Author: admin_xnrdk3

Troop 3 has YET ANOTHER Eagle to soar away. Our beloved Spencer Holley is Eagle.  Thanks to past and present Troop 3 leadership and congrats to Spencer!!!

Troop 3 closed off the 2019 MBU season Saturday at Middle Tennessee State University. I personally like the MTSU MBU better than the TTU one, just because you can get in, and then out, quicker. Anyhow, this Merit Badge University went great! We arrived at about 8:30, got our paperwork and sat down, and were prepared for the opining ceremony in only a matter of minutes.

Class, in my opinion, went super well! This year I chose to go out on a limb, and do the  Programming Merit Badge. I learned many new things such as the HTML and Python Programming language’s basic functions, how a programming language reacts with the computer, and even first aid concerns with computers, such as eye strains. With Python, we coded an asteroid blaster game, and with HTML, we programmed a unit calculator! The software I coded wasn’t the flashiest, but I think it was pretty good for my 1st time.

Lunch was delicious! A lot like TTU, it was all you could eat, with plenty of pizza, burgers, sandwiches, cereal, various deserts, and more! (see photos below.) At the end of my class’s lunch, our merit badge councilor took us to the campus’s library’s makerspace. It was huge with a Mac lab, various 3d printers and wood printers, and VR computers.

After the back end of class, it was time for us to leave. Mr. Jeff and Ms. Jen waited for us as we all got back from class. We arrived back at the church around 5:30

Last weekend, we started off our 2019 MBU season at Tennessee Tech!

In my opinion, it was a really well organized MBU. I’ve never had a TTU MBU class with more than 15 people! The instructors always seem on top of game and are defiantly passionate of what they teach!

This year I did photography and learned many new things during the 1st half of class , such as how a SLR camera works, what aperture is, and what an ISO number is. We took a lot of boring notes, but I kept in mind it’s all for the better.

After the 1st half of class, lunchtime came around, everyone’s favorite time of the day! our troop sat together and the lunch, in my opinion, was mediocre, however, I was starving and needed something to eat so I got a bunch of pizza (it was all you could eat.) than some soft serve after.

In the back half of photography, we mainly took photos, than showcased them. There was a guy in my class who brought his whole camera with him took some pretty great pictures! I think I did pretty well.

After class was over, we all met up for the closing ceremony. During this ceremony, they put all the scouts attending the MBU names in a bucket, they draw a few out, and you can win different handouts. I was one of the few lucky winners, and I got a bag full of TTU gear such as a cup, some stickers, a lanyard, and more!

We were done with the MBU after that, and we came home tired, but glad we all knocked out a whole merit badge in a day!

This year, we decided to go back to Roan Mountain on the AT! Everyones favorite backpacking spot! Even though it was cold this time.😖

Despite the below-freezing nights, we had a fun time! We left Saturday morning as appose to Friday night because of the 3 day weekend. when we arrived at Carver’s Gap, it was about 20 degrees outside, and all the trees were coated with at least an inch of frost. These were harsh conditions, so we drove down to Roan Mountain State Park to camp for the night.

Sunday was a great trek up the mountain. it only took us about 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half for everyone to scale the balds. For the rest of the day, we had a fun time! We ate a hardy lunch, got mesmerized by the view, established hang-out spots along the trail, and over all just had a great time!

Monday, we had to trek back down the mountain. we woke up at around 6:00 in the morning, packed our gear, and were out within 45 minutes. There was a storm coming so we knew we needed to act quickly! About half way through our hike that day, the rain gradually poured in! It wasn’t that big of a deal at first, but then some of us started taking off, and the rain was pouring harder and harder! We made it through, wet but happy!

I LOVE hiking Roan Mountain1 I’m sure that it’s my favorite hike and backpacking trip we’ve done! I hope that we go back again, and again.

P.S. If anyone wants to share pictures from the trip, feel free to email me.

Thanks to overwhelming community support, the turkey fry is once again SOLD OUT!! But if you’re still hankering for a juicy fried turkey, please sign up on our waitlist:

2018 Turkey Waitlist

We always fry a few extra birds “just in case” and these will go to waitlisted individuals once we determine that all reserved bird orders have been fulfilled. Also, if you include your email address we will add it to our early bird mailing list for 2019 fried turkeys so you won’t miss out on fried turkey next year!

Welcome to Troop 3’s 2018 Turkey Fry! We’d love to fry one up for you.

—> WE ARE SOLD OUT. PLEASE VISIT OUR WAITLIST<—

It was another successful Highland Games for Troop 3!

The Games themselves were fun, as always. We had patrol activities on Saturday, which included the tripod lashing, the team skies, the 4-gallon challenge, the orienteering challenge, and the canoe challenge. On Sunday came the personal challenges. The weight throw, the sledgehammer throw, and our favorite the caber toss. In spite of how these things sound, no one got hurt and everyone had a great time.

Plenty of great food was shared during this trip! Our traditional dessert cook-off and dutch oven baking resulted in a flurry of amazing tastes. The Whistle Pigz, my patrol cooked a hearty  Dutch oven lasagna and a creamy tres leches cake. The Honey Badgers won the Cook-Off and were awarded the treasured Troop 3 Golden Spoon for their peach cobbler, in the end.

Stay well everyone, and remember, as they say on “So I Murdered an Axe Murderer,” “If it’s not Scottish its crap!”

P.S. If anyone wants to share pictures from the trip, feel free to email me.

As I’ve said before, the canoeing or kayaking trips we do are always my favorite! This one Just backs my point up more.

We left the church at around 5:45 in the evening, we arrived at the base around 8:00 and got started on cracker barrel. Soon after cracker barrel, we got situated in our tents, which were surprisingly well built with tin roofs and solid oak. The logical next step was to go to sleep, and that’s just what we did.

Saturday is when the fun began! We woke up around 6:30, had a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausage, then prepared to go up to the lodge. At the lodge, we were given basic instruction then loaded up in the vans to go out on the water. When we finally got to the Buffalo River, we unloaded our boats and started out on the water. The river was pretty rocky, and there were plenty of downed trees that some of us ran into, but it was fun. For lunch, we went to this spot that Grimes owns right off the river, complete with a cornfield and swings. The second half of the day we did 7 quick miles, some of us got caught in trees but we were able to quickly get back up and running. When we got back to camp, some of us cleaned up and started dinner, which was a chili cook-off and a fire ceremony afterward. Soon after the ceremony, we were exhausted and ready to settle down for the night, which is exactly what we did.

Sunday Was pretty simple, much like Saturday we got up and started breakfast imminently. Next up we got our gear and headed up to the vans to get on the water. We did the last 7 miles of yesterday’s journey all over again, so it went fast. When we were over with the journey, we packed up, ate lunch, and headed out. a lot of people were exhausted, so the ride home was peaceful.

I hope that everyone who went on the trip enjoyed it as much as I did. There were a lot of great experiences and stories to share. After all, we are the adventurous troop 3!

P.S. If anyone wants to share pictures from the trip, feel free to email me.