Scouts show tireless ‘can-do’

The scouts, all 50, plus adults, rolled, carried and sledded the tires to a waiting Les Schwab truck.

“Leave no trace is the outdoor code we all go by, and this was a way to reinforce that,” said Scoutmaster Jeff McCaw. “It’s just unfortunate that people would do that.”

“They just jumped in and did it. They truly have gotten to that point that when they see stuff, they want to take care of it,” he said.

Assistant Scoutmaster Dave Slover said once the tires were discovered, they decided to call Les Schwab, who had a truck there within two hours.

“Many hands were primed for a service project, the trail was cleaned up inside of an hour and we continued on our overnight adventure,” Slover said.

“When we get a chance for service we are quick to get to it,” he said. “We saw the tires and it was a natural for our group to clean them up. It is pretty awesome!”

Michael Becker, assistant Scoutmaster, took the group up Saturday morning to set up, and they found the tire dump.

McCaw said Becker had taken a group of Scouts to the same location in August and the tires were not there. Les Schwab responded with “no questions asked,” McCaw said. “We really appreciated their support. It cost them time and gas, and the cost of disposal.”

“The Scouts have a ‘go get ‘em’ attitude, and we could have had five times the tires. That’s what’s pretty cool, the attitude they have about it,” McCaw said.

The winter trip, emphasizing survival skills and also known as Snowmageddon, is a favorite and always well attended, Slover noted. “Usually we ski or snowshoe, but this year we just hiked on the limited hard snowpack. It is great for young people to know they can be comfortable on a cold rainy/snowy winter night outdoors,” he said. “Our troop tries to have a campout every month of the year. We do all kinds of fun things like backpacking, rafting on the Deschutes and John Day and canoeing at Lost Lake and Timothy Lake.”