Mountainside BSA Troop 177 Update
Submitted by Sheila Sidhu
As the school year finishes up, Mountainside BSA Troop 177 is getting ready for the summer after a busy year.
Late in January, the troop participated in the Klondike Derby. A yearly tradition, many of our scouts pitched in to help. We raced against the other troops, testing our scout skills and leadership out in the cold weather.
In March, we went on a trip to Shawnee, where we went snow tubing. Our troop joined others at Shawnee to go tubing for Boy Scout Day. Also, in March, we saw the arrival of new scouts to our troop.
In April, the Blue and Gold ceremony was held for the Cub Scouts, and new scouts crossed over to join the troop. Our new scouts went camping in the Watchung Reservation’s campground. They pitched their own tents and slept overnight for their first Boy Scout trip. Even though the severe weather cut short the camping trip to only one night, everyone enjoyed themselves. We were still able to hold our Flag retirement ceremony.
In May, the troop was incredibly busy with many events, such as the Relay for Life, where scouts from our troop served as the Color Guard. We also went camping at Munsee, pitching our own tents and going backpacking through the woods around the campground.
Also, in May, we honored the veterans at Fairview Cemetery, planting flags at the graves. The troop also planted flags around town in the Flags Across Mountainside fundraiser. We even marched in the Memorial Day Parade.
We anticipate many more troop activities in the summer of 2023, including one hiking venture week in Pennsylvania and one week of Boy Scout camp in the Catskills of New York. If you have an interest in Scouting, please get in touch with Jeff Healy at jeffhealy8@gmail.com.
