information from BSA

Teeth gritted with determination, Logan Gust tries to pull the wooden sled weighed down by 450 pounds of hardened steel. Try as he might the 13-year-old from Troop 455, which meets at the Fairwood United Methodist Church, can’t make it budge even an inch. But with the teamwork of his fellow Scout Patrol (and a simple machine the boys create using pulleys, ropes, and the knots they learned in a recent Boy Scout meeting), he and his friends are able to easily move the sled a few hundred feet to cross the finish line. “That was cool!” a beaming Logan exclaimed, sharing high-fives with is patrol. “Without the pulleys it was impossible to move. But all of us with some mechanical advantage did it.”

The event is part of the 2015 Aquila – Green River District Camporee, an annual event held at the Pacific Raceways that brings Scouts together from Renton, Kent, and West Seattle for competition and camaraderie.

Doug Hans, of Tukwila, is the adult advisor for the event, “This year’s event was a big success. It took about 270 hours to plan.” Kenny Kurtz, an Eagle Scout and Police Explorer, is the event leader. Only 18 years old, he was responsible for the success of the event. “I always worry the Midway won’t have enough fun activities, but this year we have a climbing wall, the National Guard brought a Humvee, we’ve got rescue dogs and State Patrol officers. All-around awesomeness.”

Christian Kuga and Nicholas Oyen, both Scouts from Troop 449 in Renton, always look forward to the Midway. “We get to do all different activities,” says Oyen, “Tomahawk Throwing, B.B. Guns…” “Don’t forget Archery,” Kuga adds.

“Scouting isn’t what people think it is,” Oyen says. “People think we just sit there and do nothing. Two weeks ago, we went shotgun shooting…we went to the Columbia River. This summer we have blacksmithing, swimming, fishing, even Canoeing up in Canada.”

Keith Weir, an adult volunteer with Troop 360 from Burien, ran the weighted-sled event during the competition in the morning. He takes careful notes on how Logan and his Patrol performed their task. “We score them based on how well they build their machine, and the mechanical advantage.” He points down to the pulleys and ropes. “Scouting prepares our boys for the hands-on world. Pulling the sled today might be a game for the Scouts, but I’m an electrician. This is stuff I use every day out in the field. We’re trying to teach the boys to work smarter, not harder.”

The Chief Seattle Council serves 17,500 young people between 7 and 20 years of age across the greater Seattle area through the Boy Scouts of America, the nation’s foremost youth program promoting character development and values-based leadership training. If you would like more information about the programs available through the BSA in West Seattle, please contact Chaffin Hornor at chornor@seattlebsa.org, or visit www.BeAScout.org.