2025 Summer in Review

Troop 12 just completed a successful summer season. The scouts earned over a whopping 160 merit badges over many campouts, summer camp, the mini venture, and hikes.

Let's recap our year. It began with a late spring hike at Matthiessen State Park near Starved Rock, where we logged over 6 miles hiking.

Next up in May, the scouts marched in the annual New Lenox Loyalty Day Parade. This is a Troop 12 annual tradition where the scouts help decorate a float, pass out candy to parade goers and advertise the troop. We then rounded out May with a campout at Kankakee State Park where the scouts enjoyed a weekend of fishing, campfires, and fellowship.

June was a jam-packed month, starting off with a troop outing and fundraiser to the Joliet Slammers. Troops were able to sell tickets to raise money for their scout accounts and enjoy a Joliet Slammers baseball game with fellow scouts, friends, and family. Next up, several scouts attend the Railroading Merit Badge workshop. This was hosted in our own backyard, New Lenox, by the Chicagoland Lionel Railroad Club. We appreciate the partnership and opportunity to use their Club House and earn a cool merit badge in the process.

Continuing with June, the scouts attended a week-long summer camp at Camp Blackhawk located at the Owasippe Scout Reservation. Summer Camp is one of the hallmarks of Scouting and offers many amazing opportunities for the scouts to participate in sailing, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, wilderness survival, first aid, and many more. Evenings include campfires, fellowship, night swimming, and even a Scoutmaster belly flop contest.

Heading into the hot month of July, there was no slowing down for the troop. The scouts went on the annual mini-venture. Troop 12's mini-ventures are longer than a weekend campout but shorter than summer camp. This year, we crossed several states and began with a day of kayaking at Chain O'Lakes State Park and camping. The following day, the troop packed up and trekked to Ohio. Here we explored the Ohio Caverns. The caverns are the largest in the state, with approximately 1 mile of surveyed passage ranging in depth from 30 feet to 103 feet. In the Summer, two different tours take guests through different parts of the caverns. Before heading home, we finished up with a full day at the National US Air Force Museum. Troops were able to explore a space shuttle, the SR-52 Blackbird, the F23 Raptor, and many others.

We finished with the Troop 12 Eagle Court of Honor, where we celebrated Scouts Noah James and Noah Stamborski earning their Eagle Scout Rank.

With school starting in August, the troop finished up with a campout at Turkey Run State Park, located in Marshall, Indiana. Here, the scouts enjoyed one last weekend of campfires, rank-ups, camaraderie, and river tubing.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for the Autumn update, which will include the Pancake Breakfast, annual game out, a look ahead to our Winter events, and the posting of our 2026 schedule.