Weekly Post - September 25, 2011

Post date: Sep 26, 2011 7:27:04 PM

Greetings Troop 737! It has been more than a week, but I didn’t comment on the campout yet. We had a great time shooting and watching the afternoon thunderstorm show. This was topped off with an awesome display of cooking. On the menus were some great looking, and tasting, Dutch oven dinners and deserts. The adults dined on stuffed Cornish game hens while one of the patrols made some great looking pizzas and the other patrol had tacos. Mason Force made a mouth watering apple-pastry desert that I was very jealous of, until Mr. Daub made the same thing for the adults! It was so good that I went home and made it for my family. I was very glad to see the Dutch ovens used so much that we had to take turns.

This past Sunday, Mr. Holloway and Mr. Wolf took some of the troop mountain biking, but I have not heard how that went yet.

Popcorn selling is in full swing. Please see Mrs. Barber’s emails about show and sells and sign up.

I would also like to remind everyone to take a look at Tom Smith's email about the need for the National Boy Scout health form. This form will be required for all scout activities

Service Patrol:

The service patrol for August and September are the Alligators.

Sign up & Payment Deadlines:

· Wilderness Survival Backpack Camp Out - Last day to sign up is tonight’s meeting, September 26th Meeting – Cost will be our standard $20 for food, etc. You will not want to miss this one. Mr. Wickham has come up with a great idea where we can learn some real survival skills.

Troop News:

· Every scout and scouter in the troop will have to fill out the BSA National Health form ASAP. The council and district will no longer accept the older Colorado From. I will attach the current form to this posting for your use. I will let Tom Smith give you all the details, but just know this, you do not have to go out and get a physical right away if you are not due. For activities less than 72 hours, you can fill out and sign Part A and B.

Upcoming Activities:

Fall 2011 - Scoutmaster Invitational: Will be rescheduled in some form, later in the autumn. I thought I would take you all to the scout day at the US Air Force Academy Football game, but that is the same weekend as the Indigo Mountain campout. I am still working on an idea.

September 26, 6:30 PM at ELC - Regular meeting: Troop Elections; If you signed up for office be prepared to present your case with a campaign speech to the troop. We still need have several positions with no one signed up. Remember, you will need a leadership position for all rank advancement past First Class. We will also need to elect a patrol leader for each patrol.

October 1, 9:00 AM at ELC – JLT/PLC combined. We will meet from 9 AM at the church until about noon. Outgoing and incoming elected leaders will need to be present in Class A uniforms. Outgoing leaders will train new leaders. After the training, we will move right into a JLT with all positions present. The old leaders will stay and help new leader’s plan meetings, etc. We will also be planning to use the Patrol Method more in our troop. We will be planning troop and patrol meetings for the month of October, with a new troop formation that emphasizes patrols, the creation of patrol flags and other Patrol based methods.

October 3, 6:30 PM at ELC - Regular meeting: Introduction to Patrol Method and campout prep. The new PLC will be organizing the troop with a strong emphasis on the patrol method. Don’t be too surprised to see some big changes, including patrol meetings! We will use this meeting to get started.

October 7-9, Wilderness Survival Campout. Mr. Wickham and Mr. Trower are putting together a plan stay tuned for details to be posted on the calendar. You will not want to miss this one.

District and Council News and Upcoming Activities:

2012 Big Horn Information: Summer 2012 dates are posted. If you are interested, more information will posted as it comes out. This training is required for all Scouts desiring to hold the Senior Patrol leader position.

Denver After Dark, October 14-15: Mr. Johnson is the HALO for this event and will have more information shortly. See the calendar and attachment for details.

University of Scouting, October 22, 7:30 AM to 4 PM: This is a great adult leader training opportunity. I will be going and would gladly share a ride with scouters from our trop. ASMs can get their training as well as a large variety of other topics. I think I am going to take CPR to get ready for Philmont. If you are interested, please see me if you are interested.

Please make sure that you keep an eye on the calendar and your emails, and I will see you soon.

Mr. Hoffman

Scoutmaster