First campout of the 2019 school year. Beautiful campground, lots of requirements completed towards advancement/merit badges, and great group of Scouts.
Summer camp 2018 was the culmination of a year of hard work, training and planning. What a year 2017-2018 was. Tears were shed, accomplishments were achieved and at the end of the camp week we earned the biggest award to date for Troop 008, the much sought after Honor Troop award.
We earned this distinction by performing a number of tasks that reflected the Scout Law, we ensured we were trustworthy, loyal, helpful, etc., and in the end the Camp staff determined we had achieved Honor Troop status. The Scouts earned this award. They over-perfomed in everyday imaginable. They were truly the great Troop 008.
Camp was such a blast. We went kayaking, mountain biking, swimming, did camp wide flag ceremonies, cooked, learned first aid, earned over 25 merit badges as a Troop and built the first brick in a foundation of future success for our Scouts.
This was a big deal camp for us, we truly turned a corner. What a camp. Congratulations on earning Honor Troop, "Great Troop 008"
The annual Thunderbird District Camporee was a journey into Camp Edward for an opportunity to show what we were made of relative to the rest of the Scouts in South Seattle.
We worked on achievement, motivation, unit cohesion and parent support. They all earned an A on these for this trip. We didn't win the top award this year, but we're ready for the competition again next year.
Proud to be members of the Thunderbird District, the best on in the Chief Seattle Council.
Troop 008 Celebrated its Spring court of honor on Sunday, June 9th. It was a momentous occasion for our Troop as many of our scouts earned the citizenship in the community merit badge. This badge is one of the 12 required to earn the rank of Eagle Scout and is one of the cornerstones of the scouting experience especially for our Troop. So much so that earning this badge is mandatory before any Scout may attend summer camp as a member of Troop 008. Several of our Scouts also earned other badges and honors including the Rifle Shooting, Swimming, and Citizenship in the Nation merit badges.
Here we also awarded new leadership ranks as follows:
- Lincoln Wilmore (Senior Patrol Leader)
- Elijah Rideout (Assistant Senior Patrol Leader)
- Jordan Hurd (Patrol Leader Panther Patrol)
- Edward Hughes (Patrol Leader Falcon Patrol)
Congratulations to all our Scouts and families on a year well done!
The first camping trip of 2018. An adventure to say the least. The trail to the falls was surrounded by moss until the eventual reward of a beautiful waterfall. After the successful hike, we were joined by Troop 909 of Woodinville, and enjoyed a night of fire, fun and songs.
Weather was easy and it was the most relaxing trip of the year yet. Heat in the cabins is a game changer after last campouts freezing weather.
Troop 008 in partnership with the Washington Trails Association (WTA) & Black People Hike (BPH) worked on maintaining Coal Creek Trail on Cougar Mountain in Issaquah. The Scouts brought a ton of energy & enthusiasm throughout the course of the day and did a great job handling the numerous tasks they were assigned.
Here's what the leader of the work party from the WTA had to say about the day: "We got a huge amount of work done clearing drains, doing tread repair, and also brushing the corridor and cutting down overhanging limbs. We worked so efficiently that we even surpassed the land managers expectations and went above and beyond the quality of work that he was hoping to achieve. And on top of all that, we ended the day with a beautiful sighting of a Pileated Woodpecker. Thanks again for working so hard out there and I hope I get to work with you all again soon."
Great job Troop 008!
On a day in which most people were at home wrapped up their warmest blanket, Troop 008 saw it as a perfect opportunity to go on their first camping trip of the school year. Despite of the coldest temperatures the area has seen in early Nov. in 40+ years, they had a record number of Scouts attend. They learned the fascinating history of Fort Casey and explored the many bunkers, batteries, and pillboxes. Throughout the onslaught of rain & snow the Scouts took in the amazing views of the PNW and made a phenomenal amount of progress towards earning their next rank and obtaining the camping merit badge. The Troop showed an amazing amount of grit and determination to not allow the weather to take away from the experience. Huge shoutout to the parents that made the trip for their show of support and enduring the elements!
This past Sunday, June 11th, with the beautiful backdrop of Rainier Beach's Beer Sheva park serving as a landscape for such a momentous ceremony, our boys attended their 2nd Court of Honor of the year. It was an inspiring day with the boys earning their Scout and Tenderfoot ranks. Everyone was looking sharp and they were excited for their new awards. They were then treated by having Garfield High graduate, Commissioner for Washington State Commission on African American Affairs, and Tukwila City Councilmember, De'Seann Quinn give a fantastic speech telling the boys about how special they were and encouraging them to stay the course on the path to Eagle. A very special shootout to CM Quinn.
The troop continues to grow with more youth, and now, a new leader. We officially welcomed new Assistant Scoutmaster Brandon Heresy, an Eagle Scout, to Troop 008.
We were also lucky to have a professional photographer in attendance, who took some fantastic shots of the families after they had won their awards.
On a beautiful Spring morning, Troop 008 teamed up with the Pack in order to tackle the challenge that Poo Poo Point (Chirico Trail) presented. All our parents showed up in strong support, the kids were able to take advantage of excellent trail conditions to get a great workout en route to watching a group of paragliders take off from the top of the mountain. Even the Scoutmaster had a tough time coping with the switchbacks and hills, but the weather made it easy to cope with.
Troop 008 joined folks from Troop 222 and other organizations around the Rainier Valley for the largest Southeast Seattle clean of the year! Bridge 2 Beach is the Rainier Valley's Day of Beautification that is held annually the weekend after Earth Day.
Troop 008 was in charge of cleaning the walk way behind the Rainier Beach Safeway that runs along Mapes Creek. It was a difficult task but we made quick waste of the extra trash to help make our neighborhood even nicer.
Here is a great quote from the news coverage in the South Seattle Emerald (thank you for covering us!):
“According to head scout master Adrian Cowens, the cleaning of the walkway, which begins in back of the Rainier Beach Safeway and empties out on Henderson street in front of Rainier Beach High School’s track, also provided a sense of community ownership in his young scouts.
“It’s important that our kids understand how to be leaders inside of our community. I want our kids to be proud to be from Rainier Valley when they talk to anybody else who lives in any other part of the city. But it’s not enough to just come from here, you also have to help the community you live in out,” says Cowens, fresh from debriefing with his scouts in front of the Rainer Beach Community Center as they dismissed for the day.”
Longest Troop campout yet. Thunderbird District Spring Camporee 2017... it was cold, the competition was stiff and yet we still did our best and came home better for it. Everyone brought their A game. Competitions that tested our skills and wit included, first aid, the marshmallow kick, pioneering challenge, archery, iron chef, and a spirited game of capture the flag.
Next year we will finish higher in the standings but the Scoutmasters couldn't be more proud! Every campout we are looking more and more sharp and the boys continue to lead and amaze!
Another amazing adventure- this time we were able to share lunch with one of our favorite Seahawks players!
A special thank you to the great staff at the Chief Seattle Council for extending an invitation to the Troop to join for the Council's annual Seahawks Luncheon. This year's featured Seahawks player was wide receiver extraordinaire, Tyler Lockett. He was able to talk about how the Scout
Local heros and fellow Thunderbird District alumni Former U.S. Commerce Secretary & Washington State Governor Gary Locke and Distinguished Eagle Scout Scott Oki were there to make the event even more special and provide additional inspiration.
The boys were there to greet guests as they walked in and had to battle through a long lunch but it was worth it in the end to get an opportunity to meet Tyler, get his autograph and ask few questions as well (a few us got to ask more than others!).
[Click on the pics for more]
This past weekend we went on a trip to the beautiful Deception Pass near Oak Harbor, Washington. We had originally planned to head to Fort Casey in Southern Whidbey island, but the fear of rain on our tents with no trees to protect, led us to stop further north at Deception Pass instead. This ended up being a great decision, as Deception Pass is super busy during the peak season and it was nice to have most of our area of the park to ourselves. We stayed in the lower campground near Cranberry Lake.
We set up camp, prepared ourselves for the worst, and were fortunately met with mild weather the rest of the weekend. Food was a plenty and boys had a blast hiking, playing capture the flag and enjoying all the other activities the program director had planned for the day/evening.
Here are some of the pictures [click for more].
And for what is fast becoming a Troop 008 tradition, we are showing off how we doing things differently than your dad's troop. Check out the campfire dance party...
"Rocked it" at Troop 008's nearby climbing gym in the Central District. Lots of fun climbing on things for hours. A special thanks to Stan for providing the instruction and to Seattle Bouldering Project for the great experience.
Parents thanks for attending and I hope you had a great time. All the Scouts were looking clean in their Class-A uniforms. We were even prepared with an extra uniform when needed (see if you can tell who needed it)
The pizza went fast. Congratulations to all the Scouts in the America's Guard patrol for acheiving their Scout rank.
Another dope outing into the wilderness and great beyond. This time our adventures brought us to Mt. Rainier National Park. We planned our play day at the Paradise section of the park, where there was plenty of snow to do whatever our hearts could desire with. The boys planned to hike up the mountain and do some boy scout tubing, and they had a great time doing it. The adults enjoyed a balmy temperature that made the snow somewhat bearable.
This past weekend, the troop planned a trip to Dash Point Park. It was the first official campout as a Boy Scout Troop. We had hot dogs, s'mores, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit and whatever else the boys decided for their menu.
We took part in some hiking, played by the beach, worked on "scout advancement", and then hung out by the camp fire. Throughout the evening, the rain progressively worsened, but a good time was had by all, regardless! We packed up the next morning with dew on the ground and the smell of rainfall still lingering on the air, and we made our way back to Seattle.