Recent Events

August 06

If this is August it must be Holden Days Rope Bridge time! The venerable bridge still seems to be the most popular attraction at the event and a great opportunity for public service. August also featured a 17 mile, 3 night trek over the highest points in the White Mountains called the Presidential Traverse. Five older boys and three adults experienced all the different weather the the Whites cans conjur up over 4000 feet. The boys met many AT thru hikers at the AMC huts and have a few stroies to tell themselves

July 06

Our second year at Camp Wanocksett was just as fun as '05! Jason led eleven other scouts through lots of merit badges and advancement. The Monadnock Arch (40' wide, 12' tall and 4' wide) was constructed and some said it couldn't be done.

June 06

This year, the boys canoed the Ware River in Barre, Eagle Lake and the Millers River on Tuesday nights in June and still had time the the Annual Ice Cream Social!

May 06

May welcomed some new Webelos to the troop and the chance to get outside on Tuesday nights (when it wasn't raining) We got a chance to see and hear about Mr Matheson's hiking trip to Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa. We started Personal Fitness Merit Badge, add in some trail cooking, a little rope work, some lashing demos, a little volley ball, patrol competitions, some crab soccer and voila!. It's June.

April 06

April was busy with preparation for the Washington DC/Annapolis trip. Eight boys and three adults camped near Annapolis MD along the banks of the Chesapeake during school vacation. They toured the US Naval Academy and many sites in the Capitol including the Smithsonian and the National Archives. The troop also had an off site meeting at Troutbrook.

March 06

March kicked off with a well attended double Eagle Court of Honor on March 3 for Andy and Mike. We had a highly successful Annual Spaghetti Supper and Silent Auction. Back packing was the theme of the month. We prepared menus and had a very informative demo on backpacking gear from Mr Ridley of New England Back Packer. A two day campout along the Mid State Trail afforded a great opportunity for the Troop 180 obligation to maintain a section of the trail. Nearly 2 miles of the trail was cleared and a lot of advancement went on over the days. Coyotes joined in the fun on the second night adding a degree of excitement with their howling!

February 06

February, a school vacation shortened month, featured no more snow than January, the cross country skiing event at Northfield Mountain was scratched for trail maintenance along the Mid State. The PLC set a goal for the troop to deliver 16 merit badge write-ups to Mr Diehl by February 21. A pizza party was in the offing if the goal was made. We practiced for the upcoming Eagle Court- and had a pizza party!

January 06
January was very busy with Winter Carnival prep and Klondike prep. We had an offsite meeting at Trout Brook for some fire building practice that really paid off at the Winter Carnival and especially at the Klondike. First Aid was also featured. We had great weather and a great spot along the brook for camping at Winter Carnival (not so good for winter sports however). We ate very well, field prepped hot potato soup and appetizers for lunch. For dinner Ben and Mason helped prep a smashing beef stew and not to be outdone, Parker came through with a black bean soup that was a revelation! For dessert, crazy bananas. Starting to sound like the food network around here!

December, 05Service Month.

We assembled the creche on the lawn of the church and participated in the weeaide project, each patrol creating a gift filled "shoebox", the adults participated as well. We were fortunate to hear from a Troop 180 leader alumni, Jim Matheson about his post hurricane Katrina trip to the Gulfport Mississippi area as a relief volunteer area for the Red Cross. Mr Matheson's descriptions of the damage and the effect of the flooding and wind damage on the people was very compelling. We ended up the month with some night sledding at Holden Hills!

November 05, Climbing Month,

We had some video prep for handling ropes and safety concerns followed by 2 Tuesday meetings off site at the climbing wall at the Central YMCA. Our climbing event took place at Carabiners in New Bedford. We'll have pictures soon in the Photo Gallery. Carabiners features the largest climbing area in the US. 60' soaring towers, caves and everything else! We camped at Camp Squanto in Myles Standish State Park in Carver (of course it snowed by the AM)

Cycling Merit Badge

Mr. DeRivera Has conducted 2 cycling merit badge sessions and will be the counselor for the badge. A group of boys has signed up, please take advantage of this opportunity.

Fort Kent Maine July 30 - August 4

From Long Lake through Mud Lake to Cross Lake to Square Lake, pack all your gear in the boat and go! The water got a little choppy on day 2 but the weather held out for 6 boys and 4 adults and they tested out their canoeing and camping skills on some big water lakes in Maine. On the last day, a rafting trip down the Penobscot rounded out the trip quite nicely

Summer Camp June 26- August 2 2005 Mr Lacasse, Mr Diehl and Mr Callahan Led eight boys to Camp Wanocksett in Dublin NH for the first time. Parker was senior patrol leader for the camp. The younger boys worked on canoeing and swimming merit badges as well as advancement. The Wanocksett Experience is very well run with a very enthusiastic staff. The boys did very well

Gettysburg Trip April 17-21, 2005 Citizenship month featured beautiful weather for a 5 day trip camping on the battlefield at Gettysburg. McMillan Woods is on Seminary Ridge, a few steps from the beginning spot of Pickett's Charge. Caving at night in Devil's Den seemed to be a highlight as well as the Ghost Tour in the town.