Good morning!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Well, which was it?? I checked in with our backpackers yesterday afternoon, and heard the weather at Parson Springs was terrible, the hike was horrible and never-ending, and everyone had a really bad time. Upon further grilling, I determined that they were just trying to be kind, and ease my unhappiness that I had been unable to attend this week’s fantastic outing to one of my favorite places in the state. The weather was indeed spectacular, the boys hiked their adult leaders into the ground, and the swimming hole was clear, deep and refreshing. It was another outstanding outing in Troop 648. We have another refreshing water outing upcoming – this one a canoeing trip from June 7-9, so make your plans to join us now. There was a rumor that Mr. Parizek might be planning to have his award dinner for the pancake breakfast ticket sales champions during this event, so stay tuned for further details. In preparation for this outing, we will be having a canoe shakedown beginning 7:30AM this coming Saturday the 11th to prepare our well-used (okay, somewhat bettered) canoes for another lake trip. Young Mr. B. Conrad asks you to please bring screwdrivers, wrenches, and other assorted tools, along with gloves and sunscreen (and maybe some elbow grease), and get personal with your troop watercraft on land, before we go get them wet again next month!
I hope you have had an opportunity to peruse our April newsletter, coordinated exceptionally again by Mrs. Traynor. A highlight for me is the detailing of the upcoming meeting agendas provided by young Mr. Harper. It is wonderful to have a monthly view of the upcoming meeting topics, and the boy leaders in charge of providing the content. Please join us Tuesday night at 7PM as we begin a technology and communications month, focusing first on geocaching. Prior to the meeting at 6PM will be our monthly PLC meeting – so all leaders please plan to come with your unit reports and prepared to plan. With PLC this month, we will take a hiatus from Mr. Turner’s Personal Management merit badge class – it will resume on the 14th at 6PM.
This is a busy month as school winds down and summer begins. We have a full calendar as well, an we hope that you can continue to work scouting in to your end of year scheduling.   Miracle League service project continues Saturday mornings as we assist the physically challenged in playing baseball games – please see the Turners to sign up for a game on Saturday mornings during May. We will have an adult leader meeting at the SWC board room at 7PM on the 13th. On Friday, 5/17 we have a service project opportunity at the Blessed Sacrament Spaghetti Dinner and talent show. The boys will be provided dinner, and receive service hours for serving and cleaning up.  Tentative times are 5PM until 8PM. One of our Eagles has finally been able to schedule his Court of Honor – please plan to join young Mr. E. Lara and the troop as we celebrate his outstanding achievement at 5PM on 5/18 at Mountain View Presbyterian Church.  I hope you are also planning to join us for the 7AM Memorial Day flag planting at Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery on 5/25.  Please also plan ahead to join us for a committee meeting on June 4th during our regular troop meeting. Final preparation for the June Court of Honor and Summer Camp will be highlights.
One requirement for all participants (boys and adults) who will attend summer camp is a BSA medical release form signed by your physician. The forms can be found on our website under ‘Documents.’ These are easily filled out by your physician during your annual physical, but can also be scheduled as a quick check (and sometimes as a paperwork-only update for a nominal charge) depending on your physician, and the date of your last appointment. Please ensure this gets done in the next 8 weeks or so – we are amazingly only two and a half months away from our trip to Camp Alexander in the Colorado Springs Rockies. For those of you not attending summer camp, please also fill one of these out at your next medical appointment. It gives your adult leaders an overview of allergies and other items to be aware of about your sons on outings and other activities throughout the year.
See you Tuesday night for PLC and the troop meeting.
Mr. Cole