Weekly Post, Week of April 21, 2013

Post date: Apr 22, 2013 1:17:28 AM

Greetings Troop 737! As I write this, I am sitting under my awning at the new scout campout and just marveling at the day we had so far. It’s about 3 PM and the new scouts are off to shoot black powder. I and some of the other adults just finished and I must say thanks to Mr. Ballantyne and our two instructors; shooting was a blast. The weather is better than we thought; partly cloudy and about 50 to 55 degrees. The pig is looking and smelling really good and the thermometer says it’s almost done. This is why the NSC is one of my favorites. I am attaching some photos to this email so you can see what your scouts are telling you about today.

This year, we have two summer camps, one in Idaho and one in Colorado. The Idaho camp is capped now at 21 scouts. We have four HALOs that are busy planning this camp, but we are pretty sure that we will need one to two more drivers, each way. As you can imagine, we can’t go without the appropriate number of drivers. If your son is going and you can help drive and stay or drive and go, please let us know.

A reminder, we are still short of adult volunteers for our in state summer camp is that we don’t have enough sign ups, both scouts and adults. We only have two HALOs to help with planning and this is not enough. We will need to have all scouts that are not going to Idaho, and want to go to summer camp, sign up and pay, very soon. We also need more parent volunteers for this camp. We will need help with planning for a successful trip, and full parent volunteer coverage for the entire week. This coverage can be no less than four adults staying with the troop for the entire week. We can cycle adults in and out, as long as we have four adults for the entire week.

Finally, even though we have only one meeting before our last PLC for the year, I would like to remind everyone that we need to participate in the Church Cleanup day on May forth. This is an obligation that we, as scouts cheerfully fulfill to our charter organization. Please sign up this event and plan on attending for the morning of the 4^th. Lunch will be provided by some of our most accomplished adult volunteer cooks, so it should be something really good!

Upcoming Signup Deadlines (see below for details):

· Summer Camps; signup and final payment due by May 1.

· Church Cleanup day: May 4^th, ELC.

Service Patrol:

The service patrol for April is the Wolverines and Stags Patrols. All members of the Wolverines and Stags Patrols should be inside our meeting room no later than 6:15 PM to help set up for the meeting. The Serpents will be teaching the Barracudas how to be a service patrol in the future.

Please read below for details on upcoming events, and always stay current with our Troop Calendar on the web site. This is the best way to have the most current information.

Upcoming Activities:

Troop Meeting: Scout Skills Night & Scout Show Prep – Monday, April 22^nd @ 6:30 to 8:00 PM at ELC:

· Advancement: Merit Badges and Baden Powell

· Scout Show Prep

· Scoutmaster Conferences

Scout Show – Saturday, April 27-10:00-4:00:

· HALO: Mr. Westfall

· Also in April is the annual Scout Show

· Who knows what this year brings but last year’s outdoor cooking demonstration featuring ‘Smacos’ was a huge success!

· We will need Scout volunteers to help set up, to run the booth and then take down

· Look for the sign-up sheet with time slots that work for you.

· The Scout Show is a tremendous opportunity for the *full* family to come and have fun including participating in games, archery, cooking demonstrations (a lot of great Scout cooking!), and much more

· Bring the whole family

· Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks

· Mr. Johnson has 100 Scout Show tickets to hand out for scouts to sell. These cards sell for $10 each and 50% goes to your account. This is a great fundraising opportunity that you can use to help pay for your summer camp. I am sure that your parents would appreciate the help

Swim Check & PLC Meeting – Monday, April 29^th @ 7:30 to 8:30 PM at Wulf Rec. Center:

· HALO: Mrs. Baty

· The swim check is for all scouts going to Delatour and all scouts that need their Second and First Class swim requirements. The details are being worked out so please stay tuned for more information soon.

· The PLC will start will need to meet and plan the next few meetings and campout.

Church Cleanup Day – May 4^th @ 8:00 to 12:00 PM at ELC

· HALO: Mr. Pond

· We are planning to cook our own lunch for this event, so we will need adult volunteers to get the food and do some cooking on the morning of the event.

· All scouts should put this event on the family calendar and plan on attending. This is one of three events that our chartered organization asks us to support. It is our responsibility to help the church and this is one way we show our support for all they do for us.

May Campout at Wellington Lake – Friday, May 17^th – Sunday, May 19^th:

· HALO: Mrs. Riley

· Mrs. Riley is looking into a new venue for our May campout. Steamboat will not work because the State Park is usually still under as much as four feet of snow in mid May. Stay tuned and we will let you know where we are going shortly.

June Backpacking Trip – Friday – Sunday, June 7th – June 9th:

· HALO: Mr. Catterson

· Meet at ELC at 1pm on Friday June 7th

· We will be backpacking in 3 miles into the Lost Creek Wilderness area from the Goose Creek entrance near Deckers.

· Saturday will be spent exploring and doing day hikes. We will also spend some time working on requirements and scout skills.

· Sunday we will cook a good breakfast. Then pack up and head back.

· Estimated arrival time will be early afternoon.

· The hike is not real strenuous so all scouts are invited to come.

· Mandatory campout prep and equipment check will be Monday June 3rd. If you do not attend this meeting you cannot go on the trip. Every scout will be expected to have his own backpack, sleeping bag and pad, utensils and 10 essentials. The troop will provide tents, stoves and cooking utensils, but if you have some of your own, please bring them. A more complete list will be put together later.

· The sign-up sheet will be available at the next meeting.

Camp Ben Delatour Summer Camp, in state, July 14-20:

· HALO: Mr. Snyder, Mr. Gutierrez

· Camp Ben Delatour is in the Red Feather Lakes region west of Fort Collins. This camp is for first and second year scouts and any other older scouts that will be working on Trail to First Class and/or Merit Badges.

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Island Park Summer Camp, out of state, July 6-14:

· HALO: Mrs. Fizgerald, Mr. Kleist, Mr. Martin, Mrs. Wilkinson

· This out of state adventure is mostly for mostly older scouts, year three and up. This camp is outside the west entrance of Yellowstone and is a two day trip to and from camp. The troop leaves on Saturday, July 6, and arrives back on Sunday, July 14. It is a full 12 hour drive so we need parents to drive and stay for the week.

As always, please read the troop web site, especially the calendar, for the most current information on all upcoming and scheduled events.

Mr. Hoffman

Scoutmaster

Troop 737