2009 Highlights of Boy Scout Troop 68

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Welcome to the Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68's
2009 Photo Gallery!
All pictures on this page are thumbnailed. Click on them for the big picture.

Click on a gallery name to go to that gallery:

The Overnighter	Scout Sunday	Camp Stearns
Water Park Fun	March Court of Honor	Ripley Rendezvous
Scouting Displays	Kings Lake Outing	City Park Clean-up
Many Point Scout Camp	Renaissance Festival	August Court Of Honor
Council Open House	Legion Flag Disposal	Scenic District Camp
LPMRB Activity	December Court Of Honor

The Overnighter
January 24-25, 2009

The Boy Scouts of Troop love to have fun and compete with each other. That is probably way the troop's overnighter activity is so popular. This 13 hour all-night activity has the Scouts competing in several contests including table tennis, darts, Wii bowling, chess and Battleship. Then there are the movies to watch. Oh, and don't forget all the pizzas and snacks and soda to consume. There is a lot to stay busy with during this troop activity.

The chess tournament has been a part of the overnighters since they began.	Battleship is a recent addition to the tournament schedule.	The assistant scoutmasters enjoyed a game of cards while the Boy Scouts were busy.	The dart board stayed busy for many hours during the double elimination tournament.
Wii bowling is another recent addition to the scheduled tournaments.	Here is a picture of the tournament schedules and some of the snacks.	Table tennis is a popular event during the overnight activity.	It was up to the Scouts to keep the tournament lists up to date.

Scout Sunday
February 8, 2009

Several Boy Scouts of Troop 68 took part in service at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose in recognition of the annual Scout Sunday. Two Scouts were the mass servers. One Scout and adult troop leader brought up the gifts.

Camp Stearns Winter Outing
February 20-22, 2009

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 had a great time during the weekend outing at Camp Stearns in Central Minnesota.

Water Park Fun
March 21, 2009

Five members of Troop 68 attended the March activity which took the boys to the Water park Of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The water park is one of the largest indoor water parks in the USA. The Scouts had hours of fun as they rode the body tubes, shoot down the tube slides, and even tried surfing on the special surfing pool. Just make sure that your swim trucks are tied tight.

Chrildren and adults of all ages come to have fun at the water park.	The water slides are some of the biggest attractions at the park.	This is the pool where the tube slide ends.	Another pool had a small wave machine which gave the younger children a fun time.
Try your skills surfing, but make sure you don't lose your trunks. That water is powerful.	How about a game of basketball?	The children's pool had its own fun wet activities to keep the little ones busy.	After nearly five hours in the park the Scouts were ready to grab a good meal.

March Court of Honor
March 30, 2009

Boy Scout Troop 68 held its first court of honor of the year at the Melrose City meeting rooms. Two Scouts earned merit badges, one received his First Class Rank, and one Scout received his Life Rank. There was also a game of Jepardy played at the middle of the court of honor.

The court of honor is ready to begin.

How about a game of Scouting Jepardy?

One Scout received his First Class Rank.

The Life Rank was presented to one Scout.

CMC Ripley Rendezvous
April 24-26, 2009

Hundreds of Boy Scouts from the Central Minnesota Council gathered at the Minnesota National Guard's Camp Ripley near Little Falls for a weekend of fun and adventure. Several programs were available, designed for the various ages of the Scouts. Younger boys attended the First Class Emphasis program, while older Scouts went to the shooting ranges or the back country adventures of Camp Ripley. The Order of the Arrow held a call-out ceremony Saturday night.

We stayed in one of the Camp Ripley barracks.	The First Class Emphasis program included a cooking demonstration.	Older Scouts were able to practice their archery skills on one of the ranges.	The 22 rifle range was also a popular spot for the older boys.
Outside of the Camp Ripley Museum were several military vehicles.	Inside the museum were many artifacts, including this old radio.	The Boy Scouts spent a lot of time climbing on the vehicles parked outside of the museum.	The Saturday evening program included many carnival-style games.

Scouting Displays
May 2009

To get the word out about the Scouting program before the troop's recruitment drive on May 9, the troop set up three displays around town. We would like to thank the Central Minnesota Credit Federal Union, the Freeport State Bank, and the City of Melrose for allowing us to set up the displays.

The display at the Central Minnesota Federal Credit Union featured Eagle Scouts.

The display at the Freeport State Bank, Melrose branch, was about high adventure.

The display at the Melrose City Hall was about general Scouting.

These two members of Boy Scout
Troop 68 helped set up the displays.

Kings Lake Outing
June 20-21

It was a small turnout but we did have plenty of fun during this two day activity. We stayed at the Borgerding cabin on King's Lake. It was a nice relaxing weekend that included a hike into Freeport for chocolate malts at Charlies Cafe and a good game of disc golf.

The Boy Scouts have arrived.
Time to set up camp.

Just relaxing around the campfire.

Ready. Set. Fire the water balloon slingshot!

Be careful of where you throw your frisbee during disc golf.

City Park Clean-up
June 28, 28

While the mess and litter were not as bad as last year, there was still plenty to clean up after this year's Riverfest celebration.

One view of the litter found in the park...

after Saturday's celebration.

The Scouts also took down the tables and benches.

Looking much better now.

Many Point Scout Camp
July 12-18

Eight of the nine members of Troop 68 attended a week of camp at Many Point Scout Camp. We once again stayed in the Seton Campsite of the Buckskin Camp. The weather was a bit cool to go swimming much this week but it helped to keep the bugs tolerable and gave us time to play disc golf. The Boy Scouts did an excellent job earning merit badges, coming home with 29 completed.

The Seton campsite in Buckskin Camp.	Waiting for the Sunday night opening campfire program to begin.	Participating in a Ethics in Action game.	Doing our service project for the Super Troop award.
Cooling off while playing water polo.	Walking back to camp. The new shower house can be seen up ahead.	The new climbing is a lot bigger than the old climbing tower.	Waiting for the gate to open.
First, we try the bouldering wall.	Having fun at the archery range.	Even our scoutmaster shoots well.	Preparing to shoot at the rifle range.
Morning flag raising in the campsite.	Is it a survey, or is it homework?	Throw well, and don't lose the frisbee.	The troop on the new disc golf course.
What a great looking troop. Yes?	Waiting for the next activity to begin.	The Friday night campfire is about to begin.	Not used to walking? Look what you get.

Renaissance Festival
August 22, 2009

The Boy Scouts from Troop 68 decided that a trip to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival was just the thing for their activity in August. And after spending several hours there they went to Valleyfair amusement park to take in the rides and fun offered.

The group picture taken outside the gate to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.	There are some strange and interesting things to see.	Of course, there is plenty to eat, including these turkey drumsticks.	Puke and Snot were just one of the many shows performed during the day.
The weapons displays were popular with the Boy Scouts.	I do not think this is Captain Jack Sparrow. Do you?	Toward the end of our visit we decided to relax in the swings.	The Tomato Justice booth was a popular place.

August Court Of Honor
August 31, 2009

There was a nice number of merit badge to present during the court of honor. The Scouts did well during summer camp.

Our troop chaplain lead us in an opening prayer.

The meeting ended with the troop singing Scout Vespers.

The Scouts proudly display their awards.

Alex recently passed his Eagle board of review.

Council Open House
September 2, 2009

The Central Minnesota Council, BSA, held an open house to kick off the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. There were plenty of games for the kids to play, lots of display to view, and the "A Century of Values" RV staff to visit with. The council also received a copy of the "A Century of Values" print.
Videos of the event can be seen through the Melrose Scouting Productions podcast at feed://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions (#74-78).

Central Minnesota Council Open House 2009

Shooting bottle rockets was one of the activities for the younger kids.

The bouldering wall was a popular activity.

Unfortunately, the RV had a flat tire that needed to be fixed.

We posed for a picture with the "A Century Of Values" print.

Legion Flag Disposal
September 3, 2009

The Boy Scout troop received a call from the American Legion asking for help with this fall's flag disposal (retirement) ceremony. It was the first time these Boy Scouts participated in an event like this.

One of the Boy Scouts' responsibilities was to carry the flags from the vehicles to the table.

There were a lot of used flags to be retired
from service.

The Boy Scouts stand at attention during
the ceremony.

The flags go out in a blaze of glory.

Scenic District Camp
September 18-20, 2009

The Central Minnesota Council held a camporee at Parker Scout Reservation. The theme for the camporee was merit badges. Several merit badges were offered to the Boy Scouts in attendance. Meals were served by the camp staff. The weather was great. The new castle was cool.

The entrance to the new castle that was built at the camp.

No one complained about the food.

The guys take a break between activities.

The troops gather for the group assembly Saturday evening.

LPMRB Activity
November 21, 2009

The troop's annual LPMRB one day activity was a hit once again. The day began with a service project for the city of Melrose and than moved onto fun at the Skatin' Place in St. Cloud, followed by a stop at Godfather's Pizza, a movie, and finally Cosmic Bowling. Everyone was tired when it was time to go home.

The day began with the Boy Scouts assisting in the distribution of thousands of compact fluorescent bulbs for the city.

The activities began at the Skatin' Place for some skating fun.

The day ended at the bowling alley while wearing some funky shoes.

For some reason the parents were happy watching the Scouts while they were bowling.

Court Of Honor
December 21, 2009

The final court of honor of the year was held on Monday, December 21, at the Melrose city hall meeting rooms. The award ceremony was followed by the troop auction.

There were year pins to present...

and more years pins to present...

plus special awards to award...

and even an Eagle Palm.

Pictures used on this page were provided by Steve Borgerding. He retains the rights and ownership of these photographs.