Good evening!
It was a happy canoe crew of twenty-two returning yesterday from a desert lake outing at a new venue in far western Arizona. Ingenuity and patience overcame a slow start from a broken down troop trailer, and an outstanding aquatic adventure ensued. The stars were brilliant and right in front of your face, and a perfect setting for two star advancement boards. The lake was large, cool, and uncrowded, and the picnic voyage over the lake to the dam went off without a hitch (if you don’t count the adults capsizing when first getting into the canoe).  Strong breezes took the heat away, splashing in the coves distracted the scouts from the poor luck fishing, and the multi-color sunset was the perfect transition to a night of singing and s’mores around the campfire. Local wildlife included the creepy crawlies that sent two squeamish scouts outta their tent and crowding in with other scouts. And Mr. Jeorling heard noises and peaked out of his side window in the middle of the night to see a wild burro peering in at him. Getting out of his vehicle to investigate, he discovered seven more of the wild bunch wandering around in camp. Between skipping stones, pretending to get stuck in the muddy coves, and climbing to the top of Alamo dam, T648 now has a new favorite desert canoeing location to factor in to future rotations.
This week, please remember to pay up for summer camp (we are at $350 due, with another $100 next month). If you are planning to use scout account funds, be sure you are selling, selling, selling those tickets – we have less than two weeks until the pancake breakfast. Tomorrow night the patrols have agreed to bring in their appointed auction basket items, so they each can begin to assess what is still missing.  Many thanks to the adults who cleaned and then spray-painted our troop shed last week to be a bit more heat-proof during Arizona summers! Other items upcoming include the Miracle League service project, which happens weekly on Saturday mornings for the next two months – come help a special needs child play baseball! For those of you needing the Eagle required Personal Management merit badge, Mr. Turner will begin teaching the 90 day course beginning on the 23rd at 6PM at Blessed Sacrament. Looking ahead, we have the pancake breakfast on the 27th, the May backpack outing to Parson Springs in Sycamore Canyon on the 3rd, and PLC on the 7th.
See you tomorrow night at the troop meeting!
Mr. Cole