Broom Ball 2021

One of my favorite events all year long that Troop 407 does is broom ball. This year, on December 10, Troop 407 once again rented out a nearby ice rink so we could play broom ball. It was a blast! We separated into two teams and then partnered with a person on our team to switch out so the rink wouldn’t get too crowded. Once the game kicked off, you could immediately see some Scouts go charging for the ball, and those Scouts would keep doing that for the rest of the night. Two confident Scouts from each team would be selected as goalies, and the game pretty much relied on them saving the ball, because the rest of the game was mostly chance and chaos.

By the second half, it was pretty cold. A lot of kids probably weren’t wearing enough layers, because Southern Californians aren’t really used to cold weather. But we had so much fun that it was hard to focus on things like the cold. A lot of goals were scored in the beginning of the game, but the goal scoring slowed down by the second half. Everyone surprisingly still had a ton of energy, though, and people were running around the rink at full speed, crashing into anyone and everyone who was unfortunate enough to be in their path. I look forward to this event every year, and I’m already counting down the days until next year.

Christmas shopping for adopted families

One of Troop 407’s best annual traditions is its Adopt-a-Family Christmas shopping excursion. In December 2021, the troop went to Target and split off into patrols, as usual, to buy presents for families who couldn’t afford them. Each patrol was assigned a different family member. Some things on the list were clothes, toys, and gift cards. It was a lot of fun searching for the right gifts and thinking about how happy the recipients would be on Christmas Day. I had a great time with the Panther patrol, and as we walked around the store, I saw all the other patrols having just as much fun as us. There was even one group of Scouts that all dressed up in Spiderman costumes, which drew a lot of attention from other shoppers, especially numerous little kids, who were coming up to them and hugging them. I’m looking forward to this tradition next year. It’s always a lot of fun.

Red Rock Canyon campout

Troop 407 went to Red Rock Canyon for a campout the weekend of November 5-7. Now, this may have just been because I wasn’t the one driving, but I thought the drive up there wasn’t that bad. By the time my car arrived at the camp, it was dark, but some people had arrived a little before us and might have been able to catch a bit of sunlight before it was gone. The weather conditions weren’t that bad. However, on the last day, the wind was pretty crazy. A few tents were blown over and various items were scattered throughout the bushes. The hikes weren’t as difficult as some I had been on previously, and what made them so fun was that every now and then we’d stumble across a crawl space and we’d be able to go inside. One had a bat in it! Near that same crawl space, one of the troop’s parents decided to take a risk and free climb across a very sketchy ledge. We were all pretty scared for him, but it ended well. Overall, the trip was a blast and I’d love to back there again.

First Court of Honor of the 2021-22 Scouting year

On October 12, 2021, Troop 407 had another Court of Honor. At this Court of Honor we had 11 Scouts rank up, in total. Eight scouts got the rank of Tenderfoot, 2 received Star, and 1 earned Life. The invocation was done by Camden Barber and colors were done by the Panther Patrol. Tenderfoot was presented by Lyle Mideiros and went to Austin Chotibhongs, Conner Ellefson, Ian Li, Xavier Nicolosi, Dominic Sink, Noah Steckling, Alexander Vance, and Nikita Willard. Star was presented by Ian Birt and went to Kate Emmert and Porter Wonacott. And Life was presented by Jude Emmert and went to Erin Hager. Thanks to everyone who had a part in the ceremony. Speaking from experience, I thought the skits were hilarious. As I looked around, I could see all the Scouts having a great time with their friends, and it made me remember the reason I joined Scouts in the first place. I’m so happy to be a part of this wonderful troop and make all these incredible memories.

Troop’s first campout since COVID-19

On October 1, 2021, Troop 407 went to El Capitan and stayed there until October 3. We had gone to El Capitan last year, too, but not as a troop because of COVID-19. Families were able to go, using spots the troop had originally reserved. This year, we were able to go back and make it an official Scout outing. It was our first troop camping trip since COVID-19 restrictions had been put in place. There were a ton of Scouts present at this campout because everyone wanted to get back to camping. This campsite is in a really beautiful location, right along the coast. In fact, from some campsites in the back of the campground, you can even see the ocean. And it’s just a short walk down the road to get to the beach. We’re lucky to live in California, where the weather is nice enough for a beach trip, even in October. Everyone had a lot of fun boogie boarding, playing in the sand, and hanging out at camp.

Huntington Beach bike ride and beach trip

On September 11, 2021, Troop 407 embarked on a bike ride to the beach. Those who participated in the bike ride rode from the train station in Anaheim to Huntington Beach, down a bike path that follows along the Santa Ana River. The bike ride was about 20 miles total. Later, others who didn’t participate in the bike ride met with the troop at the beach. A lot of people showed up for the beach. Everybody was there by about 2:00 p.m., and it was a beauitful day, even though it was pretty windy later in the day. At the beach, most of the Scouts ended up passing the time by boogie boarding and playing paddle ball. One Scout even brought out a game he got in Williamsburg that people had a lot of fun playing. There was also a great barbecue at night. I’ve heard a lot of great things about this trip and I’m hoping to be able to go myself next year.

First in-person meeting after COVID-19

On Sept. 7, 2021, Troop 407 had its first regular troop meeting in-person since the beginning of the pandemic. It was a great opportunity to see Scout friends face-to-face and learn about all of the exciting plans for the year ahead. It was especially great to welcome all of the new members to our Troop who bridged when things were virtual. The meeting was held at the Claremont United Church of Christ, which hosts our troop.

Philmont finally happens

In July, 11 Scouts and 4 adult leaders, finally got to go to Philmont after having it delayed twice, once due to wildfires and once due to COVID-19. They backpacked for 10 days and hiked about 70 miles. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and requires months of training, which was made hard for these Scouts because of COVID-19 restrictions. There were many challenges along the trek, especially emotional and physical challenges, but everyone had to keep moving forward and making it work. The Scouts saw some amazing things. The rock climbing was amazing, and there was one trail where they had to make dozens of river crossings. The group stopped at staff camps along the way, where they enjoyed activities such as archery, musket shooting, and blacksmithing. One camp had a Native American theme, and Scouts went into a sweat lodge. Some of the Scouts really liked a book that showed the sign language that was used among early white settlers in the area and the Native Americans. Amazingly, our Troop 407 Scouts ran into a group from the other Claremont Scout troop, Troop 402. At the end of the journey, everyone had blisters on their feet and were overjoyed to be able to take a nice shower, but they had made amazing memories.

Troop 407’s first summer camp since COVID-19!

In late June 2021, dozens of Troop 407 Scouts went to summer camp at Camp Bighorn in Lake Arrowhead. The camp was in a beautiful forest, and although there was no lake at this camp, there was a zipline and a pool, where several of our Scouts did the mile swim and enjoyed other free time and events. Camp was an opportunity to make progress on rank advancement and earn merit badges. We took a night hike at one point, and on the hike, the counselors stopped at stations to talk about each point in the Scout Law. It also rained during camp, and it got really cold, but once we were safe in our tents, it was nice to hear the rain on the tent roofs. The zipline was really exciting. Scouts were given appointments and they partnered up, and we got to zipline over the pool, where we could say hello to our friends who were swimming. There was also a rockclimbing wall that you could go to in your free time.

Troop 407 holds its first in-person Court of Honor since COVID-19

On June 15, 2021, Troop 407 had its first in-person Court of Honor since February of 2020. It was at La Casa Primera de Rancho San Jose, which is a historic property in Pomona, where a lot of the troop’s Eagle Scouts have done their service projects. The master of ceremonies was Jacob. The same day as the Court of Honor, the governor of California announced that masks would no longer be required outside and that limits would be lifted on the size of gatherings. Everyone wore their masks to the Court of Honor, though, to protect anyone not yet vaccinated. But it was amazing to see so many people gathered together to celebrate the Scouts’ accomplishments. For our troop, the night marked a change back to normal after a year and a half of having to adapt and do things really differently than we usually would.

The Falcon patrol did the colors, Nate gave an invocation, and every other patrol did a skit. It was a little hard to hear some of the skits but they were all pretty funny.

Several Scouts ranked up this Court of Honor. Eighteen of our new Scouts received their Scout rank! Four became Tenderfoots. Two ranked up to Second Class. And Camden, Adam, Ian and Isaac all got their Star rank. Scouts also received numerous merit badges and other awards.

Jen Johnson also received an award thanking her for her many years of service as advancement chair. She will now hand this big job over to Stephanie Stanger.

Here’s a link to where you can view all of the photos from that night. https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-mvQ389/ I’ve chosen a few to highlight here:

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