Wow – what fireworks this weekend! 119 degrees, the fourth hottest temperature of all time in Phoenix, assisted our family in determining the celebration agenda for the anniversary of my birth. Suddenly such things as air-conditioned meals and movies after the requisite early morning yard work sounded like a much better Saturday alternative than any outdoor-centric schedule for a birthday. Later this week on the 4th all of you hopefully will also be able to celebrate our national independence day in a manner to which we have become accustomed without additional concern of fainting or setting the valley on fire.
A little known fact is that President John Adams wanted to have a ‘great anniversary festival’ every year, but wanted to have it on July 2nd, the day that Continental Congress voted for independence. He got his festival almost 100 years later when Congress made it official, but our celebration was instead of course on the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed by then Congress president John Hancock. Speaking of John Adams, another little known fact is that three of the first five presidents died on July 4th. Since it wasn’t yet an official holiday, I suppose it must be a coincidence, but why would it have been such a prime day to die for Adams, Jefferson and Monroe? In a bizarre modern twist to the theme, in 2011 some hackers broke into Fox News’ Twitter account, and fired off a number of tweets indicating that President Obama had been shot and killed in Iowa, becoming yet another July 4th presidential casualty. Thankfully, after regaining control of their Twitter account, Fox of course declared that news of Obama’s demise was malicious and false.   So, while I wouldn’t recommend a Colorado mining town’s method of celebrating (when the miners discovered there would be no fireworks on the 4th in 1884, they blew up the Post Office), I wish for you a happy time of celebrating the land of the free and the home of the brave with family and friends in whatever coolness you can find.
One cool thing to do would be to join us for Scouts this week. We will have the Patrol Leaders Council at 6PM on Tuesday, followed by our regularly scheduled Troop meeting at 7PM. This month is a combination arts & crafts and careers month, and a number of scouts have lined up individuals with truly amazing and interesting careers to come and share with our troop. Please join us as we learn about unusual jobs that scouts are uniquely prepared to do, and as we also begin our final preparations for our annual summer camp trip.
As far as camp prep, I would like to thank Mr. Benyi for his detailed information packets sent to all attendees. I would also like to emphasize that we will need full uniforms and patrol gear for the week. That includes a complete Class A uniform with scout pants or shorts, and scout socks. These can all be obtained at a local scout shop. Please also ensure that you have your patrol patch – check with your patrol leader if you do not have one. Class B (red) t-shirts will be the base uniform for the remainder of the week (other than travel days or flag ceremonies). Ensure that you have multiple Class B shirts, so that you can be wearing one while washing the other(s). You can layer over that with jackets, sweatshirts or flannels to ward off the coolness, but we all need to have one flavor of T648 shirt or the other on at all times during the week (other than while in the water).   A troop hat is also a must to keep the high altitude sun off your head. Shirts and hats can be purchased from Mr. Murphy throughout July. During the month, he has suggested a 20% discount of $4 per shirt (get them while they are hot!).  Monogrammed troop hats remain a value priced $15. Also – please keep working on your doctor-signed health forms and a copy of your insurance card (front and back).  Also for your patrols, you will need your troop flag and troop yell, if you are still working on those.
Fire up – coolness ahead! See you Tuesday at the troop meetings!
Mr. Cole