the program with adults guiding them to create a safe space for boys to be their best selves – no one gets “cut” from Scouts.

The Taughannock District also has Cub Scout Packs for boys from first through fifth grades, as well as a Venture Crews, Explorer Posts and a Sea Scout Ship, all for boys and girls from 14 to 20 years old. If you want to find out more about Scouting, visit our district website at TCScouts.org or call the Baden Powell Council office at 877-674- 8876.

Check out more photos from the event: