Edward “Eddie” Loss, the 82nd Eagle Scout to come out of Troop 708 in Castro Valley, California, was presented with the Lifesaving Award by the Brentwood City Council this January, 2016.  Eddie resusitated a 53 year old man who had died on November 29, 2015.  When you read over the account of Eddie’s actions in this East County Today article, you will note how all of his training, and his calm demeanor, were put into use in dealing with a very trying situation.  In reaching out to Eddie he was clear to point out just how important the skills he learned in Scouting are to him.

I must say, I am very happy to have been a part of the Troop while Eddie was still a Scout there.  I always was very impressed with how he carried himself and I am not at all surprised at Eddie’s actions as he was always a remarkable young man and a shining example in the Troop of how a Scout should be.  It also is wonderful to see that he has carried on in his good deeds in becoming a police officer in Brentwood, California.  All past, current and future Scouts should continue to do their best to learn and be prepared as you never know when one of your skills will be desperately needed to help someone in need.  And set your sites high as the world can use a lot more great people like Eddie Loss.

The Pinnacles National Park overnight was a great trip and first with our newly expanded troop!  Some highlights:

• The new scouts did great, learning a lot about what it means to work within a Troop hierarchy under the Scout-in-Charge (SIC) Tyler’s direction.  Nice work, Tyler.
• There was a mix-up as far as the distance to the peak (much further, higher, hotter) so we had to make an adjustment, though still qualified for the Pinnacles Rim Rover by distance travelled.
• Joey K successfully organized a couple of fun-style Saturday night group activities
• Mr Korycinski bailed us out of an camp overflow situation (good turnout) by getting out early to snag one of the last 1^st-come, 1^st-serve campsites
• As a dutch-oven themed trip, we ate pretty well (Mr Wong’s specialty), cooking dinners, breakfasts & desserts
• The only bummer: No condor sightings again.  Apparently, they like the highest peaks during the hottest part of the day; guess that’s no pain-no gain for us.

24000 and 16000.  That’s the amount of Steps our troop took on Saturday and Sunday on the Pt Reyes camping trip.  That’s a pretty good milestone for our newer scouts to pull off for a first hike-in camping trip – so a mighty high-five to them!

Mikey & his mom get honorable mention too for hiking all the way in to camp in the morning and afternoon, staying with us 2-3 hours and then hiking all the way back on the same day.

We had a beautiful day and night for the trip – nice shaded, soft trails and

about 75 degrees.  We knew the hike was about 500 feet elevation change from start to finish but didn’t realize that we’d be hiking UP on the way IN as we made our way to the ocean, but we got the nice benefit of a long cool, downhill hike out this morning. 

An excursion group made a run for the coast on Sat afternoon but found it further than what was feasible before darkness so got as far as good ocean views and returned.  After Saturday night feast clean-up, another excursion group with scouts Nigel, Hunter, Tyler, Sergei and Ryan, plus Mr Williams & Korycinski, went on a night hike to see what we could discover…with our flashlights off.  Pretty cool, as we started the hike before the moon rose, but when that full moon burst over the top treeline, we were lit up like a lazer-tag hit.  Joey K worked on his cooking merit badge and was left wondering, like the rest of us, how Mr Wong gets his cooking to come out so well out in the woods.  Ah, one has to walk before one can run, grasshopper.

We spent the summer building our fishing poles, and reels – which were a bit trickier, but got it together (just) in time to head out to the local hot-spot of fishing … Los Vaqueros reservoir.

We used the meet-up time in the morning to spool up reels with fishing line and learn a couple of fisherman’s knots as we tied on our swivels.

It was a gorgeous, clear morning with a hot forecast coming our way, so we got to the marina as early as we could for the scheduled ½ day trip.  I was pleased with how well the reps at Los Vaqueros treated us

, knowing we were a Boy Scout group – we got a break on the parking fees, tips that saved us $ on the fishing fees, and a free pack of anchovies to boot.  Now we were armed with 4 dozen fresh night-crawler worms and a dozen fish.  In the event we got skunked, we were wondering how those anchovies might taste on the grill with some hot sauce…

There was one pier right next to the marina for us to fish from – good thing too, because our fishing rigs were not designed to cast and we needed to get into deeper water with the warm weather.  We set up one spot on the pier to show the scouts how we were attaching swivels, weights, hooks and bait and after they watched, sent them off with an adult to find a spot along the pier to try their luck.

It was probably about an hour into the fishing before Sean caught the first fish – a most peculiar fish of about 5 inches long that we could not identify, though we knew it wasn’t any of the fish the reservoir is known for or is stocked with.  That was a cool moment – because we had reached the final objective of catching a fish with our hand-made rod & reels, that came together over months of sporadic work and assembly, with variable outcomes, setbacks and re-glues all along the way.  But NOW, we caught a FISH with our home-made rigs.

Soon William caught a very nice 16 inch Striper.  We all got excited and looked at it close up, touched it and had to let it go since the minimum keeper length is 18 inches.  No fish cleaning lessons yet.  William and Ethan each caught fish after that and Sean caught another fish exactly like the first one.

It was great that we had to stop fishing while we were still catching a fish here and there and leave with a good impression from our first fishing trip.

At 8000 ft in Sierra Madres mountains, near Kirkwood ski resort.

manning the entrance to the dug-out kitchen.

What makes for a great Father’s Day weekend?  This year older Scouts went on a backpacking trip to Bear Lake in Emigrant Wilderness. They were joined by their fathers.  Everyone hiked around 4 miles to Bear Lake and camped amongst the great scenery, enjoying excellent weather.  The Scouts delighted in some swimming in the lake, while the adults took the opportunity to relax in the sun.

Scoutmaster Wong cooked up some delicious camper’s curry with rice for dinner followed by a special donuts and pineapple desert heated on the camp fire.  Everyone enjoyed a great fire thanks to the efforts of Senior Patrol Leader Jonatan collecting all the firewood.

Given that this hike was on a special weekend, and was a very small group of older Scouts, some special guests were allowed to join. As you can see from the photos, Ronja and Oso seemed to make the most of it. All in all a great short weekend trip, lots of fun and a memorable Father’s Day.

Great photos can be found on the Troop’s Flickr site:

• photographer: Mr. Langer
• photographer: Scoutmaster Wong

The Troop’s Facebook page also has more photos from Mr. Kiland.

The Kick-off Dinner will be held Thursday, February 17, 2011 beginning with a reception: 6:30pm and dinner at 7:15 p.m., at the Oakland Marriott City Center, 1001 Broadway in Oakland. If you have questions please contact Scott Evans, Finance Director scotte [at] sfbac [dot] org or 510-577-9254 or Ryan DiBernardo, Director of Field Service ryand [at] sfbac [dot] org or 510-577-9221

Boy Scout Troop 708 was approached by past Scoutmaster and EBMUD Director, Frank Mellon, to take on the task of removing campaign signs after the November 2, 2010 election. Mr. Mellon made a gracious donation to the Scouts of Troop 708 to help them in their efforts to raise funds for their trip to summer camp in 2011. The project was to remove any campaign signs from any town.

As of November 11, the count stands at 434 signs removed!

This was a very nice project that Mr. Mellon presented to Troop 708 as summer camp is an expensive trip and our Troop is always looking for benefactors or fund raising projects. This project was great in that it not only helped the Troop’s Scouts but also the community.

The Scouts of Troop 708 made their way to Shaver Lake this past August to spend a week at Camp Chawanakee. The camp was fantastic and everyone had a great time earning merit badges, fishing, boating, swimming, shooting and just kicking around.

Building an Entrance to Our Campsite

While the boys were busy in merit badge classes some of the adults took on the challenges of COPE (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience), which had them practicing skills that would challenge them and help them in their mentoring role with the Scouts.

Big catch of the week made by Joey

The Scouts also took on camp service projects including the construction of a flag pole for the camping area they occupied. In addition, temporary structures were constructed to show the Troop’s Scout spirit and let others know that Troop 708 was with them that week. Projects built included an entry archway and an outdoor game board. These were very creative and called upon the boys’ imagination in addition to their Scout skills.

By the end of the week the 13 Scouts who attended this year’s summer camp had accomplished the following:

• 67 merit badges were earned
• Two Scouts each earned 8 merit badges
• 10 Scouts advanced a rank
• One Scout caught 2 fish
• Three adults passed the COPE course

This was another successful summer camp and everyone will be able to look back on a lot of great memories.

Check out the slideshow: Summer Camp 2010 – Camp Chawanakee