This year, Troop 8 is doing a secret santa for the holiday party. Scouts will fill out a short survey about their hobbies, favorite foods, and media. Then they draw numbers and shop for whoever they get. it is a fun, festive way to celebrate and show your friendship for fellow scouts.  

Troop 8 joined forces with scouts from all over the country to collect food for needy families.  Boys put out bags last Saturday and came around today to pick up 2,918 cans, boxes and other packages of non-perishable food.  Kudos to all the scouts who took part in this great service project.  

The day started off with a rain shower and included some frigid temperatures and blustery wind, but ended with sunshine.  A perfect fall hike up Big Indian.  The trip was 11.5 miles including a .25 mile "bushwack" to the summit which counted as a 10 mile hike for many of the boys who are still working towards their hiking merit badge.  Check out the photos below

On Sunday we had our 2nd Run To The Hills 10K/5K Road Race with over 75 runners.  This year we were selected as one of the 12 Onteora Runners Club's Grand Prix events which means that many of their members were encouraged to attend.  This and some great outreach by Tara Rogerson and Ryan Schmidt helped us double our numbers from just 36 runners last year.  We have already received a lot of great feedback from our runners and are making plans for next year's race.  Here is just a few of the comments we have received: