Bluffton Boy Scout Troop 256 participated in the 2013 Klondike Derby, held on Jan. 19.

The Klondike derby is a competition between Boy Scout troops from around the area. Each Boy Scout patrol pulls or pushes a dog sled. Each sled contains competition gear for use at the different stations.

The stations test the scout’s knowledge and the ability to work as a team. This year’s stations consisted of:
• 2-man saw,
• map and compass reading,
• knot tying,
•fire building, and
• water rescuing.

The Bluffton troop had two patrols participating this year. One patrol consisted of veteran scouts. These older scouts participated in the 2010 Klondike derby. At the time, they had only about 7 months of experience in boy scouts. That patrol was named the Burnt Sock Patrol. They placed 58th out of 64.

This year, we placed the older scouts in one patrol to redeem their loss. The other patrol consisted of younger scouts who are Star rank and below. In the 2011 Klondike derby the Bluffton troop had two patrols.

The Fire Extinguishers patrol finished 45th and the Pit Vipers patrol finished 39th out of 57 patrols. In the 2012 Klondike, the Bluffton troop had two patrols. Both patrols kept their same patrol names.

The Fire Extinguishers finished 9th and the Pit Vipers finished 14th out of 64 patrols. This year’s Klondike was a major difference from 2010. The older scout’s patrol, known as the Dare Devil patrol, finished 2nd place out of 57 patrols.

These scouts included; Patrol Leader Roger Zeits, Asst. Patrol Leader Misha Groman, Clay Burkholder, Carrick Lancaster, Jeremiah Garmatter, Jared Metzger and Jacob Barnett.

The other patrol that consisted of the younger scouts, known as the Lightning patrol, finished 27th out of 57. These younger scouts were; Patrol Leader Brice Metzger, Asst. Patrol Leader Kaden Renecker, Nate Staley, Christian Groman, Casey McGuire, Jason Althaus, Noah Adams and Ethan Rodabaugh.

The Bluffton troop is also planning to participate in the 2014 Klondike Derby.

Lightning Patrol (on left) 27th place; Dare Devil Patrol (on right) 2nd place.

Members from  left: Kaden Reneker, Christian Groman, Noah Adams, Clay Burkholder, Jason Althaus, Misha Groman, Nate Staley, Brice Metzger, Jeremiah Garmatter, Ethan Rodabaugh, Jared Metzger, Roger Zeits, Casey McGuire, Carrick Lancaster and Jacob Barnett.

-Submitted by Carrick Lancaster, Life Scout