Geocaching

Once a month, the youth leaders get together for a Patrol Leadership Council meeting where they plan troop meetings and camping trips for the upcoming month. The theme for this month was geocaching. A couple of the scouts volunteered to run demos to explain geocaching. The scouts learned the background on geocaching, fun facts about geocaching, available geocaching apps, guidelines for geocaching, and how to create and register your own geocache. The troop picked a weekend to go out into the field to apply what was learned in the troop meetings.

We met at Lawton Farm and broke up into groups to adhere to the social distancing guidelines. The troop found three geocaches and placed four Troop 8 sponsored geocaches. The geocaches the troop placed are named: Twin Trees, Rock Family, The Fishing Hole, and Rocky Road. For geocaches to be registered, they have to be approved before they are published. The geocaches are currently pending approval. Once approved, links will be provided.

For those who participated, Geocaching was a great opportunity to get up and outside, get in a short hike, and at the same time put into action what we learned about geocaching.

Eagle Project at Shepherd of the Valley Church

Shepherd of the Valley (SOTV) United Methodist Church is the sponsoring organization for Troop 8 Cranston. For the past 15+ years, SOTV has been extremely supported of Troop 8. When David was looking for a project, he reached out to SOTV to see if there were any opportunities to complete a project at the church as a way to give back for all they have done for the troop. SOTV provided several project ideas, but the one that resonated with David, was a project to clear an overgrown area at the base of the bell tower. Shrubs were planted around the base of the bell tower 20+ years ago and they have become so overgrown that it prevented any access to the bell tower. The bell tower is special to the church because it contains two bells that represent two churches that came together in the past. David was told the bells in the bell tower have not been rung since Sept 11, 2002, the one-year anniversary of the tragic day on Sept 11th. Being able to ring this bell again has been high on the new pastor’s list of improvements she is hoping to bring to the church.

From the pictures below, you can see the before and after of the project. The construction hay was placed over the seeds while they stay dormant over the winter. David plans to come back in the spring to make sure the grass is growing and he said he will reseed and fertilize if needed.

Rock Climbing at Rock Spot

In order to break up the monotony of weekly troop meetings at the church, the Troop will periodically find outside activities. In May, the Troop moved the troop meeting to Rock Spot in Lincoln where the boys climbed for two hours. We had three trained adult belayers from our Troop helping to belay while others took advantage of the self-belaying system.

It was great to see the boys challenge themselves to take on difficult climbs while their fellow scouts were encouraging them from the ground.

Scout Sunday

Shepherd of the Valley is the sponsoring organization for Pack 8 Cranston and Troop 8 Cranston. Each year, Pastor Katherine, honours the boys from Pack 8 Cranston and Troop 8 Cranston with a special Scout Sunday mass. The boys participate during the mass by taking on readings and handing out the collection basket. Following the mass, the Troop hosts a coffee and pastries hour where the parishioners will stay and mingle with friends and get to know the scouts that share their church.