Happy Campers (of the Family Variety)

Good evening,

Sunday night finds a happy group of campers back in the Valley after our annual T648 family camp, this year at Ft. Tuthill outside of Flagstaff.  35 of our troop family spent portions of the weekend in everything from backpacking tents to 8 person mongo tents to 5th wheel RVs.  We were at the Luke Air Force Base Recreation area, and for an incredible highlight, closed the weekend with Army Major Commander Darrin allowing our scouts to climb in and ride around camp in an almost fully equipped Army Humvee (minus only the 50 calibre gun).  Also on the agenda were the extreme sports undertaken by multiple families at Flagstaff Extreme.  Participants came back dead tired but smiling after hours of ziplines, rope swinging, net climbing, and other attractions.  Our own Robin Hood, Mr. Traynor, had earlier led dozens of us in training for action archery, followed by arrows, arrows whizzing everywhere – from 10 up to 70 yards.  Cub scout wolves to grandparents, the T648 family was increasingly accurate with every quiver of 5 arrows until raw fingers, bruised forearms, and aching shoulders finally conspired to send us all back in search of lunch.  An all-family pot luck dinner (apple caramel streusel pie, anyone?) followed by a Mr. Traynor-sized campfire was a perfect capper to an excellent day.   Sprinkled liberally elsewhere throughout the weekend were nature trail hikes, army museum tours, mountain bike rides, a soccer game, billiards, and even the occasional refreshing shower in the recreation area bath house.  Many thanks to young Mr. Hart and Mr. Traynor for their excellent leadership, and a special thanks to former marine pilot Mr. Martin for gaining our troop access to this special military recreational facility.

This week please remember that our troop meeting is NOT at Blessed Sacrament, but instead is a swim test and water rescue night at the Weinhold home.  Please obtain the address from the recent flyers or from the troop roster on the website.  Any questions, please let Mr. Cole know.  Since the meeting is offsite, the beginning of the Citizenship in the World merit badge with Mr. Conrad will now be delayed a few weeks until the 15th, beginning at 6PM.  On  October 1st , we will have PLC at 6PM, and the troop meeting at 7PM.  We also have an outstanding opportunity to assist young Mr. Dahlmann with his Eagle project on October 5th.  If you wish to carpool, there will be rides leaving from Blessed Sacrament at 6:15AM in the morning, or please meet us at St. Vincent de Paul to begin his fresh vegetable garden building project at 7AM.

Attention all advancers.  If you have advanced a rank since our last court of honor, please ensure that you have notified our Advancement Chair, Mr. McFetters.  On October 8th, at 6:30PM, we will have our fall Court of Honor, and it will be chock full of rank advancements, merit badges awards, summer camp awards, and other pomp and circumstance.  We are trying something new this year, as we are still meeting at Scottsdale Worship Center (65th Street and Cactus) while Blessed Sacrament finishes construction of the sanctuary and social hall.  We will not be having our annual potluck, but please plan instead to bring a picnic dinner or a bag of fast food for your family by 6PM, and eat and visit before the event commences at 6:30PM.  Or just plan to arrive at 6:30PM ready to begin – we’ll have a lot of ground to cover in honoring the many recent achievements of our scouts.

See you at the troop meeting

Mr. Cole