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Ocean View Scouts adjust to pandemic

July 22, 2020

Even though we have been stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Boy Scout Troop 281 has still found ways to continue scouting.

We started out with two Zoom meetings each week, one for planning upcoming events and one for working on requirements and having a good time. We have had challenges and events to keep scouts active such as scavenger hunts, the Messengers of Peace program, and other individual weekly challenges such as fishing. Scouts have been taking online merit badge classes as another way to continue scouting. And very recently we have started meeting in person doing scouting activities such as fire-building, knot-tying and personal fitness while social distancing.

Many people know Scouts to help in their communities. During quarantine, our troop worked on the Messengers of Peace award by performing good turns and community service. Some scouts made baskets of food and water to deliver to those who needed them; some wrote letters to healthcare workers during this pandemic; and others made videos to share with the homebound. Even though we were stuck at home during this time, we still found a way to help our communities.

Later in the quarantine, Destin Smyth completed his Eagle Scout project at Justin’s Beach House. On Memorial Day, many scouts in our troop participated in Taps Across America to honor our veterans.

Our troop has yet to go camping since the beginning of COVID-19; however, we have done national and council-wide camp-ins online and in our backyards. During the camp-ins we got to see many Eagle Scouts, including one who was on the International Space Station. We got to meet a lot of people who worked on movie sets, such as Francis Lawrence, the director of the “Hunger Games” movies. One of our own scouts, Ian Lewis, submitted a video which was played during the camp-in. Even though we couldn’t go camping in person, we still had great experiences during the camp-ins and learned some stuff along the way.

While we have all been hit by COVID-19, Troop 281 has found a way to scout on!

James Haley is the scribe for Scout Troop 281 in Ocean View.

 

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