Good Sunday evening!
What a great week of service and celebration! Friday night a crack crew of culinary scouts served spaghetti and meatballs on the Blessed Sacrament courtyard patio in support of the Knights of Columbus charity dinner to raise money for those in the parish in need of a hand up.  A beautiful evening meal under the trees was followed by a talent show in the social hall / sanctuary, but there also was real talent in the organized tear-down by T648, getting the courtyard back to spic and span readiness for the weekend services. Many thanks to the scouts for their usual efficient service! On Saturday, we had a number of scouts finishing up their Personal Fitness merit badge, but the highlight of the week occurred Saturday night as the troop gathered to celebrate in a court of honor ceremony for our 38th Eagle Scout, young Mr. E. Lara. Hilarity ensued as the senior boys reminisced about little Mr. Lara stories, including his integration into the troop, archery skills, canoe demolition derby, time management (or lack thereof), and medical hijinks. But as always, the true measure was in the remembrance of growth, accomplishments and the great times had along the journey – including his beautification project at the Henry Ashurst cabin at Pioneer Living History Museum.  Congratulations on reaching the T648 Eagle’s Nest, and many thanks for a wonderful evening to commemorate the achievement of the highest rank in scouting!
This week it is back to scout technology month, and the 7PM troop meeting will include a deeper dive into Geocaching. This weekend we will have an opportunity to honor our nations soldier heroes in the annual Memorial Day flag planting ceremony at National Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Cave Creek Road north of the 101 freeway.  The troop traditionally meets at the event on the Saturday before Memorial Day (May 25th this year) shortly after 6:30 AM by the flagpole to prepare for the ceremony and flag planting. At 7AM there is a brief orientation and ceremony, followed by a fanning out by the hundreds of scouting and family volunteers to locate strategically placed flag bundles and hole punchers throughout the cemetery. After an amazingly brief 45 minutes or so, the entire 225 acres of gravesites are awash in red white and blue flags, smartly waving in the early morning breeze.
Coming up the following week, we will have another Eagle court of honor. This one will be for C. Williams at 7PM on Thursday, May 30th at the Elks Club on 32nd Street and Acoma. There is no better way to visualize the road to Eagle for a young scout than to see the pictures, hear the stories, and watch as one of T648’s own joins the Eagle’s Nest. School will be out, so please plan to celebrate with young Mr. Williams and the rest of your troop family. Coming in June we will have PLC on June 4th, a canoe outing to Roosevelt Lake on June 7th-9th, a troop committee meeting on June 11th, and our next T648 Court of Honor on June 18th.  School may be winding down, but scouting is just gearing up! Summer Camp is a mere two months away! (get your medicals scheduled……)
Mr. Cole