Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Scout Life

When making the magazine, what’s the hardest part of the process? Is it harder to find stories from troops and heroic Scouts, or is it harder to lay out and print the magazine? – Alexander I. Y., Bay Point, California Look at you, Alex. You’re flying in with the tough questions. This is a good one because every part of making the magazine comes with challenges, but telling Scout stories is honestly the easy part. There are just so many good treks to cover! (Submit your own here: go.scoutlife.org.outings) For me, the hardest part is making sure I get my fill of the grubs in the garden at the office and carving out time for my commute each week. I nest in Houston these days, which is about an hour…

Whether fearless or funny, animals throughout history have inspired statues and memorials as early as ancient Egypt. Here are some monuments still standing today: National Dog Bite Prevention Week, held every April, raises awareness about the risks of dog bites. More than 4 million people in the United States are bitten each year, with about 20% requiring medical attention. Here are few ways to prevent a dog bite: • Be aware of your surroundings. • Don’t approach an unfamiliar dog. • If a dog approaches you, stay calm. You don’t want to startle the dog with loud noises or fast movements. • Remember, dogs can be territorial. Try not to disturb them while they’re eating, sleeping or caring for their puppies.…

Peering into deep, milky blue water, Scouts spotted something they didn’t expect to see: rainbow trout. You wouldn’t think it would be all that surprising to notice fish in a lake. However, this lake is 140 feet below ground. Last May, Troop 11 of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, spent a weekend exploring the Lost Sea, a 4.5-acre lake within the Craighead Caverns in eastern Tennessee. Not only did the guys ride a tour boat across the underground lake, but they also crawled through muddy passages and spent a night in the cave. “You can’t really improve on this too much — it was a great outing,” says Eagle Scout Cameron Thomson, 17. SEA TALES Water is below your feet practically everywhere around Earth. It’s what we often tap into to…

Walking along a slackline doesn’t look that hard. You’re basically balancing on a tightly strung nylon strap only a foot off the ground, and the strap seems wide enough that you could easily place your feet on it. But once you get on the slackline, you realize it’s quite a challenge to stay-sure-footed. The Scouts of Troop 911 of St. Charles, Missouri, had each other to lean on as they tried the slacklines and several other obstacles at a local county park. “Everyone got to know each other better. We could learn each other’s weaknesses and strengths, and we could play off those,” says Life Scout Eva Best, 13. “We learned to trust each other more.” WORK LIKE A TEAM Missouri Bluffs Park, also in St. Charles, features a group…

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: • Permanent pen or marker• Large sheet of paper or four 8 ½-by-11-inch sheets taped together• Ruler• Rubber mallet• Scrap wood• Flexible tape measure (or string that can be measured with a ruler)• Scissors MATERIALS TO SEW MOCCASINS: • Deer-hide leather (Available online at stores such as eBay and Tandy Leather. You can also buy a Moccasin Leather Craft Kit at  scoutshop.org. Only lacing is required.)• Leather needles• Extra-strong upholstery thread• Needle-nose pliers WHAT YOU’LL DO: STEP 1. TRACE YOUR FOOT ON A LARGE SHEET OF PAPER following the steps on the template. (The same template is used for both moccasins.) Your template should match the example after you finish. (SEE DIAGRAM) STEP 2. CUT OUT YOUR TEMPLATE AND PLACE IT ON THE DEER HIDE. Avoid any…

WATCH IT College basketball championship week is April 4-7. Cheer on your favorite team as the season ends. The NBA playoffs begin April 19. SWING AWAY Which golfer will ace the Masters Tournament, scheduled for April 7-13 in Augusta, Georgia? Watch the action on CBS, Paramount+ and ESPN to find out. CALENDAR April 1: is April Fools’ Day. April 7: No Housework Day. Good luck with that one. April 22 is Earth Day. Do a Good Turn for your home planet by getting involved in a Scouting for Clean Waterways project! See go.scoutlife.org/cleanwaterways for details. On This Date April 4, 1818: Congress approves the Stars and Stripes — with 13 stripes and a star for each state — as the official U.S. flag. April 30, 1789: George Washington becomes…

Bug bites are no fun. They can itch or hurt, and some can make you sick. Bug spray can help, but you have to reapply it often, especially if you’re sweating or doing an activity where it might wash off. Another effective way to keep biting bugs away is with insectrepellent clothing. Most anti-bug clothing is infused with permethrin, a synthetic version of a natural repellent found in chrysanthemum plants. It has been EPA-registered since 1979 and is approved for use by the whole family, with no restriction. Permethrin works by disrupting bugs’ nervous systems, causing them to leave before biting you. Wear a permethrin-treated buff, hat or shirt, and many bugs should buzz off. It’s always best to also wear bug spray on any exposed skin. However, permethrin should…

go.scoutlife.org/scoutingaround HANDBOOK HELP Now You See It … People have enjoyed magic for thousands of years. Some tricks are easy to learn but still take work to pull off. To learn any magic trick, first try it by yourself. Practice in front of a mirror until your sleight of hand doesn’t appear obvious. Here’s a simple trick called the “magnetic pencil.” With one hand, hold a pencil. Grab your wrist with the other hand, extending your index finger to secretly press the pencil against your palm. Now it’s time for some showmanship. Slowly lift each finger of your first hand until all are extended. This gives the illusion that the pencil is floating behind your hand. Don’t turn your hand over or your audience will see your finger holding…

Some submarines are powered by nuclear energy, letting them stay SUBMERGED FOR MONTHS without needing to refuel. Tiny submarines are called submersibles. National Submarine Day is April 11. They are very quiet, allowing them to sneak up on other ships and avoid detection. Because of this, the submarine force of the U.S. Navy has the nickname “THE SILENT SERVICE.” THE HMS VENGEANCE HOLDS THE RECORD for staying submerged for more than six months, the longest in history. Submarines use a system called “BALLAST TANKS” to float and dive. Some submarines can dive as deep as 36,000 feet — that’s deeper than Mount Everest is tall.…

ROWING TO SUCCESS Life Scout Wins Gold GRAHAM RICHARDSON Age: 15 Hometown: Ridgewood, New Jersey Scout Rank: Life Scout (Troop 5, Ridgewood) Made Headlines: For winning gold at the 2023 Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. The Scoop: Graham won the freshman/novice category at the Jim Barker Men’s High School single race at this prestigious event, which included nearly 2,200 competitors from around the world. Graham had a time of 15 minutes 26 seconds on the 4,150-meter course. In 2024, he won gold medals at the Haddon Hammer and Winter Watt Farm indoor ergometer (rowing machine) competitions and silver medals at Cooper Cup (under 17) and the Ironman ergometer competition, all at the middle school level. IMPROVING THE WORLD First Class Scout Founds Nonprofit LINDA PISTUN Age: 12 Hometown: Gainesville, Virginia…

Are you ready to deal with biting and stinging “bugs” you might encounter on a hike, at camp or just when you’re outside? Here’s info about some of them, including how to avoid them. Ticks and Chiggers What they are: Ticks aren’t technically insects — they are arachnids (like spiders). They feed on blood, usually over hours to days. No matter what you’ve heard, ticks don’t fly or drop from trees onto you. Most sit patiently on a plant, waiting for their next meal to walk close enough to latch onto. Chiggers are mites that are closely related to ticks. What to do: Some ticks can cause serious disease like Rocky Mountain spotted fever or Lyme disease. Walk in the middle of trails, since ticks are more likely to be in…

Cooking Being Prepared to Cook While Camping CHOOSE YOUR RECIPES Plan your meals in advance so you don’t end up buying more than you need. MEASURE YOUR FOOD Carefully measure each ingredient for each recipe. That way, you won’t have to waste time at your campsite. ORGANIZE YOUR PACKED FOOD Pack in reverse order, with the meals you’ll need last at the bottom and food you’ll need first at the top. PACK YOUR FOOD Use resealable plastic bags, and label each bag. If you’re going to be combining ingredients, put them in one bag to reduce litter. CHECK, CLEAN AND THEN DOUBLE CHECK Forgetting one critical item could be disastrous. Group similar items together. Railroading Designing Your Own Railroad A MODEL RAILROAD starts off like any other project: with a…