This weekend we had the nostalgic opportunity to review the historic journey young Mr. Finnegan traversed to his Eagle rank; through white water strainers, jumping cholla traps, Usery Pass hurricanes, invasive species – all the while never losing possession of his ever-present briefcase, and of course all to the soundtrack of ‘Dancing Queen’ by his beloved band Abba. We have been honored to have had an exceptional class of Eagle Scouts who have also led our troop as Senior Patrol Leaders, and young Mr. Finnegan is now officially added to that distinguished class. Many thanks to all of you within the troop who contribute on a daily basis to cultivating an environment which produces moments such as these. Many thanks, as well, to the Finnegan family for the opportunity to celebrate this momentous occasion. Congratulations!
This weekend we also had a number of our scouts again assist the Knights of Columbus in serving and cleaning up after their monthly social dinner. This is yet another way that we provide support to our host charter organization, while they in turn provide ways for our more senior youth to gain additional marketable skills (and receive a fabulous meal!). We once again heard very complimentary feedback on the work our scouts provided, and I look forward to many additional opportunities to continue to foster an excellent relationship between ourselves and Blessed Sacrament.
This coming week is a fun one on our calendar. Tuesday night is the first troop meeting after the Christmas and New Years holidays, and will include PLC at 6PM for the youth leadership. We will be focusing on preparation for the upcoming Webelos weekend, and finalizing first aid, search & rescue, fire starting and monkey bridge stations and materials / scenario planning by the appropriate patrols. We also should have a half dozen or so skits planned per patrol, with some final casting and props details to finish up. If you have any questions or need anything, this is the week to leverage your senior or adult leadership to give you the help or support you need. It’ll be a bit on the crisp side this weekend, but as always, a glorious time of year to be able to demonstrate many of T648’s skills and capabilities. The entire troop is encouraged to attend this key event for team training and recruitment.
Looking ahead, we will have an adult leader meeting at 7PM on January 14th, and we will be assisting the runners as they cross the finish line at the Rock n Roll Marathon on January 20th. Our shift will begin early in the afternoon down by Tempe Town Lake for this worthy annual service project supporting Team in Training. Stay tuned for further details. January also marks the month where we will begin our inaugural Troop Newsletter (Extra Extra – read all about it from someone other than your Scoutmaster!), and the month during which we receive our Scout-O-Rama tickets. We will have most of January and much of February to sell tickets in order to raise funds for our individual scout accounts, before the annual Scout-O-Rama, which will be held at University of Phoenix Stadium on 2/23/13.
As we head into the new year, I am reenergized by the opportunities we have in our schedule to have fun, learn a bunch, and make a difference in 2013 – and also by the quality of the young men in our troop that will be doing it. We truly have an exceptional troop of individuals, who function very well as a team and groups within that team.  My hope is that you will use this year to optimize your abilities to leverage all that T648 has to offer, and by doing so, contribute to making those offerings even better.
See you at the troop meeting!
Mr. Cole