Jewish scouts hiked the Neris Regional Park last week on the way to a campsite. Fording a river in the scouting manner, hikers took in beautiful forest and natural vistas, played a game they called “nature bingo” to learn more about nature and botany, sang songs and did other activities in the program.

More experienced scouts taught newer ones how to use a compass and maps, and how to determine cardinal directions in the natural environment. The scouts also cooked their own meal. The younger ones learned about semaphore flag signals and different groups tried to communicate over long distances using that system. More experienced scouts tried their hand at building shelters, tying knots and using them in the structures and setting up tents.

The program for the hike was made up largely by the older scouts at weekly meetings. Several months ago hiking skills were brought up and resulted in a teaching program for scouts where they performed various tasks and learned about prepared for hikes in the wilderness, how to wear backpacks more effectively, planning routes, navigating by compass, appropriate food needs and similar things, and then organized this recent hike.

Thank you to everyone who participated and to those who didn’t, more such events are being planned.