The hardiness of Minot's Boy Scouts was a featured story in the February 2012 edition of Boys' Life magazine, the long-time publication of the Boy Scouts of America. Plenty of photographs are included in the story, which details one of Troop 433's winter outings.
"That's huge. It's really neat that the boys get noticed," said Kevin Sebastian, assistant scoutmaster. "We had a photographer who came out and followed us around for a few days."
The photographer took numerous pictures of members of Troop 433 during one of their wintertime outings in which the scouts combined ice fishing with winter skills.
Article Photos
Submitted Photo - - Minot Boy Scout Troop 433 was featured in the February 2012 issue of Boys’ Life magazine. Successful ice fisherman Travis Patterson, shown here, was one of several local scouts photographed for the story.
"It's a neat story. The angle we tried to take is that, for a lot of Boy Scouts, winter camping is something really unique," said Aaron Derr, Irving, Texas, Boys' Life senior writer. "In a sense, these guys are our winter camping experts to be held up to show other Boy Scout troops around the country that they can do it, too."
Brothers Austin and Eric Artz are among the scouts whose photos appear in the article. Eric is pictured holding a freshly caught northern pike.
"I was happy with the story," said Austin Artz, 15, Troop 433. "I don't know anyone who wasn't satisfied."
Troop 433 is one of the largest of five Boy Scout troops in Minot. According to Sebastian the troop has 60 scouts and, just as important, 60 adults who enjoy the satisfaction of teaching boys scouting skills and watching them learn. National exposure in scouting's widely recognized publication only added to the satisfaction.
"National recognition is a pretty good feather in the boys' cap," Sebastian said.
A portion of the story is devoted to flooding that tore through the Big 4 Boy Scout Camp on Minot's west edge in 2011. The Big 4 was a meeting place for Boy Scout troops, including Troop 433.