ECF Cabin Campout - On the weekend of February 20th, 2004 Troop 1776 headed out for a great time at the Erie County Forest cabin in Sardinia. It started off with rain on Friday night but quickly turned to colder and began to snow. A create & make your own quesadilla in the Dutch ovens was enjoyed by most. The Troop built an awesome igloo that had five entrances and the tunnels stretched about 25 feet. The boys also tried their hand at hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and sledding. Cory also managed to make his first campout with me troop a weekend of birthday cakes as he celebrated me big day.

Bowling - After the First Aid Rally the boys were treated to an Arby's meal and bowling.

On Wednesday, April 14, 2004 the Troop ventured out to Chestnut Ridge Park for an evening of geocaching. If you don't know what it is, it's like searching for a lost treasure using a GPS (Global Positioning System). They found two caches but no real treasures, just a bunch of fun stuff. And you can take something from it, if you put something back in its place. The group got so engrossed in the caches that they lost track of the time and had to hike out in the dark.

A dual campout. The young Scouts had a regular campsite, worked on many requirements on their road to first class, encountered the aggressive Allegheny raccoon, and saw a bear cub and of course ate well. The other group backpacked 15 miles along the Conservation Trail, had a sleeping bag come undone from the pack frame at the most inopportune time (on the ridge of a hill) and watched as it tumbled down about 100 yards. Some slept in tents and some slept in a lean-to. As we discovered, the lean-to is a favorite gnawing post for the porcupines at night. A hike down to the pond, found the busy beavers hard at work. Many requirements were completed for hiking, backpacking and camping merit badges. The rain came earlier than expected as we were only about 1/3 of the way out when the storm came along with thunder and lightning. All did a fine job under some adverse conditions.

Sprague Brook Campout - Again, it was a rainy Friday night as we arrived at camp on March 26m. The boys had a chance to play frisbee golf and even sled down the snow hill on Saturday. Also, several boys completed many requirements toward me Birding Merit Badge. After making a cream of broccoli cheddar soup from scratch for lunch, the boys were ready for a happy meal for dinner. Char broiled hamburgers and homemade french fries hit the spot. Some of us learned a lesson of the power of the wind and why we stake down me kitchen fly. Unfortunately, that lesson came at one o'clock in the morning.

On Friday, May 21, 2004, the Troop and the Pack of 1776 acted as the color guard for the opening ceremonies. In addition, Ryan through out the first pitch in his own unique way. After the game and fireworks, the boys pitched their tents, played a little catch on the field at Dunn Tire Park, had some ice cream and snacks, watched a movie and went to sleep (at least they did until the rains came at 3: 15 am.)

- The Martin Luther King Holiday was the date for Troop 1776's Sports Weekend at St. John Vianney. Not only were there plenty of games, but there were also plenty of food too. There was even a Patrol competition outside in the snow. For many the hi-lite of the weekend was staying up all night playing the board game 'Settlers' while the rest of us slept after a movie.

The Cub picnic for Pack 1776 was a day of fun as many of the Scouts from the Troop attended. The hi-lite of the day (at least for the Cubs) was when the Cub Scouts beat the Boy Scouts in a tug-of-war (of course the Boy Scouts were out numbered by a 3 to 1 ratio).

Trail Maintenance - a contingent of Troop 1776 Scouts and leaders tackled the job of trail maintenance on our adopted section of the Finger Lakes Trail on Saturday, May 29th, 2004. Much work was done with lopers, weed wackers, hedge cutters and paint brushes to clear the brush, grass and downed trees and also mark the trail.