Good morning!
Many thanks to the McFetters family for hosting an enthusiastic canoe swamping in their backyard pool last Tuesday. Those participating are now much more prepared to handle an upside down canoe  at Roosevelt Lake. The outing this weekend sounds to be perfect weather for a lake outing – sunny skies, warm air at about 100 degrees which will make getting into the cool water feel great! Be sure to pack plenty of sunscreen, bring your troop hats, and ensure you have enough ice covering your patrol food to withstand the shadeless heat.
Tomorrow night we have Patrol Leaders Council at 6PM, and the troop meeting and a parent / committee meeting at 7PM. The meeting will include troop Order of the Arrow elections. Order of the Arrow is an honor society within scouting, and one of the terrific services performed by OA members are the memorable Arrow of Light ceremonies that many of you have seen as cub scouts. A number of our older scouts are eligible, and have expressed an interest in being nominated. Next week’s meeting on the 12th will be an opportunity for the scouts and any adults interested to obtain CPR training. The PLC has arranged for Phoenix CPR to be onsite, and for $19.25 per person, those wishing to be certified can do so. The training is required for some of the merit badges being taken at Geronimo, and is another excellent way to ‘Be Prepared’ – so I would hope a significant percentage of the troop – both scouts and adults – will take advantage of this convenient opportunity.
We also have two short weeks remaining until our pre-Geronimo Court of Honor. This is often a brief and targeted one, primarily in place to allow for boys to receive their current rank patches prior to going to summer camp.  We will also have a unique presentation or two, so please plan to attend and support our advancing scouts if you are in town that week. Then two and a half short weeks after that, we head off to summer camp. We have 26 scouts attending, and a number of adults who have committed to at least a part of the week. If you are an adult leader who has not yet been to summer camp, I would encourage you to attend this year and camp for a few days or at least a partial weekend. It is only a couple hour drive from Scottsdale, and the experience of seeing hundreds of scouts marching to flag ceremonies, or shooting or riding or climbing at one of our beautiful BSA properties, is one that will most definitely stay with you.
For those of you plugging away on troop merit badges or projects, this is the best time of year to make significant progress. No homework to get in the way, and something to occupy your time should a case of the boredoms overtake you. See Mr. Harness with questions on the Citizenship badges, Mr. Conrad on the Personal Fitness badges, Mr. Cole or Mr. Benyi on Eagle projects.
See you at the troop meeting!
Mr. Cole