Nineteen Scouts and seven leaders from Housatonic Council Boy Scout Troop 3 Derby are on an 11 day camping trip in Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
Regular updates are being provided to the Valley Independent Sentinel by the scouts.
The scouts have been preparing for more than a year now, raising funds and taking day hikes to prepare them for adventures in the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley and Zion National Park.
Included in their group are Cian Long, Bobby Sherlock and Jason Dineen, scouts from the 45th Limerick Group in Ireland and Connor O’Sullivan and Nathan Setchfield, from the Peterborough, England Venture Group.
The scouts are are part of Troop 3’s annual International Scout Exchange Program.
They have been hosted by Troop 3 families in addition to attending a week of summer camp at the Edmund D. Strang Scout Reservation in Goshen, Conn.
The Western Canyon Adventure trip includes a day in Las Vegas, where the scouts will be staying at the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino before heading to the Grand Canyon.
Troop 3 Scouts participating in the trip include:
Mike Tracz, Mac Thompson, Max Bracchi, Nick Laskos, Mike Neuendorf, Brian Welch, Jake Grasso, Alex Oppel, Evan Altamirano, Chuck Stankye, Tyler Stankye, Billy Kowarik, Chris Wentz, and Brian Mezzapelle. Leaders include Lynn Grasso, Jim Welch, Rich Mezzapelle, Nick Frovarp, Robin Donnelly, Christine Jalowiec and Troop 3 Scoutmaster Randy Ritter.
Troop 3 Derby, founded in 1914, is sponsored by the Derby 2nd Congregational Church.
The troop is celebrating its 95th year of scouting in the Lower Naugatuck Valley.
