Boy Scout Troop One from Logan, Utah (Sponsored by the Logan Lions Club-Trapper Trails Council-Old Ephraim District) is celebrating its’ 100th anniversary as a continuously chartered scouting unit with specially scheduled activities each month throughout the year 2010. Troop One is the oldest Boy Scout Troop west of the Mississippi River and has created a strong foundation of leadership, service, and community for hundreds of Cache Valley’s youth over the past century. Boys between the ages of 11-17 who are interested in joining Troop One are encouraged to visit our troop meetings at First Presbyterian Church, 12 South 200 West in Logan, Tuesday’s between 7:00-8:30 pm. Troop One is a non-denominational scouting unit.
August 19-Mack Park-Smithfield, Utah
By Stu Parkinson, Asst. Scoutmaster-Troop 1
That time eventually had to come. The traditional Farewell Party….where you relive the great times people have had with one another. Well…that is precisely what occurred Wednesday, August 18th at Smithfield’s Mack Park. Nine Ashford District Scouts and Leaders from the UK, along with their Troop One host families from Cache Valley and other Troop 1 scouts and leaders all gathered to relive three weeks of exploration, discovery, learning new customs and traditions, as well as experiencing the beauty of an international scouting exchange.
What began in 1996 with several UK scouts and leaders visiting Troop 1 host families for three weeks during July-August, than having Troop 1 reciprocate, visiting the UK during the summer of 1997, has expanded to the conclusion on August 20th of exchange number five between our two scouting organizations.
During our farewell dinner….we all got to experience fantastic Dutch oven food, courtesy of premier Dutch oven chefs Jason Grimes and Rick Larkin. I could spend paragraphs, expanding on the beauty and tastiness of the variety of Dutch oven delights, but I won’t. Let’s just say….nobody left hungry! After dinner, it was time for Troop 1 as well as the leaders from Ashford District to hand out a variety of awards, some from a week-long experience together at BSA Camp Loll near Yellowstone National Park.
Spending time at the Trapper Trail Council’s premier summer camp, Camp Loll, seeing Yellowstone National Park, visiting the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, whitewater rafting down the Snake River near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and visiting Salt Lake City, Ogden and Logan, does not begin to describe the magnitude of what the scouts from England experienced in Utah and Wyoming during their three week visit. Many of their personal experiences came with their host families, who sacrificed much to please their young scout from across the pond.
Over the past fourteen years, dozens of American and British scouts from Troop 1 and the Ashford Scout District, Kent, UK respectively, have learned that being almost five thousand miles from one another means only one thing…..it’s only a number. In many ways, scouting is so similar between our countries. We learn, experience life, and grow. We Troop 1 leaders and scouts wish our British friends a safe trip back home, where they will land at London Heathrow Airport, UK at approximately 8:00 am on Friday, August 20, local time.