Posted by Mark Blair in Normal. Comments Off on Upcoming CPR class
Below is a message from Pastor Kevin
I would like to invite you to our upcoming CPR/First Aid Class. Â I hold one of these each year for anyone who is interested in maintaining their training and certification. Â In prior years we’ve had several older Boy Scouts join us too which is always great! Â Please share and let me know if anyone is interested in attending:
CPR/AED/FIRST AID CERTIFICATIONSaturday, February 15, 20208:00am – 11:30am (Andie’s Coffee will be open @ 7:30am!)Chaparral Christian Church – Kid Central, Room 10Reserve your spot IN ADVANCE with Pastor Kevin (simply reply to this email) along with cash or check made payable to “Chaparral Christian Church” for the amount due, listed here:Adults = $37.00/person or $22.00 for just the CPR portion only (CPR section ends at 10am)Youth* = $27.00/person or $15.00 for just the CPR portion only (CPR section ends at 10am)
*anyone under 18 years of age.
This single morning together will cover certification for performing CPR, AED, & First Aid skills on Infant, Child, and Adult subjects. Â For the class portion(s) you complete, you will receive a certification card(s) upon completion and the certification is good for 2 years. Â Please reply to this email and let me know you plan to attend – I will reserve a space for you. Â Thank you. PLEASE RSVP TO PASTOR KEVIN TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE:Â KEVIN.KRAMAR@CHAPARRAL.ORG
Posted by Mark Blair in Normal. Comments Off on This Week’s Upcoming Troop Meeting (1/14/19)
Please disregard the announcement that we will be holding our next week’s Troop meeting at the East Hall Student Center. It will be in the usual Meeting Room (The Forum). See everyone then.
Posted by Mark Blair in Normal. Comments Off on Welcome Back Troop 648
Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a fun and restful Holiday break. Just a friendly reminder that we have a PLC Meeting this Tuesday at 6:00PM in the Meeting room. That will be followed by our first general meeting of 2020 at 7:00PM. See everyone then!
Posted by Mark Blair in Normal. Comments Off on Tonight’s CPK Meeting and Next Week’s Orienteering Meeting
A Big Thank you to all the Scouts, family and friends who came out to support the CPK event. I’ll let everyone know how well we did once I hear back from the restaurant. Another special thanks to Mr Cole and the selected Scouts who headed out to hang (or learn how to hang) a c/hristmas Tree Upside down. I heard it was a great success, and another good deed done.
Next week’s meeting is going to be lead by Arjun, and he plans on having a speaker from the Orienteering Club of Phoenix come and speak about different aspects and back ground on Orienteering. Should be a great talk. See everyone at the usual meeting place, and have a great week.
Posted by DCole in Normal. Comments Off on Wet ‘n Wild at Canyon Lake
Seven T648 scouts with a couple of adults in tow headed out of the valley and into the cloud-filled canyons of the Superstitions for their much balmier than normal December outing. Camping lakeside at Canyon Lake, we soon discovered that we would be the only humans daft enough to be tent camping this wet weekend, giving the feeling of being out in the wild even though we were only down the road from an RV Park and the dock for Dolly Steamboat. I say ‘humans’, because as we arrived, it was like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Birds’, we had ducks invading camp, and even waddling into open tents, with the sky and trees filled with grackles. The scouts immediately set upon naming the ducks, leaving the black birds nameless, and thereafter were calling out to Vinnie, Alfred, David and friends and often getting responses back – especially from Vinnie, whose quacking approximated a hysterical laugh. We felt so remote, that one scout began urinating on a tree right next to a building, until being told that the building was actually a full restroom. After lunch was an exceptional hike along the canyon walls with beautiful views of shimmering Boulder Creek and distant views of Weaver’s Needle, and a two-hour football game with an unusual ball – a water bottle. The first few attempts were with an empty Kirkland one, which wasn’t very effective when passed. Using full water bottles worked much better, but after a few times hitting the ground, began leaking. The final solution (a Gatorade bottle), survived the next hour and a half, even when bouncing off of foreheads. While blissfully laying on the grass under a tree watching kayaks and ducks glide past, the following was randomly heard by an adult leader – ‘Can I play UNO if I’m color blind?’ ‘Where are my socks?’ – ‘Have you checked your feet?’, and when called ‘fearless leader’, our outing SPL would launch into Boris Badenov impressions: ‘hmmm, vee muss keel zee moose und zee squirrel.’ Dinner was a smashing success for the hungry hordes, topped off by ginger snap cookies from a boys’ grandmother’s secret recipe, and peppermint bark sent along by another mom angel. From listening to ‘Thorns and Roses’ the next day, the evening to follow was a kind of good news, bad news deal. We had all day with good weather, but it rained at dinner time. However, the good news was we had eaten, cleaned up, and had a fire early, and so went to bed dry at 6:30 when the sky opened up. Bad news – it rained until after midnight, and then started up again before dawn. There were coyote serenades before the morning rains, and duck ones during it. The boys decided that the coyote wails were so unusual, they sounded like they were confused as to whether to laugh or cry – sort of like they had ‘broken their leg, but then had been told a funny joke.’ Good news – the morning rain died down enough for extra-meat burritos to be cooked and consumed by the boys, before bad news – another sprinkle led to an earlier than planned trip home. Strangely, three different coyotes confronted us on the way out – one even in the middle of the one-way bridge, seemingly daring us to stay just one more night.
Who invited the ducks for dinner?Bird’s eye view of Canyon LakeWater bottle boys = football playersDouble meat burritos before the morning rainPlaying coyote chicken on the one-lane bridge driving out of camp
Posted by Mark Blair in Normal. Comments Off on This coming week’s Troop Meeting at CPK
Just a reminder that this coming week’s Troop meeting on 12/10 will be held California Pizza Kitchen located at 10100 N Scottsdale Rd. The PLC has determined that the uniform of the night will be Class A’s. Please wear your usual Troop Meeting uniform for the event.
There will also be the usual Troop Activity Meeting that night, but Also help at CPK. Usual time of 6:00 PM
Posted by DCole in Normal. Comments Off on Boulder Beaching it at Lake Mead
Six scouts and two adult leaders headed for Nevada last Friday night, making it to Kingman for dinner just before they closed Taco Bell and rolled up the sidewalks at 10PM, and then cruised into Boulder Beach, setting up camp right before midnight. The next day was spent playing at the lake and touring the dam creating the lake, and most definitely, a better time could not have been had!
Will fish come if I wait patiently?…or do I have to chase them?Look Ma, I can fish with no hands!Is lashing a weather rock a ‘useful camp gadget?’Hiking from one engineering marvel….…to another.This water slide beats ‘Wet and Wild’ all hollow!And the best part of all? — How far can YOU spit?
Posted by Mark Blair in Normal. Comments Off on Tonight’s Troop Meeting (11/12/19)
Unfortunately the guest speaker Katey McPherson needed to reschedule so parents don’t need to come back for the parent portion of the meeting tonight. In her place, Will is pleased to welcome Allison Tiffany. She’s a full time volunteer at White Tank Mountain Regional Park and an avid animal and nature lover. She’ll be speaking about tracking and animal migration. See you tonight!
Posted by Mark Blair in Normal. Comments Off on This Week’s Troop Meeting
“The Minds of Boysâ€
November 12th
7:05-7:35 pm – Scouts only
7:35-8:05 pm – Parents join Scouts
Nationally renowned speaker Katey McPherson will join us for an interactive workshop on tween and teen boys and how to best reach, teach, and support them.
Katey will spend 30 minutes with the boys sharing her knowledge and experience working in junior high and high schools as a teacher, counselor, and administrator and share information on what kids need most from their parents. With the evolution of technology, our youth are facing new and difficult challenges as they navigate the teen years.
Katey would love for parents to join at 7:35 pm as we work together to strategize best approaches to school, sports, life, and their future.
We hope to have every Scout attend for a packed meeting!
Posted by DCole in Normal. Comments Off on This Outing Was Nobody’s Fool
Six fish-seeking scouts, and four adult leaders along for the ride left the church parking lot on schedule at 5:30PM for Fool Hollow Lake outside of Show Low. There was no time to waste, as the state park gate at the lake closes at 10PM, so since we still had hungry young men to feed in the meantime, Scoutmaster Blair helped speed things up by long-snapping the sleeping bags into the trailer. But alas, long before our interim arrival in Payson for Culvers’ custard, the SUV pulling the trailer was buffeted by such a banging, whipping and clatter just below the Bush Highway exit, that we had to pull off to see what was the matter. Upon further inspection, the rear passenger tire had a steel belt tread separate, and remain attached while battering the poor defenseless vehicle. Long before AAA could possibly respond, our intrepid Scoutmaster left his date night and rode to the rescue with an even bigger and stronger SUV, and we were soon on the road again – only this time able to climb tall mountains with only the change of a single gear. Arriving at our final destination but 15 minutes late (the gate had subsequently been arranged to be left open), setup was cheerfully accomplished before midnight.
Long-snapper Scoutmaster Dr. Blair hiking sleeping bags Tent buddy selection
Waking to 36 degrees and crystal blue skies, our scouts scrambled breakfast, and then set out to save the world (or at least Fool Hollow) through the eradication of invasive species. Moving from thistle (New Mexican) to mistle (toe, that is), our heroic scouts cleared the complete far end of the lake with our shovels and poke-proof (almost!) gloves, and put a dent in the nasty stuff overwhelming a half dozen large juniper trees. Direction and education all morning from Ranger Fran was amazing, and the boys had a ball killing stuff.
T648 magicians performing the great disappearing thistle actNo kissin’ under this pile of mistletoe