Troop 304 has had many adventures, ma...

 

Troop 304 has had many adventures, many new Scouts, but few entries for some time.  This past weekend we camped for the first time at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii in order to orient new Scouts to their first campout and to focus on basic Scout skills for rank advancement and personal development.  This was the largest turnout we have had for some time. 

Sailing Merit Badge

This is Day 1 of the Sailing Merit Badge. We had 5 scouts start today and we accomplished the swim test, capsize recovery, and actually got a little sailing in.

Aviation Merit Badge at Hickam AFB

Half our Scouts completed their Aviation merit badge and the other half started their Aviation merit badge during our field trip to Hickam AFB. We visited the F-15 Squadron there where Tojo gave us the VIP tour.

Court of Honor Aug 09

The August Court of Honor was the first one we had in quite a few months. We passed out Merit Badges the Scouts earned throughout the summer and during summer camp. We also had several Scouts advance in rank and they were recognized accordingly.

White Plains Beach Camping

Seven Scouts spent a weekend camping at White Plains Beach/Barber's Point. The Scouts participated in fire starting and pioneering activities and fishing. Of course, all the meals the Scouts prepared were delicious.

Camp Pupukea Summer 09

Four Scouts attended Camp Pupukea on the North Shore. Weather was good, although we experienced one day and night of rain. All Scouts earned several merit badges, learned a lot about Scouting and camping, and most importantly had fun.

 

 

Troop 304 ventured again to it's dependable wilderness getaway site, and incorporated a 10 mile hike up the Aiea Ridge parallelling the H3 to the Tunnels.  This was the largest Troop turnout in several years.  A fantastic time was had by all, please see our photo album of this event.

 

On 5 July, two Scouts and two Adults from Troop 304 traveled to Maui via the Superferry, then rucksac marched approximately 12 miles to an overnight campsite near Camp Maluhia. The following morning, we took another 10 mile hike up into the Waihe'e valley and enjoyed the cool water of Spreckle's ditch. Following an enjoyable and fulfilling week at Scout Camp, hosted by BSA Troop 49 of Maui County Council, we returned to Oahu via the Superferry, and then spent another week of Scout Camp at Pupukea on the North Shore of Oahu. A full and sufficient Scouting adventure was experienced by both Scouts. Sadly, all other members of our Troop had either summer school classes, or band camp which precluded wider participation in the summer camp experience.

On Memorial Day, 2008, members of Troop 304 participated in the "Good turn day" by planting flags, leis and flowers on the graves of Veterans in Punchbowl Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific. This solemn ceremony served as a reminder of those who have given their lives in defense of our freedom.

On 23 June 2008, we had our first Court of Honor in almost a year. Despite threatening skys, the weather held out for us and we completed this activity. Many Scouts were recognized for numerous accomplishments such as rank advancements and Merit Badge Awards. The Troop is actively working on several challenging Merit Badges, will be completing Summer Camp, and we will have another Court of Honor in the September timeframe. Presentation of awards was followed by snacks.

Our last overnight camping event had been 6 months ago, so we went to Camp Smith for a weekend camping adventure. It rained just enough to remind us that we were having a great time, we had tons of food and Christopher Swider was our cook this weekend. We had a lot of fun with campfires, cooking, a small exploratory hike, Scouting classes covering the basics, and enough advancement action to satisfy everyone.

The Troop convoyed out to Makua beach park/Yokohama bay for a Kaena Point map and compass hike of 10 miles. The weather was nice and cool as we started at 0800, but turned cooler especially with a persistent driving rain. We learned how to orient a map by terrain features and by compass, and hiked the same area we had overflown on our Young Eagles flight from 2 previous Saturdays. We had lunch at Kaena point prior to hiking back to the cars. There were numerous whales just offshore which we watched spout and surface--a few fin flaps but no flukes or breaches. We also saw 2 Monk seals on the beach at the point, and early nesting Albatrosses. We could not tell if they were hatching eggs yet, but saw no Wedge tailed Shearwaters in their nesting burrows, likely it is still too early for that.

Troop 304 journeyed to the Dillingham Airfield near Waialua for a Young Eagles flying adventure sponsored by the EAA with Air Force COL(ret) William Schauer and Army COL(ret) Jim Blewster. Our Troop was given information on flight dynamics followed by individual orientation flights in the aircraft hand-built by COL Blewster. Our Scouts overflew Dillingham airfield, Kaena Point and the Waianae Coast Range. Several Scouts were fortunate to be able to see some whales in the ocean on their flight. All Scouts thoroughly enjoyed the aviation experience and are very grateful to COL Schauer and COL Blewster for their time and volunteer efforts in this unique program. Review the photos of our adventure in our photo album section in the "pictures" link.

Camp Hawkins Veteran's weekend campout

From 9-11 November 2007 over the Veteran's Holiday weekend, members of Troop 304 had a campout on PACOM Headquarters property at Camp Hawkins, otherwise known as the Shangri-La campsite. For several of our new Boy Scouts, this was their first overnighter. During this campout activity, numerous basic Scout classes were undertaken to develop Scout skills, to work towards individual Scout advancements, and to develop Troop unity and teamwork. A Zebra Dove adopted our Troop and provided amusement and distraction, then later flew away. Weather was fantastic, campfires were excellent, food was generally edible, and there were no safety issues. A good time was had by all.

Memorial Day Good Turn 2007

From Memorial Day ...

On Sunday May 27th members of Troop 304 and Pack 304 and their families participated in the Memorial Day Good Turn at Punchbowl National Cemetery. It was an awesome sight to see Scouting in action. The Aloha Council Scouts were responsible for decorating over 32,000 graves in approximately 15 minutes. It was a great way to spend Memorial Day Sunday honoring our fallen Veterans, and we are thankful for the help our Families provided in completing our share of the project.

Mahalo to all of you.

Court of Honor, Monday 14 May 2007.

SPL Brian Freeman led a Court of Honor.

Nomar Pagan was advanced to Tenderfoot. Spankar Bima and Joshua Ware were recognized for becoming Boy Scouts. In addition Miles Freeman and Nomar Pagan were recognized for completing the Swimming Merit Badge. It was also one of Ray Pagan's final meetings with Troop 304 and he was presented with a very special plaque in recognition for his efforts with Troop 304.

Makahiki 2007, Outdoor Odyssey

The Makahiki is an annual event of the Aloha Council. It is the oldest Scouting show in the United States of America. The first Makahiki was held in 1911 at Camp Bluegum in Aiea Heights. This proud tradition has continued every year since. The success of the Makahiki has been built upon the participation and advance planning of volunteer leaders like you. This years Makahiki’s theme is “Outdoor Odyssey”. “Odyssey” can be defined as “a long series of adventures.” Scouting should bring adventure to our youth, and adventure is certain to be found while learning in the outdoors, thus “Outdoor Odyssey”. The fun of the Makahiki will show the “Aloha” we have for one another through our common bond of Scouting.

Memorial Day at Punchbowl

Aloha Council’s Memorial Day Good Turn at Punchbowl is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, May 27, 2007. The project is will begin at 1:00 p.m. with registration and pre-program instructions. No onsite parking will be available. Units should plan to arrive as early as 10:30 a.m. (Please see general information booklet for more details on parking and program schedules. (Participation Booklet will be available at Aloha Council Service Center). Decorating the graves at Punchbowl has been an annual Good Turn of the Boy Scouts of America and is in response to an invitation from Mayor Mufi Hannemann, City and County of Honolulu. In 2006, over 4,700 Scouts and their families decorated more than 32,000 graves with flags and flower leis. At 1:00 p.m., an Interfaith Worship Memorial Service will be conducted honoring those who have been laid to rest in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. Following the ceremonies, Scouts will decorate the graves. The project will finish by 2:00 p.m.

Kualoa Ranch Hike

In August 2006 members of BSA Troop 304 were invited to participate in a unique adventure hike. We were invited to hike in restricted areas of the Kualoa Ranch. Someone had discovered several plants which were previously believed to be an extinct species. They collected seeds and grew these plants. When this was discovered, the government seized the seedlings since this was now an endangered species and not legal to have. They issued a grant to the Kualoa ranch to maintain this remote area for the endangered plants. The hike was to check on the plants. On this hike was the Ranch owner, 3 Botanists employed by the Ranch, Mr Freeman, Brian Freeman, Paul Freeman, Nomar Pagan, and Genevieve Story-an employee of the ranch and the farrier for their horses and Julie Crocker, Genevieve’s cousin. Since Ms Story knows Mr Freeman, she invited us to accompany them on this hike.

The Troop got a very unique experience. The botanists pointed out native plant species, and introduced species. They showed where they cut down trees which were not supposed to be growing in Hawaii that were crowding out native species. They told us how Hawaii is a unique and isolated location which has a very fragile environment that has been severely damaged by the introduction of non-native plants, and also animals like the rat, cats and pigs. In addition, we carried several seedling coconut trees which we planted high on the ridge. These were heavy. We hiked in an area where there were no trails. We trailblazed our way up a very steep and rugged mountainside until we reached the top of the ridge. Here we took many photographs to document our Troop hike. This was an extremely strenuous hike, but none of us had any problems. We hope that since we did so well and didn’t hold up the hike, we may get invited to hike in special access areas of the Ranch again sometime.

When we got to the top of the ridge line after several hours, we held in place while the Botanists and the owner hiked to the secret area where the endangered plants were growing. They came back after about 30 minutes and we had a trail lunch with snacks we brought along on the hike. We also carried a first aid kit which wasn’t needed, sunscreen, drinking water and cameras in our back packs. We planted several seedling coconuts and then hiked back down the mountain taking care not to dislodge loose rocks or to uproot plants. This was likely one of the better hikes taken by our Troop.

Brian Freeman

SPL

Trip to Maui Waihee Valley Trail

Recently, my Scout Troop traveled to West Maui for summer camp at Maluhia. As an adjunct to our summer camp experiences, we researched the historical background of irrigation ditches, tunnels, and flumes used in the Sugar industry around the turn of the century, and on up into present day. We then toured one of these systems, the system known variably as Spreckel’s ditch or the Waihee ditch, which historically provided irrigation water to the Wailuku Sugar company at the beginning of the 20th century. As part of our summer adventure to one of our neighbor islands, we sought to qualify the participating members of our troop for the Historic trails award.

The success of the Hawaii sugar industry for most of the 20th century was mostly dependant upon access to irrigation water, and the delivery of this water was made possible through a complex system of irrigation channels, ditches, tunnels, flumes and siphons, many still in use today. The building and labor on these vital systems was provided by a culturally rich mixture of immigrant labor from China, Japan, Portugal and beyond. 100 years into the period of Hawaiian history following Captain James Cook in 1778, sugar was the greatest force at work in Hawaii, and water was the basis of this crop. “Wai,” part of the name of the islands, stands or water—water is the key ingredient to the other natural resources required to grow sugar cane: land and sun. “Wai” has a connotation of wealth and life. While many of the ditch laborers were Keiki o ka ‘aina, children born of the land, a great many of those who labored on the irrigation systems were immigrant laborers, drawn to Hawaii for the prospect of work, and became part of the cultural heritage of the islands. The efforts of those laborers still remain in usage on most of the Hawaiian islands, though the sugar industry no longer holds the level of importance as it did in the earlier part of the 20th century. In order to learn this history of the Sugar irrigation ditches, we found Sugar Water—Hawaii’s Plantation Ditches by Carol Wilcox, published in 1996 by the University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

On the 19th of July, as part of the Maluhia summer camp outpost experience, members of our troop hiked to and camped on BSA properties adjacent to the Waihee ridge trail, overlooking the Waihee Valley and the Waihee River. Our camp was a true “leave no trace” camp where we hiked in with our limited gear and food, made trail tarps, and slept overnight in the low clouds, lulled to sleep by the wind in the Cook Pines overhead and the roar or the Waihee River below us in the valley, source of water for the Historic Waihee Ditch irrigation system. We packed out all our gear and any trash the following day, and members of our Troop hiked the trail alongside the Waihee Ditch system, known as the Waihee Valley Trail. The trail was well marked and maintained, and we made significant improvements by picking up litter alongside the trail system, and packing this out to trash dumpsters at the foot of the valley. We also moved any timbers and limbs off the trail. The historic nature of this irrigation system was discussed with other Troops and staff attending summer camp at Camp Maulhia during the week of 15-21 July, 2001. Please view attached photographs documenting our experience, and the advancement application for the Adults and Scouts on this Historic adventure.

Paul Freeman, Eagle Scout
Ben Crocker, Life Scout
Ian Freeman, SM Troop 304