Community youth program based in Belmont, California: serving San Mateo, Foster City, Redwood City, Redwood Shores & San Carlos
Though there was not enough snow to build our usual snow shelters, there was enough snow for plenty of fun at this annual event at the Cisco Grove campground. The large field had enough snow for our competitive games against the other troops on Sunday. Events such as spear throwing, tobacco (licorice) spitting, sled races, ice rescue and much more. Great winter fun!
Scouts are working hard to reach the next rank advancement and will celebrate these accomplishments and more at our Court of Honor.
Scouts for food
We gathered at Marlin Park in Redwood Shores and had donuts and juice to get us going. Scouts divided into cars and took maps of the area. Many scouts brought wagons to help with the food gathering. At the end of the day, we had collected over 1,100 pounds of food to donate to the Second Harvest Food Bank in San Carlos. Not surprisingly, this initiative raises more pounds of food for needy Bay Area families than any other food bank vent. The Scouts enjoyed meeting so many generous people and a huge thank you to everyone who donated.
The troop left early Saturday and headed across the Bay to Chabot Rifle Range. There was a gun safety lesson followed by the scouts shooting 22 caliber rifles. The range is up to 1.5 miles. Scouts practiced on the range and brought home their target papers. Later in the afternoon, we were joined by a local cub scout troop for dinner and campfire. The cub scouts had a great time joining in on the campfire skits. After campfire, scouts took a night hike to view the stars as it was a clear night. Many cub scouts spent the night also. Sunday morning scouts participated in Scouts Own and took a day hike along the trail.
We joined the Council sponsored Zomboree for a fabulous time! Friday night we ate in the dining hall at Camp Cutter. Saturday’s activities included avoiding the zombies, shotgun shooting, tomahawk throwing and knot competitions. The troop formed one Patrol (The Ogs) and earned many ribbons for their skill set. Food highlights included zombie skin (bacon).
Our annual Fall trip to Yosemite, one of the crown jewels of the National Park System, took place in September. We departed on Friday evening so we could have a full-day in the park on Saturday. We found our campsite in the dark and set up our tents using flashlights. Scouts drove into the park and hiked to Lake Elizabeth. The scenery was breathtaking and the company doesn’t get any better. We enjoyed a great campfire dinner and scouts entertained all with skits and songs at campfire. Sunday morning started with another great campfire meal, then Scouts Own. On the way back, we stopped at The Bass Pro Shop in Manteca.
Elkhorn Slough is one of our troop’s most popular canoeing destinations. Elkhorn Slough harbors the largest tract of tidal salt marshes in California outside of the San Francisco Bay and provides much-needed habitat for hundreds of species of plants and animals, including more than 340 species of birds. This location provides great opportunities to view all types of sea life including birds, otters, and seals. Scouts loaded up the troop’s canoes mid morning and were off on their wildlife viewing adventure. Many types of birds were spotted along with sea otters and jelly fish. Scouts had lunch in the canoes on the water during the 5 mile trip. We camped overnight at Fremont Peak State Park and visited the astronomical observatory at night. Happily scouts slept through the earthquake.
The troop’s highlight event of the year did not disappoint. We benefited from our ability to build our camp where conditions were best. Even though many reservoirs had very little water we found a great lake to continue our tradition of water oriented activities. Summit Lake, elevation 7100′ in the Stanislaus National Forest. From July 16-18, older scouts and adults built our camp: a kitchen that can feed up to 75 people at each meal, a safe waterfront area for swimming and canoeing, latrines, dishwashing lines, assembly/flag areas, camping sites – all using pioneering skills – no nails necessary.
From the 19th – 26th it was the quintessential summer camp, canoeing, swimming, hiking, outdoor skills, games, merit badges, campfires, skits, astronomy talks and our signature Mountain Man event – jumping into the lake at 7:00 in the morning! When all was cleaned up and put away on the last day we restored the area to the way we found it – or even a little better.
The destination of our second canoe outing of the year was Lake Del Valle in Livermore. The relatively close location gave us plenty of time in the water. We arrived at the lake mid-morning and setup camp while the canoes were towed to the marina for inspection. After swim check and lunch we headed out for a tour of the lake. There was plenty of wildlife to see including herons, vultures, and geese. Saturday evening we had a great dinner and campfire. Sunday began with breakfast, Scout’s Own, and more canoeing including lunch out on the lake. It was a great outing.
On April 19th Troop 27 helped support the Redwood Shores Community Association’s annual Eggstravaganza Easter Egg Hunt at Marlin Park. Nine scouts came to help hide eggs (including a limited number of special “golden eggs”) , communicate instructions, help with crowd control and distribute prizes.
There were four separate egg hunt areas for different aged children. While it took almost an hour to setup for the event it was over in a flash when the whistle blew. Hundreds of children and their parents came for the event on a beautiful sunny day. Troop 27 has been connected to the Redwood Shores community for many years and many of our scouts past and present come from Redwood Shores.
Troop 27 welcomes Scouts BSA for girls age 11-17 starting February 1, 2019. Visit Scouting.org for more information about Scouts BSA.
Private membership area, for scouts, parents, and leadership of Troop 27.
