Join BSA Scout Troop 22!

Welcome to Boy Scout Troop 22 in Antelope, CA!

Troop 22 is chartered by the Air Force Sergeant's Association and meets at VFW Post 4647 in Antelope, CA.

We are an active group of Scouts that plans monthly outings, bicycle treks, community service events and more. While we'll occasionally update this page, you'll be better able to keep up with our adeventures by visiting us on Facebook. You're welcome to visit Troop 22 on Monday nights, 7PM at VFW Post 4647 or contact the Troop leadership via our Facebook page or email -

Troop 22 Facebook Page scouttroop22@gmail.com

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Weekly meeting

Very good meeting last night.  All of our newest scouts worked on their Fireman Chit while the older scouts worked on flag ceremonies.  Even though they have done many of these in the past, we want to give them a refresher and come up with a troop standard that they will then teach to our younger boys.

Future meetings will take us back to some basics of not just scouting, but comfort and survival in the outdoors.  We're planning some patrol competitions as well.  I'm hoping to get them to be creative in these competitions and use their imaginations.

I'm really excited about what is happening in the troop right now.  Things feel different.  Things feel good.

Leadership can and does happen

At the recently completed Scout Expo our SPL was unable to attend due an illness.  Our ASPL was also absent so I appointed Trevor to be our SPL for this event.  Trevor recently earned his Life rank and he did a fantastic job.  He had never even help a Patrol Leader position before.  This is what I was hoping for.

Also, Greg took charge of the kitchen as head cook for the outing.  He divided the kitchen in two since we had basically two patrols going.  Greg was wonderful in his duties as head cook.  We had some excellent food over the weekend.

Both of these young men were singled out for attention at our committee meeting last night, and deservedly so.  Congratulations to both of you for an outstanding job!  Our troop is in good hands as it heads into the future.

Camporee...

has come and gone. The boys had a good time. One of our patrols, The Rabid Monkey Men, won the semaphore event and the other, The Dragonslayers, took second place for their patrol flag.

The top prize is this really cool powder horn. It was hand made by one of the adults from another unit. Very talented he is. Really beautiful work. It was very nice for us to win an event. I had some trouble getting the boys motivated to work on the events that were being played at camporee and it showed in their struggling. Hopefully it will show them that they must work at this in order to perform better.

Three of our boys and one adult was called out (or tapped) to become Order of the Arrow members. Lets hope that they all will be able to attend the Ordeal and complete the process.

While at camporee, we were visited by the Webelos from Pack 22. They had their own campsite, which is how it should be, but they joined us for meals. They had a really good time and preformed pretty well at the games. They picked up two awards as well. There are some really good kids in that pack and it will be a pleasure to work with them should they choose us as their troop when they cross over next year.

April 13 meeting

Our last meeting until camporee. Some things were accomplished that will help at camporee by a couple of the boys. Some of the other boys just don't seem interested in anything other than everything that isn't scout related. Hopefully it's just me.

Two boys had their Scoutmasters conferences for Tenderfoot. Congrats to C and B. All they need to get past is the Board of Review.

Changes to how our meetings work/run is on the horizon. I hope they are prepared.

April 4 to 5 campout

We had our second pre-camporee outing this past weekend. While the camping was fun, the progress of the boys toward even wanting to compete was disappointing. We may have a less than stellar camporee again this year.

We were joined on our outing by Pack 22's Webelos Den 10. Four of their members came and camped with us. They worked on their Outdoorsman and Citizenship Activity Badges. I believe they even earned a belt loop. They helped with preparing meals and cleaning up afterward. They learned how to work a compass and tie some lashings. I think they all had a good time.

We also had our latest PLC while at camp. It was decided that we need to follow the themes more closely if only for the games and activities listed for each meeting during the month. It was felt that this would get us out of the doldrums our meetings seem to be turning into.

Camporee is next. Wish us well.

March 30 meeting

Practiced our compass work some more. A couple of the boys got better. Still needs work however. We'll see if we can't improve this weekend while camping. They also did a little (very little) tree height estimating. We'll work on that as well.

We had a visitor tonight also. A Webelos Scout from Pack 22 paid us a visit. He also did some compass work, and did pretty well. They are going to be hanging out with us at Camporee to get an idea of how our troop works together.

Speaking of that, I'm beginning to worry that a few of the boys are really only at the meetings for the social aspect of it. That's fine and all, but I'm wondering if I should reorganize the patrols so that those boys who are there to learn the scouting stuff don't get left out and drop out.

March Camping at Gibson Ranch

This outing was different. We met at the VFW post, which is pretty normal. But this time we hiked to Gibson Ranch with our gear. It's only about a 2 mile hike, and as flat as can be. Nothing could be easier, other than not hiking at all. This was a new experience for many of our boys. Some liked it, others didn't. Those that didn't had better get used to it however. This is how we are going to be doing things from here out, if practical.

While we were hiking, there was a little wind. Nothing too bad. When we got to the campsite it was really blowing. It seemed as though it was being funneled through the trees leading right to where we were setting up. The boys had an experience setting up tents in a good wind. Quite a few laughs to be heard. Along with some screams when a tent would go rolling away, or various bags would take flight. I think they had fun with it, which what were supposed to be doing anyway isn't it?

After lunch, they worked on gateways. Each patrol set up similar ones, but the Dragonslayers took it a step further. The troop agreed to use the Dragonslayers version for Camporee. I think it will be a very good gateway. Lets hope the judges agree!

We then worked on campass reading and pacing. We need to keep working on it!

The evening was pleasant. The boys played capture the flag while the adults gathered around the fire and talked. Some smores followed and then bed. It rained on us in the middle of the night, but only for about 20 minutes, and not enough to make you wish you had stayed home.

The next morning during breakfast we learned a few things about how our set up works (or doesn't). The boys will need to come up with a plan to fix these issues for our next camping adventure.

Then we hiked back. I had a really good time. I think the boys had a really good time as well. I look forward to our next trek. Join us, won't you?

March 9 meeting

I was not at tonight's meeting due to an unexpected trip out of town. I heard that the boys worked on some semaphore and other games for the upcoming Camporee. From what I heard they had a good meeting.

March 2 meeting

Tough meeting tonight for the boys. The leaders weren't getting much cooperation from a couple of them. I'm not sure how effectice the meeting was seeing as I was involved the committee meeting. One of those days I suppose.

We have a campout coming up at Gibson Ranch. Our first of the year. We are using this as a practice session for the upcoming Camporee. We are going to work on some of the games that we will be competing in. I also plan on having the boys practice some basic compass work, along with some map work if I can pull it together. I would really like to see them build a gateway, so we'll see how that goes.

Should be a good time, even if it is wet.

PLC meeting

An easy meeting this time. The meetings were very easy to plan as we will be working on those skills that we will need to perform at the upcoming Camporee. We spent a majority of the time conversing about the troop and what is going right or wrong. We also talked about the upcoming Court of Honor and what the boys would like to see happen at that.

Changes to our outings

There have been a couple of changes to the outings in February. We have decided not to attend Klondike this year. It was felt that we as a Troop are not properly prepared to take on this activity. We will work diligently this year to make certain that we are prepared to attend next year.

We have also shifted the snow day from February 14th to the 21st. This will be our first step in becoming prepared. It will be an overnighter. We'll know soon enough if it is even something that we want to do!

Oct. 6 meeting

We started the process to have everyone in our Troop earn their First Aid and Emergency Preparedness Merit Badges. Only a couple of the boys currently don't have the First Aid MB and as stated in previous posts, we had a few boys come short of earning the Emer. Prep. MB. Counselors have been located that will allow us to earn the badges in a similar way to the camporee we attended. So, the boys that failed to earn the badge at said camporee, or any other boys that didn't attend, but would like to earn it, now can. Hopefull we'll have that done by the end of the month, early next at the latest.

The boys also picked a date for our annual Halloween Party. It will be at the October 27 meeting. You are all invited to join us in the fun.

Are you prepared for an emergency?

Fall Camporee has come and gone. We spent the weekend in Ione with our brothers from the Amador District that put together an excellent Camporee. There were every imaginable emergency unit available to visit with. From the police and sheriff to Cal Fire and everything in between. They even had an evacuation helicopter land and the boys were able to climb on and look at all of the gadgets available in the cockpit.

Each of the visiting teams took charge of teaching the boys a specific item toward earning their Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge. Everybody seemed to have a good time. The only complaint was that there was some confusion and time constraints at a couple of the stations and all of the needed information wasn't passed along. Due to this we only had one boy actually earn the badge at this event. But the others are most of the way along the path to earning this badge. We will work on finishing it during the month of October.

We also did some dutch oven cooking for dinner on Saturday. We made a beef stew that everybody seemed to enjoy. After dinner we had some ice cream. It was a very hot weekend, and a hot day followed by a hot dinner deserved something cold and refreshing.

Sept. 22 meeting

Tonight the boys discussed the competitions for this weekends camporee some more. We will have 11 boys and 3 adults attending. Good turnout. We also had a visitor to our troop this evening. A young man that is involved in Cub Scouts looking for a troop to join. He seemed to get along with our guys pretty well. Hopefully we will have another scout added to our unit. Hopefully I'll get to write after I get home from camporee. If not, after our next meeting.

I didn't fall!

That would have been a bad thing, trust me. I have returned from my rock climbing training class. It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot. Mostly that I don't know very much about it. But, I am confident that with the help of an experienced climber, or another troop that has experience, we will be hitting the rocks really soon. I am hopeful that sometime after our Spring Camporee we will make our first foray up an inclined slope using rope to protect us. Good times, good times.

Sept. 15 meeting

An easy going meeting last night. We talked about the upcoming games that will be played at camporee and how important it is for the boys to take it seriously and work together. After this some of the boys worked on their patrol flags and shirts, while others worked on duty rosters.

A short entry for today. I'll have a couple more entries next week I'm sure.

Gibson Ranch campout

We had a great time at Gibson Ranch. It was a tad on the hot side, but thankfully we had a nice shady area (see post below). The boys worked on a scale version of the gateway we are going to build at our next outing, the Fall Camporee. It's a simple gateway, but one that our young Troop can easily handle. Small steps before you try to take big ones. I see a grandiose gateway somewhere in our future.

Our Troop received a generous donation of some tents and other items from another Troop that folded a few years back. I brought the tents with me and had the boys set them up after our gateway practice to see what kind of shape they were in. To our surprise, there were about 12 tents, and a few of them had never been used before! We now have new tents for our boys to use at our many upcoming outings. A BIG thanks to Troop 562. Your spirit will live on in us.

Dinner was excellent and the boys worked together pretty well in preparing the food. After dinner was time for the real reason for the outing, capture the flag under the light of the moon. The boys were off and we could hear them trying to keep quiet so the other team wouldn't hear them. It sounded like they had a great time.

One of the benefits to camping at Gibson Ranch is that once the park closes, there's nobody else there. You are by yourself.

We finally settled down to get some sleep. I had challenged the boys to sleep the really old fashioned way when we arrived, no tents. Even though we had all of these nice brand new tents, each of the boys took my challenge and slept under the stars. I think they enjoyed it.

Has it really been that long?

Man, when you don't have time to do something, time really passes. Sorry for the lack of posts here recently. We have had some good meetings the last couple of weeks. The boys have been working together pretty good. Hopefully we can keep it up and it will show itself at the Fall Camporee in late September.

We go on our canoe trek this coming Sunday. Hopefully it won't get to be too hot, but I'm sure it will be fun either way. I'll be sure to post how it all went next week.

Short but sweet for now. I still don't have a bunch of time to sit at the computer.