Spring Meeting and Activity Schedule

Spring Meeting and Activity Schedule:
April
1      Camperships are due
1 Talk about Upcoming Elections
6       Merit Badge online registration begins*
4-12 Spring Break no scouts.
15 Elections – and Order of Arrow nominations
19     Sunday 3:00 pm Court of Honor (desserts)
22 Cub Crossover and regular meeting for some.
24-26 (weekend)Outdoor Leader Training  /  Wilderness Survival camp at Dead man’s Hill (no tents). **
29 Welcome Webelos 5 to our troop, Ideas: Knot Tying
___________________________
May
Knot Adventure Month
Spring cleanup & Mowing begins
4      Campers need to be registered and paid in full by May 4
         (with the exception that new crossovers have more time)
6 Lawn Mower Safety Meeting, Knot Tying  ***
13 Knot Tying, discuss/vote on electronics during camping,
          plan meals for campout.
15,16,17 Spring Camporee Black River Cheboygan
16     Saturday Cub Campout at County Park.. looking for a couple
        Boy Scouts to camp and help out. 10:00 am-?
20 Ideas: Knot Tying: talk about summer camp
24 Memorial Day Parade
27 Knot Tying competition, talk about summer camp

*    Camp registrations and merit badge choices are due Wed
**  Wilderness Survival camp at Dead man’s Hill.  This is something the boys want to do and we need chaperones to do it.  It is rustic survival camping.  No tents for scouts, they are building shelters
***  Any boy who wants to raise funds for their scout account by mowing MUST come to this Mower Safety Class at our regular meeting.

Square Credit Card Reader

Troop 1 now has the ability to process credit cards!  You can pay for summer camp, or your past due balance with your Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover. Our treasurer has the card reader and you can see her at meetings to make the transaction. There will be a small fee to cover the cost of the credit card service.

Merit Badge Sign up

The merit badge signups for summer camp will begin on April 6 (during Spring Break). Your scout may sign up at anytime, but for the best chance of getting the merit badges that he wants registration should be early.  I will be collecting summer camp registration forms and merit badge sign ups tomorrow at the scout meeting and I will register the forms I have on April 6.  If your scout account is deficient, please include a $100 check for summer camp.

Early committee Meeting.

The next committee meeting will be held March 29 at Bagley Hall.
6:00 pm for scouts in leadership positions
7:00 pm for Leaders/Committeee Members/Parents.

We will be discussing Summer Camp, Spring Camporee, the lock-in results, 20th Annual Sportsplex lock-in for next year (our anniversary lock-in) and the upcoming Court of Honor in April, as well as regular business.
If you haven't attended before, please consider attending.  We need everyone's input and point of view, and furthermore, we need everyone to be educated about the troop and how it works so that our troop will be successful well into the future.  Please come!

There will be no April Committee meeting. (Because it's in March)

And please read all previous email today and yesterday!  I posted several important items.  Yours in Scouting, Mrs. B, Scoutmaster

See Facebook for photos: BSA Troop 1, Gaylord MI

Spring Camporee Opportunity!  This is the second of two camporees to choose from. We need to choose one to attend and get a commitment from trained leaders and parents to drive to the camporee and supervise scouts.  The Scoutmaster will be unavoidably be unavailable to attend either of these dates.  If you have interest in chaperoning either of these camporees, please let us know so that we can make arrangements to attend.  The scouts always need opportunities to camp and both of these camporee's look great!

Here is the Northern Trails District Sturgeon Camporee in Cheboygan.

Amazing Race Camporee

Spring Camporee Opportunity!  There are two spring camporee's to choose from this year, and we need to choose one to attend and get a commitment from trained leaders and parents to drive to the camporee and supervise scouts.  The Scoutmaster will be unavoidably be unavailable to attend either of these dates.  If you have interest in chaperoning either of these camporees, please let us know so that we can make arrangements to attend.  The scouts always need opportunities to camp and both of these camporee's look great!

Here is the Amazing Race Camporee at Cole Canoe base.

Indoor Leader and Outdoor Leader Training

Training is crucial for all our leaders.  There is one way to do things, and then there is the Boy Scout way to do things!  If you are a parent/volunteer/committee member, then you can be a mentor for our scouts!  Please consider taking the Indoor Leader training and the Outdoor Leader training.  We all have room to grow!  The troop will pay the registration fee for you.  Every trained leader in our troop has taken both of these training's.
The Indoor leader Training is this weekend, March 21 from 9-1 in Petoskey, and the Outdoor Leader training is April 24-26.  Let Scoutmaster know if you need help registering.

Thank you!

Many thanks to the Parents and Leaders of Troop 1 who volunteered at our lock-in.  I am so proud to work side by side with such a fine group of dedicated and helpful people.  Your efforts benefitted 410 guests, for a grand total of 440 people including leaders, parents and scouts of Troop 1.  Thank you to Kathy Arndt for the great job that she did on the Swim tests for rank advancement, along with Michele Davis and the lifeguards in the pool. 40 scouts benefitted from the work they did.
Also we are very grateful for the donations and discounts that we received from local businesses, including Biggby Coffee, Jet's Pizza, BC Pizza, Dr. Pepper & Snapple Group, BJ's Restaurant & Catering, Jay's Sporting Goods, Gordon Foods, Family Fare, Diocese of Gaylord, Traverse City Scout Shop, Call of the Wild & Merchandise Outlet. I hope I didn't forget anyone. Last, but not least, a big thank you to Staff Sgt Aaron Bentley of the Air Force who visits our lock-in each year.  He brought a bag full of goodies to give away as prizes and when the scouts saw the neat stuff he brought they were very excited. Can't wait until next year!  It will be the 20th Anniversary of our little old lock-in. Hope to see you all there!

Please volunteer to work the 19th Annual Sportsplex Boy Scout Lock-in!

March 14 is just around the corner!  We need you!   Please volunteer to work the 19th Annual Sportsplex Boy Scout Lock-in! We need your help to make it a fun evening for 400 Boy Scouts, Webelos 5 and Leaders across Northern Lower Michigan. See this following link to sign up for a time. We need all available volunteers! You don't have to stay all night, just come for a specific time if that is all you can do. Thank you!

Sportsplex Lock-in Volunteer sign up

Summer camp at Cole Canoe base is July 19-25th!

Summer camp at Cole Canoe base is July 19-25th. The troop is already making payments based on a estimation of the scouts that will be attending camp this year.  On March 2nd, Scoutmaster will be able to register Scouts for camp. We will need commitments from scouts and parents for both attendance at camp and the cost of camp. On April 6, scouts will be able to signup for merit badge classes and other activities. Summer camp is $300 this year.  

Every scout should earn his way to camp by participating in fundraisers or helping to mow the cemetery.  Cleanup and mowing will begin mid May and at that time you can start earning money for camp.  There is also popcorn left to be sold, at any time you can contact the Popcorn Chair to sell the popcorn and you will get a portion of those proceeds.

Lastly, if your scout qualifies for the free or reduced lunches you may qualify for a campership from council to help offset the cost of camp. All Campership Applications must be approved by the Scoutmaster. They are due by APRIL 1st.

Campership Worksheet

Summer camp employment for scouts

Scouts age 16 and up: Are you interested in working at BSA summer camp?  Check out this link for application process!

http://www.michiganscouting.org/Camping/SummerCampEmployment

Merit Badge Tech Day 3/7/2014

You still have time to sign up for Merit Badge Tech day.  If you haven't signed up your scout before, you have to create a new user. This is a great way for your scout to earn some Eagle required merit badges.

Login or Create your user.

Select 3/7/2015-- 2015 Merit Badge Tech at TBA Career Tech Center

Type in your scouts name and information. 

Choose AM on the bottom left, and choose a class for the morning. 

Then choose PM on the bottom left and choose a class for afternoon.

You will note that Troop 1 already has one participant signed up. 

Register for Merit Badge Tech