The annual Troop 137 White Elephant was held on December 14th and it started out with some peculiar shaped gifts.  One gift resembled a very large hammer while another resembled a vacuum cleaner, among many other gifts ranging in size.

As scouts took turns selecting and “stealing” gifts there was quite the assortment of gifts including a pinewood derby car, doll body parts, various candy, a boom box, not one but two! toilet bowl cleaning gadgets, a large wooden hammer, and even a large holiday bear!

Overall, it was a great time with lots of fun shared between the scouts.

-Benjamin N. Shenko

The Thanksgiving trip was a banging success! Once all the scouts arrived at Castle Rock, the canopies went up quickly and bunks were found.  Scouts then prepared dinner, had some fun and made sure to get a good night’s rest for the day ahead. 

On day two, the scouts played British bulldogs and also worked on our annual service project at Musser Scout Reservation which included painting and brush clearing.  At around noon the scouts started to prepare their Thanksgiving meals with most coming out great, and some well… you know what I mean. 

Once all the meals were cooked, and bellies full, it was time for the party at the Rock which was a blast!  On the third day it was time to break down camp and go home which went surprisingly well compared to most clean up days.  

In our circle up before departing, scouts expressed what they took away from the trip which included their favorite foods - like apple dumplings, reflected on how organized clean-up went, and what the senior scouts expected for the younger scouts to take on in the future.

-Benjamin N. Shenko

The trip to cuboree was a very odd one at least not with what was expected, but still much to include so here is the story of 2023 Cuboree! 

When we first arrived at Cuboree the clouds were dark and a light haze was melting across the landscape. Once we set up tents and canopies it was time for decorating. Some Scouts decided to build an Eiffel Tower with sticks while some decorated the walls with French flags and other various French items. Once the decorations were up, it was time for sleep and it was a chilly night. A small amount of tents got wet but it was still a good night with not much goofing off.

In the morning, it was cold and dewy. Once breakfast was made and Scouts were full, it was time to set up for the Cub Scouts. The plan for the Cub Scouts was one of two options:  big wheel racing and building the Eiffel Tower out of marshmallows and toothpicks. As the Cub Scouts arrived it started to rain just a little, then a constant light rain that soon evolved to a drizzle. Jonathan Greenley got a fire going and we were rolling smoothly through the groups of Cubs! When the last group came through, we got a notification that the rest of the evening Cuboree activities had been canceled due to weather - at least the Cub Scout day was complete! We quickly packed up, in record time, and left to go back home to get warm and dry.
-Benjamin N. Shenko

The trip to Harper’s Ferry was a fun and wet one at the minimum,

It started off with a trip to the National history museum to Harpers ferry, once we got there we went on a short hike down and throughout the cornfield of the battle ground eventually getting to the watchtower where the view was quite amazing . After we returned from the hike and watch tower we checked out the exhibits of history which were pretty good.Back on the road again this time the destination harpers ferry!!!. Once we got there things were soaked to say the least no problems setting up though.once we were all set up it was off to the gost tour wich the walking around was sadly canceled due to the rain but it was still  a great time with some scout getting chills.

Sunday, the morning started off well with scouts enjoying their meals and having fun then it was off to the road again this time to the town of harpers ferry. Once we got to the adventure center when waiting for a bus to take us to harpers ferry a large flock of scouts found out that they offered joiner ranger courses they were quite excited to go and one for themselves. Once we arrived in harpers ferry we went to the main museum which we learned all about the history.The we attended a ranger talk in which we learned evan more about the history of harpers ferry.after words the scouts were set free and we're allowed to rome the museums of the small street.later after the setting free of the scouts we met back up and got ready for the hike to the cliff.The 1st half of the hike was long and hard with all of it being uphill but the view was great the scouts said as they were leaving the hike.Once we got down the mountain it was ice cream time and as one scout put ,”I didn't realize what I could do with ice cream at the end of it”,.When we got home that evening it was quite a blast with the campfire going a kids laughing and playing it was all a good night with only a train blaring at 3AM one scout said.

Monday morning was finally dry wich was great,breakfast was good a scouts were packing up and getting ready for zip lines was a blast feeling the wind blowing in your face it was amazing after words when group two went off to their ziplining sension and we found something, it was a ground spike lodged into a tree taking all of the scouts strength to only make it wiggle but none 

The trip was a great time with fun and history everywhere.

-Benjamin N. Shenko

April 15-16, 2023