I left my heart in San Francisco (Peaks)

Good afternoon T648!

As the majority of the troop family suffers through yet another warm weekend in the valley, our T648 high adventure expedition over the weekend of 5 hardy souls enjoyed light(ning) shows on the peaks as we headed on I17 into Flagstaff, a gorgeous full moon while sleeping under the stars on a pine needle bed in the Coconino Forest, and a hike up Mount Humphreys to 12,633 feet of wonderful coolness and panoramic views of northern Arizona.  Heck, even at the base of the mountain it was a delightful 71 degrees at 1PM in the afternoon.  The dark and early start ensured that the expedition was already descending when Saturday’s late morning lightning danced around the peak, and with storms Friday night and Saturday afternoon, the terrific itinerary planning left everyone totally dry and happy.  Many thanks to young Mr. Finnegan for an outstanding trip – well planned and executed.

This week brings Patrol Leader’s Council for our boy leadership to plan upcoming meetings and events at 6PM on Tuesday, followed by our weekly troop meeting at 7PM.  A key component of the meeting will be patrol planning for our upcoming outing next weekend to the Military Sink Hole area of the Rim, and canoeing and swimming at Willow Springs Lake.  We will be leaving from the church parking lot late Friday afternoon the 10th, and returning shortly after noon on Sunday the 12th.  Scouts meeting the sales target of 20 tickets during our spring Pancake Breakfast fundraiser will be treated to an outstanding meal by Mr. Parizek.  Patrol meal preparation should take that into account, and factor out those lucky boys for the Saturday night patrol food purchases.  Also, please remember that adult leaders will have the opportunity to complete the outdoor portion of their Indoor/Outdoor training by attending Mr. Parizek’s class during this outing.  As usual – the more, the merrier!  Let us know by Tuesday night if you plan to attend.

Looking ahead, we have an adult leader meeting at the Scottsdale Worship Center board room from 7-8:15PM on the 13th, Mr. Butler will work with any scouts with First Aid partial merit badges left over from Geronimo on the 14th at 6PM before the troop meeting, and our annual scout-led planning session will occur at Scottsdale Conference resort on the 24th through the 26th.  Scouts in leadership positions should be looking for invitations from Mr. Benyi to this extremely important working weekend (with a bit of fun thrown in after all the hard work is completed).  We encourage adult leaders and interested parents to stop by and watch your T648 boy leaders at work – please see Mr. Benyi or Mr. Cole for details on an appropriate time.  We also have Mr. Huston’s Eagle Court of Honor scheduled for 9/8/12 at the Elks Lodge on 32nd Street and Acoma, with an actual start time still forthcoming.

On the things to be thankful for list, we have word that adult leader Mr. Grisa has been released to a care center, and if current progress is any indication, will be back on his bike and racing before we know it.  This week our young Mr. Finnegan was presented a Hornaday award at this week’s Four Peak District Roundtable, one approximately 1100 awarded in the 80+ year history of this BSA award for exceptional natural resource conservation and environmental protection efforts by an individual scout.

See you Tuesday night at the scout meeting!

Mr. Cole