Lincoln Troop 1102 hosts annual Klondike at Memorial Park

 

[January 18, 2022]   On Saturday, Memorial Park in Lincoln was well populated with visitors for the day. The annual Boy Scout Klondike was being hosted by the Lincoln Boy Scout troops at the park. The day included many activities focusing on outdoor survival.

Troops participating this year included Bloomington Troop 007, Bloomington 929, Lincoln 1102, Downs 953, Bloomington 20, Normal 19, and Heyworth Troop 931.

Included in the Lincoln 1102 group was Troop 102 and Cub Pack 101.

 

Troop 102 leader Bret Aukamp explained the function of the Klondike saying that the outdoor survival event was a chance for scouts to hone their skills in the form of a friendly competition.

Around the park there were various stations set up where scouts participated in competitions in engineering, structure building, fire building, first aid, knot tying, a “What’s wrong with this campsite?” competition and sled races.

The entire group gathered early on Saturday morning for their opening ceremony that included the placement of flags representing each troop present. Then the scouts went off to their various competitions.

Mid-day, everyone took a break from the competitions and went back to their individual campsites to prepare the noon meal. At Troop 102 beef stew, made from scratch over an open fire was on the menu.

After lunch the competitions would continue and at the end of the day there would be a tally to determine the winning troop.

On Saturday morning, Troop 102 Patrol Leader Soren Aukamp explained the sled and sled races. In this instance, the sleds are not built for passengers, though once in a while that does happen. The real purpose of the sled is for moving supplies to and from the campsite. Therefore they are built with a triangular frame with rope walls that hold cargo in place as it is being moved.

Soren said that the sled Troop 102 has was made two or three years ago and has served the troop well. It is made up of 2 X 4’s, rope, miscellaneous lumber with a broom-handle handle and old road signs as the floor of the sled.

The sled also had a set of skis mounted to the underside for sledding across the snow. Soren said there is also a set of wheels that can be added to the sled when there is no snow. For the scouts, the light snow that fell Friday night and lay on the ground Saturday morning was a plus that coupled with the very cold weather “made it more fun.”

The Klondike started at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and wrapped up at 4 p.m. At the end of the day the winner of the day of competition was announced as being Downs Troop 953. The group edged out the other troops by a mere two points.

According to 1102 leader Jason Maxheimer, it has been several years since the Klondike has been held in Lincoln. This year when it came time to start planning, there was no one who immediately came forward to host. Bret Aukamp said the Lincoln Troop decided that they could be host and thus the Klondike came to Lincoln. It is believed the visiting troops had a good time, and Lincoln may be the host of the event again in the future.

[Nila Smith]