Pictured among the rescued and rescuers are Troop 4's own Adam Praschma, Henry duBose, Nick Anderson, Grady Flinn, Oscar Kester, Mark Sommers, Dan O'Connor, and Luke Turnak. Troop 4's chartering organization is the Hingham Catholic Collaborative of St. Paul and Resurrection.
June 13, 2019
Hingham Boy Scouts Troop 4 came to the rescue of ten men whose canoes capsized in the rapids of the Androscoggin River in New Hampshire's North Country on Saturday, June 8th.
Several Troop 4 Scouts on a camping trip had just completed elements of canoe merit badge training, which involved submerging themselves in deep water, rescuing a swamped canoe by emptying and flipping it, and helping paddlers reenter their boat without capsizing.
Moments later ten distressed men, their seven swamped canoes, weekend camping gear, and distraught dog emerged from the rapids more than 100 yards from the Scouts' sandbar. The men's canoes had capsized several hundred yards up river in the sub-55 degree water, deceptively cold enough for the National Weather Service to issue an alert earlier in the day.
The boys scrambled with their canoes, rowed to the men, righted all the men's canoes, helped most reenter their canoes, and ultimately brought all the men, their dog, and gear to the sandbar. Two of the men had been in physical distress when the boys reached them.
For the boys, the experience was just part of a larger adventurous weekend, involving whitewater rafting and a moose encounter. "We were just doing what we had been trained to do," said one, a bit taken aback as were all the Scouts by the relief and gratitude of those they had rescued.
how wonderful, great job. Makes me proud to be an American and to have grandsons in the Scouts.