Klondike Derby

Before this week's snow fell, area Scouts attended the Klondike Derby on Saturday, Jan. 21, at Camp Arrowhead east of Marshfield. One of their activities was a three-fourths mile dog sled race minus the dogs. Without snow, their sleds relied on wheels. Without huskies, the scouts from Troop 57 and Pack 57 relied on themselves to provide the dog power in this scouting tradition that began in 1949. Counting older Scouts, Cub Scouts and adults, 56 people attended the Klondike Derby with Lebanon's Troop 57, Marshfield's Troop 88, Pleasant Hope's Troop 376 and Bolivar's Troop 45 attending. Troop 57 Scoutmaster Donovan Hibbs said the Klondike Derby is about "having fun but testing their knowledge and just giving them different experiences." Hibbs said the derby's activities are patterned after the historic 1896 Gold Rush in the Klondike, which is a region of the Yukon territory in Canada's Northwest region. For more on this story, see Saturday's LCR.