For many years, the Shelter Rock District of the Theodore Roosevelt Council, Boy Scouts of America, has been running a Klondike Derby at the Muttontown Preserve. This event is loosely based on the famous Iditarod sled race in Alaska. In the Boy Scout version, groups of four to eight scouts push homemade sleds through the trails of Muttontown. Along the way, they stop at various "cities" where they perform tasks comprised of scouting skills. At each city, they are awarded nuggets based on their performance of that city's task. At the end of the day each group is given a score based on their nugget collection.

Mineola's Troop 45 has participated in this event since it first started, and has had an incredible record of winning. Going into this year's race, they were hoping to continue the troop's nine-year winning run. This year's race featured troops from all over Nassau County and even one from Queens. The Scouts knew that their work was cut out for them and prepared accordingly.

All during January, preparations were made for the race. Sleds where dug out of garages all over Mineola and were repaired and repainted, activities at the weekly troop meetings focused on Klondike preparation and patrol meetings were held where plans were made and tasks assigned. On the morning of January 26, when the troop assembled at the First Presbyterian Church, the group was as ready as it would ever be. The troop had four patrol sleds loaded up and ready to enter into the event.

As the sleds were unloaded in the parking lot at the Muttontown Preserve, the Scouts of Troop 45 joined with lots of other Shelter Rock Scouts in having their sleds weighed, collecting their "sealed orders" and preparing for the start of the event. With four patrols running, Troop 45 had one of the largest groups participating and there was hope that at least one patrol would end the day a winner and continue the troop tradition.

That afternoon, after four hours of trekking over the Muttontown Preserve, the patrols of Troop 45 waited with anticipation as the winners were announced. Several patrols thought they'd done pretty well and hoped that they'd be one of the top three finishers in the competition. First the winners of the Cub Scout Webelos race were announced. Webelos from Pack 246 were announced as the third-place finishers and the Webelos patrol from Pack 311 was announced as the winner. Many of the boys in Troop 45 had started their scouting life as Cub Scouts in either Pack 246 or Pack 311, so they looked on this as a good omen. When the Boy Scout winners were announced, Troop 45's Screaming Eagle Patrol, under patrol leader Kevin Carlin, was announced as the winner, extending Troop 45's winning run to 10 years.

As Scoutmaster Steve Grosskopf was congratulated for Troop 45 again winning this year's Klondike, he said, "Don't congratulate me. The real reason for their win is the work that the boys did. They worked hard during January to be prepared for the race and I am very pleased that they were rewarded in this way. Kevin Carlin's Screaming Eagle Patrol and the scores of all the patrols in the troop showed that the combination of hard work and team work always pay off. The fact that both Pack 246 and Pack 311 were winners means that the Mineola/Williston Park area owns this event."

Troop 45 has been serving boys in the Mineola Area since June 1921. The troop is sponsored by and meets on Tuesday nights at the First Presbyterian Church in Mineola and is a member of the Shelter Rock District, Theodore Roosevelt Council of the Boy Scouts of America.