We finally had our trip to Camp Moses this past weekend. It started out interesting upon arrival as the campsite that we reserved had been ripped up and was a total mud pit. They are taking trees, rocks, and roots out and opening it up so that it gets more sun. They just forgot to tell us that it wasn’t a usable site. After looking around a bit, the Campmaster suggested a field site that we could pull right up to and offered to open the nearby training lodge so that we would have flush toilets and running water nearby. It worked out nicely and probably better than our original plan.
The Scouts had a lot of fun on Saturday doing various activities, climbing wall, escape room, flight simulator, throwing tomahawks, and shooting rifles. I think the highlight though was playing
human foosball! We did that for about 45
minutes and most of the troop was able to get involved in the fun.
A couple of observations and reminders for everyone. It would be beneficial for the Scouts if they had some “cooking at home” time in the kitchen. This can be tied to anyone that needs to finish or start the cooking merit badge. Some of the most basic cooking things (for me) like cutting vegetables, making scrambled eggs, or pancakes were either difficult or a new experience for even some of our almost 9th graders. If they could get more involved with helping mom, dad, grandma, cooking and grilling at home, they will be more comfortable and confident when they need to be the Patrol Chef for their next camping meal.
The other thing is something that we probably haven’t done a
great job in terms of making sure that all the Scouts and Parents understand
the role/process for the Patrol Food Shopping person. The person who is shopping should be involved
with planning the menu so that they understand what they are buying, for which
meal, and for how many people. The
Scouts should be involved with the shopping process so that they are learning
how to shop, making choices based on size needed, volume cost, comparing brands
etc. The Troop will reimburse families for
shopping. Thus, the Scout should shop
like they are spending the Troop’s money and remember that a Scout is Thrifty. We budget about $18-20 per person for the weekend. So, if there are 5 in the Patrol, we should
be spending max $100 for the Patrol for Cracker Barell, 2 Breakfasts, Lunch,
and Dinner. If the Scout has picked up everything
needed and has extra money to buy some other snack or drink that is fine, but
if they are over and have picked up a gallon of Ice Tea, they should probably
consider putting that back. Shopping at
Market Basket in Bellingham and purchasing store brand where possible is your
best bet for staying within budget. These are valuable life skills as at some
point they will need to be out on their own meal planning, budgeting, and
grocery shopping.
WEEKLY MEETINGS
Our next Meeting will be on Tuesday 5/21. We are planning to meet at the Rod & Gun
Club and do some canoeing on Uncas Pond.
Please try to get there a few minutes early before 7PM. We should have decent light until at least 8PM. The Scouts should wear their gold class B
Tshirts. If they want to wear crocks or
similar that would be fine as they will potentially get their shoes wet getting
in/out of the canoes. The address for the
Club House is 53 Florence Street. It is at
the end of the road on the right.
On 5/28 we will be back at St Johns Church. The Scouts will discuss Troop Elections and we
will also have our elections for Order of the Arrow. The OA is the Honor Society for
Scouting. In order to be elected, The Scouts
need to be 1st Class Rank and have at least 15 camping nights in the
past two years. 5 of those nights need
to be from a long term (Summer Camp) camping experience. The Scouts who are eligible will be voted on
by their peers. We need at least 50% of
the active membership on hand to hold elections, so it is important to have everyone
in attendance. The elections will be
conducted by members of the OA from other troops. It is a huge honor to be elected into the OA
and many Scouts find it to be very rewarding to be able to give back to
Scouting in the form of cheerful service, as well as fellowship, getting to
know other Scouts from throughout the Council.
Those who are elected will have the opportunity to attend one
of the OA camping trips known as The Ordeal at a future date. There are three levels/memberships being
Ordeal, Brotherhood, and Vigil. At some
point 6 months after their Ordeal they will be eligible to complete their
membership by attending a Brotherhood weekend.
Vigil is a separate honor reserved for Scouts and Leaders who have gone
above and beyond to provide Leadership and Service to the OA Lodge and/or Chapter. Aside from these initial camping weekends,
there are periodic meetings/events and fellowship weekends that they will be invited
to attend. The Scouts can talk to
Patrick or Alex if they have any questions about the OA. Parents can ask me any questions that they
may have. Patrick and I are both
Brotherhood members. Alex is an Ordeal
Member.
On June 4th, we will not have a regular Troop Meeting. We will plan to have a PLC Meeting and a Troop Committee Meeting. Dates/Times will be announced, but ideally we will try to meet in person at the Church for these meetings.
On June 11th, we will have Troop elections for Senior
Patrol Leader and Patrol Leaders for next year.
The SPL is elected by the entire troop.
He will be able to appoint the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. Patrol Leaders will be elected by their Patrols. Based on the outcome we may rebalance slightly
to ensure we have even numbers with active Scouts. In the fall we will give them the option of keeping
current names or coming up with new Patrols.
June 11th will also be the FINAL Date for Scoutmaster
Conferences or Boards of Review for Rank Advancement.
June 18th will be our last meeting of the school
year. We will have our Spring Court of
Honor and a family potluck dinner. We
will provide further details on dinner in a separate email as we get closer to
the date. Please ensure that your Scouts
spend the next few weeks working through outstanding requirements for rank
advancement and/or finishing up open merit badges.
SCOUT EVENTS
Next weekend is Memorial Day Weekend. If you are available on Saturday and Monday
we could use all Scouts for grave reflagging at St. Mary’s Cemetery, as well as
the Town’s Annual Memorial Day Parade.
Saturday 5/25 – Meet at St. Mary’s Cemetery at 10AM to
replace flags on Veteran’s Graves.
Monday 5/27 – Meet at 10AM for the Parade. We usually meet in the center of Town in the Larget
MBTA Parking Lot behind Dean Bank. Details are hopefully coming together this
week. We will have two older Scouts
helping to carry the Grand Marshall Banner in the Parade. The rest of the Scouts will be marching as a
Troop Unit. Right now we only have 6
Scouts Total. The Scouts who are not
carrying the banner I am asking to combine with Troop 126 so that we are
showing a larger Scouting presence in town instead of a few smaller units. Scouts should look their best with Class A Uniforms,
Scout Pants/Shorts (or nicer, not jeans, sweatpants, etc.). Scouts should have water and perhaps a snack.
If they want to use a small backpack that would be appropriate. We will end at the Town Common for the annual Memorial
Day Ceremony which lasts about another 45 minutes. If you are available and have not signed up
yet, please do so ASAP on Signup Genius https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0A4AABAB2CA7FF2-49583505-memorial#/
Our next Camping Trip will be the weekend of June 14-16th. We will be camping at Camp Sayre in Milton and
our activity on Saturday morning will be at Tree Tops (rope course and ziplining)
in Canton. Many of the Scouts were there
last year and had a great time. There is
still plenty of room for signing up if your Scout is available to attend.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0A4AABAB2CA7FF2-48916936-treetops#/
SUMMER CAMP
We had a parent meeting a couple of weeks ago and I have
sent out numerous emails on this so I am not going into a lot of details but
will give a few reminders. If you have
any questions, please send me an email or give me a call.
Reminders
Merit Badges – Sign up through Black Pug. We can make adjustments up to the Friday before
get to Camp. We can make also adjustments
and/or additions during camp if needed.
Health Forms – Fill out through Camp Doc – we need Part C
filled out and signed by your physician.
Payments – Due by June 15th Assuming you deposited
$50 already, your balance will be $540. There are a few exceptions with new
Scout pricing and sibling discounts.
Schedules, Menus, Leaders Guide, Merit Badges Classes/Prerequisites,
can all be found on their amazing website https://www.yawgoog.org/troops.html
NEW SCOUTS
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