TWO YEARS AGO, Brett Finneran, 17, preferred the indoors, where he could watch television and read. Today, the first words he uses to describe himself are "outdoorsy" and "active."
Brett, a Westminster High School senior who is bound for Cornell University, credits his new appreciation for the outdoors to Venturing Crew 202 from Carroll County, a group that specializes in adventure, learning about natural resources and community service.
"To members of Crew 202, the term 'getting high' has a different meaning," said Paul Kazyak, a Westminster resident and co-adviser for the group. "It means training for and summiting a mountain nearly three miles in elevation. It means close encounters with over 100 timber rattlesnakes in a single day, and it means descending into the bowels of the Earth using a rope."
Venturing, a relatively new, coed part of Boy Scouts, is sponsored by the state Department of Natural Resources. Carroll County's Venturing Crew 202 has been active since 2000. Craig Kelley, 41, of Westminster also advises the group.
"Crew 202 represents a unique opportunity in the region for young adults who are between the ages of 14 and 21 to challenge themselves, follow their interests, and develop leadership abilities by teaching and doing," Kazyak said. "It has been rewarding to watch these youths take more responsibility and grow."
This year, 15 members of Crew 202 tackled an ambitious calendar of events that they mapped with crew officers Evan Werner, 20, David Kazyak, 16, Traci Lijewski, 16, and Danielle Kazyak, 14.
January started with a ski trip to Liberty Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania, followed by a weekend in Western Maryland for snow, frozen waterfalls, small-game hunting, and a close-up view of hibernating bats.
February brought a winter day hike, participation in World Vision's 30-Hour Famine, and planning for summer activities.
In March, the crew used global positioning system units to blaze a hiking trail in Green Ridge State Forest. By year's end, the crew had gone on five backpacking trips in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Colorado.
"My favorite activity in 2002 was definitely horseback riding on the Colorado trip," said Danielle, a freshman at Westminster High School.
Danielle's most difficult moment occurred during an attempt to summit Handies Peak, a Colorado mountain with a 2,750-foot vertical rise to more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Asthma forced her to turn back at 12,500 feet, she said.
Members of Crew 202 also participated in a rattlesnake census, used canoes to harvest an invasive exotic plant from the Chesapeake Bay, planted 2,000 trees, and caught 500 fish during a Chesapeake Bay charter fishing trip.
They helped pupils at Robert Moton Elementary learn about fish, demonstrated water sampling techniques and the use of electricity to capture fish to the public, toured the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and enjoyed a session with sporting clays.
"My most challenging event was backpacking for the first time, especially during a particularly rocky section of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania," said Nicole Rosenthal, 15, who joined the crew this year. "What I enjoyed the most were our visits to ThorpeWood, a lodge near Camp David that specializes in environmental education."
Last month, the crew sponsored a weekend of leadership training at a lodge in the Catoctin Mountains for other Venturing Crews in the Baltimore area.
Five members of the crew - Tori Kelley, 15, Andrew Decker, 16, Forrest Heacock, 16, Kenny Mack, 15, and David Kazyak -trained for and won the Carroll County High School Envirothon competition. The team members, all high school freshmen and sophomores, are busy training for next year's competition and hope to make it to the national competition in July.
New activities on the slate for next year include "blackwater" and barrier island canoeing, rock climbing, a ropes course, and winter camping in an area that receives more than 165 inches of snow each year.
In addition to these events and old standbys such as backpacking, the crew hopes to hook up with a black bear radio tagging study and improve habitat for endangered bog turtles.
Although crew members must be age 14 and have completed eighth grade, the crew takes eighth-graders on trips as guests and welcomes guests at meetings. The current crew roster includes youths from one Baltimore County high school and three Carroll County high schools, as well as several homeschoolers.
Meetings are held every other Monday at DNR's Morgan Run Center, about five miles south of Westminster. Information: Paul Kazyak, 410-848-0624.
Adieu
For the past five years, I've tucked some of my favorite Neighbors columns in an antique trunk. The stories are great reminders that in this county, creativity, honor, humor and perseverance prevail. I am grateful for the people who allowed me to write about their accomplishments.
This is my last Neighbors column, but I hope to continue reporting for The Sun as a contributing writer. I also hope that you will continue to call, or stop me in the grocery store with story ideas.