Weekly Post, Week of March 11, 2012

Post date: Mar 11, 2012 6:32:02 PM

Greetings Troop 737! I have not had a report from the Quinzee Campout yet, so I am hoping that conditions were good for quinzee building even though the weather was very warm here.

Congratulations to Mrs. Peterson and Mr. Catterson on being selected as this year’s “Outstanding Scouters” from Troop 737. They were honored at the Timberline District Dinner last Friday evening. I would like to as everyone to join me in thanking them for all they do for our troop.

In addition, Mrs. Peterson tells me that the Troop 737 won the Timberline Top Troop award for 2011. This is high honors indeed and again reflects our parents and adult leader’s commitment to pitching in and helping. The honor is based on a form; “Journey to Excellence” filled out by our commissioner, Mr. Johnson and myself and measure’s the relative health of any troop.

Congratulations to Ian Smith on being elected as our next Senior Patrol Leader (SPL). I will be contacting him shortly to discuss his choices for Assistant SPLs. I will also be working through the rest of the list to assign leadership jobs for scouts that signed up. I hope to have much of this done by tomorrow’s meeting. Note that we have our Junior Leader Training (JLT) next Saturday, March 17^th; all incoming and outgoing leaders need to attend.

I want to remind everyone that until we have our JLT, the outgoing leaders are still in charge. Incoming leaders will take over for the meeting on March 19^th.

Last week, we had our monthly adult meetings and continued working on the details for our activities for the rest of the year. I have sent the meeting notes in a separate email and have included them below in appropriate sections. Please note that there is a significant calendar change; Monday, March 19^th has been changed back to an advancement meeting, and the PLC has been moved to Monday, April 2^nd. There is no regular troop meeting on April 2^nd.

Uniforms:

Reminder, below is the schedule for the Uniform Table at regular troop meetings for the rest of the year.

· March 19^th

· April 9^th

· May 7^th

I want to remind everyone that they must have at least one Class B, uniform Tee Shirt, and I know that many of last year’s new scouts don’t have these yet. I recommend two for every scout going to summer camp! There are also a variety of other scout uniform items including troop hats, sweat shirts, neckerchiefs, etc. Please plan on stopping by next time it is set up:

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.

Service Patrol:

The service patrol for February will be the Thigers!! All members of the Thigers Patrol should be inside our meeting room no later than 6:15 to help set up for the meeting.

Upcoming Activities and Sign up & Payment Deadlines:

Personal Fitness Merit Badge – March through May ELC

· HALO: Mrs. Roche

· Please see her separate email.

· Here is the schedule, these dates are also on the calendar:

o Tuesday March 13th @ 7:00 PM – Progress testing and requirement #’s 2 & 3. (Please note TUESDAY not Thursday)

o Thursday March 29th @ 7:00 PM – Progress testing and requirement #’s 4 & 5. (this is Spring Break week, don’t worry if you miss)

o Thursday April 12th @ 7:00 PM – Progress testing and requirement # 1.

o Thursday April 26th @ 7:00 PM – Progress testing and requirement # 9.

o Thursday May 10th @ 7:00 PM – Progress testing only.

o Friday May 25th @ 7:00 PM – REQUIRED! Final testing and requirement # 8.

Troop Meeting – Career Night; - March 12, 2012 at ELC:

· Guest speaker Mr. Furman will be speaking to the troop so that all scouts that need the First Class Requirement 5 can get it signed off. This includes 1^stand 2^ndyear and older scouts. You don’t want to miss this meeting, especially if you need the requirement. If you are in need of the Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge requirement 3A1: “Attend a city or town council or school board meeting, or a municipal; county, or state court session”, this your chance to talk to Mr. Furman about how to arrange this if you want to go to his court.

· The PLC is working today to get two other guest speakers to commit to about 15 to 20 minutes of speaking about their careers. If you would like to do this, please contact Alexander Wood and let him know. I am helping the scouts out by contacting a number of parents directly. However, this is a scout run event that they planned for, and they need to put it across the finish line. Therefore, please contact Alexander directly if you would like to volunteer.

· Finally, the physical activity this week is paper airplanes. Bring materials to make airplanes and fly them. Be prepared to clean up all airplane debris prior to circle time.

JLT (Junior Leader Training) – Saturday March 17, 8:00 AM to about 11:00 AM at ELC:

· All incoming and outgoing members of the PLC need to attend.

New Scout Campout; - April 20 - 22, 2012 at Fort Lupton:

· HALO: Mr. Catterson

· This campout has something for everyone! All scouts should plan on attending this fun filled weekend campout.

· The goal of this campout is to give our new scouts a very big head start on rank advancement. All new scouts that work hard and participate in all of the skills sessions taught by our older scouts will make Tenderfoot by the end of the weekend. They will learn all of the basic outdoor skills necessary to camp with the troop.

· We have invited several new troops from Denver that are trying to get a start in scouting. We will essentially adopt these troops into our new scout training sessions and our evening activities; dinner and the campfire. So far, only one troop has responded that they are coming.

· For older scouts that need service project time, we will participate in a service project to help the Historical Society in their efforts to maintain and improve the park. This project will take several hours between Breakfast and Lunch. We may be able to cycle instructors with service project participants so everyone has an opportunity for both activities.

· There will be other activities: a tour of the fort and black powder shooting to name two.

· And finally, there is the pig. We will try to cook a pig again this year. I am looking for an adult leader to learn the ins and outs of pig cooking so they can take over for me next year. It is time for me to pass the pig cooking tradition on to someone else.

Arkansas River Rafting Campout; - May 11 - 13, 2012 at Salida CO:

· HALOs: Mr. and Mrs. Kraft

· Details are still being worked out, but this late season campout will be a great spring trip in the Rockies. We are planning to float the Arkansas or hike the Rockies. New scouts will take their five mile hike with the scoutmaster while second year and older scouts have an opportunity to raft on the river.

· Stay tuned as more details are worked out.

Peaceful Valley Summer Camp; July 08 to 14, 2012:

· HALOs: Steve Stalter and Allan McCabe

· The Signup and Payment Deadlines are rapidly approaching. The HALOs will be getting the registration login information soon and shortly after that will begin inputting names. Registration for Merit Badges is still a few months away, but you want to have your name entered so that on the day registration opens, the HALOs will be able to sign you up for your first choices.

· Cost: The fee for each scout for summer camp is $250. A$30 deposit is required for each scout to put their names in and we can register scouts on the Peaceful Valley Web Site as we get the deposit. The payment schedule is as follows:

o As soon as possible, a $30 deposit. We will register scouts by name as soon as we get this deposit

o March 5^th, 30% including the $30 deposit.

o April 2^nd,the next 30%

o May 7^th, the final 30%

o The fee for the adults still needs to be determined by the number going. We get the first two slots for free, so we have some options.

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.

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