Good morning!
I hope you and your families are taking advantage of the amazing Arizona weather. With a three day weekend now and spring break just around the corner, there is no better time to explore all that Arizona has to offer. While such activities as skiing, the Renaissance Fair, the Arabian horse show and spring training get you out in the cool air and the warm sun, there are miles and miles of maintained trails within short driving distance of your home, not to mention hundreds of thousands of acres of natural riparian or forest land just asking to be explored. Sites like trails.com are terrific resources to find out about hikes to fit all ages and abilities. Stores like Wide World of Maps have detailed topographic renderings of the areas that interest you. Check the weather report, remember to leave no trace, and enjoy what our fellow scouts in the north east can only dream about this time of year!
Remember that tomorrow night is the Iron Chef competition. Please check with your patrol leader if you are unsure about what your patrol is doing. This is always a fun meeting as the patrols compete using stoves and Dutch ovens to prepare an exquisite dish or two as a patrol, utilizing the skills they have developed over the course of the past six months of outings. Offerings are judged by the Pirates patrol for flair, theme, taste, uniqueness and other criteria. Remember to bring a jacket or sweatshirt and all your culinary creativity.
This coming Friday is the first of the weekly fish fries at Blessed Sacrament. Our troop partners with the Knights of Columbus, in seating the diners, serving the dinners, cleaning up and otherwise helping the Knights with feeding hundreds of parishioners for six weeks for their main charity fundraiser of the year. Please sign up for all weeks that you can help – the evenings run from about 4:00 or as soon as you can get there until 7:30 or 8:00. You will also have an opportunity to sign up to sell flag pins at the door, which is the first of our own troop fund raisers for the year. Please talk with Mr.Jeorling regarding any questions you may have on the flag pin sales, Mr. A. Dahlmann on the fish fries.
On the 28th we will have our Winter Court of Honor, so please complete all advancements no later than tomorrow night to be presented at the meeting next week. Remember to finalize any blue cards for merit badges you have completed, or sit for your board of review tomorrow night, and then get results to Mr. McFetters by end of day on the 21st. Please note that the COH location next week has been moved to an Embassy Suites conference room south of Paradise Valley mall at 4415 E. Paradise Village Parkway. If you can help coordinate some simple winter decorations, hot chocolate and other drinks or desserts, please let me know!
See you tomorrow night!
Mr. Cole