As the Scouts work in the Patrol Leaders' Council to plan out upcoming events, they are given 1 key instruction, "Make it fun!"

Themed events take the monotony out of fundamental Scouting skills and presents them to the Scouts in ways that are fun and exciting.   It may not be fun to tie a bandage at a Scout meeting, but it IS fun to tie a bandage after a confetti-filled "anti-personnel mine" explodes on your patrol as they hike unsuspectingly down a trail... into the "gauntlet".

Maybe it's a "little" fun to bandage a broken bone at a scout meeting, but it's a LOT of fun to rush to the aid of a mannequin who falls out of a 20ft high tree. 

Boys like to be CHALLENGED.   The more difficult something is, the more rewarding they feel when its accomplished.   Themed programs offer yet another way for the "game" of Scouting to be played with a heightened sense of adventure.

How creative can YOU be?    Join us and let us know.  We're always open to new ideas.   Remember, this is YOUR program....  so MAKE IT FUN!

There's gold in them thar hills, and I'mma fixin' to get me some!


Put together your dog sled (literally) and set out in the tundra, moving from mining town to mining town in search of GOLD!!!!

From the mining towns to the lumber yards, to the rifle range to the "Old Timer" Pioneer man who will teach you how to throw Indian tomahawks, you and your patrol compete against patrols from 8 other BSA troops for GOLD NUGGETS.   At the end of the day, the Patrol with the most Gold Nuggets will be awarded the Grand Prize!  There are no 2nd and 3rd place prizes.  In the rugged extreme of the Klondike, you either survive... or you don't.

While recognized as a BSA event for several decades, the Dulaney District does not host a Klondike Derby.   Since 2013, Troop 247 has organized and led this event and invited our brother-troops to join us in an event many of them say is THE BEST event of their Scout year.

Get ready... we target the 3rd weekend of February for this annual event!  You're going to need a LOT of skills and Scout Spirit if you plan on putting some of those gold nuggets in your pocket.

Oh yea...  leave those cozy tents and camp stoves at home.  We're not messing around here, it's SURVIVOR Weekend!

Off you go in the cold fall/winter darkness, or perhaps the hot muggy summer night, with only a few supplies in your possession.  Where are you going to sleep?   Can you make an emergency shelter and spend an entire night sleeping in it?    How will you stay warm?   How do you light a fire without matches?  Between you and a buddy, do you have enough supplies to get creative enough to fashion a shelter, get a fire for light, heat, and cooking?  How about dealing with those bugs?    Are you going to be scared, or can you keep your spirits high?

THIS IS IT.... this is the "adventure stuff" you were dreaming about when you decided to become a Boy Scout.   Mommy stays home for this one, but fear not... with the right training, you're going to do just fine and you'll end up having a night to talk about for the rest of your life!

Your buddies who were "too cool" for Scouting stayed home "shooting" in some video game, but YOU experienced THE REAL DEAL!

How would you like to spend an entire weekend firing .22 rifles on the rifle range so that you can tighten your group to fit all your shots with the size of a quarter?    Prefer moving targets?  How about some clay pigeons flying through the air until you shatter them with a blast from a 12 ga or 20 ga shotgun?   Have you ever heard the KA-BOOM and smelled the cloud of smoke from a black-powder musket and do you think you can shoot it accurately?   In Troop 247 the answer is YES! 

Of course, all of this happens after learning plenty of gun safety and the mechanics of various firearms and under the supervision of NRA-qualified instructors and NRA-certified Range Safety Officers.

Some Scouts only get the chance to shoot once a year at Summer Camp, but as usual, we like to think of ourselves as those guys who "raise the bar".   Among our adult leaders we have 3 NRA Instructors and 4 RSOs, so we can operate the rifle ranges at BSA camps on our own. 

The Order of the Phoenix needs your help!  To defeat "you know who" we have to help Harry, Ron, and Hermione find the horcruxes.    Hidden throughout the forest are 7 objects that you can find only by working as a team and being sharp with your Orienteering and other Scout skills.

Whip out your compass, map, and magic wand to venture beyond the Whomping Willow from clue to clue until the horcruxes are found and destroyed.  Watch out!   Each horcrux has a different spell protecting it, so you're going to need a variety of Scout skills to defeat what "you know who" has protecting his split and damaged soul!

How do you make First Aid fun and exciting?   How about a camping trip jam-packed with Scout skills related to First Aid with a M*A*S*H theme following one of the most popular TV shows in history?

Scout patrols are dispatched to navigate via map & compass to find advance military units who are in need of medical treatment.   Hands-on BSA First Aid skills are tested at each station. 

But be careful... you're headed to the front lines and the soldiers aren't the only ones in "harms way".   Past trips have had claymore mines explode and patrol members have been tagged with head wounds and cuts.  You have to treat wounds STAT!  Right there, right now, on the trail!

Keep en eye out for a paratrooper tangled in a tree!  He just might fall 20 feet, possibly breaking his leg.

You may even hear someone laying in the cold river calling for help.   He can't move... maybe it's hypothermia.  Can your patrol work together to drag a 200# man from the river and back to his camp site?   Are you carrying what you need to help, or can you find anything in his camp site that you can use to save his life?

1/2 way down a trail and you don't know where to go... but wait.   There's an army field radio, but you can only make it work if you complete the first aid test and you set the switches & dials with the correct answers.   Can your patrol work together to get the right answers to contact HQ for your next compass bearing, or will you be lost until the next patrol comes along to save you?

M*A*S*H weekend is just one of our themed weekend events that we use to keep the Program fresh and entertaining, and reinforcing very valuable Scout skills.

There's nothing more "Scout-like" than helping out our brother & sister Scout units.   As Boy Scouts, we are the "leaders" in adventure and outdoor skills, so the gift of teaching skills is ours to give.

Started as the "diversity" part of Mr. Paul's Wood Badge "ticket" in 2005,  GIRL SCOUT SKILL DAY is an all day (or weekend) event where Girl Scouts are invited to learn outdoor and camping skills with Boy Scouts as their teachers.    In conjunction with the fabulous BCGF grounds, past events have included rifle shooting, archery, fishing, fire building, chemistry, orienteering, camp cooking & sanitation, axe, knife & saw training, and more.

Often, the classes are taught directly out of the GS handbooks, so our Scout Sisters earn GSA badges as a result of attending the event.   Past events have included Girl Scouts coming from as far as Wilmington, DE.

Girls, are you ready for a solid taste of the "great outdoors"?    Then reach out to us to help us plan the next GSSD agenda!

They're coming!   And if you aren't sharp in your Scout Skills, you may be sucked into the zombie army.    Travel station to station to battle and outwit zombies with a variety of Scout Skills to solve challenges and make it out "still human"!   

Adding to the fun is the willingness of the Scouts and Scouters to don zombie make-up to look and act the part and make the event a fun and exciting day in the woods.