Colonial Feast

This November, Troop 539 hosted their latest “Colonial feast,” yet this year, they ran it under a different name, “Turkey in the Woods” is the name the Troop dubbed as a call back to many years ago when the “Colonial feast” ran under the same name. This is also the first feast since Stonehaven, the campsite the Troop used for most of their feasts, shut down. The feast was hosted at Don Miller park, a beautiful camp that hosted our scouts.

During the campout, two scouts, Daniel Shirley and Isaiah Barton-Harris, ran a orienteering event for the rest of the scouts as they completed their final requirement for their orienteering merit badge; the event was a blast for all the scouts, with the victors being two of our scouts, Dylan Hein and Michael O’Neill.

The scouts also learned gun safety from two excellent instructors at Don Miller park; though the way they learned it was different than many may assume, they learned gun safety through laser guns! The scouts were able to learn everything they needed to about gun safety in the safest possible way, while having fun.

The final event of our campout was the feast itself. Our cooks, Mr. Paul Barton, Mr. Ashley Cadenhead, and Mr. Jim Mohr, made a delicious feast for all the scouts and their families. After the feast, the scouts performed a skit that they called “St. Peter”, the skit was much funnier to the scouts than the parents, yet it was enjoyable for all in attendance.

The best part about the feast each year is when the scouts can be recognized for their hard for over the last months and even up to a year when the scouts are awarded many merit badges and the “Scout of the Year” award, which recognizes the scout/s that progressed the most over the past year while also showing the qualities that all scouts should have such as leadership. This year two of our scouts, Neil Conley and Simon Reda, won the scout of the year award. Personally, I can’t think of any two scouts that deserve the award more. This is also the first time in the over 110-year history of Troop 539 that there was a multi-generational scout of the year winner, with Neil Conley and his father, Dan Conley, both being recipients of the award.

This year was definitely a feast to remember, and I know I can’t wait until the next one.