Good morning!
From the mouth of Mr. Benyi – what a glorious weekend for a backpack! Between the bouldering, the warmth and the reptile and water management, this was a fairly technical backpacking trip. The troop did an excellent job of managing through any challenge that came along, and were rewarded with some of the most amazing opportunities I have seen. I have been backpacking in the four corners area for over thirty years, and I had never seen a gila monster in the wild. We had the privilege of seeing three, one who was our camp ‘pet’ gila monster, as well as five rattlers and a very large bull snake. The view of Weaver’s Needle from the north was stunning. The trails for the older and younger boys were challenging enough for each, and some good advancement opportunities were completed.  I was extremely proud of the leadership shown by the older scouts, and the toughness shown by the younger scouts – some on their first outing with T648. Well done!
This week it is very important that ensure our focus is on the pancake breakfast / basket raffle on the 30th. There are only 11 sales days left for pancake breakfast ticket selling. – hopefully you all have a good start. Tonight the patrols should finish up what each boy will be providing for their themed raffle basket. All contents should be brought tonight or a week from tonight, so the baskets can be assembled on the 26th. I hope most of you are planning to come and bring your families – it’s a fun opportunity to see your son actually cooking/serving/cleaning for once, as well as a tasty way to start your weekend. And the more participation we have from everyone, the fatter the scout accounts will be!
Thanks to everyone’s help in supporting the fish fry dinners this year – our coverage was outstanding! Our new flag pin selling fundraiser is also well launched, as the boys raised almost $400 towards their scout accounts.      Looking ahead, we have Shawn Martin’s Eagle Court of Honor on May 7 and our next base camp outing on May 13-15 up by Flagstaff will include an archery opportunity. For those of you Arizona Highways photography enthusiasts, Mr. Butler has arranged for a long-time contributor to the magazine, Jerry Jacka, to come to the troop meeting on the 26th and discuss photography as a career while sharing some of his amazing photographs of our magnificent state. And don’t forget the May 18 service project to support our biking veterans on their cross-country trip to the Vietnam Memorial.
What a great week to be a scout in T648! Happy Easter to all….
Mr. Cole