Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

While all of this is on the Troop calendar I thought I would send out this friendly reminder.

1.  This weekend we have nearly 20 people planning to attend the Troop’s annual ski outing at Sunrise.  The caravan will depart Blessed Sacrament promptly at 5:30 pm so please plan to arrive by 5 pm so we can load up, pay $ for food and gas and fill out the release form.  Please contact Mr. McFetters if you have any questions.

2.  Mr. Conrad will be holding the 3rd and final Communications Merit Badge Class this Tuesday, February 11th at 6 pm at Blessed Sacrament.  Those of you in the class should plan on attending and then look to start wrapping up all of the requirements ASAP.

3.  Mr. Clapp has graciously offered to teach the Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge Class starting February 18th at Blessed Sacrament from 6 – 7 pm before our regular Troop meeting. Offered to First Class and above this is an Eagle Required Merit Badge so those of you eligible should attend.

4.  And last but not least note that our Winter Court of Honor will be held at Blessed Sacrament Social Hall on February 25th from 6:30 – 8 pm.  Everyone is invited; parents, families, friends! Lets recognize our Scouts’ great accomplishments!  I will have more details in the next couple of weeks but please plan on attending if you can!

Thanks,

Mr. Turner

 The weather was just right, the location couldn’t be better, the food was amazing and the execution was first rate!!

What a glorious weekend at McDowell Mountain Regional Park for our annual Webelos Weekend recruiting effort.  The planning, which Mr. Cole started 6 months ago paid off with some 10 very engaged Webelos showing up and the accolades that followed from their parents and Cub Scout leaders who joined us for the afternoon and evening.  Mr. Patton’s expertise at working with the scouts to put up the monkey bridge Saturday morning was much appreciated as always.  On Saturday our three patrols did a very nice job leading the demonstrations of search and rescue, first aid and first safety / starting.  It was great to see our own 11 year old scouts taking charge and using the BSA EDGE method of teaching (Explain, Demonstrate, Guide and Enable) with the 10 year old Webelo visitors:  how quickly they learned!

Saturday evening was the pinnacle of the weekend with entertainment for everyone.  With the campfire roaring there was enough room for everyone to sit around, talk and laugh and just have a nice evening together.  The skits the each patrol did around the campfire received big laughs and applause.  It never ceases to amaze me what clever little skits these young men developed.  Mr. John Butler was gracious enough to once again come out and provide astronomy presentation with the night sky providing a wonderful real world experience.  And with three of his powerful telescopes set up those who took advantage were able to see stars, planets, constellations and galaxies in the heavens that still hold the attention of young and old alike.

The evening was capped with a flag retirement ceremony, which never fails to somber the crowd as they watch the boys lay a threadbare American flag on the fire for an end to its glorious life.  It was very touching when one of our youngest scouts came up to me as we were lining up to retire flags and asked if he could participate, to which I replied “of course!”  He rounded up a couple of his compadres and they followed the lead of the older scouts without a hitch.  And that is why we love scouting!

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you about the amazing culinary experience we adults had this weekend.  Mr. Parizek took on the task of combining the requirements for the new cooking merit badge that three of our almost-Eagle Scouts need with the cooking needs of the adult leaders.  And this wasn’t an ordinary cooking effort as there were over 80 mouths to feed Saturday night as a number of parents joined us for the campfire festivities.  Watching Mr. P lead these three young chefs in food prep and safety, cooking, presentation and clean up was a thing of beauty.  I know I speak for all of us as we raise our canteens on a job well done and sincerely appreciated.

Mr. Turner

Good morning Troop 648,

Mr. McFetters has put together the attached PDF document which lays out the details for the T648’s annual ski outing February 7 – 9 in the White Mountains.  Please read the attached very carefully if you plan to attend and feel free to contact Mr. McFetters if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Mr. Turner

2014 Ski Outing Info

It’s a quiet Sunday morning and I’ve had time to reflect on the day yesterday at the Sunshine Acres Children’s Home.   The latest Eagle Project for Mr. Yu was a thing of beauty and a testament to what can be done when some 50 motivated scouts, friends and adults come together for a good cause.  I encourage you to watch the “About Us” video on the Sunshine Acres website (http://sunshineacres.org) and know that one of your soon-to-be Eagles rallied his Troop in support of this organization!  With stellar direction from some of our adult leaders who worked closely on the project from the design phase we ended up with impressive results.  I had no idea that the Sunshine Acres Children Home located at the 202 and Higley was such an expansive compound providing rich opportunities for those whose life circumstances are far from ideal.  The T648 folks started rolling around 8 AM to find that the Yu’s had things ready to go.  Two of the three teams hit the ground running and cleaned up and painted a swing set as well as some wrought iron patio furniture was in need of lots of TLC.  The third team was asked to build a new ramada and grill area next to an existing pavilion near the entrance of Sunshine Acres.  With some working on laying the concrete block for the grilling area the others turned their focus to erecting the ramada.  As is the case in projects of this size and scope it was that one missing “L” bracket that showed down progress.  But a quick trip to the hardware store remedied that and we were back in business.  In typical scout fashion, the project was moving along and then finished in a flurry with the pinnacle having everyone pitch in to lift the newly stained and assembled 12 x 12 topper trellis into place on top of the support structure.  Sort of looked like an old fashioned barn raising where everyone moves in unison as a well oiled machine!!  With a group photo and a quick clean up it was done!  The last vehicles rolled out of the parking lot at 1:30…. right on schedule.   Congratulations on a project well done and hats off to all that showed up to support.  I’m sure the Yu family is enjoying a well deserved rest and giving thanks this morning.

Tuesday’s troop meetings this month are  focused on the build up to Webelos Weekend, which will be Saturday, January 25 at McDowell Mountain Regional Park north of Fountain Hills.  I encourage all to drive out on Saturday for a few hours to see your scouts in action and watch as they lead the interested Webelo recruits around the camp and demonstrate various skills and troop activities.  It would be a testament to the possible recruits (and more importantly their parents) to see the support we have from all of the Troop 648 family so come out for a cup of coffee or hot cocoa during the day or better yet bring a chair and a warm jacket and join us around the camp fire Saturday night for a few hours with a darn good group of people!  The skits will make you laugh and in a world where you often hear disparaging things about this generation of youth I promise you’ll leave us with a smile and positive outlook on this group of up and coming leaders.

Have a great week everyone!

Mr. Turner

Good morning T648

Hope you all had a nice break and are ready to take on the new year with renewed energy and appreciation.  January is shaping up to be a busy month.  We have our PLC meeting tomorrow at 6 pm before the regular troop meeting.  It is crucial that all of the PLC show up tomorrow as we are ramping up our planning for Webelos Weekend which takes place at the McDowell Mountain Regional Park January 25/26.  Mr. Cole is leading the charge lining up adults and scouts who will be leading the activities.

Webelos Weekend is one of the cornerstones to the recruitment effort of new scouts into 648. As we do not have a feeder Cub Scout pack per se, we rely on personal relationships and WW as our primary source of new scouts.  It is imperative that we have a strong turnout to WW by all of our scouts and adult leaders and I would encourage others to stop by on Saturday for a visit even if just a few hours.  We typically have hot cocoa going later in the day and it is quite impressive to see our scouts lead the younger boys around demonstrating skills and activities all the while.  Temperatures typically range from the high 60s during the day down to the mid 40s at night so pretty darn pleasant weather for everyone!  Please contact Mr. Cole, Mr. Benyi or myself if you have any questions and see you in less than three weeks!!

On Saturday (the 11th) Mr. Yu’s Eagle Project will be taking place.   I will circulate more details later in the week but each scout is expected to support these Eagle Projects and remember that one day it will be your turn so do that good turn daily (on Saturday) and show up to support Mr. Yu!!

Mr. Turner

As we close in on the end of another year I’m struck by what a great group of fine young men we have in Troop 648.  It is time to count our collective blessings and for those of us who have chosen to be involved in Scouting I truly believe we do that more than others.  You see we realize the potential in all young boys who walk through our door and have seen how scouting transforms lives.  This month’s Scouting magazine has an opening letter from our Chief Scout Executive, Mr. Wayne Brock.  In his letter, CSE Brock shared the following words, which he uses to open when he speaks at local organizations or BSA events.

“Every baby boy is evidence that God is not yet discouraged with men.

Every boy is an invitation for us to try again.

And every boy deserves our best efforts.

What kind of boy is he?

Any kind.

His skin may be any color.

He can live in any kind of house.

He may be a healthy, alter youth or one with special challenges.

He can be any kind of boy — but the magic of the uniform gets him off to an even start — and there is a place for him in Scouting.”

As we gear up for Webelos Weekend, let’s keep these words in mind as who know who will walk though the door of Troop 648 and we want to be prepared to accept them for who they are.

On Saturday,  we had 10 scouts and 6 adults show up bright and early at Mr. Kramer’s house to change the flat tire on the canoe trailer.  Each boy was able to spin the wrench or air the tire or jack the jack in this collective effort.  It looks like we will be replacing both tires as they are at the end of their useful life.  Thanks to all who showed up and thanks to Mr. Kramer for allowing the canoe trailer to be parked at this house.  10 scouts to 24 glazed krispy kreme donuts, well you do the math.  Let’s just say there were just crumbs left when we wrapped up at 9:30.

It was the Krispy Kreme Donuts!

So no scout meeting on Tuesday, the 24th and no scout meeting on Tuesday the 31st.  We will resume our activities on January 7th (and have a PLC meeting that night as well) as we prepare for Webelos Weekend on January 24/25/26.  Mr. Cole is coordinating efforts around Webelos Weekend and I would ask that we all make a special effort to make ourselves available to support as we look to recruit another round of prospective Boy Scouts into Troop 648.

For those of you taking the Communications Merit Badge class from Mr. Conrad, please print off and review workbooks and the merit badge handbook before the two classes on January 14 and January 21.  If you haven’t already, see Mr. Turner for a blue card.

Please mark your calendars for Mr. Yu’s Eagle Project, which will take place on Saturday, January 11th.  More details will forthcoming from Mr. Yu so stay tuned and let’s have a great turnout to support this fine scout’s Eagle Project!

I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and healthy and prosperous New Year!

Mr. Turner

Troop 648,

Why do I have to miss out on the good outings like Mayer is what I was asking myself after welcoming the troop home at the Blessed Sacrament parking lot this afternoon.  The troops started rolling in around 1:30 and were none the worse for wear but easy for me to say.  We had fourteen brave scouts and five adventuresome adults head to the high country south of Mayer on Friday afternoon.  If you recall, we went to Mayer in October 2012 and had a most wonderful outing even though the temperatures dropped to the low teens Saturday night.  Well not to be undone it sounds as if this trip saw temperatures get awfully close to single digits on Friday night.  But with an infamous Mr. Traynor bonfire to keep everyone thawed there was no real damage done to flesh or bone.  The weekend had scouts advancing working on Wilderness Survival Skills with Mr. Conrad and generally enjoying the wonderful setting.  Similar to a year earlier, the scouts had to lend some muscle pushing vehicles up the steep and slippery forest service roads  as the troop headed back to the blacktop in Mayer.  A special shoutout to Mr. Traynor for leading the effort and thanks to Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Parizek, Mr. Conrad and Mr. Benyi for rounding out the leadership crew.   Also, thanks to the Mr. Kramer the younger and Mr. DeAngelis the youngest for showing their flexibility even thought this wasn’t the outing they signed up for since their wasn’t enough snow for snowshoeing, which is now scheduled for March.   Just so you now, one of our newer scouts, Mr. McFetters the youngest went on the outing and stuck it out through the cold.  Instead of staying home where it was nice and cozy, this fine young man decided to brave the elements as part of the Turtles Patrol!  It is young men like this that makes us all proud to be associated with Troop 648.

Looking ahead, we have our monthly adult leader meeting tomorrow (Monday) night at the Scottsdale Worship Center starting at 7 pm.

On Tuesday night at our regular troop meeting we have the Iron Chef cook-off taking place.  Patrol Leaders (Mr. DeAngelis, Mr. Demski and Mr. Turner) need to follow through with  those responsible for bringing the food.   PLs should use the Roster contact list on the troop website to access adult emails and phone numbers and reach out no later than Monday night so we can have a successful cook off on Tuesday night!

Thanks!  Mr. Turner

Hello all,

As we look ahead to this week I wanted to let you know that we have a busy week coming up with the following schedule:

6 pm on Tuesday, December 3rd – PLC Meeting

7 pm on Tuesday, December 3rd – Troop Meeting

7 pm on Tuesday, December 3rd – Committee Meeting (next door to Troop Meeting)

5 pm on Friday, December 6th – Mayer Base Camp Outing

Our monthly outing is now going to be a base camp outing that will be held near Mayer, AZ and will be a skills outing.   We had planned a snowshoeing outing in the Flagstaff area but the lack of snow led us to switch to Mayer (we plan on doing the snowshoeing outing in March).  Mr. Traynor is the adult in charge with Mr. Kramer the scout in charge.  Unless the leaders have other plans, we typically meet at 5 pm in the Blessed Sacrament parking lot to load up the Troop Trailer for the trip north.  This trip to Mayer will be “cooler” (although not nearly as cold as last October).  Slight chance of rain next weekend with highs in the upper 40s and lows in the lower 30s so plan accordingly!  Each patrol will need to organize, bring and prepare their own meals for Saturday and Sunday (two breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner) so plan accordingly through your patrol leader.

The Iron Chef competition was rescheduled for December 10th during our regular Troop Meeting.  Each patrol should be prepared for this event.  Contact your patrol leaders with any questions and be prepared to sample some top flight cuisine!!

Mr. Turner

I thought I would share this piece that aired on KTAR today about the Miracle League of Arizona (http://bit.ly/17IVflh). A few of our scouts have taken advantage of the opportunity to serve MLAZ and earn about 1 1/2 service hours each Saturday that they volunteer as a “buddy” to one of the special needs athletes.
If you’re looking for service hours, this is a great opportunity and although the fall season ends this Saturday (3 seasons per year and 8 weeks per season), the winter season will be starting up on January 11th (www.mlaz.org).

See me or Mr. Turner the younger if you’re interested or have any questions.

Mr. Turner

Dear T648,

I write this as the sun is setting and footballs games are wrapping up on another beautiful Sunday afternoon in Arizona.   It was a wonderful two nights of camping at a spot in a grove of mesquite trees about 1/2 mile from the Agua Fria River, which I didn’t realize is a 120 mile long river whose headwaters are located about 20 miles east-northeast of Prescott ending at Lake Pleasant.  Although it was a short hike with our backpacks Friday night it was probably just perfect for our four newest scouts who seemed to have a great time running around looking for and finding treasures and bugs and beetles and spiders and who knows what else.   Mr. Gingrich headed up around noon on Friday (thanks Mr. G!) to secure our spot and was waiting for us as we descended en masse upon the campsite about 8:30 pm.  Soon after there was a fire blazing in the pit and boys running around putting up tents and hammocks.  A few showers fell Friday through the night but not enough to deter a couple of scouts from sleeping under the stars (and then under trees!).  Saturday was for some nice day hikes down to the Aqua Fria River where there was water running and boys jumping from rock to rock as we worked our way upstream.  Some beautiful petroglyphs were just above the river and all of this some 50 miles north of Phoenix.  After lunch another group of us headed out for a long hike to see some old cattle corrals and a silver mine that was abandoned in the 1930s.  As the sun set another fire was lit and our Assistant Scoutmasters buckled down for over 3 hours of First Class Boards with two scouts, Mr. Yu and Mr. Galvin passing with flying colors.  We broke camp and loaded up for the short drive home but not before stopping in Rock Springs for some well deserved homemade piece of pie!  Seemed like we had lots of satisfied customers as we finished the drive to Blessed Sacrament arriving a little before noon today.   Thanks to those who participated in this fine outing, including all of the adult leaders who give so graciously of their time to support this fine group of young men!

Have a wonderful week and see you Tuesday night at Blessed Sacrament for our regular troop meeting!

Thanks,

Mr. Turner