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This past Monday troop 3 had its court of honor. Many badges were given and received, ranks were climbed, and awards were awarded. The turnout was great and the food was amazing. Don't forget that Christmas tree sales are just around the corner!!! By Ben Ochs
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This veterans day the scouts went to the legion to preform a ceremony for retiring the flags. almost all of the troop attended and afterward there was a luncheon also provided by the legion. By Ben Ochs  This past weekend the scouts had and amazing backpacking trip in the Appalachian mountains. There was snow on the ground and the sun in the sky. The weather was beautiful but on the colder side. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Hall for going on trip and Mr. Rossi for knowing the trails and coming out for the hike. By Ben Ochs The scouts were graciously donated the money to build a boat with the Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex by William Taylor and were assisted in doing so by Alden Burnham. We made oars and 2 salt marsh dories, one for the scouts to keep and one for the scouts to auction off outside the scouthouse during the Christmas tree sale. We started off at 10:00 on a Saturday by shaping the planks along the hull and sealing them to the ribs of the dory. Then we put in the seats and added oarlocks and started on some oars. Then we put sealant on the hull and finished up on some of the oars. All in all it was an awesome activity and we thank William Taylor for the opportunity. By Ben Ochs 
This October, the scouts had an awesome bomber hike backpacking trip. They arrived at night so they had an amazing night hike to their first campsite. The next day, they hiked to their second campsite, put down tents, and prepared their day packs for the hike to the bomber crash site. They hiked to the crash site and ate lunch. Then they hiked back to camp and spent the night at camp with an awesome flashlight fire before hiking Mount Osceola the next day and then heading home.
The scouts of troop 3 went on a beautiful weekend canoe trip on the Saco river. The weather was amazing, and the river was very cool because the water was clear, so you could see all the way to the bottom. All in all, it was a great trip and everyone had fun!
By Lucia and Ben Ochs The time spent at JN Webster was time well spent for the scouts of troop 3. On July 6th, the scouts gathered at the scout house to leave at about 10:00am, all packed and ready to go. Soon, the scouts arrived at the camp, stopping for lunch on the way there. When we got there, we unpacked at the campsite, and settled in. The next few days were filled with fun. Early in the morning, some scouts decided to do the fishing merit badge or the polar bear swim. There were many merit badges to choose from, along with archery, swimming, art, and more! There were specific themes for each day of the week, like the wild west, or time traveling. A fun time was had by all.
On September 12th at 4:30pm, the scouts going on the cranes beach campout all gathered at the scouthouse to get supplies and an itinerary. Afterwards, we arrived at the cranes campsite, unpacked and ate, set up tents, and made a fire. The next morning people started to wake up and get things done. Breakfast was made, and we were shown how to correctly tie down raincovers and prepare the fire pit. Then, at 10:30 we counted off and started the service project (as is always customary as a thank you to cranes for letting us use the campsite). This year, the project was to clean up and adjust our campsite to our will. Some examples of jobs were: picking up pinecones, moving large and small sticks, digging out and bettering the fire pit, and many more. At the end we had a nice lunch and then two hours of free time. Some people went to the beach while others went to look at the mansion and the front lawn, or just rest at camp. Then, at 4:30 that evening, families and other troop members started showing up for dinner. We had at least 50 people come. Dinner was fun and after we retired to the bonfire for singing and talking. The next morning kids who needed their totin’ chip went to the axe yard with Mr. Hall to finish that up. Then we packed everything up and went back to the scout house to unload food and hang up tents. All in all, it was a fun weekend at cranes for the scouts.  By Jackson Provan On Friday, September 27th, Troop 3 set out on their yearly Cranes Beach campout. They arrived at the campsite, a clearing in the woods a short distance from the estate just down the road from the farmhouses, in the early evening, and began unpacking their supplies for their two-night campout. After everything was unloaded, they set up tents. Boys Scouts of America has now become Scouting America, and this year Troop 3 has as many girls as it does boys. At Cranes Beach, there were six girls’ tents and two boys’ tents. After they ate dinner they all went to bed, tired from the day's activities. The campsite at Cranes Beach The next morning, after dining on egg, bacon, and cheese breakfast burritos (a campout specialty), they headed out to the Crane Estate for a service project. A Cranes trustee guided them on what he would like them to do, having them shovel dirt off walkways to the beach. Half the team set out doing this. Everyone else dug up metal poles used to hold up the rope fences to keep beachgoers off the dunes. Using their skills at untying knots to get ropes and fences loose, they used shovels, hands, and other carpentry tools to lift them out of the ground. Sometimes doing one would take ten to fifteen minutes, considering some rods were seven feet tall. While it would take a very long time to pull up the fences across the whole beach, they did this for about two hours. Finally, after putting up a sign on a trail, they went back to the campsite, enjoying sandwiches for lunch. Above left: Scouts pulling out metal fencing posts Above center: Dante Bruno shoveling dirt off the boardwalk to Cranes Beach Above right: Group picture of Troop 3 after the service project With the rest of their time free, Troop 3 spent the day building teepees out of sticks and competing in a lip sync competition. Returning to their bunks for bed and falling asleep laying cards, they woke up the next morning, disheartened to go home. After they ate a breakfast of oatmeal, they had to pack up to go back to Manchester. Collapsing the tents, cleaning up the campsite, and packing everything away, they set off back to Manchester. After a fun weekend, people were already talking about coming back next year. Above left: Group photo of Troop 3 sitting in a tepee they built
Above center: Cia Donohoe sitting by the fire, making the last night’s dessert: Dutch oven apple cake Above right: Troop 3 playing life-sized chess at the crane estate   Troop 3 goes vertical - 45 feet up high in the air.
Troop 3 spent the weekend at La Vida - enjoying a 3+ hour long ropes course and overnight camping. While we were only one town away in Wenham, we hiked about 10 minutes with our packs on to our campsite behind Gordon College and were immersed in woods. A La Vida pick-up transported our cooking equipment, water, food supplies, and tents to the site. While our trees were still bare and the temperatures were in the 50s/40s at night, we had no rain or bugs to fend off. We started the day by setting up for lunch. We took several stoves with us so that every Scout would have a chance to cook at least one of our three hot meals. Many cooked at least two! Next we covered how to set up a 3 bin dishwashing station before setting out to pick a site to pitch our tents. There were small cabins (not insulated, no lighting) but everyone chose to sleep outside. Our main activity began mid afternoon. The Scouts were very brave - some climbed up 45 feet in the air. This activity lasted 3+ hours so everyone had many opportunities to climb different structures. We ended with a teamwork exercise with the Scouts climbing in pairs. Dinner provided another opportunity to get the Scouts in front of the stoves. Maya, a La Vida employee, joined us for dinner and the overnight. A recent graduate of Saint Anselm College who works at La Vida in the summer, she enjoyed her time with Troop 3 so much she asked if she could become a Troop 3 volunteer! We'll be in touch with her and hope to take her up on her offer in the fall. No campout is complete without an amazing campfire, some campfire desserts and a great game of manhunt. The adults had a plan for bedtime, but the Scouts beat us to it. With the climbing, fresh air, and running around, nearly all Scouts were in their tents around 10/10:30. Thank you to our adult leaders Tom Conway, Ashley Ochs and Mark Bruno. The Ochs family, Ben and Lucia, did a great job helping to plan and cook the meals. All the scouts seemed very excited to climb, pitch a tent, cook a meal or two, run around with flashlights and even learn the proper way to clean cast iron stoves and wash dishes in nature. Between the cooking and camping, the Scouts made a lot of progress with rank advancement too! |
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