Activity Write-Ups

After being stuck inside for a while, we were all excited to get out of the house, and especially to help get our new canoe trailers ready. The 27 Family recently acquired new canoe trailers, and there was a series of work parties to get them ready for use. We spent hours painting the new trailers, cleaning & repairing canoes, stenciling on new logos, and adjusting tie-down ropes. It was an amazing experience to see each other in person again, especially because we were working on something meaningful, even if we couldn’t come within 6 feet of each other. This was a super fun project, and we’re excited to take the new trailers down to the water!

By Jared

Despite the Shelter In Place order, Crew 27 remains very active during this time. We have transitioned all of our meetings to Zoom and are using this time to do trainings and other presentations. We just completed Time Management Training, which is required for advancement, and have heard presentations on topics such as whitewater rescue and horsemanship. While we all are missing camping and cannot wait to get back outside, Zoom meetings have been a great way to continue staying connected and to keep developing our skills!

By Callie

Every year, we go to Skylawn Cemetery and honor military members by planting American flags above their headstones.This year, BSA cancelled this annual tradition out of safety concerns during the current pandemic. With many precautions, we managed to let many people who had originally wanted to plant the flags do so along with their families. We did this out of a sense of duty and respect, as well as after fully considering and ensuring the safety of our specific circumstances. Troop and Crew 27, together with family and friends, visited Skylawn Cemetery on the 23rd of May and planted flags. We met there at 8am and finished decorating the entire cemetery by 10:30. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and even though the event was different than usual, it was still a very moving and worthwhile activity. We followed strict social distancing guidelines and stayed in household groups the entire time.

By Emma

On Scout Sunday, the Venture Crew hosted the annual V27 Pancake Breakfast to raise money for Super Trip 2020 Oregon. Friendly and cheerful crew members welcomed people and served delicious food made by amazing chefs. Many people, from the church community and troop community, came and kindly donated in support of the crew, helping raise about 3000 dollars! The pancake breakfast was a great time where the troop families and churchgoers could talk and enjoy a hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausages, and eggs together.

Following the pancake breakfast was the Scout Sunday service. Some Crew members spoke during the service, speaking about the Venture Crew and adding in their experiences. Scout Sunday was a very nice event to reflect on our experiences in the Crew and show our appreciation for the support of the Hillsdale United Methodist Church community.

By Katie

 

On a beautiful Saturday morning, the crew went out to Sharp Park in Pacifica to participate in a beach clean-up, removing trash and cigarette butts from the beach and surrounding area. It was a great experience to be cleaning up the environment while having a fun time outside with friends.

After the beach clean-up, we went back to Pat’s place to do some planning for our annual Treasure Hunt coming soon and later went to go ice skating at Ice Oasis in the Bridgepoint Shopping Center. We spent two hours skating and falling there, and it was a super fun experience.

By Jared

 

This weekend we went to Tahoe for the annual Klondike Derby. When we arrived the first day we decided that there wasn’t enough snow to build shelters. Instead we spent the day building a kitchen area, preparing for the events the next day and spending time together.

When we woke up the following day it was raining but thankfully it turned into a beautiful snow. We started the morning with a Scouts Own before we helped set up the events and then went around to compete. Some of our favorite events were ptarmigan (slingshots), tie up the dogs (knots – bowline, sheetbend, two half hitches, timber hitch, clove hitch), gear rescue (grappling hook toss), and the sled race. Even though there wasn’t a bunch of snow we still had a fantastic time and can’t wait to go back again next year!

By Callie

Every year we go to a nursing home were we group together and sing Christmas songs for the residents there. They love it when we come and sing and we love to go and sing for them. It’s a lot of fun to spend an hour singing Christmas songs for people who love to hear us sing no matter how we think we sound. It’s definitely something we like to do every year.

By Allie

After working on a service project for the King’s Mountain Archers the prior weekend, the crew returned to do some shooting. The archery course was a long trail with a series of targets. It was a fun experience with great instruction and guidance from Mike Anderson (from KMA) and Mr. Ammenti. It was a nice hike as well!

After the archery session, the crew headed down to Joseph D. Grant County Park by San Jose to camp and do some skillbuilding. Throughout the afternoon, we reviewed and learned lots of useful knots and lashings. We then used those skills to construct a bridge. We had delicious beef stew and salad for dinner, and finished the night with chocolate fondue for dessert and a campfire. We celebrated Khai’s birthday as well.

The next morning, two crew members (Jared and Khai) helped set up an orienteering hike around the park. We learned important orienteering skills, like the importance of thumbing a map, and embarked on the hike. We ended the outing with learning new ways to construct first aid stretchers and a Z-rig. Overall, it was a fun weekend with lots of learning experiences and bonding time in the crew!

By Katie

On Saturday, the crew went to King’s Mountain Archery to help out with a service project. We had lots of fun taking apart and moving the hay and components holding up the targets and rotating the targets and line to face a different direction. Afterwards, we were all applauded four our effective teamwork and efficiency by the people from the archery range who lead us to complete the task. Overall it was an excellent way to spend our weekend and help a group in our community.

By Cameron

We went to one of our Venture leaders’ house for a party. Everyone was dressed up and we completed several activities over the night. First we made pizzas to cook, while we watched a movie, then we moved on to hanging doughnut rings and bobbing for apples. After that we played more games with one another, including a mummy wrap competition. Overall it was a great experience and a good way to nurture our camaraderie and team spirit.

By Khai

After completing the Wilderness First Aid course, we visited Mount Hermon to do ziplining and a ropes course. The zipline course was a series of ziplines across different trees which was a thrilling rush of adrenaline. Flying through the forest high above the ground was an amazing experience and lots of fun. The ropes course was a series of escalating challenges made up of platforms suspended in the air in between trees. We got to explore three levels of difficulty with different challenges that engaged us in different ways. We also got to improve our teamwork by doing a challenge where we had to guide a blind person across a bridge filled with holes, and it was a lot of fun. Overall, we had a very good time at Mount Hermon and we can’t wait to be back!

By Jared

Many from the Venture crew studied for and completed a Standard (16-hour course) Wilderness First Aid course from Paratus Institute. After completing the online course with some quizzes and a final exam about the information, we then went to the in-person Wilderness First Aid training. We went over the course material in detail with experienced First Aiders and practiced many of the practical and difficult skills on each other. The participants were then confronted with difficult first aid situations, often with multiple “victims,” and had to fumble our way through a healing and rescue operation to the best of our abilities. Our memorization, teamwork and organization skills were tested and stretched greatly by this course. We feel much more prepared to help others in distress, and for outdoor activities where people can be in danger, which is almost always. Overall, we had a fabulous time, and I highly recommend this course to anyone who does anything outdoorsy at all, is in charge of an outdoors group, or simply wants to know more about first aid for places where first responders are far away.

By Emma