Boy Scouts
It had been over 10 years since the Ashland Boy Scout Troop 179 last hosted a Camporee, but that drought ended this May. Ten troops and 83 Boy Scouts from around Aroostook County gathered at Ed Chase’s property in Garfield from Friday, May 16 through Sunday, May 18 for the Spring Camporee. Also joining in on the fun were 11 Cub Scout packs with 63 Cubs for activities Saturday. Despite the forecast of rain, the weather was beautiful for the weekend.
The Cub Scouts had a full day of fun with a scavenger hunt, obstacle course, BB gun shooting, and making walking sticks. The highlight of the day was a tour of the Ashland logging museum where the boys were treated to a wide variety of historic axes, saws and other logging implements.
Activities for the Boy Scouts included map making, orienteering, and many other individual challenges. At points on the orienteering course, the boys had to build a fire to boil water, cut cookies from a poplar log with their bow saws, build a stretcher and carry a team member on a course, estimate the height of trees, and build an A-frame and walk it across a pit. These events were throughout the woods, so the boys had to use their maps and compasses to get from one event to another.
While half the patrols were doing events on the orienteering course, the other patrols were participating in field events. These included getting all their team members over a log that was tied 6 feet up between two trees, identifying items from nature, and using two 10-foot two by sixes to move from cinder block to cinder block across a swath of field without touching the ground. Perhaps the most popular game of the day though was the potato chip tasting contest, the objective being to guess the chip flavor. Several patrols were very good at this event! There was also a tug-of-war contest and a game of smugglers and spies, where the smugglers were trying to get items of different values past the spies into headquarters. This game was played on a grown up Christmas tree plantation, which added difficulty, but also lots of fun. The campfire held Saturday night featured songs, skits and cheers from the Troops. An Order of the Arrow callout was held, at which time 23 candidates were nominated for induction into the order.
The first annual Ed Chase Trophy, awarded to the top-scoring overall Troop, was presented to Troop 194 of Fort Fairfield. Units were scored on the basis of Troop competitions and overall campsite presentation. The trophy was named in honor of long-time Ashland Scoutmaster Ed Chase. Mr. Chase entertained both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts over the weekend by teaching them the classic “Class A” cheer.
Summer Fest Parade
The Ashland Summer Fest Parade will be held this year Saturday, July 5 at 11 a.m., with lineup beginning at 10 a.m. at the High School. Anyone interested in participating can pre-register by calling Bobbi Jo Condon at 435-7160, or by e-mail at btcondon@msn.com. Parade entrants are encouraged to have a music theme to their submissions because of this year’s Summer Fest being a music festival.
Fitness race/walk scheduled
The Ashland Summerfest Committee will be sponsoring a community fitness race/walk Saturday, July 5 at 8 a.m. with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. It will start at the bandstand and cover 3 miles around town. We are hoping everyone who likes to run or walk will join us in this celebration of fitness. For the race, there will be ribbons for male and female racers in three different categories. Kids take note: there will be prizes for you at each mile marker to encourage you to keep it up and finish the 3 miles. Afterwards, there will be watermelon for all participants, young, old, and in between. Cost is just $3, so please join us in this community event. Contact Linda Milligan to pre-register at 227-9135.
Library News
Ashland Community Library invites all children, ages 4 and up, to Monday “story hour” from 10 to 11 a.m. The program will be each Monday during the month of July. Hope you can come!
Portage Summer Round-Up
The Portage Lakers Snowmobile Club will be holding a Summer Round-Up in Portage Saturday, July 12. Events are as follows: Noon – Parade; 1 p.m. – Softball game and Cow Chip Bingo; 3 p.m. – Motorcycle Rodeo, sponsored by Pine State Motorcycle Club; and 4 p.m. – Pig Roast.
Vacation Bible School
There will be an Egypt Expedition-themed Bible school program at St. Mark’s Church. The program is scheduled for Monday, July 14 through Friday, July 18 and will run from noon-2 p.m. each day. Questions may be directed to Corrine Routhier at 435-6854.
Class of 1958 Reunion
The Ashland graduating class of 1958 has planned two gatherings to celebrate their 50-year milestone. The first will be a dinner at the Ashland Motor Lodge Saturday, July 19. Classmates are asked to arrive around 5:30 p.m. for some social time before dining off the menu at 6 p.m. On Sunday, July 20, a barbeque will be held at the home of Don and Barb (Kerry) Paradis in Portage. Starting at noon, burgers, hotdogs and various salads will be served. If anyone would like to bring a favorite dish to share, that would be great. Please contact Jo (Kinney) Kilbourne with any questions at 435-2682. Everyone associated with the class of 1958 is invited to attend these events … the more the merrier!
Correction
Daisy Richardson and Isabella Robertson are the correct names of guests attending a recent birthday party held at the home of Allen Robertson and Penny Richardson.
Ongoing Events
The Ashland Area Senior Citizens group meets every Thursday at noon at the Ashland Rec. Center. Any senior citizens wishing to participate in the potluck lunches and meetings are always welcome.
The Portage Lake Seniors’ Lunch is held on the last Tuesday of every month at 11 a.m. at the Town Hall. All seniors are invited to attend and can bring a potluck dish to share or give a cash donation. For more information, contact Wilza Robertson at 435-6211 or Grace Nason at 435-6373.
The Red Hat Loonies of Portage Lake meet the second Thursday of every month at Dean’s Motor Lodge. Membership dues are $2. Come and have a great meal and a great time, too! For more information, contact Rachel Stevens at 435-6358. If you can help plan for Portage Lake’s Centennial Celebration, please contact Barb Pitcairn at 435-2368 or Grace Nason at 435-6373.
Ladies, are you interested in crafts or have some that you’ve started and just can’t seem to finish? If so, take yourself over to the Portage Lake Municipal Building for Girlz Night every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Enjoy the company and the satisfaction of finally completing a project!
(Julie Graham-Berry is the correspondent for Ashland, Portage Lake, Oxbow, Masardis, Garfield, Nashville Plantation and surrounding townships. She can be reached at 435-7137).
