By: Birka Chen/Joy He
On Presidents’ day weekend, February 18-20, Troop 55 traveled to Whitetail Mountain, Pennsylvania, for an exciting and eventful ski outing! We arrived Friday night and camped inside nice group cabins at Joy El Camp and Retreats. Scouts played volleyball and basketball at the gym provided once we got there. We had dinner at the camp where we celebrated Ethan’s birthday, complete with an obnoxious singing of the birthday song as well as cake. The next morning, fueled with a plentiful breakfast of pancakes and sausages with a cereal bar, we went skiing and snowboarding.
All scouts were at various skill levels in their respective activity: some remained on the green trails, while many others attempted the challenging black and double black diamonds. For many scouts, this was their first time skiing or snowboarding. Some people took classes, while others were taught by older scouts. For lunch, we packed sandwiches and snacks provided by Joy El. Unfortunately, we were not able to go snow tubing due to reservation issues. During dinner, some scouts showed others simple magic tricks. Dinner was followed by a traditional campfire complete with skits and rank advancements. This caused much emotional damage, especially to our wonderful chaplains’ aid, Joy He.
Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the camp once again and had eggs, tater tots, and more. During Sunday Service, new songs and prayers were sung. Our wonderful scoutmaster, Mr. Pan, was able to stop by for the first time in a while due to personal reasons. He joined us in singing “If I Had a Hammer” during Sunday Service. We finally arrived back in Virginia at around noon on Sunday, marking the end of a wonderful outing.
Overall, not having to freeze to death inside tents during a winter outing was very nice. Meals were eaten at the camp, which was an added bonus since we did not have to cook our own food. Plenty of rank advancements and scoutmaster conferences also took place on this outing; thank you to the lead instructors and troop guides! Speaking of thank yous, thank you so much to the parent volunteers and chaperones, as well as any scout who attended the outing! High attendance rates across both troops make outings more fun for everyone. I am looking forward to attending the next outing and reporting back to you all in March!
