February 2005 Activities
Now Playing: (Events 7-13)
Topic: b - February 2005
EVENT #7 - VIGIL FIRE - FREE EVENT
February 4, 2005

We started the month celebrating the beginning of National Scout Week. Kishwaukee District conducts a Vigil Fire which is started Friday night and burns continuously until Sunday Morning. Troops and Packs take turns watching the fire. Lighting the fire on Friday night involves an elaborate indian ceremony conducted by the Order of the Arrow. Once lit, each pack and troop contributes a log to the fire, decorated by their Scouts. Afterwards we celebrate with a cracker barrel of hot beverages, juice, and snacks in a nearby building. Sycamore Sportsman's Club has been very a generous host for several years.


EVENT #8 - KLONDIKE DERBY - $5
February 5, 2005

We had patrols competing on two sled teams this year at the Klondike Derby. Scout troops compete at various stations on a route through open fields and woods. Events included patrol team challenge, compass, knot identification, first aid, tomahawk throwing, indoor .22 rife range, and an event where Scouts had to build a bridge from staves & rope, and shuttle their Klondike sled across. Troop 39 of Waterman took top honors. Webelos also competed separately from the troops.


EVENT #9 - CASCADE MOUNTAIN SKI TRIP - $85
February 12, 2005

Scouts enjoyed skiing and snowboarding at Cascade Mountain Resort near Portage, Wisconsin. It was a perfect day to be outdoors and the snow was great. About half were on skis and half on snowboards. We enjoyed the slopes through the afternoon and into the evening. We stopped for a great dinner on the way home.


EVENT #10 - STARVED ROCK ADVENTURE - FREE
February 13, 2005

This is a single day event, and a long day at that. The weather was very warm for this time of year. We started the day at the Starved Rock Lock & Dam Visitors Center. We toured through the exhibits at the center, watched a barge pass through the lock, and did some eagle watching. Next we visited the Starved Rock Visitors Center and enjoyed those exhibits where we ate our sack lunches. Despite a light rain we did a hike at St Louis Canyon to a see the beautiful half frozen waterfall. It was a fantastic sight! Next we visited the rustic Starved Rock Lodge and hiked to the top of historic Starved Rock. We hiked to the cavern-like Council Overhang and to Ottawa Canyon, but the usually frozen waterfall there was already melted. We visited the old log stockade at nearby Matthiesson State Park. We stopped in to see the buffalo at Buffalo Rock State Park. We paid a visit to the gravesite of W.D. Boyce at the Ottawa Cemetary and retold the story of the Unknown Scout while we stood at the Tait McKenzie statue of the Unknown Scout at Boyce's Memorial. We toured the Ottawa Scouting Museum before stopping for dinner at McDonalds (dutch treat). We planned to end the long day sledding at Park in Ottawa, but there was no snow so we headed home.


EVENT #11 - LAKE SUPERIOR ADVENTURE - $140
February 18-21, 2005

Driving up into northern Wisconsin we stayed overnight at a Super 8 in Eagle River, Wisconsin. We enjoyed fresh waffles in the morning followed some time at their swimming pool and spa. We visited Klondike Days, their annual winter event. Dog Sledge pulling, horse pull, singers, lumberjacks, craft fair, and don't forget those Paul Bunyon brownies. We had a great time. Next we drove to Ashland, Wisconsin to witness the start of the 10k Book Across the Bay, a snowhoe/x-country ski race at night across Chequamenon Bay between Ashland and , Wisconsin. We did a little snowshoeing on Lake Superior, followed by a pizza party, then back to our motel rooms and indoor pool at the Bad River Indian Reservation. It snowed several inches that night. The next day we set out for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore to snowshoe to ice caves along Lake Superior. The ice wasn't safe this year, so instead we did a hike along the shoreline amid a raging snowstorm. Travel by car was treacherous. We slowly made our way to the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center where we enjoyed the many exhibits and had a picnic lunch. Driving west to Duluth, the travel became much easier on the interstate. We drove south to Hinckley, Minnesota and checked in at the Days Inn where we enjoyed their indoor pool and spa. The next day we drove to the Paw Tuckaway Kennel in Danbury, Wisconsin. Here, dog sledding was the highlight of the trip. We learned about sleds, commands, dog breeds, etc. The best part of course was actually driving a team of dogs with a sled through the northwoods. Boys took turns driving a sled or riding in the sled. The dogs were the focal point especially two young pups named Demon and Avalanche. Thanks to Cliff and Kathy Maxfield for their great dogsled program.


EVENT #12 - Pack 141 Crossover - FREE
February 26, 2005

We visited Cub Scout Pack 141 of Belvidere, Illinois to welcome Tyler into our troop. They had an excellend banquet with an awards ceremony. They had a special guest speaker that day, a man who had been involved in Scouting back in the 1930's and he related some stories from Scouting's earlier years.


EVENT #13 - Pack 132 Crossover - FREE
February 27, 2005

We visited Cub Scout Pack 132 of DeKalb, Illinois to welcome Jeremy, Mitchell, and Zachary into our troop. They had a great banquet, awards ceremony, and a flea circus which included a great magic show.