Scout Fair - April 25th

Troop 505 participated in the Sam Houston Area Council’s annual Scout fair at Reliant Park . The troop made root beer and cobbler. After putting in twice the amount of root beer extract and twice as much sugar that the recipe called for, the root beer tasted great, better than all the other troops’ attempts at root beer. We made a peach, chocolate cherry, blueberry spice, peach and two apple cobblers. There were no leftovers as we handed out samples to all the visiting scouts, leaders and scout fair visitors. We should make it a point to meet at 9:30 A.M. instead of 10 so that we can be better prepared to set up on time.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 August 2010 19:10

Camporee 2010 - "100 Years of Scouting"

This year, Troop 505 participated in the annual Golden Arrow District Camporee at Webb Ranch in Chappell Hill.  This camporee was special because it was the 100^th anniversary of scouting in the United States.  The eight events included Pioneering, Collections (Kim’s Game), Kite Flying, Fire Building, Semaphore, Tracking, Axe Throwing, and BB Shooting.  As usual, the troop left the scout house around 6:30 p.m. Friday night.  On Saturday, the whole scout troop was awakened by our fellow neighbor’s scoutmaster who had the worst snore ever.  At 10 o’clock the games began.   The newly developed beginner division Hawk  patrol consisted of Troop Guide  Addison S., and Crossover scouts William S., Will D., Crespin L., and Brandon A. The older scouts formed the advanced division Phoenix Patrol. It consisted of Trevor L., Nathan “Gator” A., Trace M., Matthew D., and Matthew T.   Mr. Holm, Mr. Lauten, and Mr. Daponte were in charge of the Collections game. Patrols had one minute to try to memorize the 50 or more items, then four more minutes to write down what they had seen.  At the end of the day, there was a lot of down time which everyone enjoyed.  After the campfire where the troop put on the “Pee-Nuts” skit, we all went to the OA tap out. Gator A. and Addison S. were called out.  Everyone except Addison S. was in bed before 11p.m. Addison was finishing his OA Brotherhood ceremony until midnight.  Sunday morning was a beautiful day, yet we all still were awakened by the snoring scoutmaster next to us.  At the awards ceremony the troop won a total of 7 awards, 4 from the older scouts (1^st-Kim’s game, 2^nd-kite flying, 2^nd-pioneering, and 3^rd- fire building).  The new scouts won the other 3 awards (1^st-pioneering, 3^rd-semaphore, and 3^rd-Kim’s game).  Right after the awards ceremony, the troop went back to Houston and arrived around noon.

Last Updated on Sunday, 15 August 2010 05:07

Austin / Lockhart State Park

We loaded up the trailer for Lockhart State Park at 6 p.m. and left the scout house at 6:30 on Friday night.  Alex K. vowed to wear his trench coat the entire campout.  Lockhart State Park is a 3 hour drive from Houston as long as you don’t stop at Buc-ee’s for 30 minutes on the way there.  The next morning we played nine holes of golf.  We drove north 45 minutes to Austin after a Whataburger lunch stop.  After driving around for a parking space for 15 minutes, we arrived at the Capitol, where we took the guided tour.  We liked the rotunda, Santa Anna surrender painting, Texas chandeliers in the Senate assembly room, the underground annex, and the live bands outside.  Back at the campsite, Trevor L. and Reed W. did their scoutmaster conferences, and everyone else worked on their requirements.  We rewarded ourselves by a late-night visit to the nearby Dairy Queen for some Blizzards and milkshakes.  Delicious! Chaplain’s aide, Reed W., led the Scout’s Own service before we headed back to Houston on Sunday morning.  Alex K did wear his trench coat on the golf course, in the Capitol, at camp and at Dairy Queen, thus accomplishing his goal for the weekend.

Last Updated on Sunday, 15 August 2010 05:05

Texas Rock Gym - December

This was one of the more fun filled outings for the troop because mostly what we did was climb. This was a lock-in event that lasted from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. at the Texas Rock Gym on Campbell Rd. After receiving our climbing and belaying rules and instructions by the rock gym staff members, we were free to climb and boulder at any of the rock faces. We made 30 ft. climbs and rappels almost all night long. We also took advantage of the basketball court and 4-square set-up. While most of the scouts and adults crashed at about 3 or 4, the remaining scouts that stayed up all night were fortified with energy drinks such as Monsters and Red Bulls. Having been sleep deprived from the all-nighter, we all went home and slept until late in the afternoon.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 September 2010 15:02

Village Creek

Clear skies, cool weather, good river current and great sandbars made for an excellent canoe trip for Troop 505.  After a full day of paddling, setting up camp and cooking s'mores over the campfire, we called it a day and turned in early. By the end of the trip on Sunday, all the scouts became quite proficient at maneuvering their canoes. We found a better way to make tables out of our canoes: Putting two canoes on the beach side by side and turning another canoe upside down on top of them.  This made it easier to cook on and put the canoe at table height.  Everyone who went had loads of fun.

Last Updated on Sunday, 15 August 2010 05:04

Schlitterbahn - August 2009

We left the Scout House at 6 A.M. to insure that we got to New Braunfels  by 9:30 A.M. to be in line for Master Blaster.  This is key because Master Blaster in Blastenhoff is the most popular ride and lines are very long throughout the day. We went on this day because Schlitterbahn has discount tickets ($28) for Boy Scout troops on that weekend. Troop 505 has scheduled this outing every year that I’ve been a boy scout and I have gone every time. This is also a family event, so the entire family can enjoy the park also. We left Schlitterbahn at 5: 30 P.M. We stopped in Flatonia at Joel’s Barbeque on the return to Houston.

Last Updated on Sunday, 15 August 2010 05:02