On April 3rd, the Philmont 2021 crew completed a 20 mile hike from the mountains of Orange to the sea at Newport Dunes. This was the culmination of increasingly longer hikes as part of the Hiking Merit Badge and as part of training for their August Philmont trek. On this beautiful spring day, they hiked though parts of Peters Canyon, Peters Canyon Wash, San Diego Creek, the San Joaquin Marsh, and the Newport Back Bay as they made their way along the Mountains to Sea Trail.  

Scouts Anderson C., Nathan C., Sean E., Chase G., Gunnar H., Jett L., Colin L., Nathan L. cruised through what seemed like an impossible task and comfortably finished in just over 7 hours. They shared a picnic lunch and celebrated on the beach with supporting family, including Lisa Crane, Sandy Clark, Tomoko Enomoto, Allyson Gozdieski, Arne and Sorrel Hanson, and Man and Anita Leung.

It is with great emotion that we proudly announce that our own 695’s Charter Organization Executive Officer, Thom Spratt was awarded Orange County Council’s highest honor for a volunteer, the coveted Silver Beaver Award!  Last month, the Council held their awards ceremony (virtually) to honor Thom and the other awarded volunteers from the 2020 year, but because no one could attend in-person, Mr. & Mrs. Perkins honored Commander Spratt at their home to show support and thanks on behalf of Troop & Crew 695… and presented Thom with a gift certificate to St. Pepperoni’s Pizza (where both he and Scoutmaster Fukuda worked together as teens), and an Orrefor’s crystal candy dish engraved with the BSA emblem on it.  Thom’s wife Nancy also happens to be our past District Executive, so has been a supporter of our units for the last couple of decades and worked closely with many of our seasoned leaders in the past.  We are so grateful for their example and experience over the years…our very own scouting superheroes! 

Thom has been our Executive Officer for Troop & Crew 695’s Charter Organization (the American Legion Post 862) since 2017, and has been a champion of our two units and its scouts, and mentored many Eagles along the way!  Along with serving the American Legion, Thom has served our Country as a US Marine, and then dedicated the last 31 years to law enforcement…26 as a Deputy Sheriff with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, and now a Corporal with the Laguna Beach Police Department.  He has literally risked his life every day of his adulthood to serve others in the most selfless way possible; he has signed a contract to trade his own life in order to keep us safe and to protect our liberties…there is no bigger sacrifice one could offer. 

Our scouts might know Commander Spratt the best as an official Range Master at our annual Sandpit event, where he teaches firearm and shooting safety to our scouts and families.  What a pleasure to have this decorated military & police officer guiding our youth! 

Thom has dedicated over 20 years to serving the scouting family & countless numbers of scouts over the years, in many capacities including Scoutmaster for his own sons and stepsons.  He now joins the Silver Beaver ranks with 695‘s founding Scoutmaster Bob Lambert, Scoutmaster Perkins and Mrs. Marianne Perkins.  We are so honored to call you our own, and cannot think of a more deserving person to be awarded the Silver Beaver; thank you for being our own scouting champion!!  Thank you for your service and congratulations, Commander Spratt!

On February 25, 2021, Paul H. became Irvine Troop 695’s newest Eagle Scout! For his Eagle Project, he designed and built an impressive and highly functional mobile coffee and snack cart for The Pacific Church of Irvine. Paul wanted to give back to the church because he and his family have spent lots of time attending and saw first-hand the need of adding a focal point to help parishioners congregate. And being mobile, the cart gives the Church real flexibility with social distancing during the current pandemic. 

One of Paul’s most memorable outings was the Snow Camping trip to Round Valley, high above Palm Springs in the San Jacinto State Park.  He learned to appreciate Scout Motto's value, “Be Prepared,” and enjoyed the hiking, cooking, and snowball fights with other Scouts. Mr. Perkin’s instruction in building a sleeping structure also proved practical and fun. 

The adult representatives from Troop 695 on Paul’s Eagle Board of Review (via Zoom) were Mrs. Marianne Perkins & Mr. Ty Kirkpatrick. They were joined by Mr. Fred Hernandez from the Rancho San Joaquin District, Orange County Council. Paul answered questions posed to him with confidence and knowledge, and we look forward to hearing more significant accomplishments in the years to come! We are so proud of the enthusiastic scouting spirit that Paul has always exuded throughout his journey!  Congratulations Paul!

On February 4, 2021, Cyrus M became Troop 695’s newest Eagle Scout! His scouting journey has been a long and fruitful one starting with Cub Scouts. Early on, Cyrus enjoyed taking on leadership positions (Troop Guide, Patrol Leader and Asst Senior Patrol Leader) and as his positions within 695 evolved, he developed a confident leadership style that stressed setting a good example. At his EBOR, he talked about the setbacks of having  3 potential projects denied by the troop committee, but he would not be deterred.  He ultimately built a storage rack for a special education classroom at Woodbridge HS which is a rival of the school he attends, University HS. This project was well received by the special education teacher and the students. 

Cyrus’s most relevant Scout Law is “kind” and as he strives to treat others as he would like to be treated.  Whether someone needs directions or a helping hand, he wants to be that person.  His favorite merit badge was archery which did not start out well at Oso Lake as he did not wear the arm guard but taught him a valuable lessons of learning a skill he never had previously.  The toughest merit badge was pioneering at summer camp and having been there myself, I recall the struggle.  In the true Scout spirit, once he lost a piece, the project to build a small tower was saved when his friend Bryce D found a small stick and sanded the stick to replace the lost piece – merit badge saved!  Looking back on his scouting career so far, he is proud of what he has learned and achieved, and is looking forward to mentoring and helping younger scouts pursue their goals. Congratulations Cyrus! We are so honored to call you our own 695 Eagle!  Adult leaders Juve Reyes and Marc Pannier participated in his EBOR.

On Sunday, February 28th Bill Sandlin of Colonel Bill Barber’s American Legion Post led a cohort of scouts in retiring old and worn American flags.  Mr. Sandlin is a Marine veteran and an active volunteer in the Irvine 2-11 Marine Adoption Committee. He opened the ceremony with “We are here to pay our last respects to this symbol of our great nation, America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Scout Sky J. held up the ceremonial flag and Thomas M. played “Taps” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” on trumpet. The scouts learned about the proper method of retiring the American flag by cutting the union apart and separating each red and white stripe while not allowing it to touch the ground. Many flags were respectfully retired, including one that was over 10 feet long and took 3 scouts 45 minutes to separate!

On February 27th, the Philmont 2021 crew hiked a portion of the Coast to Crest Trail along the north shore of Lake Hodges in Escondido. They started at the Sikes Adobe staging area and went to the dam and back for a total of 15 miles. Scouts taught each other signs of, and first aid for, injuries and illnesses that could occur while hiking. They also learned how to use the geocaching.com app and released registered travel bugs into a geocache and will be tracking their movements for the next 30 days. 

These accomplished scouts included: Sean E., Anderson C., Gunnar H., Nathan C., Jett L., Nathan L., Colin L., and Chase G. Supporting family members included: Tomoko Enomoto, Lisa Crane, Sorrel Hanson, Sandy Clark, Anita and Man Leung, and Joe Gozdieski.