The New England Orienteering Club’s Spring Scout-O will be at Hale Reservation on Saturday, April 15, 2023. All Girl Scouts, Scouts BSA, and other youth are invited to try the sport of orienteering and practice their map and compass skills. Cost is $7 per person, with online Registration required by March 25, 2023. Arrival/instruction times will be staggered from 9 AM-Noon, with 5 courses (2 White, 2 Yellow, 1 Orange) available until 3 PM. The event will occur rain or shine or snow (plastic bags for maps will be provided).

1. Register your group. (Note that this event always fills to our limit before the March 25 deadline.)
2. NEOC Waiver must be signed by EVERY participant and brought to the event.
3. Hale Education may require an additional Health Attest, depending upon COVID guidelines in April.

General Guidelines:

1. Registration is complete only after payment is received. Arrival/instruction times (between 9am and noon) will be staggered to reduce parking & registration chaos. We will try to give you your preferred time.
2. Avoid crowding — Send only one representative to the pavilion to register and collect maps. 
3. Timing/results — Your group’s choice: either using pin-punching/clock or QR codes/smart phone with data.
4. Check-in at Finish — Even if your youth do not finish a course, check back in at the Finish so that we do not go looking for you!
5. Bring — a signed NEOC waiver (link above), compass, whistle & watch, water bottle, snacks/lunch, and weather-appropriate clothing.  Unless very cold & wet, sturdy sneakers are the preferred footwear.
6. Volunteers are needed! — Please let us borrow 1 adult or older scout for 1 hour to help with parking, registration, starts or finishes, reporting course times on website, or instruction.
7. Instruction — If you request instruction when you register, we will have volunteer instructors to go over basic orienteering skills and take your group on a short training course.
8. Parking fee waived — The $10 Hale parking charge is covered by your Scout-O fee. All drivers should put their name/cell number/troop on their car dashboard in case we have to move cars around.
9. Adult Leader training will be Saturday March 25, 9am-11am at Auburndale Park, Newton. No additional fee, but you must let us know numbers by March 20. This training will be in conjunction with the Auburndale “Introduction to Orienteering” event (so yes, you can practice for the rest of the day!).
10. More orienteering — The controls will be left up at Hale until dusk on April 30 for folks to do the courses as a BYOM (Bring Your Own Map) event. Come back and re-use your maps. Note you will have to pay for parking if you return. You are also welcome at other NEOC events as listed on the NEOC schedule.

For questions about Hale Education or camping, please contact Hale Education or call 781-326-1770. (Smaller troops may want to consider sharing a site to reduce the cost.)

Questions about the orienteering program — contact Karen Yeowell via email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), or text to 508-395-9473.