Outing Highlights & Honor Patrol Prep

Good evening,

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Halloween, and recovered a bit from the associated sugar buzz.  We tried to get everyone home on time from the outing so that the goblins in your neighborhood could begin their party.  You’ve likely heard by now that Friday night started out a bit late, as we ‘camped out’ on the 101 freeway for an hour in front of Desert Ridge Mall due to a nasty rollover on the 51 interchange.  Once arriving at Granite Basin, everyone bounced back in fine fashion, and tents magically arose in the 10PM darkness.  From then on, thrills and spills during the 9 mile bike ride/walk over boulders at 6000 feet, brisk winds which trashed two tents, frost on the shoes, stoves and guitar case during a 28 degree morning were actually pretty cool in retrospect.  And the tremendous camp fires, gorgeous clear skies, gourmet cooking (tortilla soup, with homemade fresh crispy tortilla strips, thin sliced french fried potatoes, marinated grilled steak & chicken with date nut bars, are you kidding me!!) , and numerous scouting advancements had everyone focusing on describing their roses during our traditional ‘Thorns and Roses’ finish to the weekend.  Many thanks to the 16 youth and 11 adults who made the weekend an awesome experience.

Remember that tomorrow is PLC, and that we will also be beginning the Honor Patrol competition during the troop meeting following.  We will meet outside until after 6:30 due to a church function which includes the youth room.  All new scouts will have their patrol assignments, and we will also be assigning troop guides to each patrol as well.  Keep in mind that weekly participation and complete uniforms during inspection will become critically important to the patrol every week, as we count point totals for Honor Patrol.  By next summer camp, we will have identified the patrol, which through its teamwork and extra efforts in looking and acting the part of honor scouts, will be honored with a September weekend trip to Disneyland and Club 33.

Happy trails!  See you at the scout meeting…..

Mr. Cole