Marblehead Scouts Win Klondike Derby

Marblehead Scouts Win 2012 Klondike Derby Prizes

Scouts from three Marblehead units attended the Great Eastern District's  2012 Klondike Derby at Endicott Park in Danvers on the last weekend in January.  Usually a winter camping and skills event, this year there was no snow and the weather was Spring-like.  Last year scouts dealt with three feet of fresh snow which required major shoveling to get to firm ground to pitch tents.

Marblehead scouts from Troop 11, Troop 79 and the all girl Venture Crew 1776 attended the event.  The weekend involved competitive events related to emergency situations and was intended to demonstrate the ability of scouting units to assist communities in the event of an emergency or disaster.  Skills involved first aid, communication, emergency problem solving and emergency training.  A soup kitchen style lunch was prepared to simulate a situation where large numbers of people had to be fed because of a disaster.  Approximately 350 scouts and 150 cub scouts attended the event.  The contests pitted twenty nine patrols from the attending units against each other for prizes.  Patrols were scored not only for skill proficiency, but for leadership, teamwork and scout spirit.

At the end of the day on Saturday, "That Patrol" from Troop 11 won first place for the highest overall score.  The "Dragons" patrol from Troop 11 finished in third place.  A team from Venture Crew 1776 came in fourth overall in the three legged race, which replaced the traditional dog sled type race because of the complete lack of snow.  Troop 11's first place victory comes on the heels of their first place finish at the Great Eastern District's Fall Camporee last October, making them the winner of both district skills events this scouting year.