Weekly Post, August 6, 2011

Post date: Aug 6, 2011 9:19:20 PM

Greetings Troop 737! Hard to believe, but summer is on the wind down and its time to start thinking about the coming school year and starting up a regular rhythm in Boy Scout Troop737 once again. Please see below as I have posted details and reminders for the first month or two of activities for the troop.

We have one or two more activities for the summer, and then we can look forward to starting up our meetings at the end of August. I will plan on, and try to post a weekly update every week from now on. Please keep an eye out for emails and constantly check the web site for the most up to date information.

I have completed the calendar through next summer. The dates are as close as we can make them for now, but I think they are pretty firm. We have taken into account the school calendars and holidays, so apart from sporting events and other school activities, we have tried to account for everything. Please have a good look an let me know if you see any problems with school days off and Holidays.

I am still receiving emails at my old wispertel.net address and this is not good. I am likely switching ISPs in the next week or two and you will no longer be able to reach me at that email address. Please switch to using my new email address that I use for Scouts: choffman@themountaintroop.org. I assure you all that it works!!

Troop News:

• We had a great time at SAn Isabel summer camp. Scouts overcame some difficult program issues at the camp and came home with a pile of blue card, over 200. I will transfer these to Mr Riley for entry into TroopMaster.

Service Patrol:

The service patrol for August will be determined by the PLC during our first meeting on August 22.

Activities:

August 8 - 12: ELC Grove Sale: Given the time of year, we have a very good signup for the Grove sale. I have attached the signup sheet so you can see when you are signed up. However, I do want to let you know that we are very flexible and can accommodate any scouts at any of the time slots on the sheet. Also, if you can't work exactly the shift times, feel free to show up and leave as you need to. I will send this list to the church so they are aware that we have a real support effort going on.

Unfortunately, I will be out of town on business travel until late Thursday, so I can't come by until Friday. I know that scouts are trustworthy, so I know that you will all do a great job and help our Charter Organization. If you can't make your time, or if you need to switch, please email me as I will be checking my scout emails at least once a day while on the road.

August 14 (maybe): Parent BBQ: Join us for some adult fun as we spend some time getting to know each other, enjoy some good food and learn about what the scouts have planned for themselves next year. We will spend some time going over the troop activities, help needed and then socialize. We do ask that every family contribute some time to make the activities a success. This is your chance to volunteer for the task of your choice.

This is Parents only, no scouts or siblings. Please bring a side dish. Mr Johnson will bring his home made pulled pork and I will bring drinks and eating supplies.

We are having a really difficult time getting participation at this very important event for the troop. There is no way that the current adult leaders and volunteers can be successful in running a quality troop unless we get more adults involved. Since our last BBQ, we have had the normal amount of adult leader attrition, and very little in the way of additional, official, volunteering. We need to get everyone involved so that this troop can continue the tradition of providing a top of the line scouting program to our sons.

August 18 at 6:30 PM: Assistant & Scout Master meeting followed at 7 PM by the Committee meeting: If you want to help, this is your chance, come join us and help us run the troop.

August 19 through 21: Scoutmaster Invitational: This is our annual, by invitation only, backpacking trip. This is for scouts and scouters that have gone above and beyond the normal duty to make Troop 737 a success. You will be contacted by the scoutmaster, Mr Hoffman, some time this week and invited. This year we are going to Gibson Lake and camping above treeline. This is one of the most spectacular alpine lakes I have ever climbed to. Once there, we can fish in the lake, climb the surrounding hills looking at the ruins of old mines and otherwise enjoying a late summer day above the trees. Just remember, you don't have to do anything except show up, hike, fish and explore. We will need some drivers, but I will provide the food at no cost to you! Mr Wickham is telling me that there is snow! Guaranteed!

August 22 at 6:30 PM: Our first of the year PLC: Troop leaders please show up in your class As and let's get planning the first month or two of program. I will contact our SPL and start the phone tree.

August 29 at 6:30 PM: Our first troop meeting for the year: I will not post every troop meeting, but I will ask you to reference the troop calendar. Our first meeting will be to share some photos and stories of our two summer camps this year. There will also be many announcements so you are not going to want to miss this one.

September 3: I have s scheduled Mountain Biking Day trip on the calendar: I have no details or a HALO, but I know that an adult asked us to put it on the calendar. If you are that adult, please contact me so we can start planning and posting the details. Last day to sign up will be our first meeting.

September 8 at 6:30 PM: Assistant & Scout Master meeting followed at 7 PM by the Committee meeting

September 10: Trailer and Garage Cleanup: This is a service project to ourselves. Let's pitch in, clean up and organize our gear for the coming year. Lunch will be purchased and cooked by adult volunteers. This counts as service hours! Exact time will be determined by your PLC and be posted as soon as I have them. Plan on morning to mid afternoon.

September 16 through 18: Timberline District Shooting Sports Camporee: I have just posted a bunch of details on this event, so please go to the calendar and read up on it. An important note is that we are eligible for advanced registration if we get our payment in by September 1, so we might have to have our last day to sign up at our first meeting also. This will be a hot topic of discussion at our first ASM/Committee meeting. We do not want to miss this deadline or we pay much more.

September 19: Our first Court of Honor for the year. Details will be planed by your PLC, but you don't want to miss all the awards earned over the summer.

Whew, that's a lot of information. Please make sure that you keep an eye on the calendar and your emails, and I will see you soon.

Mr Hoffman

Scoutmaster