I have been a Boy Scout in Troop 123 since 2011, and looking back on this past year, it is clear that Troop 123 Scouts’ drive and motivation is at an all time high. Countless rank advancements saw the light of day for every Scout in the Troop, and we named the rank of Eagle Scout to both Sam Tsongalis and Ricky Cehon. The senior patrol leaders effectively led the Scout meetings, and the future of the Troop’s leadership looks bright. 2017 was also heavily saturated with fun and strong outings for the Troop, all of them with solid turnouts. The timeline of 2017 for Troop 123 is tremendous.
The first major event of Troop 123 was the Winterfest, a cold weather overnight campout that, despite the main event being cancelled, still served as a place to fulfill the cold weather camping requirement of the Eagle-required Camping merit badge. I battled a cold and managed to come out on top. The Klondike Derby was next, a winter sled romp around Treasure Valley across many intense challenges, such as the deadly swing and the incredibly fun barrel roll. In March, the Troop planned to hike ten miles across the Midstate Trail, but the trip was snowed out and replaced with an igloo-focused cold weather campout. The Troop would then go on to do the hike in early June, but not after April’s Treasure Valley Experience and May’s Memorial Day parade. In July, Troop 123 had a busy and unforgettable week at Treasure Valley’s summer camp at the Evergreen campsite.

After summer camp, I began work on my Eagle Scout Project, improving the navigation of Turn Back Time Farm. Meanwhile, the Harvest Fair and the Fall Can Can Drive took place in September, alongside new thematic changes to the Scout meetings, such as the format of the opening flag ceremonies. The new music themes included music, cooking, and communications, with inventive ways to explore these themes.

Near the end of the year, we had someone come in to improve our marching formation, with official two-statement commands, such as “Dress right, dress!” and “Troop, At ease!” By the end of just the first meeting, our formations looked worlds better and we felt better knowing it.

Our forward march skills will be far from the only thing that has improved or will improve from here on out. Our Troop has triumphantly proven itself to be a competitive, cooperative, leadership-oriented, successful Troop of the Boy Scouts of America. The Troop’s Scouts’ sense of the Scout Law and Oath in their day-to-day lives has been awakened, and we are sure to see this kind of success in the future as well.

Until then, this is Historian Joe, signing out!