Scouting news

Members of Cub Scout Pack 3077 participated in the Annual Pinewood Derby Race on Jan. 10 at Sunflower School. Scouts built and raced pinewood Derby cars which weighed 5 ounces each. A total of 496 races were completed in just over three hours. Winners were Casey McLaughlin, first; Jack Ryan, second; Jackson Berland, third; Moses Hoy, fourth; and Sam Dykes tied in fifth with Bryce Hadl, Levi Mackey, and Gabriel Mullen. Other award winners were: Chase Odgers, most original design; Brandon Thimmesch, best paint job; and Jackson Berland, best design.

Lawrence Boy Scout Troop 52, chartered to the Lawrence First United Methodist Church, participated in a troop campout Jan. 16-17 at Snow Creek in Weston, Mo., where they experienced cold weather camping, skiing, snowboarding and tubing. Scouts attending were: Dakota Zinn, Thomas Peterson, Garrett Weeks, Andrew Dominguez, Vail Moshiri, Matthew Dominguez, Andrew Denny, Gavin Spence, Elias Schneck, Stefan Kuczera, Cory Church, Robert Newman, Nathaniel Weeks, Jake Delatorre and Trevor Hillis. Adults attending were: Rod Zinn, Kent Peterson, Bryan Spence and Robert Newman.

Andrew Braden, Lawrence, has earned the rank of Eagle Scout. His Court of Honor was Dec. 14 at Plymouth Congregational Church, in Lawrence. He is a member of Boy Scout Troop 55, chartered to Westside Presbyterian Church.

Braden began his Scouting career in Cub Scout Pack 3072 and Cub Scout Pack 3055 from 1996 to 2001, earning the Arrow of Light. In 2001, he became a member of Boy Scout Troop 55, of which he is still a member.

During his Scouting career he earned 32 merit badges. In addition to his merit badges, Braden also earned the BSA Lifeguard, Mile Swim Award, Snorkeling Award, World Conservation Award and 12-Month Camper Award. Braden is also a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow and Keeper of the Sacred Bundle in the Tribe of Mic-O-Say, with the tribal name of Lone Hawk Soaring above the Water.

He has attended summer camps at Theodore Naish Scout Reservation as a camper from 1999 to 2000 and staff from 2004 to 2005, and H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation as a camper from 2001 to 2005 and 2007 to 2008, and staff in 2006. He has also participated in High Adventure excursions at Philmont Scout Ranch, Florida Sea Base, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Indian Cave State Park and Richland Creek Wilderness Area. Braden also participated in a youth mission trip to Bay St. Louis, Miss., to help rebuild homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

For his Eagle Scout project, Braden designed, built and installed an outdoor information center at the Lawrence Police Department on Bob Billings Parkway. This project is the third in a series of proposed Eagle projects to serve as a future resource center to include starting and ending points for walking, running, track and outdoor exercise stations.

His school activities included three-year lettermen on Free State swim team and marching band, men’s choir, concert chorale, Students Teaching About Tobacco, Bullies-2-Buddies, Cultural Heritage Panel, Peer Education Board, Link Crew, Youth Against Drugs and Alcohol and the creation board for Youth Against Drugs and Alcohol.

Braden, 18, is a graduate of Free State High School and the son of Scott and Cammie Braden. He is enlisted in the Kansas Air National Guard, 190th Air Refueling Wing, based in Topeka.