Good morning,
Many thanks to the at least 44 scouts and adult leaders who participated in this weekend’s Webelos weekend. It was held under a clear (and crisp!) sky, and was again an outstanding tribute to our troop’s strengths. The scouts were prepared with excellent skills events, and involved our 12 guests in activities and scenarios that were both practical and fun. The boys welcomed the attendees, were engaging, informative, funny, and utilized every one of the scout laws throughout the afternoon. Adult leaders received extremely positive feedback from the parents throughout the day and in emails afterwards, and the cub scouts were uniformly impressed and excited about their afternoon (and in one case, evening). From being actually encouraged to safely start fires (for example with 9V’s and steel wool), to swinging on the T648 monkey bridge, to three kinds of delicious cobbler, to a starry exploration of the constellations, to hysterical skits (‘Yah, it is me, Hans!’) they saw how much fun scouting can be as you progress into Boy Scouts.  Where we really shine is with the parents who truly understand about boy leadership. We had a retired military grandfather, and an Army Colonel dad at the event, and they were the most outspoken of all about the exceptional poise, skills, pride in uniform, and patrol method execution that our youth exhibited. I am always proud to be a member of T648, but never more so than after one of these weekends where we demonstrate to younger children what it means to be a boy scout.  And from a recruiting standpoint, a couple have already expressed an interest in our troop post – Arrows of Light, and one is hoping to meet up with us to snow board in the White Mountains during our February outing. Nicely done, gentlemen!
Tonight is an adult leader meeting at Scottsdale Worship Center beginning at 7PM. This week also marked the publishing of our first troop monthly newsletter, thanks to Mrs. Traynor. We handed them out to our Webelos guests as part of their welcome packages, and we will have hardcopies available at tomorrow night’s meeting before putting the softcopy on the website. This will be another avenue for our boys, leaders and committee to communicate with the entire troop – begin thinking of how you might be able to utilize it. Next Sunday the 20th is our service project at the Rock n Roll Marathon, assisting Team in Training with their efforts against blood diseases. We will be helping at the finish line and will need to meet at Noon at the church in order to fight traffic to make our shift from 1:30-4:30. Stay tuned for further details at the troop meeting. Now is also the time to be selling, selling, selling! Mr. Jeorling made Scout-O-Rama tickets available on Tuesday night, and we have some store opportunities coming up. Please check with him tomorrow night if you have not yet received your desired packets. Scout-O-Rama is coming up on February 23rd at University of Phoenix stadium.
In the meantime we have Scout Sunday on February 3rd at Blessed Sacrament, where we will have an opportunity to show scout skills and spirit at our host charter organization before and after mass. On February 5th, we have our Winter Court of Honor, and on February 8th will be our annual ski trip to the White Mountains. What excellent opportunities await – please make sure you are taking advantage of as many as possible!
Stay warm – and we’ll see you at the troop meeting!
Mr. Cole