Congratulations! The mighty Troop 624 took second place at the 13th annual Klondike Derby! The Dragons clocked the third fastest course time and the third highest nugget count of 14 teams to take second place overall. This is a fantastic achievement on its own. However, considering several last minute cancellations meant the the Troop competed with the bare minimum of team members (one less and the Troop would have been disqualified), this is an especially fantastic feat. Please be sure to congratulate Adams, Alex, Anthony, Jamie, Joey, and John on their success!

Additionally, Adams, Alex, Anthony, Jamie and Joey braved the cold and camped overnight at Klondike. While I don’t have an official temperatue reading, we do know that it got cold enough to freeze our water supply and our breakfast eggs! But, everyone stayed warm and reported having a good time camping and competing. The boys are well on their way to racking up the required overnight campouts for rank, camping merit badge, and OA qualifications.

I want to give a vey special thanks to our adult Scouters who assisted at Klondike. Matt Pizzi and Adell Servidio braved the cold and camped overnight with the boys, assisting with the required adult supervision. This was Matt’s first event as our newest Assistant Scoutmaster (although he has been camping out and assisting with the Troop for quite some time now) and he is the design/build expert that helped the boys with the Klondike sled re-build. This was Adell’s first campout with the Troop and she proved to be an invaluable Scouter! She amazed us with her several campfire recipes and always seemed to have something cooking in the fire that turned out delicious. We’re glad to have both of them on the team!

Of course, we also had our reliable veterans with us as well. Randy Bender, our long-standing Assistant Scoutmaster, rolled in late at night after another commitment just to campout with the Troop! He also served as our required adult volunteer to assist with running the Klondike Derby, helping make it a successful event for everyone. Our Committee Chair, Ted Knight, arrived early in the morning with a very much appreciated resupply of hot coffee and danishes, providing sage advice to Scouts and Scouters alike. Thank you, gentlemen!

This was truly a team effort for the Troop, with every boy chipping in and helping out on everything. However, I would like to recognize those that stepped up to take an official leadership role. For Klondike, Adams served and the Patrol Leader, making sure everything was accomplished on time and to standard; Anthony served as Assistant Patrol Leader, helping Adams lead the team (and cooking the french toast!); Jamie served as the Quartermaster, making sure the Troop had all the required, and inspectable, gear for the Derby; and Joey was the Mess Captain, who developed the meal plan and made sure we all had plenty to eat. Thanks, boys!

Again, congratulations to Troop 624 Dragons for their second place finish. Next up is Alonzo Stagg ~ 11 March!