The Fire Extinguisher Patrol and the Pit Viper Patrol - not your ordinary Bluffton names - scored exceptionally well in the late January Klondike Derby.
Eleveb scouts from Bluffton Boy Scout Troop 256 and one scout from Pandora Troop 266 competed in the 52nd annual Klondike Derby at Camp Lakota in Defiance.
The Fire Extinguisher Patrol led by Misha Groman and joined by Carrick Lancaster, Jared Metzger, Nate Staley, Kaden Reneker and Jason Althaus finished in 9th place.
The Pit Viper Patrol led by Roger Zeits and joined by Jacob Barnett, Jeremiah Garmatter, Christian Groman, Casey McGuire and Ethan Fleming of Pandora was close behind in 14th place. There were 64 teams in the event.
The Klondike derby is based on the Alaskan Iditarod where scouts pull a sled full of gear for the day. They stop at "cities" and compete in different scouting related events such as first aid, knot tying, orienteering, fire building, map reading, two-man saw and item identification.
Troop 256 improved greatly over their 2011 finishes of 39th and 45th place. In the signature event of fire building, both patrols were particularly impressive by burning a string 18 inches off the ground in 24 and 31 seconds respectively using only wood and matches.
