2014 Scoutmaster's Service Project

It's a rare thing when the Scoutmaster asks for the help of the scouts.  It's usually the other way around. But, that's just what happened this weekend.

The Scoutmaster took the Wood Badge course this last year and the last of his projects to complete the course was to create a native plants trail around Lake Raphine in Howarth Park.  The first step of this process was to plant a dozen posts on the trails around the lake.  Next ID plaques will be placed on the posts.  Then a webpage and podcast will be placed on the Howarth Park so you can access the tour by smartphone or print out the tour before you go.

Ironically, in the worst drought in California history, the project was postponed due to rain!  The original date of Saturday was a complete washout with almost three inches of rain falling.  The weather reports did show a short window of dry weather on Sunday morning though.  So, with the knowledge that they may all get wet, the troop formed up at the park Sunday morning instead.

The weather was threatening with a light mist falling when everyone took off for the park, but by the time everyone showed up, the sky had dried up and so the project started. While the Scoutmaster laid out the posts by the native plants he had selected, the scouts and leaders divided up into four teams and started planting the posts into the ground.  The groups made great time.  By the time the Scoutmaster had laid the posts out, grabbed his paperwork, and caught up to the work parties, they were already half finished!  This was a surprise as the ground around the lake is quite rocky and everyone was prepared to have to dig several holes to plant each post.  Luckily, no such problems were to be had and the posts went into the ground in about an hour and a half.  It was a good thing too.  As the last group crossed the dam on the way home, and the team working on the last post was finishing,


and the mist returned again.  There was time for a quick group picture and then everyone fled to their vehicles to head home before the rain truly set in.

Participants:  Joey, Payton, Andrew P., Bryce, Owen, John-Robert, Griffin, Jeff, James


Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mr. Franceschi, Mr. Bell, Mr. Morris, Mr, Perez, Mr. Baier, Mr. Dewar

Lessons Learned:  Even when things look bleak, there is often a window of opportunity to get things done.  

2014 Santa Rosa Parks Service Project

Every year, we do a service project for the Santa Rosa Parks Department and they have been some of the most fun projects we have done.  This year it was educational as well. 

This year, we collected trash at Youth Community Park.  For most people, the skate park is what people associate with the park.  Some may have used the playground or picnic area.  Fewer still have hiked the trails behind the park area.  You would think that this was the extent of the park. 

You’d be wrong. 

It turns out that the City owns the acreage behind the park that extends all the way to Piner Road.  So we formed up at Northwest Prep and headed south from there.  We got to see the part of the park that few people see.  It was clear that equestrians, hikers and dog walkers use this part of the park.  Then we entered the park proper and picked up trash as we went filling several bags apiece.  After a break we worked our way back to the school happy to have helped and to have learned more about this park!

Participants:  Joey, Brian, Andrew, Payton, Andrew, Bryce, Owen, Carl, Gerrit, Jordan, Devon, John-Robert
Leaders:  Mr. Frazee, Mr. Lococo, Mr. Polkinghorn, Mr. Franceschi, Mr. Bell

Lessons Learned:  There is a lot more to Youth Community Park than meets the eye.

Jeff Eagle Project

OK, what do you think of when you think of Boy Scouts doing a service project?  You think of them out in the wild cutting trails, right?  Troop 134 has done a lot of service projects in the last several years.  We’ve done work at schools, we’ve spread mulch and trimmed weeds at parks.  NONE of them have been doing trail work!  Well, that’s taken care of.  Jeff’s Eagle Project was performing trail work at Foothill Regional Park near Windsor.

We were working one stretch of trail deep in the back of the park, so the day started with a hike.  This was a bit depressing as it passed near several of the reservoirs in the park and they were all but puddles. 

When we got to the site, we dug right in.  Literally.  The trail work was installing water bars on a steep section of the trail, shaving the edge of another part, clearing stones and roots from another, creating  a wide spot for passing in another and cleaning out a rock lense so water could go though. 

Everyone split up and the work was done just a little after the excellent hot dog lunch.  The last task was hauling buckets of gravel to the bottom of the trail to refill the rock lense (and wasn’t that fun).  Then we all hiked back.  Good Job Jeff!

Participants:  Lots and Lots

Leaders:  Lots and Lots

Lessons Learned:  Foothill Park is gorgeous

Joey Eagle Project

The troop converged (eventually) at Northwest Prep, where we meet, to do a number of projects to support the school and help Joey earn his Eagle.

The projects were varied, from clearing brush, to cleaning up the planted beds, to destroying some old planters, to spreading mulch, to breaking up some cement anchors so they could be disposed of. 

The project started slowly with only 4 people showing up first thing in the morning.  While this meant lots more doughnuts for us, it caused a bit of panic.  Luckily everyone was only running late and within an hour there was a full crew on site and working. 

Everyone worked steadily and the school started taking shape in no time.  By lunch (pizza, yum!), most of the clean up was done and only hauling away the debris and filling back in with soil and wood chips had to be completed.  In a few hours, that was done as well.  We could all stand back and see what we had done. 

What a difference it made!  Rarely do you see so much change in a site with a service project.  The school looked 100% better.  Good job Joey!

Participants:  Lots and Lots

Leaders:  Lots and Lots

Lessons Learned:  You can make quite a difference with just one project

2013 Mt. St. Helena Hike and Camp

Ok, I have a confession to make.  For three years now, the Scoutmaster and the Outdoor Coordinator have had a super secret outing planned.  If ever there was a storm that dropped snow on Mt. St. Helena on a Wednesday or Thursday, we were going to call everyone up and see who could go and who could drive and head to the peak that weekend.  For three years it never happened.  Then, when we scheduled a Mt. St. Helena hike, it snowed!

Go figure.

The outing started poorly.  The storm had also left behind freezing temperatures and wet pavement in the valley floor, which is a poor combination.  There was ice everywhere including on the troop trailer.  We had to get a hair dryer to thaw the locks on the trailer so we could hook it up!  For once, we didn’t care if people were late to the take off as we were warned by Mr. Morris (a firefighter) that there were accidents all over the place due to black ice.  So we delayed as long as we could before we took off.  The roads were icy, but had been sanded, so we just took our time and had no problem crossing the mountains to the the Napa Valley.  We dropped the trailer at Boothe Napa Valley State Park and headed for the mountain. 

The parking lot was icy which seemed promising as we headed up the hill to the peak.  Little more was found in the first part and we had lunch in our shirt sleeves at the climbing rock half way to the peak. About half way up though, the snow started and we were hiking in it the rest of the way.  At first it was icy and treacherous, but soon it turned into a fine powder that was great to hike in.  

The troop made it to the top, but the late start started to tell.  We only had about 20 minutes to play in the snow before we had to head back down.  Then things started to go awry.  The late start combined with the slow pace up the hill put us behind schedule.  As the afternoon progressed the group got further and further behind schedule.  Worse yet, now that the afternoon sun was no longer showing on the roads, the partially melted snow turned to ice and the way became treacherous.  Just about everyone slipped and fell on the way down.  

The troop did make it down, but by the time we arrived at the parking lot, it was dark on that side of the mountain.  We loaded up and headed back to camp to set up and cook in the dark.  A roaring fire and lanterns made that an easy task though.  Then it was off to bed.

The next morning it was 27 degrees out.  Brrrrrrr!  It did give everyone great incentive to make breakfast, clean up and break camp so we could get back into the nice warm cars for the trip home.

One neat note, this was the first time that some of our scouts had ever seen snow!

Participants:  Joseph, Daniel, James, Brian, Jeff, Owen, Ben, Devon, Carl, Jordan, Bryce, John-Robert

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mr. Peacock, Mr. Frazee, Mrs. Lara, Mr. St. John

Lessons Learned:  Get an early start.  The sun goes down early on the parking lot side of the mountain.  The group campsite is about 100' from the parking lot.  It has 4 large grills.  

Ben's Eagle Project

You would think that scheduling an Eagle Project during the Thanksgiving break would be a sure way to have nobody show up, but you’d be wrong! 

We were all dubious when Ben scheduled his project for the last weekend of Thanksgiving break.  Thanksgiving was all about home and family.  Wouldn’t everyone be visiting Grandma?  Happily that was not the case.  Apparently a good portion of the troop was back in town as everyone showed up for the project.  Friends and alumni showed up too.

The project was held at Olivet Elementary School and the troop was involved in two parts.  The first part was laying down mulch and planting drought tolerant plants on the street edge of the property.  These will eventually grow into a drought tolerant hedge separating the school from the road.  The second was upgrading the classrooms in the back of the school by installing an archway trellis and cleaning up the garden areas. 

The projects kept everyone busy till afternoon and really upgraded the look of the renovated areas. 

Good Job Ben!

2013 Alliance Redwoods Zip Lines

This outing has been on the troop agenda for a couple of years, but never made it onto the schedule.  The boys decided to include it this year and I think they are happy about the decision.  The troop visited the Alliance Redwoods camp just outside of Occidental, CA and rode their zip lines!

Alliance Redwoods started out as a summer camp, but like many camps, discovered that they needed to expand to keep paying the bills.  Like a number of camps in the area, they have added challenge courses to their activities.  They have low ropes and high ropes courses and the thing we were interested in, zip lines!  They have three on the property and they are all different.  Thanks to the money raised at the Air Show, we were able to ride all three. 

To make things even more fun, the troop was joined by the Webelos II patrol from Pack 134.  This was a great chance for the soon to be Boyscouts to see what the next phase of their scout career was going to be like. 

The group started by riding the Flying Squirrel, the longest line on the site.  Then after lunch half of the troop and pack units went to the other two lines on site and then swapped places to finish off the day of aerial adventure. 

A special thanks to all the parents and leaders who had to untie a snafu in the beginning of the event.  The camp forgot to include a permission slip in our packet and so everyone had to fill out an electronic version and email it to the camp before we could start. 

Participants:  Lots and Lots

Leaders:  Lots and Lots

Lessons Learned:  Make sure you have all of the forms

2013 Pancake Breakfast

The big fundraiser for the year is our annual pancake breakfast.  This year was a year of transition as the folks who had run the event for years and years had retired as their boys had graduated from the troop.  We definitely felt their absence, but the excellent instructions that they had left guided the new volunteers to another successful event. 

The boys did a great job of selling tickets and one even sold four times his quota!  They also did a great job serving the guest and clearing the tables as well as setting up and taking down the whole event. 

The adult volunteers did a great job of coordinating their areas and working at the event.  The room was perfectly set up and dressed.  The food came out timely and hot.    Of special note, the silent auction was the largest and most successful ever! 

Participants:  Everybody

Leaders:  Everybody

Lessons Learned:  Full staff the whole time.  

2013 Sugarloaf Ridge

The troop visited Sugarloaf Ridge for the first time in a number of years.  We had been intending to go for some time, but the park was shut down for some time with the California budget crisis slashing the park funding.  Thanks to the efforts of a number of local volunteers, the park is fully open again. 

This is especially fortunate as the Robert Furgason Observatory is located at the park so youth groups can once again access that educational resource.  What we were there for wasn’t the observatory, but it was associated it.  One of the parks trails starts at the observatory parking lot and markers have been placed along the trail in proportion to their distance from the sun.  So you can take the planet walk on a realistic hike through the solar system!  The markers even have a proportional sized circle (or dot) representing the size of the planet with facts about the heavenly body you are visiting.

After arriving at the park and checking in, the troop pitched camp and then headed up the hill, stopping at each of the markers.  We also took time out for the first year boys to master their compass and map ready skills.  Lunch was just past Neptune (when have YOU ever been able to say that), with plenty of discussion of the upcoming zombie apocalypse.  Afterward the troop continued on to Pluto and then turned around to head back to camp. 

Back at camp, the troop decided to build an axe yard and split wood for the fire that night. Then they made a trip to the visitor’s center where everyone got to see the exhibits and eat ice cream (courtesy of Mr. Peacock).  Then it was back to camp for dinner, campfire and bed. 

Participants:  John-Robert, Daniel, Owen, Bryce, Andrew P., Gerrit, Devon, Donte, Joey

Leaders:  Mr. Peacock, Mr. Polkinghorn

Lessons Learned:  The best campsites are at the corner close to the visitors center.  The showers are fantastic!

2013 Webelos Woods

Eight boys represented the troop at Webelos Woods this year despite all of the problems getting the event going.  For once, the problems were not with the unit but the council.  Information was incomplete and didn’t come out till very late (to the point where the troop really didn’t know what it was presenting till it arrived at the event).  The confusion was compounded by a call from another troop a few days before the event who thought they were also supposed to be presenting the same skill!  The troop decided to head up to the event as planned and just muddle through.

The trip up turned out to be eventful in all the wrong ways.  Leaving was slightly behind schedule, but that was all of the problems we encountered.  Untill one of the boys threw up!  Apparently the books and video games weren’t put away soon enough and the windy-twisty section of the road was too much for one of the boys.  The procession pulled over till he had all of his gyros going in the right direction. 

When we arrived, things weren’t any more organized than in the run up to the event.  Check in went OK, but there were two sets of troops doing the same skill.  In addition, there were several troops doing the same skit for skit night.  In addition, the organizers didn’t have a clear idea of how many Webelos vs. Parents they had signed up.  The layout for the events and the order for the rotations changed twice that evening. 

It got worse the next day.  Several of the troops were placed into unworkable locations, so a lot of them defaulted back to the locations they had always used in previous years.  Also the schedule shifted again.  The first 1/3 of the day had one rotation which changed as the day went on.  This wasn’t communicated to the troops, so they only knew that the groups were showing up for smaller and smaller amounts of time.  Some of the patrols got lost altogether and skipped stations.

Still we did our best to muddle through.  The boys presented first aid skills to the visiting patrols.  The scouts had come up with a fun script to highlight the skills in light of the zombie theme of the event.  In the end, despite the problems, the troop and the Webelos had fun.

Hopefully next year will work out better.

Participants:  Jeff, Payton, Devon, Bryce, Adam, Owen, James, Donte

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mr. Griffin

Lessons Learned:  You just have to roll with the punches

2013 Kiwanis Omelet Breakfast

To complete Journey to Excellence, every year we need to perform a service project for our sponsoring organization, and why not?  They are the ones that allow us to do what we do!  

A few years back we picked the Omelet Breakfast as our event to help out with.  It has been a success ever since.  

They boys have a good time helping out and the Kiwanis appreciates the help. 

This year was no exception.  They boys got to help with the omelet cooking and the ingredient and accessory serving and had a great time. 

Participants:  Ben, Andres, Donte, Devon, Payton, Matt, Bryce, Owen, Adam

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mr. Braik

Lessons Learned:  Making omelets is fun!

2014 Black Diamond Mines Backpacking

The troop visited the mysterious East Bay and traveled to the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve.  This was the site of one of the only functioning coal mines in California!

The troop started the day by visiting the park visitor center which is actually housed inside of one of the old silica mines on the property where we watched an episode of Bay Area Backroads which detailed the special history of the park and saw many displays of the parks history.

After touring the visitor center, the troop paused for lunch and then strapped the packs on and headed to the campsite.  Unfortunately there was a tall ridge in the way!  After summiting the ridge, the troop headed into the next valley and the campground.  It was a group site with a nice eating pavilion.

The site was next to a "creek" but it was all but dry at this time of the year.  The group knew that this would be the case and brought enough water, but conserving water was an important consideration for the whole outing.  The boys who had extra shared with those that ran out.  By leaving time the next day, everyone had half of a bottle left for the hike out.

Meanwhile, the troop visited a couple of the old mines in the area, one of which was open and 150 feet of its tunnel was explorable!

After spending a quiet night, the troop headed back to the parking lot.  On the way out we discovered several gopher snakes and several tarantulas.  Unfortunately the ridge was in the way again, but the troop climbed back out without problem and headed back home.

Participants:  John-Robert, Zack, Carl, Daniel, Payton, Bryce, Owen, Jeff, Devon, Andres, Gerrit, Joey, Marcus, Eric, Adam

Leaders:  Mr. Peacock, Mr. Valdelomar, Mr. Polkinghorn, Mr. Frazee, Mr. Griffin

Lessons Learned:  Bring extra water!

2013 Scout-o-Rama

September saw the return of the Scout-O-Rama.  This time to be held at the Pacific Coast Air Museum at the Sonoma County Airport!

In addition to attending, the troop was running one of the events.  This time we constructed the largest monkey bridge recently seen!

Construction didn't go well with the cross beams being barely constructed by the end of the evening on Friday.  Then after assembly, the bridge drooped too much as it was too long!  The stakes had to be unearthed and reset 20 feet closer.  After that everything worked and the bridge was one of the hits of the event.

There were many other stations to be visited with a computer disassembly station, cooking station, welding station, electronics assembly station, museum and race track.

Best of all, the troop got to camp right among the planes of the museum!

One down side, harvest was going on while the event was happening and in the middle of the night a string of tractors and harvesters drove past the museum, waking everyone up.

Participants:  John-Robert, Zack, Bryce, Jordan, Carl, Brian, Matt, Daniel, Owen, Payton, James, Eric, Gerrit, Joey, Jeff, Devon

Leaders:  Mr. Baier, Mr. Frazee, Mr. Polkinghorn

Lessons Learned:  There are ant hills near the Phantom and Delta Dart.  Camping near the F-15 would be quieter.  The monkey bridge is fun!

Air Show Fundraiser

For the first time, the troop got a chance to do a fundraiser at the Wings over Wine Country air show.  We had been looking for some time to do something of the sort when the opportunity just landed in our lap.

We set up and took down the garbage and recycling cans and collected the full bags at the air show.

Mr. Morris and Mr. Polkinghorn and their two boys distributed the cans to the proper locations on Friday.  The rest of the troop was split up into 4 groups.  Saturday and Sunday morning and evening.  In that fashion, no one had to work more than 1/2 of any day and got to spend the rest of the time at the air show enjoying the planes.  In fact, a lot of the families used the outing as a family event after their shift was done.

Most of the troop spent their time roaming the tarmac pulling the full bags from the cans.  Then another  crew had the use of two vehicles to transport the full bags to the dumpsters.  In this fashion the refuse was toted off site and out of the way of the attendees.

For those that stayed around the first evening, there was a catered dinner with musical entertainment!

Special thanks to the closing crew that had to empty and line up all of the empty trash and recycling cans.

for all of their trouble, the troop earned a generous stipend, which will be used all year to fund the outings and purchase new troop tents!



Participants:  John-Robert, Zack, Brian, Owen, Eric, James, Angelo, Bryce, Devon, Matt, Donte, Payton, Joey, Clayton, Jeff, Eric, Marcus, Brian, Carl, Daniel, Johnny, Ben, Joseph, Sean, David, Andrew P., Jordan, Gerrit

Leaders:  All the parents!

Lessons Learned:  We need more hands on deck at the end and we need covers for the recycling cans so they won't be used as garbage cans.  Definitely show up Saturday night for the catered dinner!