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Courtesy Photo • 2019 OA ZBASE Trail Crew Project Local scouts participating in the project were: (L to R) Leader Sean Stevens, Jakobi Johnson, Jacob Wood, Thomas Childress, Dalton Elmer, Scott Stevens, Leader Michael Haggerty and Ryan Haggerty.
Six local Scouts from southern Oklahoma recently worked as part of a trail-building project at the Zink Scout Ranch, outside Skiatook, Okla. They were part of the Z-Base Trail Crew, involving over fifty Scouts from all over Oklahoma and Arkansas. The Trail Crew was part of a regional effort by the Order of the Arrow to construct a hiking trail for the Zink High Adventure Base, a new Scout camp being constructed on the Ranch property.
The Order of the Arrow is known as a Scouting’s National Honor Society, with the purpose of recognizing Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives and through that recognition cause others to conduct themselves in the same way, and to create a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others. All participants in the Trail Crew were members of the Order.
Four members of Madill’s Troop 10 were part of the Trail Crew, including Chickasaw Chapter Chief Ryan Haggerty, as well as Thomas Childress, Dalton Elmer and Jacob Wood. Also participating were Jakobi Johnson from Ardmore’s Troop 1 and Scott Stevens from Troop 79 in Wynnewood. The Scouts were representatives of the Wisawanik Lodge 190, the division of the Order which corresponds with southern Oklahoma’s Arbuckle Area Council.
Adult leaders Sean Stevens and Michael Haggerty accompanied the Scouts. Stevens is the Lodge Adviser, the senior adult for the Lodge. Stevens is also an Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 79. Haggerty is Chapter Adviser for the Chickasaw Chapter of the Lodge, as well as Scoutmaster of Troop 10.
Using hand tools, the Scouts worked for three full days from July 30 through August 2, and cleared eight miles of trail in the wilderness of the Zink Ranch in the hundred-degree heat. The trail will eventually be part of a sixteen-mile trail which will be the backbone of the high adventure camp. During the week, the Scouts were also given a day to enjoy Z-Base’s attractions, including a 70-foot-high C.O.P.E. Course, and a state-of-the-art sporting clays facility. The Scouts also participated in the Arrowman Conservation School in the evenings, learning the concepts behind the trail building lessons they were applying in the field.
“We were all very proud to be part of the Trail Crew,” said Michael Haggerty. “This was an important service project for our region, and our young men distinguished themselves as part of the Crew in the field. They did an outstanding job representing Scouts from our Lodge.”