At the beginning we brought our stuff to the campsite, and set up the cooking tents. Afterwards, we set up the cooking table and I went to teach the Totin chit. While teaching, I quickly read the manual to refresh my memory about the Totin chit. Me and Jimmy explained for to use a knife and how to hold it. I explained that when giving a knife to someone, the person receiving it should say “Thank you” so the person giving it knows that they have control of the knife. After that we taught about how to use a saw. Then, we explained how to hold a hatchet. We set up an axe-yard and began letting the scouts actually use the tools. First everyone used a saw, I learned that the lock feature was hard to use. Then we had everyone use a hatchet. The hatchet was difficult as keeping the wood in place was a challenge. After me and Jimmy taught the Totin chit, Rui and Kai taught the fireman chit. At the end everyone made a fire in the log cabin style, as that was the easiest way. Finally, we finished teaching both requirements and did capture the flag and ultimate frisbee with everyone. I went back to the campsite with Jimmy and the crows ate most of our food! Luckily everyone already ate lunch, but we didnt have any dinner. We only had keema curry, potato chips, and cheese. An hour or two later, it was time to make dinner. We begged the Brownseas patrol for 5 hotdogs, 1 for each of our patrol members since they had extra. They reluctantly accepted. For dinner we made Hotdogs, cheese, and burnt chips, dipped in keema curry. It was surprisingly good but we were still hungry since we only had 1 hotdog each. Moral of the story? Dont leave food out, especially when you hear loud CAWWS in the campsite. On April 2nd Troop 5 went on a fishing trip. Troop 5 does this campout every year to welcome the new scouts into the troop. In this "Eat What You Kill" campout, scouts are tasked with catching fishes, killing them, cleaning them, cooking them, and eating them. Troop 5 also taught the fishing merit badge to the scouts. The fishing merit badge teaches scouts how to tie certain fishing knots and how to use a fishing pole. The scouts must catch a fish to acquire the merit badge. Then the fish were put in aluminum foil wraps and cooked inside of the fire. The fish were salty, tender and fresh. After eating, Troop 5 introduced 3 new scouts to the troop with the crossover ceremony. In this ceremony, the Cub scouts walked on a miniature bridge to the other side of the lake which symbolized "crossing over into the Boy Scouts"
Then, we went to the campsite and set up our tents. It was extremely cold at night so everyone made sure that they wore their layers. After making marshmallows on a fire, we went to sleep. When we woke up we were surprised to see that it was snowing. Although the snow was slushy, it was still snow so it was pretty exciting. Good luck to all the new scouts! This season (Feb 12), instead of doing our usual overnight ski trip, Troop 5 did a day trip because of the Omnicron situation. This year we went to the Hodaigi Ski Resort, located in the Minakami area of Gunma prefecture. Hodaigi Ski resort is a fairly beginner friendly merdium sized resort with great quality snow and is suited for both skiers and snowboarders. The weather was clear and sunny. 16 scouts attended, 14 of which took the Snow Sports Merit Badge that Mr Winton taught. Thanks to other fathers such as Hisaya Sobajima, Ken King, and Jeff Seals who helped with the trip. From Nov 19 to Nov 21 our troop went ziplining near Hakone and went camping. Ziplining is a thrilling activity in which you hook yourself on a line and fly across it. The network of lines were connected high up in the tree canopy. We were in groups. We were at least 5 meters up so we had to pay close attention to safety as always. It was a fun challenge for the scouts, testing their bravery. After the zip lining trip the troop went to the camp grounds. Because of Covid 19 it has been months since we actually cooked our own food so it was refreshing. One of the patrols cooked curry and another patrol made a meat and rice dish. A good time was had by all and I hope we can do it again next year. September 11 2021 On a clear day, we climbed Mount Fuji from the 5th station. Many of us were able to bullet climb our way to the top in one day. The summit was really windy. Here are some photos. Scoutmaster’s Report from Camp Tama
Congratulations, Honor Troop! Troop 5, congratulations for being chosen as Honor Troop for Camp Tama. Throughout the week, you were an outstanding example of living the Scout Oath and Law--you kept the campsite clean, you showed up on time, your uniforms were neat, and you were kind to others. A huge factor was the amazing pioneering project in the campsite. The judges also cited the Troop 5 scouts’ willingness to help whenever asked. Our scouts also jumped in without being asked and helped run games and other camp activities. Highlights of the week included amazing Dutch oven desserts, creative pioneering projects (let’s do more), awesome merit badges, the Ancient and Sacred Order of the Tama Hills Tanuki, the ABC song, 3 bunny fingers, Tracy making Eagle, and a bit of rain (but not too much). Honor Scout--Marcel Mema Marcel was recognized as Troop 5’s Camp Tama 2021 Honor Scout. Throughout the week, Marcel lived the Scout Oath and Law in an exemplary manner. He was kind, cheerful, helpful, and clean and more. Great job, Marcel! Other Awards Received by Our Leaders Theresa Turner received a certificate of appreciation from the Asia East District. Eugenia Nightingale earned a Meritorious Service Award. She also earned the District Award of Merit, which is the highest recognition given at the district level. Necia Gilbert was also recognized with a District Award of Merit. Brett Gilbert was recognized with a Servant Scouter Award. He was also recognized with the Silver Beaver award, which is the highest recognition given at the council level. Damon Bratcher and Jenna Bratcher were each awarded the Extra Miler Award by the district. (Despite this being the Scoutmaster’s report, this next part was not written by Andy!) And last but not least, Andy Conrad was recognized as the Asia East District’s Scoutmaster of the Year! Great job, Andy! Order of the Arrow During the camp, Brett Gilbert and Colin Gilbert were advanced to the level of Brotherhood in the Order of the Arrow. Troop 5 leaders who assisted with the ceremony include Penn Swedberg and Dale Scholle. The Scouts did great this past year. I am amazed at the things you all have accomplished and can’t wait until we can get together again! Yours in Scouting, Andy Conrad Troop 5B Scoutmaster On September 26 2021, we did a beach cleanup. This was a first class trail event that also provided some services hours for advancement requirements. Before the cleanup started, we did "Laughing Yoga." Laughing Yoga is an exercise where a group of people make a circle and start voluntarily laughing. Although this exercise was weird at first, it raised our spirits and gave us the energy to begin the cleanup. The beach was located in Shonan Kanagawa prefecture. This beach can be crowded at times so it was certain we were going to find a lot of trash. There was a lot more trash than I anticipated and we even found a dead cat! There were some troubles with sharing the tongs, but we worked as a team. Eventually we filled up all our bags. At the end of the day we helped make an improvement to the beach and even had some fun along the way.
Virtual Troop ActivitiesRemote Scouting Under COVID-19 Scouting is usually about getting together to camp or hike in the great outdoors and working on skills and knowledge in groups, but in the midst of the current pandemic, where it is important to observe social distancing measures, we have all had to make changes. Back in February 2020, Troop 5 decided to take our activities online to help keep our community safe, in line with guidelines provided by our Chartering Organization, the American School in Japan, and the Government of Japan. Having spoken with a number of our scouts and adult leaders, the transition has not been entirely easy, and everyone misses being able to meet in person. We aren’t sure when things will return to “normal” and what exactly the new normal will look like. However, the troop - led by the Scouts - has made a number of achievements in this difficult time by leveraging technology, to keep our program as active as possible. The following are a few examples. Virtual Court of Honor For Scouts and our community, Courts of Honor are important events to recognize achievement and advancement. Held quarterly, these events are key to socialize and communicate among all of our members - Scouts, adult volunteers and parents alike. In March, we held our first virtual Court of Honor on the Zoom platform. With nearly 50 people in attendance, it was a great success and the first chance for many to see each other since we stopped our in-person activities. In addition to recognizing the Scouts’ achievements, we also took an online poll and the Scoutmaster shared reflections on what Scouts did during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 - 2020, and how one Scouting leader of the time, R.E. Denny, encouraged his scouts to live up to the Scout Slogan of “Do a Good Turn Daily” [Link]. Virtual Eagle Board of Review Troop 5 has produced a number of Eagle Scouts over the years, and to achieve that rank, Scouts must successfully complete a large number of requirements over years, and as the last requirement, pass a formal Board of Review. In March, we held a virtual Board of Review for one of our scouts who was physically in the United States at the time, with all other attendees located in Japan. It went flawlessly, and our Scout passed his review despite being thousands of miles away - a great testament to teamwork and technology! Virtual Patrol Leaders Council Meeting Finally, we are holding Patrol Leaders Council (PLC) meetings virtually as well. The PLC comprises the troop leadership - all Scouts - with the Scoutmaster in attendance as needed for guidance. It is important for PLC members to regularly communicate so that troop activities are planned appropriately, patrols can raise ideas and get support for activities they want, and members can share thoughts on how to improve our Troop. We are using Zoom for these meetings as well. Patrol Meetings: Our patrols, including Camping Ghouls, Pegasus, Grizzly, and Golden Arrows, have met individually to discuss merit badges and other activities that they could work on remotely. Virtual Merit Badge Work To earn merit badges and rank up, Scouts need to work with Merit Badge Counselors - adult volunteers who are qualified to teach the various merit badge subjects. While this work usually happens fact-to-face at our troop meetings, COVID-19 has compelled us to make changes to our approach here as well. Luckily, Zoom and other desktop conferencing tools are perfectly suited to help people work together, not only talking, but also demonstrating the skills required for completing requirements such as knot-tying, dressing a wound, or even playing the bugle! We’re seeing many of our Scouts continue to work hard on their Merit Badges, and our Merit Badge Counselors will continue to make themselves available online to support the Troop. Next: Virtual Campout? Now that the weather is warming up, we all want to spend more time outdoors. One option is to have a virtual campout, where Scouts can camp in their backyards or living rooms, participate in virtual camping activities such as skits and storytelling, and maybe even eat s'mores. As with all of our Scouting activities, the decision on whether to do this is the Scouts’ to make. Stay tuned for updates! Tohoku 2019
Hiroya Sobajima On the 14th of December 2019, Troop 5 once again traveled to Yamamoto-Cho of Miyagi prefecture in the area of Tohoku. In partnership with Hands On Tokyo, our Boy Scout Troop helped a farmer who is still recovering to this day from the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. Every year, we have helped this farmer, who goes by the name of Saito, for a few hours. Although we only get a couple of hours, we try to do the best we can in helping farmer Saito with his farm. This year was quite different from our past years, in terms of the work we did. Usually, we would help him take down his farm and pick up vegetable plants that were either to be disposed of or to be taken home. This type of physical work took up most of the time for the past years and was more physically demanding than the type of work that we had done this year, consisting of jobs like taking apart many large poles and stacking them. This year, we worked in his other smaller farms for most of the time. In his greenhouse-type farm, we took apart the vinyl that covered the soil and took apart small pins and clips that were on the plants and various parts of the farm. In his other farms that surrounded that farm, we took off the green peppers and put them in bags for everyone to take home. We also got other vegetables which were loaded in a car to be disposed of later, as well as taking off the vinyl again. The main challenge in taking off the vinyl was ripping it off cleanly. The vinyl was planted very deep into the ground beside the mound of soil, so it was difficult to rip it out all the way in order to take it all off cleanly. Although we struggled with this and left little bits and pieces in the beginning, everyone was able to start taking it off cleanly in the end, and a lot more efficiently. Like every year, farmer Saito gave a short talk on his experience having gone through a large tsunami, and advice on what to do in cases of emergencies like that. He talked about the height of the tsunami, and how he and his family were able to escape. He talked about how the police and officials gave instructions to escape to the large smokestack building a few kilometers over, towards the city. He knew that going this route wasn’t good and that climbing the nearest mountain was better. “I tried to tell people to not go that way and to go up the large hill. But they knew that I wasn’t a policeman or an official, so they wouldn’t listen. Many of the people who went that route perished,” he said. The tsunami had been a great height, and he told us that the first thing that should be considered was gaining elevation to be safe from the tsunami. He told us, “These days, you guys have many important possessions and technology like phones and computers. Many people these days will think of saving these things before running away to escape an emergency.” He continued, talking about how important it is to save your life compared to other things. “You can buy these possessions later if you escape safely. Your life cannot be bought back. Your life comes first,” he said. The next day, we visited Okawa Elementary School, a school that was hit directly by the waves. Like our past years, we walked around and looked at the destructed building. Walking around the circular building, we could step into the inside field, and take a closer look at the classroom building. We could clearly see the inside of the classrooms and were able to see the state of the destroyed building, like a fallen pillar that still supported part of a roof. In total, this school had had a little over 100 students. At the time of the tsunami, there had been 78 students at the school, and about 10 teachers and faculty members. This school hadn’t had the best emergency plans at the time. They had given directions to flee on the direction of the road, instead of trying to gain elevation. Just behind the school, there is a hill now planted with a sign that marks the height of the wave. Instead of trying to climb this hill, which would have been fairly easy even for these small children, they had chosen to escape on the ground. Just four of the students had gone up this hill. They were the only ones to survive. We all climbed the hill midway, a few meters above the sign. A lot of us talked about how unfortunate this event was, considering how easy it had been to climb this hill. In the afternoon, we visited a garden very close to the school and helped the owners grow their garden. This garden is in an area that used to be a town but was completely destroyed by the tsunami. The owners of this garden had started this in memory of the people who had lived there, who had perished. This included their own relatives. This work was also very different from the work that we had done last year, having a wider range of work to do. For a large amount of time, we worked separately, with some planting tulip bulbs in a small area of soil outside their greenhouse building, while everyone else worked on planting olive trees across the soil patches outside. Before leaving, we got the chance to make our own bookmark out of real plants. We made our own decorations using these plants and got it ironed onto the paper, so it would work as a usable bookmark. The owners wanted us to use these, in hopes of getting more visitors at their garden by us telling people who noticed these bookmarks about the garden. After working for almost a few hours there, we finally got back on our bus to ride back into Tokyo. This year, our troop was again able to go through a great experience in learning the troubles that the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami caused. |
AuthorTroop 5 Scribe |