Troop 6 Quincy

This has been a very busy fall for Troop 6! On the weekend of October 6-8th, 32 scouts, parents, and leaders for Troop and Pack 6 spent the weekend along with 5000 other scouts and scouters at MassJam ’18 on Cape Cod. This was a huge jamboree that involved scouts from all over Massachusetts and the surrounding states. The scouts shot off rockets, climbed rock walls, ran obstacle courses, traded patches, and even attended a live concert with Country star Jessie Chris! Everyone had a great time and it was a nice opportunity for our Arrow of Light Webelos to hang out with the scouts from Troop 6. Many thanks to the parents and leaders that made it all work out!

On October 13th, the Troop held the official Court of Honor for our three newest Eagle Scouts: Joseph Desmond, Jacob Gordon, and Ryan Laroche. The ceremony was well attended with friends, family, and community members that came to see these outstanding young men receive the highest rank in Scouting.

Next month we are off for a Wilderness Survival adventure in NH, then hopefully ice fishing in January, and then skiing in February. If you have a middle school or high schooler that is interested in joining us, please don’t hesitate to stop by! We are always accepting new scouts and prior experience is not necessary. We meet on Monday nights from 7-8:30PM at the Houghs Neck Congregational Church.

Troop 6 does a fantastic job of keeping our program affordable for all scouts, and our bottle and can drives are one of our biggest fundraisers. Our next bottle drive is November 10th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot. Our bottle drives will continue to be on the second Saturday of every month, weather permitting. Please consider donating your soda and beer bottles and cans to us rather than tossing them in your recycling. As our Troop grows, the money we earn is being spread thinner and thinner and we really want to continue to run a program where all the activities can be paid for through the boys fundraising efforts. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,

Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster

The scouts were really hoping to build snow shelters this winter, but Mother Nature had other ideas! Despite the complete lack of snow in NH, there was plenty of cold and the scouts had a great time exploring Camp Wah-Tut-Ca and took a nice long hike checking out the surrounding area. They also learned how to make hiking stoves, saw lots of animal tracks, checked out some cool cliffs and had a great camp fire. A great time was had by all, even if there were some sore feet!

Many of the older scouts have also pretty well finished up Camping and Citizenship in the Community merit badges, and most of the troop is currently working on Citizenship in the Nation.

Troop 6's "5-mile hike" at Wah-Tut-Ca in NH during the March camp out.
 

Next up is an overnight hike to the Zealand Falls AMC hut in April, camping at the New England Dragway in May, and a trip to West Point in NY in June.

Our next bottle drive is April 9th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot. Please consider donating your soda and beer bottles to us rather than tossing them in your recycling. As our Troop grows, the money we earn is being spread thinner and thinner and we really want to continue to run a program where all the activities can be paid for through the boys fundraising efforts. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,
Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster

It might feel like spring is around the corner, but Troop 6 didn’t want to let the winter fly by without our annual ski trip! On February 5-7th, the troop spent the weekend in Guilford, NH at our good friend’s house, and we changed it up a little this year, skiing at King Pine. While the mountain wasn’t huge, the weather and conditions were perfect, and the kids had one of the best ski trips on record. By the end of the day, the entire Troop was doing top to bottom runs and quite a few were thoroughly enjoying the terrain park as well. Lots of laughs and some great memories – something we try for on every trip.

We have also been very busy with advancement working concurrently on Camping Merit Badge and Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge, both are Eagle required.

Not too much else to report, but we are under way planning the rest of the year with a cabin trip to NH in March, an overnight hike to the White Mountains in April, and a trip to West Point in NY in June.

Our next bottle drive is March 12th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot. Please consider donating your soda and beer bottles to us rather than tossing them in your recycling. As our Troop grows, the money we earn is being spread thinner and thinner and we really want to continue to run a program where all the activities can be paid for through the boys fundraising efforts. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,
Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster,

Sorry I missed the update for December, but it wasn’t because the Troop wasn’t busy! Back during the first weekend in December, the Troop joined the Friends of the Blue Hills for a few hours of trail maintenance and then after some delicious pizza, we headed over to Camp Sayre for the night. We cooked pizza meat loaf in a Dutch oven and slightly overcooked our baked potatoes. You can’t win them all. In any case, we had a great weekend with good weather (for early December) and really enjoyed our time at the camp. We did some bouldering and hiking and even had some good laughs crossing the camps giant monkey bridge.

The year concluded with a huge Holiday Party with the biggest ever Yankee Swap. Lot of laughs, and lots of pizza! Speaking of food, we had all three patrols compete in the Houghs Neck Congregational Church Chili Cook off, and our Cyberduck Patrol took 3rd place over all! Congrats to Jake, Nathan, Cam, and Chris!

The scouts have been very busy with advancement and we are working on a bunch of different merit badges including Citizenship in the Community, Camping, and Family Life, and our younger scouts are working hard to get the basics down for their ranks as well.

Next month we have our annual ski trip, and we already have the rest of the year booked with lots more fun and excitement!

Our next bottle drive is February 13th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot. Please consider donating your soda and beer bottles to us rather than tossing them in your recycling. As our Troop grows, the money we earn is being spread thinner and thinner and we really want to continue to run a program where all the activities can be paid for through the boys fundraising efforts. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,
Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster

Believe it or not, during the month of November, we didn’t go camping! However, we still had a lot of fun with our huge Punkin Chunkin event on November 1st at Pageant Field. We had a huge turnout for the event, and we launched over 200 pumpkins! Some pumpkins went over 100 feet and the mess was pretty epic. Thank you to everyone who came out to support us, and YES, we are going to do it again next year! I am already working on the design for a more powerful trebuchet and we are also going to add some sort of giant slingshot too. We should be able to make the line move much faster next year! Our ‘Treats for Troops’ table also collected over 200 pounds of unwanted candy and donated it to CarePacks.org who will make sure that it reaches members of our armed services overseas. All in all, it was a great day and all of the proceeds are going directly to help the scouts of Troop 6. Thank you!!!

(Photo from QuincyQuarry.com)

The Troop also participated in the Veterans Day activities and it was a joy to see so many veterans being honored, despite the nasty weather. Next up, we are going to be joining the Friends of the Blue Hills for some trail maintenance and then camping over at Camp Sayre in Milton. We will be working on our ax and saw skills and hopefully finishing off a bunch of the last requirements to get the scouts to their next ranks. The rest of the month will be dedicated to advancement and finishing up some of the merit badges we been working on.

Our next bottle drive is December 12th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot and during this bottle drive we will be also be collecting non-perishable food for local food pantries – please consider dropping by even if you don’t have any bottles! Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,
Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster

The boys of Troop 6 have been pretty busy lately! We have spent a lot of time working on advancement, figuring out patrol structures, sorting out and organizing our gear, and generally getting our plan together for the year. We took a break from all that and spent a fun weekend up in Woodstock, NH, where the boys hiked, climbed, built shelters, and enjoyed the great outdoors. The weather was cool but nice on Saturday, but two teams of scouts had their wilderness survival shelters thoroughly tested when the rain came that night! Everyone survived and had some great memories to boot. We also hiked to a wonderful lookout spot and were able to see all the way into Franconia Notch and the foliage was beautiful! Overall, it was a great weekend for everyone.

We have also been working on our 7’ tall trebuchet and are all ready for our big Punkin Chunkin fundraiser. In mid October, we laid siege to Labrecque Field and did some test firing and we were able to launch a gallon water jug (8lbs) over 130 feet! Hopefully, we will have lots of pictures to share next month!

We are also continuing our work on Personal Fitness Merit Badge, community service projects, general scout skills, and we will be starting Citizenship Merit Badges soon. There is lots going on, but we are always open to new scouts and the fall is the best time to join! Scouting is open to all boys from Grade 6 to age 18, and we try to foster good citizenship, community service, life skills, and a strong love of the outdoors while having a heck of a lot of fun along the way! Parents are welcome to contact me, Rob Gordon, rpgordon@comcast.net at any time if you have questions, or feel free to stop down to the Houghs Neck Congregational Church on Monday nights from 7-8:30PM.

Our next bottle drive is November 14th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot, and will continue to be the second Saturday of every month. Please remember that the bottle drives are our main means of fundraising for the Troop, and we really appreciate your contributions. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,

Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster

Troop 6 had a fantastic week at summer camp back in July, with 19 scouts, half a dozen leaders, and 2 of our scouters on staff for the summer. The Troop earned nearly 50 merit badges, learned primitive skills, outdoor cooking skills, swam, boated, climbed, hiked, and generally had a great time. The boys made us all proud and we are looking forward to handing out all of their hard earned badges at our Court of Honor on August 31st. The boys would also like me to extend a huge “Thank You!” to all of the leaders who spent time with us that week, including: Mike Berry, Shawn Donahue, Rob Gordon, John Toler, and Patrick Walsh, and our part timers – Aaron Cavin, Ralph “Bampy” Jacobs, Brian Laroche, and Rich Sutherland.

We are starting the new year off with our Court of Honor and registration night on August 31st, and although we are taking Labor Day off, we will be very busy planning for our first camping trip of the year at our first meeting on September 14th. We are going all the way up to Acadia National Park on the coast of Maine to do some hiking and exploring during the weekend of September 18-20th.

Our Troop is always open to new scouts and September is the best time to join! Scouting is open to all boys from Grade 6 to age 18, and we try to foster good citizenship, community service, life skills, and a strong love of the outdoors while having a heck of a lot of fun along the way! Parents are welcome to contact me, Rob Gordon, rpgordon@comcast.net at any time if you have questions, or feel free to stop down to the Houghs Neck Congregational Church on Monday nights from 7-8:30PM.

Our next bottle drive is September 12th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot, and will continue to be the second Saturday of every month. Please remember that the bottle drives are our main means of fundraising for the Troop, and we really appreciate your contributions. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,
Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster

Whoever said that scouts only camp in the woods??? Well, not Troop 6! On June 6th and 7th a group of 34 scouts, parents, and even a few sisters spent the weekend camping in the picnic grounds at 6 Flags New England! We spent the entire weekend riding roller coasters, hanging out in the water park, and making a few new friends with all of the other scouts that were attending their Camporee that weekend. This was our annual “Big Trip” and we went BIG! It was a great time, with great food, and great weather, and while we didn’t spend a lot of time working on scouting skills, we did have a lot of fun, and that is a big part of scouting as well.

The rest of June was focused on completing First Aid Merit Badge and, well, having more fun! We had a killer game of whiffle ball and a massive game of ultimate Frisbee. We work hard and we play hard!

Speaking of working, our scouts were down at the July 3rd Family Fun Day at Edgewater Drive and were running the beach games and some of the rides. Big thanks to Mike R., Adam, Patrick, Joe, Nathan, Brendan, Brody, Andrew and Jake G! We are also happy to report that Matt Mroz has completed his Eagle project, and we encourage everyone to check it out. He restored and added signage to the trail that leads from the Boat House on Blacks Creek out to Southern Artery. He did a great job, and he is just a Board of Review away from becoming our next Eagle!

Next up is a week on Adams Pond at T. L. Storer Scout Reservation for a summer camp! We will be taking 19 boys and over a half a dozen leaders to camp for a week of swimming, boating, climbing, shooting, cooking, merit badges and more fun!

Our next bottle drive is August 8th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot, and will continue to be the second Saturday of every month. Please remember that the bottle drives are our main means of fundraising for the Troop, and we really appreciate your contributions. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,
Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster,

Whoever said that scouts only camp in the woods??? Well, not Troop 6! On June 6th and 7th a group of 34 scouts, parents, and even a few sisters spent the weekend camping in the picnic grounds at 6 Flags New England! We spent the entire weekend riding roller coasters, hanging out in the water park, and making a few new friends with all of the other scouts that were attending their Camporee that weekend. This was our annual “Big Trip” and we went BIG! It was a great time, with great food, and great weather, and while we didn’t spend a lot of time working on scouting skills, we did have a lot of fun, and that is a big part of scouting as well.

The rest of June was focused on completing First Aid Merit Badge and, well, having more fun! We had a killer game of whiffle ball and a massive game of ultimate Frisbee. We work hard and we play hard!

Speaking of working, our scouts were down at the July 3rd Family Fun Day at Edgewater Drive and were running the beach games and some of the rides. Big thanks to Mike R., Adam, Patrick, Joe, Nathan, Brendan, Brody, Andrew and Jake G!


We are also happy to report that Matt Mroz has completed his Eagle project, and we encourage everyone to check it out. He restored and added signage to the trail that leads from the Boat House on Blacks Creek out to Southern Artery. He did a great job, and he is just a Board of Review away from becoming our next Eagle!

Next up is a week on Adams Pond at T. L. Storer Scout Reservation for a summer camp! We will be taking 19 boys and over a half a dozen leaders to camp for a week of swimming, boating, climbing, shooting, cooking, merit badges and more fun!


Our next bottle drive is August 8th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot, and will continue to be the second Saturday of every month. Please remember that the bottle drives are our main means of fundraising for the Troop, and we really appreciate your contributions. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,

Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster,

Just a quick update this month, and most of it revolves around service! Troop 6 was out in force on May 2nd for Cleaner Greener Quincy. We helped with the Houghs Neck Garden Club with the Leo Kelly Park, we helped Atherton Hough School with the Veterans Memorial, we helped our sponsoring institution, the Houghs Neck Congregational Church with their reflection garden, and we also took care of mulching the H.N. Fire Station as well.

On May 22nd, our newest Eagle Scout Candidate, Matt Mroz, held a spaghetti dinner to help raise funds for his trail restoration project over at Black’s Creek. It was a great night, and Matt was able to make enough money to make sure his project is a success. He is cleaning, restoring, and adding signs to the trail that leads from Southern Artery along Black’s Creek to the Boat House behind Pageant Field. We made the first pass at the clean up on May 24th, and there is more work to do!

Speaking of Eagles, Ben Brownlow and John Bonfiglioli have both officially passed their Boards of Review and are now the newest Troop 6 Eagles!!! We will have a double ceremony publicly recognizing them later in the summer.

We were also thrilled this month to welcome 7 new scouts into the Troop as they crossed over from Pack 6. Welcome John, Connor, Michael, Greg, Cameron, Adam, and Jaime! That puts the Troop over 30 boys!!!

The Troop was also proud to march in the Memorial Day Parade in Quincy.

Next month we have our “Big Trip” and this year it is the 6 Flags Camporee! Yup, two full days of amusement park rides – we work hard, and we play hard!

Our next bottle drive is June 13th from 9-12 in Labrecque Field parking lot, and will continue to be the second Saturday of every month. Please remember that the bottle drives are our main means of fundraising for the Troop, and we really appreciate your contributions. Please feel free to call if you need a pick up!

Yours in Scouting,
Rob Gordon, Troop 6 Scoutmaster