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Cold weather provides opportunity for Boy Scouts to practice skills
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.One of the troops practiced map reading skills. Each of the troops would participate in all of the activities and would later get scored on their performance.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The Boy Scouts set up their tents on Camp Akela, part of Camp Stambaugh, for the Klondike Derby on Jan. 15 and 16. The troops worked on their outdoor scout skills over the course of two days.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Some of the Boy Scouts worked on identifying the skulls, furs and antlers of animals. Animal .identification was one of the activities the scouts participated in during the Klondike Derby.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Two of the Boy Scouts practied making a fire out of a bow. The boys had to use different techniques to start a fire.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Boy Scout Troop 2 of Poland United Methodist Church showed off their knot tying skills. Knot tying was one of the activities all of the troops had to work on.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Camp Stambaugh in Canfield was the home to several Boy Scouts for the annual Whispering Pines District Boy Scout Klondike Derby on Jan. 15 and 16. This year’s theme is the “Yukon Gold Rush.”
Boy Scout troops from Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, North Lima, Hubbard, North Jackson, Poland, Springfield, Struthers and Youngstown stayed overnight at Camp Stambaugh to work on their outdoor scouting skills. The skills learned at the Klondike Derby are to help the Boy Scouts with any of their future scouting activities. The Boy Scouts worked on First Aid, knot tying, fire building, identifying plants and different animals furs, antlers and skulls, and map reading.
“Klondike has been around since as long as Boy Scouts has been around,” said Camp Ranger, Nathan Plesea.
The Klondike Derby helped several Boy Scouts work on advancing their skills while also learning tips and tricks from other scouts.
All of Camp Stambaugh was utilized by the Boy Scouts and the various skill areas that were set up around camp. The boys set up their tents on Camp Akela, while the other activities took place either inside cabins or on other outdoor areas of Stambaugh. Camp Stambaugh consists of about 400 total acres of land and is the location of several other Boy Scout events.
Each Boy Scout troop demonstrated their skills for the troop leader and at the end of the day, the Boy Scouts were graded on their performance. Those scouts who score the highest received an award.
The troops made go-karts to race, but because there was no snow, they couldn’t race the cars. However, with some rain and wind, abilities were put to the test of how well the boys could complete the tasks in uncooperative weather.
The Klondike Derby takes place annually for Boy Scouts.