Scouts Deliver!

Preston, Gary, and Will deliver!

Just in time for Christmas, Scouts delivered the food donations gathered this fall by Pack 321 and Troop 321 to the Salvation Army in Ishpeming.

The boys collected food as part of the BSA's "Scouting for Food" project. They'd planned to bring the cans to TV 6's Canathon, but the deadline slipped. No worries, though. The food stayed local and was received with great appreciation.

Elements of Pack 321 out in Gwinn also collected cans and donated them to a local food bank, too.

These are the types of projects that help boost Scouting's reputation, serve those in need, and teach the boys about helping out in their community.

Rest in Peace Steve Brewer

Steve Brewer, Scoutmaster, Troop 321

It is with a heavy heart that the Committee for Troop 321 announces the passing of our Scoutmaster, Steve Brewer, on Monday, December 9th, unexpectedly from natural causes. Steve had been with Scouting many years, and he was looking forward to seeing his son, Seth, complete the last of his Eagle Scout requirements this coming year. Our Troop owes Steve and his wife, Bonnie, a tremendous debt of gratitude for their service to the Troop. Steve will be greatly missed.

Visitation was held from 3:00 to 5:00 on Friday, December 13th at Bethel Lutheran Church followed by Steve's funeral.

Thank You Troop 321!

Click to enlarge

Troop 321 received a nice thank you letter from Dick Derby and the Wesley United Methodist Church for the Scouts' help with "Project Keep Kids Warm."

Troop 321 pitched in and helped prepare the donation bags, distribute the donation bags, and collect the donation bags all around the Ishpeming area this past month.

This is the sort of project that helps grow our boys' character and their reputation in our community. Click on the "Service" label for postings about other great projects our boys have supported.

Scouting for Food

Tyler W brings in a donation

In addition to helping keep kids warm, today also marked the official pickup date for the "Scouting for Food" service project. Scouts who hung bags on doors around their neighborhoods spent some of their Saturday collecting their bags.

Troop 321 will be donating its items on November 9th as part of the TV 6 Canathon drive to help restock local food banks. We hope to get a bit of media coverage during the drop-off, so all Scouts are encouraged to continue their collection activities until then and then help out on the 9th in uniform. 

Project Keep Kids Warm - Part 3

Our Scouts continued their service project to help "Keep Kids Warm" this morning by hitting the streets and picking up bags of winter clothing that donors left on their doorsteps.

Gary hits it big

Pickup day is always much easier than bag distribution day. With pickups, volunteers need only slowly cruise their route searching for bags stuffed with donations left on doorsteps.

Perhaps one in seven residences donated winter clothing this year, but collecting clothing is only half the project. The other half is to get these items out to people who need them. So even though most bags we distributed remained unfilled, they still served a purpose - to get the word out that warm winter wear will be available next week.

Sure, one in seven doesn't sound like a lot, but we hung bags on nearly seven thousand doors, so we may see a thousand donations. This means that our Scouts will be called once again into action to help set up tables at the Armory and sort through the donations by gender and size.

Project Keep Kids Warm - Part 2

Jackson & Gary visited 108 Apartments

Project Keep Kids Warm continued today with a very large community turnout. On this day, we distributed the bags we'd prepared last Tuesday. They went to Negaunee, Ishpeming, Ishpeming West, Republic, and Michigamme, nearly 7,000 bags in all. Pack 321 and Troop 321 contributed 9 scout volunteers in uniform and several adults. The boys represented themselves well.

The weather didn't cooperate for the first time in four years. However, we saw no shortage of help, and they covered all the routes as if it had been a sunny day. We have a word for that, sisu, and we have it here in abundance.

Hot dogs, hot chili, chips and sodas greeted the volunteers back at Wesley upon their return. And really, is there a better way to spend a rainy, dreary Saturday morning (short of a spa) than helping ensure no child goes without a warm winter coat this coming season?

You can read more about our efforts today here in the news.

Project Keep Kids Warm - Part 1

Jake attaches labels to bags

Project Keep Kids Warm put out the call for volunteers. They needed people on October 8th to help prepare clothing bags for distribution. This is the fourth year the project has gathered and distributed free used winter clothing to youth in need. This year the project will distribute 7,000 bags throughout Ishpeming, Negaunee, Republic, and Michigamme.

Both Pack 321 and Troop 321 responded to the call, and it's great to see how our Scouts' involvement has increased every year.

In today's phase of the project, Scouts, along with many other volunteers from various churches and community groups, prepared donation bags for distribution. This involved affixing a label explaining the project to each bag, tying a rubber band to a handle to secure the bag on door knobs, and counting out bags to go on each route. On Saturday, drivers will pick up a route map, pre-counted bags, and a couple of runners to distribute their bags.

Our volunteers included Nick, Jake, Willard, Gary, and Preston.

On Saturday volunteer drivers will pick up route maps, and their runners will deliver the bags throughout the area.

Webelos Weekend

Erick leads a nature hike

Each year Erick's troop hosts a "Webelos Weekend" and invites other packs to participate. Pack 321 sent two Webelos, and Gary went along to help out. We have a good relationship with Erick, even though he's Carl's older brother, and we look forward to this campout every year.

Although the weather looked dismal the entire weekend, in actuality, it stopped raining every time we had an outdoor activity. How's that for luck?

There's also a photo gallery available for those who want a longer look.

Webelos Orienteering

Darryl and Gary take a bearing

Pack 321's Webelos put out the call for a little help getting oriented on orienteering. Nick and Gary jumped at the chance to send the boys in circles. They set up a short course at Lakenenland Sculpture Park where there were enough giant sculptures to keep the boys entertained between waypoints.

Most of the Webelos were able to find their way home, and Gary now has a good start on his Orienteering Merit Badge.

Hessel International Scout Rally

Troop 321 cir. 1849

Hessel International Scout Rally enjoyed precisely 1,016 registered participants in this, our first year of attending. This year's theme: "Miner '49ers." We invited Pack 321's Webelos, and they made a good showing for themselves.

Unlike merit badge oriented summer camps, units set up campsites and activity centers to share with others. Each unit then traveled as a group from site to site participating in the various activities. We also competed for prizes in events that included cooking, costumes, cleanest campsite, and campsite entrances.

Carl and Darryl set up a "gold" panning station where the kids could wash out gold painted iron pellets. Robert set up an "Old Tyme" photo booth to take group pictures. While we didn't win any prizes, our free souvenirs were very popular, and we received many thank-you emails for the photos.

We've also posted photo galleries for Saturday and Sunday for those who would like to see the troop in action.

Potato Picking

Looks like Scouting

Troop 321 invited Pack 321 to go potato picking and share a picnic lunch today. For the past couple of years we've driven down to Melvin Johnson's Farm to glean from their fields what the automated machines miss. It's a great experience for the kids and a real boon to our local food pantries. 

After walking the fields in what amounted to a great, big, dirty, Easter egg hunt (the boys were thrilled), we packed up and headed over to Dawson Lake Park for lunch. The weather held out, and a few of the kids went swimming. Others beat the cattails for frogs, grasshoppers, turtles, and whatnot. 

You can find the rest of the photos in our photo gallery.

As for the potatoes; we kept some for ourselves, but most went to local food pantries. 

Rod & Gun Club Youth Day

Tyler draws a bead

The Negaunee Rod & Gun Club hosted its annual "Youth Day" today, and both Pack 321 and Troop 321 jumped at the chance to learn more about firearms, firearms safety, trapping, and bow hunting. And by learning, we mean getting to shoot!

The boys got to shoot pellet guns, bows, shotguns, .22 caliber rifles, and a muzzle loaded .45. They also got to hand-load and shoot their own .45 caliber bullet. The grownups were invited to use their cameras.

At the end of the day, the club raffled off door prizes. Everyone walked away with something, but there were only six coveted prizes to include shotguns, rifles, and hunting bows. Happily, our kids walked away with three of these!

Camp Hiawatha

Jackson mixing it up

Crossing over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, merit badges, rank advancement, camping skills, popcorn sales, spaghetti dinners, it all comes down to... summer camp!

At Camp Hiawatha the scouts really had a chance to cut loose and explore their interests. Some boys took up space exploration and built their own model rockets. Others took on sculpture, basketry, rifle shooting, Indian lore, wood carving, and more.

The boys also took on more responsibility around the campsite than they had when they were cubs. As Boy Scouts, they helped prepare and clean up after meals, maintain the fire and firewood supplies, participate in flag ceremonies, and set up their own tents.

We had a great week, and the boys played while they learned. If only school could be like this! Check out our album to get an even better picture.