On March 18, 2023, the girls’ troop went to the San Diego Food Bank. There, they packaged bags of fruit to be distributed by the food bank at a later date. The people there that day ended up packaging roughly 6,000 pounds of fruit to help people in need. They packaged pears and oranges into mesh bags for two hours that day.
Audrey Weishaar, one of the volunteers, described the experience. “At the food bank, we started off by getting a safety talk. We were told we had to watch out for forklifts, wear gloves, and learn how much fruit to put in each bag. We then seperated into two groups, since there were too many of us to fit at only one crate of fruit. So one group filled bags with pears and the other with oranges. The adults helped too! It was a lot of fun. I’d never done something like that. With Girl Scouts I’d done food drives, but never something like this. It was really cool to see so much food get prepared. There was a very big sense of accomplishment with helping so many people.”
Recently, Troop 506B went on a trek in the Philmont Scout Ranch, which is located in New Mexico. The boys crew was made up of Gavin Stransky, Chance Rynearson, Colin Hayward, Max Busboom, Hunter George, Mr. Stransky, Mr. Schantz, and Mr. Busboom. Opened in 1938, Philmont Scout Ranch is a national High Adventure base, where tens of thousands of scouts visit every year.
At Little Costilla, one of Philmont’s peaks, Troop 506’s crew had a run-in with a lightning storm and several forest fires (however they were all put out quickly). Moving down from the peak during the lightning storm was also dangerous, as they were all possible lightning rods while on the top of the mountain. Instead of hiking the 11.8 miles the Philmont guide had said it took to summit Little Costilla, they had gone 16 miles, taking 10 hours to finish their hike.
Philmont requires visitors to perform a conservation project before leaving, in order to keep up the natural beauty of the Scout Ranch. On the morning of Troop 506’s conservation project, the crew woke up at 4am, and were ready to leave at 6am. They were 2 miles away from the project site, and had to be there by 7:30. At 7am, before they were at the project site, the crew came across a river. They tried to make many plans to get across the river without getting wet, but they were all too dangerous or unrealistic. Max Busboom eventually decided to run across the river, with not a single care about getting himself or his gear wet. After reaching the site on time, the crew went to the main office, but were not greeted by any staff members whatsoever. Looking inside, Hunter George saw a group sleeping in the mailroom, most likely from the Rayado program. The Rayado program is a twenty day backpacking trip at Philmont only for experienced backpackers. After a while, the Troop 506 crew was able to finish their conservation project after staff appeared to talk to them.
Thank you to Hunter George for all the stories about Philmont, they were the backbone of this article.
Jake Rasmussen is near the end of his path to Eagle with the completion of his project in San Diego’s Presidio Park. Located on on a heavily-trafficked trail, Jake’s project included replacing a section of retaining wall and constructing a cable railing to improve safety for hikers and bicyclists. Thank you scouts for your service and congratulations, Jake!
Scouts replacing a section of retaining wall with added drainage for water runoff.Scouts from the last shift wrap up the wire railing.
Troop 506B Camp Emerald Bay 2021Troop 506G Camp Emerald Bay, 2021
The girls of 506G headed over to Catalina Island with our Venture Crew June 20-26, and the boys of 506B followed June 27-July 3. Many thanks to the parents who volunteered and made it happen! Here’s the trip by the numbers:
Troop 506B
30 = scouts (troop record!)
75 = merit badges completed
Troop 506G
Report pending…please stand by….
Image: Sunrise over Catalina Island, photo by Adrienne Markworth, 2021.
UPDATE: Troops 506B and 506G 2021 summer camps have sold out. Please register early for 2022!
Troop 506 will be at Emerald Bay on Catalina Island for summer camp in 2021. The girls of 506G will be heading over with our Venture Crew June 20-26, and the boys of 506B will head over June 27-July 3.
