Scott became Scoutmaster as of Fall 2006.  Steve Kuhn (our former Scoutmaster) is now Assistant Scoutmaster.  Scott has been an Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 872 since 2003   Scott's son Chris is also a member of Troop 872 and recently advanced to the rank of Star.  Besides being involved in Scouting, Scott co-coached a Lego Robotics team with our Committee Chair, Scott Zellmer, for 4 years.  I try to encourage an environment where the boys can learn the leadership skills they need to to be successful.  The planning sessions, campouts, and other activities give them real opportunities to practice leadership and problem solving.  "As Scoutmaster, I try to ask them the right questions to make them think problems through rather than simply give them the answers."

Scott was the Gateway Chair for one of the CPC contingents attending the 2005 National Jamboree.  About half of the boys in Troop 872 went to the Jamboree.  They were divided up into 3 troops to mix with other Scouts from the area.  About 1/3 of Troop 872 went as Jamboree Troop 728.  Scott's part was to help the boys build a gateway for their National Jamboree campsite.  He helped the boys brainstorm a design that would represent our area, develop plans, and organize and help the Scouts to build the gateway.  The main frame of the gateway was 20 ft wide, 16 ft tall, and 4 feet deep.  It was built to withstand 70 MPH winds, fit into a very small space (132 cubic feet for transport) and reassemble within 2 hours in 100+ Degree heat at the  National Scout Jamboree in Virginia.

Some of the gateway features were:  Mt Saint Helens, Mt Hood, Columbia River, and trees.  Mt Saint Helens was hollow and had 2 solar powered flood lights with red cellophane to give the inside of the volcano a red glow at night.  Saint Helens also had a smoke plume that could move in the wind like a weathervane.  Both mountains had 2 solar powered flood lights each that lit the mountains at night.  There were also free-standing trees in front of the gateway as well as small trees at the timberline to give it a real 3D effect.

"It was a lot of work but I really enjoyed helping the boys develop the gateway.  Many of the Scouts told me that they had done small projects the size of a shoebox, but they had never worked on something so huge!  It made me feel good that they were so impressed with what they had done."

email: scott.newman@troop872.org

Image: Scott with son Chris at Camp Pioneer.

Image: Planning the gateway

Image: Building the gateway

Image: (Picture from IEEE web site)
Our gateway at the 2005 National Jamboree