Did we see you at the Fourth of July Parade?

Amazing weather made this a great day for viewers and parade participants alike. We're hoping that you'll come join us having fun in the outdoors, learning to enjoy the great weather and be ready for when it is more like the northwest. We have programs for young men starting in the First grade up through end of High School, with age appropriate activities all along the way. Contact Us for more information.

Troop 582 team wins fourth in division in Ski to Sea Race

Eight Eagle Scouts and Life Scouts from Troop 582 raced as a relay team in the prestigious Ski to Sea race held in Bellingham over Memorial Day.

During the 100 mile relay, in which a record 500 teams participated, a cross country skier skis 4 miles, tags a downhill skier who hikes up to the top of a run and skis down. The downhill skier then tags a runner, who runs 8 miles. The runner tags a road biker who bikes 42 miles, and then hands off to two canoeists, who paddle 18 miles down the Nooksack River. The canoe team tags the mountain biker, who bikes 20 miles to tag a kayaker, who paddles 5 miles across Bellingham Bay.

“The Ski to Sea race was the hardest thing we have ever done.”, said Captain Derrick B. “It was physically very challenging, and we were competing against some elite adult teams. The logistics of getting two bikes, a canoe, a kayak and 8 racers in place before the roads closed was stressful. We got up at 4am at the scout camp we stayed in to pull it all off.”

The scout team chose the name "The Essential Ten" after the ten essential pieces of gear every scout carries into the wilderness. The team's participation was made possible by charitable donations directed to this cause by the CNPS, and their success due to their own drive, desire and committment, and just maybe in some small part their scouting training.

Woodsman's Expedition Returns Victorious

Seven Scouts and Four adults travelled to Twisp over the first weekend of June and returned with a new stock of pioneering poles. The scouts helped to thin a timber stand to encourage better growth and reduce the damage that a forest fire might have if it were to sweep through. In the process they harvested a number of Douglas Fir poles for building towers, bridges and other pioneering projects. They retrieved at least a dozen each 12, 10 and 6 foot poles, and a bunch of 3 footers. They were able to skin about a third of them while on site, but will need to have a couple of work parties to remove the bark from the remaining ones. All the work was done with bow saws, axes and draw knives, and the trees dragged through the woods the old fashioned way... by hand. Many a cry of timmmmberrrr! was heard over the weekend.

On Saturday night the group was treated to astronomical delights, they saw the rings of Saturn, the craters of our own moon, several nebulas and more through a big telescope brought out just by the landowner just for the scouts. On the way home they stopped at the trail to Ross dam and the hike would have been worth the drive from Seattle given the amazing weather.

The land owners son Calvin, who is 14 joined the troop for some of the activities and got to act as tour guide. We’ve been heartily invited back anytime to our own private little campsite in Twisp whether we need poles or not.

Mr Matthews made sure the woodsmen ate like kings, the Dutch oven dinner of melt in your mouth chicken and ribs won’t be soon forgotten. And the Dutch oven scramble had folks coming back for seconds (and there was plenty). The CNPS group helped to defray the cost of this outing, since the scouts were doing all the work of gathering the poles and they are not something we can readily purchase.

The Concerned Northshore Parents for Scouting group is the chartered partner for Cub Scout Pack 622 and Boy Scout Troop 582 (and formerly Cub Scout Pack 582). We serve the "North shore" of Lake Washington, as part of the North Lakes District in the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America which is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). We are a a 501(c)3 not for profit charity organization, working to make a better community.
Parents of scouts in either of the sponsoring units and other adults who are associated with the unit make up the membership of the Concerned Parents group. 

Parents, do you have questions about Scouting?  http://ScoutParents.org