May 27, 2000
| Until December 2000,
the National Scouting Museum was housed at Murray
State University in Murray, Kentucky. About
a 90 minute drive from Clarksville, the museum was
a favorite place for local troops to go for fun
and to learn about the history of Scouting.
In addition to the museum and a really nice Scout
Shop, the Gateway Challenge course taught
teamwork, trust, and self-reliance.
Essentially a smaller version of the COPE course
at Boxwell Reservation, the Gateway Challenge
consisted of a "low course" of
team-building exercises and a "high
course" of climbing and wire-walking.
This was Troop 521's last trip to the museum and
took place on the same day that the
representatives from the National BSA meeting
going on in nearby Nashville came to visit the
museum. We didn't know at that time that
they had made the decision to move it to Texas. |
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We arrived about an hour ahead of
our scheduled time on the low course. We
were to do the low course in the morning and the
high course after lunch. After a wait in the
museum and looking around the Scout Shop, we were
ready to go. |
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The first things that we did
involved working as a team, something that Troop
521 has always done well. One look at the
smiles on these guys' faces and you can tell
they're having a great time. |
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OK, now let's
see. The ship is sinking, the porthole is
filled with jagged glass, we only have one first
aid kit and it's nearly empty, what do we
do? I guess one person just has to go
through first and get cut. After he tends
his wounds he can help lift the other guys through
the porthole without letting them hit the
glass. OK, let's make the SPL go
first. After all, he's big and expendable. |
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Next we had to transport a bucket
of water over a radioactive pit. First we
took our belts and made a sling for the
bucket. Then we sent the bucket across the
pit to the other side on a rope. The trick
was to keep our pants from heading south as the
bucket went west. |
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We took a break for
lunch and the guys got to spend some time in the
museum. The maze was especially
popular. Then it started raining and it
really rained heavily. That cancelled our
time on the high course. To make matters
worse, we got word that there were tornados
spotted between us and home. No
problem. We stayed where we were and the
Scouts made the most of the rain by running
through it. Remember, Scouting is an
outdoor activity. When it was finally
safe to get on the road, we said goodbye to the
National Scouting Museum for the last time.
We'll miss it, for sure. |
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