Eagle Projects of Troop 15

Eagle is drawing nearer and nearer for us at Troop 15 and with it comes alot of paperwork and pressure. A huge requirement for Eagle is the Eagle Project, an undertaking that requires time, focus and lots of calls. I will be introducing and explaining all three projects from Troop 15.

1. Joe Malchert

Joe's Project is perhaps the flashiest and most noticeable of all the projects as it is right in front of the Montesano Post Office. What Joe had to do was clean up a WWI Memorial which was in pretty nasty condition. The memorial itself is a six-foot tall concrete pedestal with three 1903 bolt action Springfield rifles on top making a tripod. The memorial also had a bronze plaque which was in pretty bad shape. So Joe took the guns down and made them look real nice with help from Dave, from our church. Eric, Joe and I cleaned the concrete and shone up the plaque.

Guns after stain

2. Eric Koecke

Eric's Project is not yet finished but it is on the way to completion. His project is to repair and to improve a plaque that was ran over by a lawnmower and got all bent out of shape. To make sure that the plaque does not sustain any more damage he is going to put it on a big rock.

The plaque after it was waxed and dyed

3. Daniel Malchert

Now to my project which was easily the easiest (see what I did there) and took the least in effort. I, with the VFW, took out the old horseshoe pits and put in new ones and refurbished the horseshoes. It went better than I expected.

one of the new pits

So those are the projects, some of them may not be done yet but they are well on their way.

-Daniel Malchert

Fright Fest at Wild Waves (ft. Troop 4015)

<Sorry, no pictures due to the massive amounts of rain>

Fright Fest

On the 28th of October,  Montesano Troop 4015 (including us) arrived at 5:00 pm to participate in the Wild Waves Annual Fright Fest. Joe, Dad and I were the first to arrive so we waited for them in the pouring rain. After waiting for a small period of time, Jae and Cathy arrived ready for whatever the night would bring. Then, we were all waiting for Steve and Erik but we did not have the inclination to stand in the rain for them so it was decided that we would enter into Wild Waves. 

The crowd was large, and it would have been larger if it had not been pouring down rain.  We made our way through the gates into PURE HORROR!!!! (not really, the haunted houses opened at 7:00) When we entered, Joe and Jae almost immediately got on the twisty-turny roller-coaster.  I couldn't even look at it (I don't like roller-coasters). After a while Erik and Steve finally showed up and the night was filled with roller-coasters and amusement rides, until the haunted houses opened up.

 Dad, Erik, Joe and I made our way to the first haunted house and waited what had to be an eternity in the pouring rain with a bunch of giggling high school girls behind us the entire way.  We finally made it to the haunted house and screams of high schoolers was promising.  Upon entering the evil clown house, I was disappointed. It wasn't scary at all and it relied more on jump-scares than anything else.  

Dad and I were beat after that and made our way back to the car to dry off while Joe and Erik would do the second haunted house.  Then we finally left. All in all it was a pretty entertaining night and would have been even greater if it hadn't been raining so hard.

-Daniel Malchert

Fright Fest 2017 - Wild Waves

Last weekend the troop paid for us all to go to the Fright Fest at Wild Waves.  We arrived 20 minutes before the park opened.  So we waited in the parking lot where we met the Scoutmaster and his wife. 

After that we went into the park where we explored a little bit.  Then the Scoutmaster and I went on a rollercoaster which had a loopdeloop and it twisted upside-down.  It was a rush.  But the best ride I went on was the Timberhawk.  It didn't have any spins but it was faster and longer than the others. 

After the Timberhawk and a ride or two, a few of us went to a haunted house.  The line was huge!  But we eventually got into the haunted house where we proceeded to be screamed at by brightly dressed clowns.  The coolest room in that house was the room with light that spun around causing you to lose your balance. 

Immediately after that, Eric and I got in line for another haunted house where we got stuck with some very chatty girls.  Fortunately, we weren't in line that long. This haunted house was a little better than the clown one because they had cooler props.  It was also fun watching the scaredy cats we were with.

 By the time we were done with that house it was time to head home.  Eric and I walked to the parking where the rest the troop were waiting for us.  I really enjoyed myself, regardless of the fact that it was raining the ENTIRE time.  My favorite part was the rollercoasters.

Seattle Museum of Flight

On the 28th of May the troop went to the Seattle Museum of Flight.  We arrived at around 10:00 am and were welcomed by our own personal guides.  We then looked at a B-17f the model before the B-17g which improved on the previous model.  After talking alot about the B-17 and B-29 we moved on to the Boeing 747 Airliner. It was YUUUGE and I was in awe of this big plane. After looking at alot of planes we moved to the WWI and WWII Plane displays which were very impressive. After a long day of walking and talking and getting cooked in the sun we decided to make one final stop before heading home. We checked out the fricken' Air Force One!!!!!! This plane was the smallest big plane in the museum but was far more interesting than anything else. I mean, three presidents used it!(Nixon-Reagan) Thoroughly dehydrated, we decided on heading back home where it was cooler and rains more often. The experience at the museum was fun and enjoyable and I am glad we did it. Here are some pics of our adventure at the museum:

All of us at lunch

Eric in a blackbird stealth plane

A very large plane 

A turbine of a 787 

D.B. Cooper And Daniel Malchert

On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, Troop 4015 along with the Montesano VFW planted flags next to Veterans' headstones. We had lots of help this year from the VFW in planting flags and remembering our fallen.

-Daniel Malchert, Historian Troop 4015

2017 Rodeo Cleanup and Veteran Headstone Laying

Rodeo Cleanup
Last weekend we cleaned up the Rodeo like always.  We arrived at 8:00am, swept the place down, and picked up garbage.  On Sunday, we went underneath the bleachers and got it cleaned up really fast.  It was as dirty and smelly as ever but it was very quick; so I can be grateful.

- Joe

This weekend our troop did its annual Rodeo cleanup at the Elma Fair Grounds.  Apparently they had a bunch of people come to each day (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).  Fortunately, there wasn't too much garbage after Friday night.  I think the janitor cleaned up.  Maybe he didn't realize that we do it every year (he is a new employee).  We found quite a few binkies, a pair of sunglasses, a nice pocket knife, an umbrella, and two flannel shirts.

The Rodeo plays us directly.  They are very generous.  I don't know if we will do it next year.   We'll shall see.

We also placed a veteran's headstone Saturday after the Rodeo cleanup.  There were a bunch of family members waiting for us to do our job.  It was unnerving!  I hope we did a good job.  There was a bunch of mud, so I hope it was okay.

- Dan/Renee

Dutch Oven Cooking at Lake Sylvia 2016

Last Saturday along with two other Boy Scout troops, Troop 15 did the dutch oven demo at Lake Sylvia. We arrived early so we could set up our super fly, since it was raining, and cook our dishes.  The dish I cooked was a chicken BBQ with potatoes and bacon.  It turned out well.  When we started serving at 11:00 am there were around twenty dishes that had finished cooking.  Some of the dishes were chicken pot pie, apple cobbler, pizza, a cheesy tomato pasta, and a beef stew just to name some of them.  We had quite a few people show up considering it rained in the morning.  We had several actual chefs come through and give advice.  The previous and current mayors.  The donation totaled up to $137 and most of the food was eaten. All and all it was a pretty fun time, as always.

-Joe

Last Saturday our troop and two other troops, from Aberdeen and Central Park, did the Dutch Oven Cook-off at the Lake Sylvia Festival. We all arrived at Lake Sylvia at around 8:30 am to cook our dishes and to set up the rain flies so we did not get soaked. We started serving at 11:00 am, I cooked my usual dish which is pizza. there was about twenty dishes there. Lots of people showed up and enjoyed our food including some chefs which was exciting. It was a very enjoyable day.

-Dan

Aberdeen Troop 5 setting up a rain fly

Dan preparing pizza

Pizza

Cooking

set up rain fly

getting ready to serve

serving the food

serving the food #2

the guinea pigs

pizza serving creep

Slackers #1

Slackers #2

Camp Meriwether 2016

This summer for camp our troop went down to the Oregon Coast to Camp Meriwether.  We left about 9:00am and got there for sign-up at 12:00pm.  We were then directed to the parking where we would wait for our troop guides.  We had three troop guides this year.  They were: Matt, Richard, and Max.  After some delay we got started on our tour.  Our first stop was the life sized replica of Fort Clatsop and some safety talks.  After touring the dining hall, trading post, and other stuff we got down to our campsite and started unloading.  The merit badges I did were archeology, Indian lore, plant science, forestry, nature, and environmental science.  (I finished them all)

When morning came, we all got up to get in our class A's (nice uniform) and sent the waiters to the dining hall.  Eric and I were the waiters throughout the week.  I could talk about merit badges and all that boring stuff, but instead I am going to talk aboutthe HULLABALOO!!!!!!!  Throughout the week troops receive something called Hullabaloo points for picking up trash and other things.  Your troop needed the points so that on the last day you can waste them all on electing a staffer to go into the lake!  It was a big deal.  But the biggest occasion to get 1,000 Hullabaloo Points (alot) was lunchtime.  After lunch the program director would come up and scream at the top of his lungs into a microphone and just about shatter your ear drums.  He would call out campsites to perform their campsite verse/yell.  Although we were the smallest campsite and had a bunch of party poopers, we totally kicked butt.  At the end of the week, here are the staffers who went into the lake (in order of points):  Jake the shotgun director, Mark Spicklemier, Program director Nick, Ash (someone I didn't meet), and CJ of handicrafts.

The week at Camp Meriwether was very fun and exciting, like always.

- Dan

Just this last week the troop took a three hour drive down to the Tillamook area for summer camp at Meriwether.  The drive was quite tedious but we eventually arrived at camp and signed-up.  After waiting a little while we met our troop guides, who took us on a tour and came to our campsite and talked.  We also shared a campsite with two other troops.  They were okay. We also did waitering, so two people went and set tables and so on for every meal.  It went okay the first day.

The next day we went to our merit badges.  Mine were oceanography, rifle shooting, and environmental science.  Oceanography was pretty fun.  We actually went on a pretty cool tidepool hike.  The teacher was pretty likable.  Next was rifle shooting.  It was really fun because of the instructor.  It was quite easy.  Finally, the hardest merit badge was environmental science.  It was also the noisiest.

Everyday at lunchtime we had the Hullabaloo.  This is where you scream and yell alot.  Each campsite had a verse/yell they had to recite.  We were the vikings:

Hearty viking troop are we

searchers of the land and sea

warriors bold we'll always be

We yelled it so loud that my throat began to hurt. One of the activities we did that was most memorable was the movie trivia at stage craft.  Even though it was a low turnout (3 teams), some of the questions we knew and some we were totally clueless on.

 At the end of the week they had the Hullabaloo games.  This is where you run around camp doing different games.  By some weird chance we earned third place!  We were all really surprised!  There was also a staffer dunking.  Five staffers that received the most votes got thrown into the lake.  This was great fun to watch.

That pretty much covers all the interesting stuff at camp.  All in all it was a fun camp.  The staffers were fun,, the food was ok, and the trading post had candy, so it was very fun.

- Joe

Canoe Trip

                                                             

The sun was shining...but not for long!

                                                                  Steve in his kayak

                                                                         the canoes

Joe and Dan in the newly donated super awesome canoe

Ending point:  Friends Landing  starting point:  Keyes Road boat launch.  Approximately 14 miles

Last weekend our troop went on a canoe trip from Keyes Road to Friends Landing.  Our troop started on Saturday.  Joe and I in the new canoe, Dad and Jae in another, and Steve in a kayak.  Eric decided to man it out and go alone, which I think he regretted later.  As the hours passed, sometimes it rained so hard we had to start bailing with styrofoam cups.  It's suppose to be summer!  About 2/3rd of the way there we stopped in Monte so we could rest.  The adults talked about the foolishness of their choices and debated about stopping.  But we are Boy Scouts!  We never quit!  Joe and I got into our canoe and began paddling the rest of the way (the adults were still debating until they noticed that we were gone, so they had to get back in their canoes and finish).  The wind picked up.  If we wanted to go fast we would have had to attach an engine to our canoe.  We made it to the end, sore and soaking wet, though we never tipped our canoe. 
- Dan

A few weekends ago, the troop went to Friends Landing for a canoe trip.  We got there on the 17th and set up camp with Eric.  The weather was weird.  There was thunder and lightning and then sun shine.  We actually cooked food on this camp-out; like steak and potatoes.  On the 18th, we started our canoe trip.  We started at Keyes Boat Launch with three canoes and one kayak.  At first it was pretty easy but then it started raining.  The rain came off and on.  We were lucky to have enough sun to finish our lunches.  Near the very end the wind started to blow towards us making it more difficult, but we finished at Friends Landing.  We covered 14 miles in four hours.  It was a very memorable trip because we finished so quickly. 

- Joe 

Rodeo Cleanup 2016

On the last weekend of March our troop cleaned up after messy humans at the Elma Rodeo.  We started at 8:00am. We grabbed some brooms and garbage bags and started cleaning. First we checked the bleachers for garbage. Second we swept the grandstands of all the dirt and crud.  Then we wiped the bleachers of grime.  After that, on Sunday we went under the bleachers and cleaned up all of trash down there and tried not to gag. By the end of the day, the Rodeo was relatively clean and the rest of us not-so-clean. 

under the bleachers

many, many trash bags

Eric displaying the hat and sunglasses he found

Grays Harbor Mounted Posse Rodeo paid us very well for 5 1/2 hours of cleaning.  This will be known as the year of the umbrellas (we found 3 umbrellas).

- Dan the Historian

Last Summer at Camp Hahobas

(We didn't know it at the time, but this was to be the last summer camp at Hahobas.) 

This summer for Boy Scout camp we went to Camp Hahobas for summer camp.  Camp Hahobas is located near the Hood Canal area (on the Hood Canal).  The scouts who came were the same as last year:  Eric, Joseph, and myself (Dan).  Except this year we had an extra boy come from another troop.  His name was Jeff.  We learned halfway through camp that he is the half-brother of Torgi from Troop 305!  What a small world!  Eric was going to try to become a CIT (counselor in training) this year but he remembered he had Drivers Ed.

relaxing first day after setting up camp

lining up for flag

Joe blacksmithing

 TORTURE!  They finally got everyone over the wall with some help

awesome indoor bouldering wall

Eric the monkey!

the gummy worm block

more blacksmithing

we might have been the only troop that earned the right to do the zipline!

Jeff working on his archery merit badge

On the first day of camp, it was really hot.  It got up to 93degrees!  Our two troop guides were Erik and Luke, they were kind of goofy.  The Merit badges I earned were Pioneering, Metalworking, and I almost earned Orienteering.  On one of the last days, Mom was looking in the van and found the gummy worms we had bought before camp.  They had melted then solidified into a gummy block.  We shared it with the staffers, who thought it was pretty cool and funny.   This year of summer camp was fun, like always.

- Dan the Historian Man