Happy New Year, T648! It is with hope that I look to transition into 2012 after what sometimes felt like the year the earth went wild in 2011. With cultural, natural, and financial upheavals worldwide, the lows seemed lower, and the outcomes more ominous than in recent memory. This Arizonan of Norwegian descent was shocked first at the January lunatic shootings of Ms Giffords and others in our home state, and later of the senseless shootings of school children outside of Oslo. The earthquakes seemed scarier,
the flooding more devastating, the twisters more destructive – as we continue to become more globally aware. Think we have it bad financially – look at Greece. Think our government and Occupy Wall Street are a pain – try the turmoil in Syria, Libya, Yemen or Egypt on for size. As bad as our two record Arizona fires were, they could not hold a candle to the tsunami’s destruction in Japan. Today I give thanks for Ms. Giffords’ health…and for ours, for our opportunities at work and that more Americans are finding work, and for the way people have pulled together to help those who have been quaked and shaken, stormed and blown. 2011 may have been a bit rocky at times, but together it feels like we are have taken the lumps and kept on truckin’ – and hope springs eternal as the calendar page flips forward to a new and fresh year of opportunity.
As crazy as the world around us was, we had an awesome year in T648, filled with outstanding outings, advancement, service projects and fundraising opportunities. This week we begin anew, with Patrol Leadership Council at 6PM tomorrow followed by our troop meeting. We will be preparing for Webelos weekend in the McDowell Mountains coming up the 20th through the 22nd – one of our annual outing highlights of the year. For calendar planning purposes, please also consider Mr. Finnegan’s Eagle project on January 28th, as he pursues his fight against invasive species of weeds in our parks, and the annual ski outing to the White Mountains on February 4th. For those of you who love to bring the whole family camping, make sure you plan to join us outside of Tucson March 23rd– 25th at our annual Family Camp.
We have begun planning for summer camp which is just a little more than a half year away. With last year being our ‘out of council’ year, this year we will be at our home camp – Camp Geronimo. The cost should be under $400 with the smaller gas consumption, and we will have multiple fundraising opportunities before then to assist the boys with financing. I encourage everyone to plan on attending, as it is great for patrol bonding, merit badge increasing, skills development, advancement opportunities, and an all around fun week in the woods. Being less than two hours away, it is also a terrific opportunity for adult leaders and dads to spend less than an entire week getting at least a taste of the fun at camp with the troop by staying a night or two. Stay tuned for further information forthcoming soon!
I look forward with great optimism to diving into 2012 with T648. See you tomorrow night!
Mr. Cole