NEWSFLASH (August 10, 2013): Boy Scout Summer Camp at Camp Keowa came to an end today. For the second year in a row, Troop 2295 had 39 boys sign up for the weeklong camping experience (August 4 through 10, 2013). Additionally, many Troop 2295 scouts attended the weeklong provisional camp which took place at Camp Keowa from July 28, 2013 through August 3, 2013.
BOY SCOUT TROOP 2295 of River Edge, New Jersey (meeting place: Cherry Hill School) While boys usually join our troop at the start of the school year in September, or during the transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts in Feburary, a boy can join Troop 2295 at any time of the year. Also, it is not necessary to have been in Cub Scouts in order to join Boy Scouts. All boys between the ages of 11 and 17 are invited to attend one of our weekly troop meetings (parents can also attend). Additionally, parents are encouraged to volunteer to be Assistant Scoutmasters (ASMs), leaders, committee members, coordinators, and to assist with any of the many tasks related to troop events. TROOP 2295 – The Scout Years 2010-2012 Recap: This recap covers the two most recent years of scouting (September 2010 to September 2012) and is being written as Troop 2295 completes its 5th year of operation. The troop was chartered on July 7, 2007, and had its first troop meeting in September 2007. We opted to submit the charter that particular day in July so that it would be easy for us to remember the 7/7/7 origin date. It has been easy for me to remember that date. The troop initially started with the adult leaders: Mary Ellen, Frank, Rich M., and Kevin, and by summer's end Ed, Russell, and Bob had officially become leaders. The original scouts of Troop 2295 were: David, Richie, Frankie, Chris Y., Ben, Harry, Matt, Alex, Chris V., and Stefano. It's relatively easy for me to remember all of these names because there weren't many names to remember in those days. The troop has grown tremendously over these first 5 years of its existence, with nearly 100 boys joining the troop since July 7, 2007. Beginning with the Mums Fundraiser in September 2010, the troop had a two-year run which included scores of troop meetings and dozens of big events. Boy Scouts of America turned 100 and celebrated its Centenial. Our troop participated in the NNJC Centenial Camporee in October 2010; more than 2,000 scouts from Northern NJ council attended. Also in October 2010 the troop took part in a 5-mile hike at Harriman State Park. In November 2010 the Webelos Gathering Day Trip took place at Camp Alpine, NY. The boys took part in archery and rock-wall climbing, and an unplanned "protecting the fort" cops-and-robbers game the boys came up with spontaneously added to the fun. In January 2011 the troop enjoyed a day of skiing at Shawnee Mountain, taking lessons, both for skiing and snowboarding, while learning that snowboarding is a lot harder than it looks! In February 2011 a wonderful and successful "Bridging Ceremony" was held in the Cherry Hill School MPR, at which 15 new scouts joined our already-enormous troop. Soon after this event the new scouts in the troop participated in a camping weekend at Camp Bullowa in Stony Point, NY. The next month a full-troop camping weekend took place at Camp Turrell. Top Chef Challenge was neck and neck — with the champion winning by the smallest margin yet. The "newbies" (the brand new scouts under expert tutalige of a senior scout) just narrowing missed winning first place. In April 2011 the troop ventured to Pennsylvania for a long weekend of camping at Gettysburg. The troop hiked the "Billy Yank" and the "Johnny Rebel" trails through the rain and mud. Also in April 2011 was the Scouting for Food food-drive which is an annual event organized by someone from my son's former-troop over at St. Peter's. The purpose of this food-drive is to collect food for families of servicemen serving over seas. In May 2011 there was a hike at Harriman, and in June 2011 the troop had a White Water Rafting weekend in on the Lehigh River in Pennsylvania. The heavy rain that fell that day held off until everyone in the troop was off the river and back in their tents. So that was a good thing. The 2011 summer camp at Camp Keowa was very well attended, with more scouts opting to spend a week at Keowa than in any of the prior 3 summers. In total, 33 scouts from Troop 2295 attended, with the older scouts camping up the hill in the lean-tos. The younger scouts worked on scouting skills up through First Class, many coming home at a rank higher than when they left; four special "centennial merit badges" were offered in the skills of 100 years ago: Carpentry, signaling, pathfinding, and tracking. The 2011-2012 Scout year began in late-August and early-September with the annual Mums Fundraiser, which has been managed by Kara M. each year the troop has had a Mums Fundraiser (Kara ran this fundraiser again in September 2012, as well.) After the September hike had to be canceled due to thunderstorms, the troop camped at Harriman State Park (at Tiorati) in October. Also in October the boys participated in outdoor-skills training at Camp Alpine, NJ. In November 2012 a large number of boys took part in the Lower Manhattan Historic Hike. While on this 8-mile hike the boys saw the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstration taking place a short distance from where they saw The Freedom Ttower being built. The troop ate lunch in Chinatown and had cannolis in Little Italy. For many of the boys this was the first time they had ever ridden on a New York City subway. A month after "hiking" around Manhattan, the boys found themselves back in the woods for a December 2011 camping weekend. The scouts took part in lean-to camping at Camp Yaw Paw. It was December, thus it was quite cold. In February 2012 the troop camped at Camp Bullowa, and in March 2012 the troop camped at Camp Kluge. Also in February 2012 was a Bridging Ceremony which saw almost 20 new scouts enter the troop. April 2012 was the Bike Hike Weekend in White Haven, PA. The boys Rented mountain bikes and biked down the mountain in the Lehigh Valley -- the 2 degree downhill radiant seemed like nothing, until a leader tried biking back up hill to head up the "tail"! Another important even in April 2012 was the Eagle Court of Honor. The event was held at Temple Avodat Shalom and many dignitaries for local government were on hand for the event. Ben S. received his Eagle Scout Award at this ceremony held on April 29, 2012. In May 2012 the troop treked to Washington D.C. for a weekend at a hostel. The boys got to see the U.S. Capital, many of the major memorials and monuments, the outside of White House, and the Smithsonian. The school year ended with a June camping weekend. This was followed by some troop meetings in preparation for the Scout Summer Camp at Keowa. Summer camp in August 2012 saw a record number of campers attend. There were 39 boys from Troop 2295 camping for a week at Camp Keowa; this followed a week in which many of the boys from our troop took part in a week of Provisional Camping ("Provo"). With summer of 2012 marking the 5th summer that Troop 2295 has chosen to spend a week of summer camp at Camp Keowa, the number of merrit badges received by Troop 2295 scouts at Camp Keowa must number in the hundreds. At Keowa the boys participated in a long list of activities, many of which can be seen in the Camp Keowa videos on this website. The troop also took part in scores of other events which were not metioned above. In the past 2 years there were 70+ troop meetings, 20+ committee meetings, and a couple of Scout Sabbaths. There were also day trips for archery, riflery, and a few other activities. The troop marched in the 2011 and 2012 Memorial Day parades, and took part in the Green Day events in River Edge in 2011 and 2012. If you would like to see a complete list of events that the troop took part in from September 1, 2010 through Agust 31, 2012, please look at our Archive of Past Events. TROOP 2295 – The Scout Year 2009-2010 Recap: Another successful year of scouting unfolded during the 2009-2010 scout year, building upon the success of the previous two years. (Yes, it was the third full year in the life of the upstart Troop 2295; the troop has had 75 boys join its ranks from July 7, 2007 through May 2011.) During the 2009-2010 scout year, the troop came close to matching the prior year's total of 40 troop meetings, and that does not include the Klondike-training sessions and calendar-planning meetings (led by senior scouts) in which the scouts participated. While most of the troop meetings took place at the Cherry Hill School Multipurpose Room (MPR), meetings were also held at four other locations: Van Saun Park, New Bridge Center Project Room, Grace Lutheran Church, and Temple Avodat Shalom. Troop 2295 competed in the NNJC Twin Valleys District Klondike Derby at Campgaw (Mahwah, NJ), on January 30, 2010, just as they had done in January 2009. The troop entered two sleds in the competition, and finished high in the final standings. Since Cub Scout Pack 229 and Cub Scout Pack 95 also had two sleds each at the 2010 Klondike Derby, there were six sleds representing the Borough of River Edge. In addition to competing at the Klondike Derby, Troop 2295 participated in the following events: camping weekends, including tent, lean-to, and cabin campouts; hikes; parades; community projects; fundraisers; whitewater rafting; and various other activities — culminating with the 2010 summer camps. The community projects the troop took part in were: Scouting for Food; Project Porchlight, an energy-efficiency program; Green Day, an enivironment fair at Memorial Park; assembling Thanksgiving Food Baskets; and volunteering at a 4-H Fair. The well-attended campouts included 2-night camping at each of the following locations: Camp Turrell, Camp NoBeBoSco, Durland Scout Reservation, Camp Yaw Paw, and Ten Mile River. Troop 2295 also took part in two hikes at Harriman State Park: Appalachian Trails, to Silvermine Lake; and Lemon Squeeze, via the Whaleback. The troop marched in two parades: the 2010 St. Patrick's Day Parade, in New York City; and the 2010 Memorial Day Parade, in River Edge, NJ. Other troop activities included a Mums Fundraiser; the Twin Valleys Den Chief Training Session and Merit Badge Fair; Arrow of Light ceremonies; Court of Honor ceremonies; Scout Sabbath; calendar-planning meetings; and a day of rockwall climbing, at the Camp Alpine Climbing Center. As a result of this extremely active year of scouting, the list of past events continued to grow — Archive of Past Events. The many 2-night camping weekends mentioned above were not the only camping events the troop participated in — many Troop 2295 scouts participated in one or more of the three 6-night summer camps: Provisional Summer Camp, at Camp Keowa; Troop 2295 Scout Summer Camp, at Camp Keowa; and the National Youth Leadership Training Course, at Camp Turrell. There was an impressive level of participation for the Troop 2295 Scout Summer Camp week (August 8-14, 2010), with 27 scouts opting to spend a week living in tents at Camp Keowa. The summer of 2010 was the third consecutive summer that the troop chose to camp at Camp Keowa, and it was the third consecutive summer that Ed. Y organized the troop's participation. In addition to Ed, the following fathers also spent nights at Camp Keowa during the week of August 8-14, 2010: Mike O., Bill L., Jeff M., Rich M., and Lou P.. The scouts participated in many Merit Badge activities during their time at Camp Keowa; some of the activities are chronicled in the video at the top of this page. For the 2009-2010 scout year, Rich M. and Mike O. served as Committee Chair and Scoutmaster, respectively. They continued the past success of Russell S. and Ed Y. in those roles, respectively. For 2010-2011, the Committee Chair is Kevin K., and the Scoutmaster is Mike O.. Troop 2295's Unit Commissioner the past 3+ years has been Randy A.; Randy continues in the role of Unit Commissioner to Troop 2295 and Pack 229 for the 2010-2011 scout year. Here's a shoutout to all of the Assistant Scoutmasters (ASMs) of Troop 2295, as of March 12, 2011: Amy W., Bill L., Ed Y., Jay L., Jeff M., Lou P., Rich M., and Vikram D.. CLICK HERE TO TRAVEL BACK To 2008-2009 CLICK HERE TO TRAVEL BACK To 2007-2008 Troop 2295 at Ground Zero begins at the 4:10 mark of this video, with the images from inside St. Paul's Church.
Boy Scout Troop 2295	Troop 2295 Calendar
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(6.0 Nights) Troop 2295 Scout Summer Camp —
Camp Keowa at Ten Mile River (TMR)
Most of the scouts of Troop 2295 will be attending the week of Scout Summer Camp. Our Scoutmaster, Mike O., will be on lead the full week, with other Troop 2295 leaders, ASMs, and parents in attendance at various points in the week. The trained Camp Keowa staff instructs the boys at Merit Badge programs and camp activities.