Tuesday, December 20, 2011

“Old School” Pioneering Weekend

Horseshoe Scout Reservation
April 13, 14 & 15, 2012


A pioneer’s journey begins with your trek in your covered wagon to Camp Horseshoe, along the banks of the creek the Indians called Octoraro. After arriving and looking for favorite sites with names like Lenni Lenape, Octoraro, Dan Beard, Kit Carson, Conestoga, Boonesboro and Trailblazer, you’re ready to greet the great wilderness as your forefathers did. By campfire, blankets, tents and the call of nature.

From there, your journey continues with the hard work of setting up a fine wilderness camp with your troop of travelling pioneers. This camp could include making articles that add some creature comforts to a pioneer’s camp.

From the great wilderness camp, with a walking trek through the evening hours to the great Goodman wilderness barn, the trek continues with the group of pioneers learning about using ropes, block and tackles and rope block and tackles.
From here the great journey continues back to those famous wilderness camp area and night of rest, for we know that the great journey will continue at first light.

As first light approaches, cooking fires are lighted, the smell of a wood cooking fire, the preparations of a meaningful, well cooked breakfast at the start of a day filled with a long journey.

The journey continues with a short walk for the quest of the pioneer skill of making a rope, trestle and ladder building. After a busy morning of making rope, the pioneers trek back to camp for a well cooked lunch and time to make camp living easier by making gadgets using rope, wood and natural materials. As our pioneers finish cleaning up after a hearty lunch the journey continues.

The journey moves to the great field by the bridge crossing the mighty Octoraro River. In this great field is the need to construct towers for alerting pioneers as to the great dangers that lie ahead. Towers to be built using handmade rope, spars and the knowledge of these young pioneers. The towers so strong and tall that signals can be seen for miles from the tops. From here, after the great judging of these fine works of art, the journey continues.

The pioneers head tiredly back to their great camp to enjoy the great chili cook off and a well earned camp dinner. After this great dinner the leaders of the pioneers will be judged as to who is the best chili cook.

With full bellies and a nice campfire, stories will be told of the days adventures. The night is growing old as sleep call these young pioneers, who know that they will be up with first light.
As first light approaches, the pioneers know that they will soon have to pack up their wagons for the trek through the great wilderness and as they are leaving this wonderful area, they know that there must not be a trace that they have been here…….

Just a quick note, this is a troop activity that will upon completion of the requirement allow the boys to earn the pioneering merit badge. This will also allow for completion some of the night required for the camping merit badge and the cooking merit badge.                                     


Friday
6 - 8 PM          Checkin, turn in blue cards, set up tents. 
8 - 10 PM        Group session-work on Requirements 4 & 8
9:30 - 10PM     Crackerbarrel
11 PM              Lights out
Saturday
7 - 9 AM          Breakfast
9 - 11 AM        Rope Making, Simple Trestle, 15 foot ladders
11 - 1 PM        Lunch at camp sites
1 - 5 PM          Build Towers & Camp Gadgets
5 - 7 PM          Dinner at campsites
                        Judging of Projects, Cooking & Iron Chef Dessert
11 PM             Lights out
Sunday AM
7 - 9              Breakfast, clean up camps, pack up
9 - 9:30         Complete blue cards
9:30 - 10       Awards ceremony

Bring: Tents, First Aid Kit, Food, Bow Saw, Dutch Ovens
Leave at Home:  Propane, charcoal, stoves

Pioneering Weekend Prerequisites
1.    Show that you know first aid for injuries or illness that could occur while working on pioneering projects, including minor cuts and abrasions, bruises, rope burns, blisters, splinters, sprains, heat and cold reactions, dehydration, and insect bites or stings.
2.    Do the following:
a.   Successfully complete Tenderfoot requirements 4a and 4b and First Class requirements 7a, 7b, and 7c. (These are the rope-related requirements.)
b.  Tie the following: square knot, bowline, sheepshank, sheet bend, and roundturn with two half hitches.
c.   Demonstrate the following: tripod and round lashings.
3.    Explain the uses for the back splice, eye splice, and short splice. Using 1/4- or 3/8-inch three-stranded rope, demonstrate how to form each splice.
  





Supplies for Pioneering Weekend:
Cost
3-20’ spars for triangular tower
$0
20-10’ spars for  ladder/tower/triangular tower
$0
16- 6’ spars for cross members & railings
$0
??-4’ spars for gadgets
$0
12-2’ spars for ladder rungs
$0
1500’ box of 3/8” sisal rope (if needed - can be ordered from HSR)
$45
Rope whipping materials
$0
3 - 24” stakes for guy ropes on tower
$0
Sledgehammer to drive stakes
$0
Twine for use in ropemaking machine to  make 3-50’ foot guys lines
$0





Pole Ladder
What I refer to as a 'pole' ladder is the more traditional type of ladder. This simply involves choosing two strong spars of the required length and attaching rungs at regular intervals using a square lashing.
One important thing to note is that the two main uprights are not parallel to each other. They should be angled inwards towards each other as you go to the top of the ladder. This will prevent the rungs from slipping downwards.
I suggest that you test the strength of each rung (and lashing) carefully before using the ladder.





Triangular Tower









Friday, December 16, 2011

Local Attractions Close to HSR

Longwood Gardens consists of over 1,077 acres (4.2 km²) of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square,PennsylvaniaUnited States in the Brandywine Creek Valley. It is one of the premier botanical gardens in the United States and is open to visitors year-round to enjoy exotic plants and horticulture (both indoor and outdoor), events and performances, seasonal and themed attractions, as well as take part in educational lectures, courses and workshops.

Approximately 45 minutes from HSR

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/


Wolf Sanctuary of PA In the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch country, quietly secured on 22 acres of natural woodland, you will find the home of the Speedwell Wolves. For over 20 years the Darlington Family has offered refuge to Wolves who have found themselves without a place in the natural world. It has been over a hundred years since the last wild Wolf was known to exist in Pennsylvania. More...
Approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes from HSR



Brandywine Battlefield Historic Site is a historical park that was operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, on 50 acres (200,000 m2), near Chadds Ford, Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the site of the Battle of Brandywine fought on September 11, 1777, during the American Revolution. The battle was a major victory for the British and enabled them to capture the city of Philadelphia. Brandywine Battlefield Park became a Pennsylvania State Park in 1949 and a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
To the north, another part of the battlefield is maintained by Birmingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania as "Battlefield of the Brandywine Park," or "Sandy Hollow Heritage Park." Much of the afternoon's fighting took place between Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse and Dilworthtown.

Approximately 52 minutes from HSR

Valley Forge National Historic Park
Of all the places associated with America’s War for Independence, none convey the suffering, sacrifice and ultimate triumph of our nation more than Valley Forge. No battles were fought here; no bayonet charges or artillery bombardments took place. Nonetheless, some 2,000 soldiers died – more Americans than were killed at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown combined. Valley Forge is the story of an army’s epic struggle to survive against terrible odds, hunger, disease and the unrelenting forces of nature. Rows of cannons in Artillery Park; the soldiers’ log huts; and earthen fortifications around the rim of the park are silent reminders of the 
past.
Approximately 1 hour, 22 minutes from HSR
Gettysburg Battlefield  The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of GettysburgPennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North.

Approximately 1 hour, 57 minutes from HSR

The Strasburg Rail Road is a heritage railroad located near StrasburgPennsylvania. It operates excursion trains hauled by steam locomotives in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Across the street lies the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The Strasburg Rail Road functions as the Museum's link to the Amtrak main line in Paradise, Pennsylvania.

Approx 30 minutes from HSR.

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,526,006 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. Philadelphia is also the commercial, cultural, and educational center of the Delaware Valley, home to 6 million people and the country's fifth-largest metropolitan area. The Philadelphia metropolitan division consists of five counties in Pennsylvania and has a population of 4,008,994. Popular nicknames for Philadelphia are Philly and The City of Brotherly Love, the latter of which comes from the literal meaning of the city's name in Greek "brotherly love", compounded from philos "loving", andadelphos "brother".


Approximately 1 hour, 29 minutes to downtown Philly from HSR

Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the south central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States.
Lancaster County is a popular tourist destination, due mostly to the many plain sect residents, known as the Amish or Pennsylvania Dutch. The term Pennsylvania Dutch comes from the earlier use of Dutch to apply to all immigrants from Europe speaking German. They are the descendants of Germans (Deutsch) who immigrated in the 18th and 19th centuries for the freedom of religion offered by William Penn, and were attracted by the rich soil and mild climate of the area.


Approximately 39 minutes to downtown Lancaster

Plain and Fancy Farm The nine pristine acres that make up Plain & Fancy are surrounded by Amish farmlands and located midway between Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse on Route 340, an AAA cultural scenic byway. In Lancaster County, Plain & Fancy Farm is the only place where visitors can find it all, including Aaron & Jessica's Buggy Rides, The Amish Experience Theater, Country Homestead and Farmland Tours, Sarah Mae's Ice Cream & Soft Pretzels, Bird-in-Hand Junction, the Country Store, gardens and farm animals.

http://www.plainandfancyfarm.com/

Baltimore Inner Harbor is a historic seaporttourist attraction, and landmark of the City of BaltimoreMarylandUnited States. Described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as “the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the World. The Inner Harbor is actually the end of the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River and includes any water west of a line drawn between the foot of President Street and the American Visionary Art Museum. The name "Inner Harbor" is used not just for the water but for the surrounding area of the city, with approximate street boundaries of President Street to the east, Lombard Street to the north, Greene Street to the west, and Key Highway on the south. The harbor is within walking distance of Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium and has a water taxi that connects the Inner Harbor to Fells PointCanton, and Fort McHenry. 

Museums

Ships

Vessels on active/reserve status: Baltimore Maritime Museum: