SMETHPORT (EC) – New and veteran Cub Scout and Boy Scout leaders from Pennsylvania and New York state attended the annual outdoor training this past weekend at the Elk Lick Scout Reserve on the Bordell Road near Farmers Valley.

The sessions began at 6 p.m. Friday and concluded at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

“Thirty leaders from the Allegheny Highlands Council, which includes the Whitetail, Seneca and Twin Lakes districts, completed the Scoutmaster Training, Part III program,” said Don Backer of Bradford, who is a member of the council’s training staff and Roundtable Commissioner for the Seneca District. “Those attending were cubmasters, assistant scoutmasters and committee people, people from all aspects of scouting.”

Ten staff members conducted the training, which Backer noted followed the Boy Scout national syallabus.ðOne of the instructors, Steve Allen, Seneca District commissioner from Alfred Station, N.Y., taught a sessionðfor cubmastersðon the correct use and operation of a portableðpropane stove.

To meet one requirement of the course, the scouters had to collect twigs and branches for a cooking fire to prepare their lunch on Saturday.ðBesides hamburgers, the menu included potatoes, onions, cabbage and rice, with baked apples for dessert.

Upon completion of the training, the scouters received patches.

According to Harold Anglovich, one of the instructors, this is the final phase of a three-part training preparing scouters for eventually attaining the Wood Badge, Boy Scouts’ highest training honor.