The second weekend in February 2008 was one for the record books, the Factoryville Boy Scout’s record books that is. For the second year in a row the troop has taken home awards at the annual Klondike Derby, held at Goose Pond Boy Scout Reservation. Last year, the troop placed first place in the senior division and second place in the junior division with a total of three sleds entered. This year the troop again decided to enter three sled teams and every team placed!

The troop has been working for a couple of months planning, and preparing for the different events both at our monthly campouts and weekly meetings. The events included: Some of the events included lighting a camp fire and cooking an egg using no kitchen utensils; orienteering, building a two rope bridge and crossing it; building a device to lift a log off the ground so that it can be cut; first aid; using an unspoken method to pass a signal over a distance; balancing the team and the sled across two platforms; and building a shelter with tarps.

Knowing that it was important to experience the entire derby, the troop was one of several troops to brave the elements and camp over on Friday night before the opening day. With temperatures in the twenties and snow later in the morning, the sunrise was a welcome sight that Saturday morning.

Revelry at 7:00 am had the boys dressed, fed and eager to pack out their full sleds. The games started at 8:30 am after a brief meeting of the roughly 400 Scouts competing on many sled teams.

By lunch time the boys were still running hard and had stopped by occasionally at camp to warm up by the fire. By 2:45 our boys were all but finished with the events and realized that they were in the running once we added up their great scores on each skill station. At 3:45 we were gathered together with all the competing sled teams to hear the results. After a large scale snow ball fight the winners were announced. Troop 175 had captured the 1st place finish in the junior division, and 2nd place in both the senior and junior divisions.

This was the second year in a row that the Factoryville Troop took home awards. Prior to this the troop had not entered a sled in the event in approximately 20 years.