NORTH FORK–The North Fork Boy Scout Troop 357 is holding a special recruitment night at the Scout Building which is located near Town Hall in North Fork. The address is 32996 Road 228.
Who’s Eligible to Join?
Trip to Angels Camp Museum
All boys from ages 11 to 17 are eligible to join Troop 357. Boys as young as 10 and in the 5th grade are also welcome. Parents are encouraged to come with their sons and learn about what the organization has to offer.
Scouting Values
Some values scouts learn are:
- Trying new things
- Serving others
- Boosting self-confidence
- Learning to make ethical choices
- Exploring the outdoors
Scouts attain many skills that can come in handy later in life including first aid, cooking, camping and using a map and compass. They discover the value of being good members of the community by taking part in activities to improve our local area. Those include tree planting and road cleanup. Through these experiences Scouts not only learn new things but can develop interests that later turn into career goals. One of the troop’s more recent Senior Patrol Leaders earned the Forestry Merit Badge. He graduates this spring from Cal Poly with a degree in forestry.
In addition, Troop 357 helps obtain then sells Christmas trees at the North Fork Library each year.
Scouting Activities
The North Fork troop enjoys camping, swimming, hiking, and backpacking into the wilderness. Further, each summer the troop spends a week at Camp Chawanakee Boy Scout camp on the shores of Shaver Lake.
Bodie, Ghost town in the Eastern Sierra Nevada area
Over past years, the troop has gone on camping trips to Death Valley, Bodie ghost town, and Morro Bay. The troop has visited the Castle Air Museum and more recently took a day hike to the Hite Cove mining site on the Merced River. In fall 2022, the troop visited Columbia State Park and rode the steam train at Railtown 1897. This past September found the troop camping at New Melones Reservoir. From there, the Scouts visited Mercer Caverns as well as Murphys on Saturday and the Angels Camp museum on Sunday.
Eagle Scouts from Troop 357
Troop 357 has produced three Eagle Scouts (the highest rank a scout can achieve) from its ranks during the period 2019 to 2023, the latest being Hunter Wilks, who earned the award in mid-December. This past fall troop members assisted Senior Patrol Leader Wilks complete his Eagle Scout project. Hunter has been in scouting since he was ten. Asked what the program has meant to him, he replied,
Troop 357 Eagle Scout Hunter Wilks
Scouting meant to me an opportunity for challenges and learning of skills. It was an area of my life where nothing but my best was accepted. Sometimes that was an annoyance, but when I succeeded, I was glad to not have settled for a lesser result.”
Eagle Scout Jeremiah Stott with his parents (left) and Scoutmaster Dave Smith
The other recent Eagle Scouts from Troop 357 are Jeremiah Stott in 2019 and Hunter Ahrens in 2020. Another of the troop’s Eagle Scouts is currently a physician in New York state. His son earned the rank of Eagle Scout during the same timeframe as 357’s most recent Eagles.
In the fifty-year history of Troop 357, a total of nine scouts have achieved Eagle Scout rank.
The special recruitment will be Monday, May 20. It begins at 7pm and ends at 8:30 pm.
Contact for More Information
For more information call Dave Smith, Scoutmaster, (559) 877-2186 or email cocomax@aol.com.
Boating at Chawanakee Camp
Adventuring in Death Valley
