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| PLAN AHEAD The Scorpions! met at Centennial Park in Ybor City on January 7 for an urban hike. It was clear from the beginning that everyone had planned ahead. Some boys had backpacks, all had water. We had a route planned out and everyone was eager to hit the trail. |
STICK TO THE TRAILS Although we stuck to the trails, clearly a non-scouter came before us who had never taken the "Leave No Trace" Pledge!
TRASH YOUR TRASH We stopped at a large lot/park along the Nuccio Parkway and picked up trash for a service project. We won't list all the things the boys found but let's just say the area looked much nicer when we got done.
Still sticking to the trails!
Although it was difficult and we thought elephant poop would be a very cool item for show and tell at the next Pack meeting, we LEFT WHAT WE FOUND. Predictably, this was one of the high points of the hike. It's hard to top giant poop bigger than your hand! Actually, this is also a good example where someone didn't follow another point in the Leave No Trace pledge, MANAGE YOUR PET. Most of the time, I'm all on board with that point but in this one instance, I'm kind-of glad they didn't.
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| Outside the historic Tampa Train Station |
We lucked out at the Firefighters' Museum. It wasn't supposed to be open, but as we peered through the windows, a gentleman came to the door and let us in. The boys had a blast on the firetrucks and learned a little about how things used to operate in old firehouses.
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| Tampa Theatre - photo by Mr. Rowlette. |
Before we headed to the final destination of our hike, we stopped off at Five Guys and got the boys lunch, courtesy of Popcorn Fundraising/den party. Way to go rocking popcorn sales, Scorpions!
Our final stop was Curtis Hixon Park where we worked on the Art Belt Loop and a couple other things before heading in to an art class in the Tampa Art Museum. Many of the boys were fascinated by this image and chose it for the subject of their painting.
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| Creating an art construction at the Tampa Art Museum |
There is, of course, one final point of the Leave No Trace Pledge. That is to
RESPECT OTHERS. I can definitely say that the boys followed this. They were respectful in Sacred Heart Church, cleaned up after themselves in the Firefighters' Museum, and polite to others we passed on the street.
Scorpions! Scorpions! Sting! Sting! Sting!
Still sticking to the trails!
We set the boys loose with hammers at the December den meeting so they could make a votive holder. While most simply pounded holes randomly in the ice-filled can, there were a few who planned a pattern and ended up with Christmas trees or smiley faces. However, this seemed to be just a place holder for the main event: Cookie Decorating!
Each of the boys received a little bag of candies with M&Ms, Red Hots, Nerds and some red Licorice ropes to decorate their sugar cookie with. Although there was (predictably) some sneakage of candy during the decorating phase, all of the snowmen were fully decked out by the time the boys were done. 
Most of the snowmen couldn't even be moved because the candy would just tumble off when it was tilted even slightly, presenting a difficulty when it came to eating it - which the boys happily overcame. What awesome problem solvers! One thing which was overwhelmingly obvious is that most of the boys do NOT like Red Hots. There was plenty of other candy to choose from, though.
