Alexandria Boy Scout Troop 112 was the host for the 2016 Klondike Derby, attracting 250 scouts and adult leaders to the annual camp out and leadership and skills competition at the Hunterdon County Park Systems, Teetertown Preserve in Califon, Jan. 29-30. The winter scouting event, held nationally since 1949, was originally scheduled for the previous weekend, but was rescheduled due to a significant snowstorm.
Event organizer Tom Callahan and the youth and adult leadership of Troop 112, sponsored by the Alexandria First Presbyterian Church, set up a schedule of eight challenging stations: blindfolded tent set up; knots and pioneering skills; compass orienteering course; a first aid station where scouts dealt with a simulated Yeti attack; fire building competition; three legged relay races; sled inspection and a Lumber Jack station where using a double cut buck saw, scouts sawed through a log for the best time. The participating scouts donated over 275 cans of food to a local food pantry. Our own resident "Yeti" was on hand to oversee the event. The culmination of the Yeti Expedition was a sled race, where the Scouts served as sled dogs, with the 19 Troops from Hunterdon and Warren Counties competing on a figure eight course.
Annually, scouting districts throughout the U.S. and Canada host a Klondike Derby event, which is based on the Klondike Gold Rush, but varies by district. For more information on Troop 112 activities, please visit www.bsa-troop112.net and for more information about Scouting where you are, see www.beascout.org