Troop 1-News and Views - August 2011
It is almost time for a new year to begin and a few thoughts before the year starts seem in order. It has been a busy summer with camp, Silversides and family activities, but September and October will be busy for us—let’s get ready now.
First Meeting: Our first meeting of the year will be Wednesday September 7th at Bagley Township Hall. We will have the hall open at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will formally start at 7:00 p.m. We will discuss who will go to Hessel on the 17th and who will work the Friends of NRA dinner which is the 10th of September, Saturday.
New Patrols. We have enough scouts to properly run 3 patrols if all scouts return this year. That means that each patrol can sit together at a meeting, camp together at a campout and work together on projects. For this first 6 months, I may appoint the patrol leaders initially so that we get our most experienced scouts, then the patrol can elect or look to the assistant patrol leader for the following 6 months. More as SPL Steven develops it.
Friends of NRA Dinner. This dinner will occur on the 10th of September from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.. We usually provide a contingent of about 4 scouts who serve as runners for credit card slips and prizes. Dinner is provided at 4:00 p.m.. Sign up early.
Popcorn Sales. Many of our newer scouters will want to sell popcorn. We have the new materials for this fall’s sale and you will be hearing about that at the first meeting. This is a fun way to pay for camp and even recruit new scouts. Sales begin in September. And end in late October.
Hessel Campout. This is scheduled for September 16-18 which is the second week we are back. This is one of the most fun campouts on the calendar. This year’s theme is “On the Beach” and should be fun. There is no beach of course but we can sure fake it. Maybe this year our guys can go as the “Beach Boys.” Does anyone but Jim Marsh and me and remember the Beach Boys? Nine Inch Nails and Black Sabbath never got near the beach in California.
Kiwanis Party. Our chartered organization, the Kiwanis Club, has invited us to a party at the Heart Lake Resort on September 20th. There may be some confusion at this writing as to whether the actual party will be the 20th or the 22d (Thursday), but we will get exact instructions from the club next week. This is a very old tradition in the troop and we will be able to swim on their raft and they provide hot dogs for dinner. Parents have been invited this year and have been asked to provide a dish to pass. Planned time is 4:00 to about 6:00. We will have exact details at the first meting.
Fall Camporee. This is the District wide Camporee we have every year. This year it is the weekend of 1-2 October sponsored by one of the Harbor Springs troops. This should be a very interesting since the theme is American Indian lore and you will be able to earn that merit badge during the weekend if you attend. Awesome.
Our Court of Honor also comes up in October, but we have not yet picked a date for it. Expect that by the first meetings of the year. Lots of awards to pass out this fall—good job this summer.
Other goings on over the summer include planning for the administration of promotions and boards for one. Last year any scout could just come up about any time and have a scoutmaster conference. What we will do this year is a bit different. We will have 1 or 2 formal boards of review each month during which all boys will have the opportunity to attend. We will do the same for scoutmaster conferences. This year, however, those conferences will be different. Partly due to suggestions of parents, the scoutmaster conference will be more of a testing ground for the requirements of the advancement. As most of you know, the purpose of the board of review is to determine how you as a scout see the troop, your ideas for improvement and to discover any problems you might be having—it is not a testing ground. But the scoutmaster conference can be. Once you are ready for advancement, take your book to Mr. or Mrs. Proux and bring your records up to date. Obtain your transcript from Mr. Proux and bring it to me. I will then set up the scoutmaster’s conference. That will be populated by our senior boys and by me and our task will be to validate your rank achievements and recommend you to the board of review just as the conference does now. Some things that maybe you had to get through once for a sign off in your book in front of an older scout but didn’t actually learn should be reviewed before this board. We will talk more about this at the first few meetings of the year.
Books sign offs. Let’s make every attempt to bring books to every meeting and every scouting event. Troop policy for book sign off is that Star Scouts and above sign our books. Any adult except the scout’s own parent can sign off a book, but please make every effort to take care of this at a regular meeting within the scout chain of leadership. The SPL will have more to say about this at the first meetings of the year.
Please make every effort to attend the first two meetings of the year since we will be planning for Hessel and the first few months of our year. If you do not appear and get your patrol assignment, it will be tougher to fill in later.
We lost 3 good scouts this year. The former SPL Donald Phillips departed in the summer and former SPL Mike Oltersdorf and Cam Krupiarz both aged out of our troop. Both achieved Eagle scout before they aged out. Mike will be going to college this fall and Cam will finish his last parts of high school this year. Both Mike and Cam are Eagle scouts and we will certainly miss them. Look for some announcement in the near term as to their plans for an Eagle party and installation.
Wish OA candidates Steven Verduce and Brandon Proux luck on the September 10th, since they will be undergoing part of their training as part of full membership in OA.
Until we meet on the 7th (or earlier if you are in the SPL planning group), keep your eye on the Eagle and your feet firmly on the Scenic Trail.
PS-My cell is working again-really.
As always, call me: home: 989-732-3464, office: 989-732-3307; cell: 989-619-0630 or email: karndt@arndtandassoc.com.
Ken Arndt
Scoutmaster
