Troop 74 weathers whitewater rafting trip

Every year Scout Troop 74 embarks on one “high interest trip” a year, and this year was no different, with the scouts journeying up to Maine for a weekend of whitewater rafting in June.

The troop went up to Maine on a Friday, went whitewater rafting on Saturday and returned to Dartmouth Sunday. Toyota of Dartmouth helped make this trip possible by providing an opportunity for scouts and some parents to carpool.

“In developing the program I try to regularly have high-interest activities for the boys,” said Douglas D’Atri, one of the troop leaders.

D’Atri said that the troop tries to do local activities once a month, whether it’s swimming at the YMCA or climbing at Carabiners in New Bedford.

“Various local activities while keeping the costs down but keeping the interest level high,” he said.

While the troop takes one major trip a year, other notable events include a week-long overnight summer camp at Camp Yawgoog.

“I couldn’t even tell you how many activities they do,” D’Atri said. “The main thing they do is what’s called merit badges. It’s part of the program that the scouts earn.”

In January the troop also does its Klondike Derby where the scouts must spend the day completing activities that are designed to get the scouts to communicate and work together to achieve a task.

D’Atri, who no longer has kids in the program, said he chooses to stay active with the program because he feels “very strongly about the values that the program teaches, the skills that they teach like outdoor skills.”

He added that it’s not just outdoor skills, but interpersonal and social skills that the scouts learn as well.

“It’s just things like that that I think are really important for young people to learn and grow in their skills and work together,” D’Atri said. “That I find very important and very valuable as part of the program.

D'Atri noted that if kids are interested in joining the program they can visit BScout.org and the Troop 74 Facebook page to learn more.