Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Dear Parents,

Our annual T648 Pancake Breakfast and Silent Auction is scheduled for Saturday, April 27 at Chaparral Christian Church. As in past years, there will be a Patrol Basket raffle. Since April is a busier month for some, we would like to start collecting basket items now. Historically, the patrol raffle baskets have been a huge success! Let’s continue the trend!!

We need your help to make the basket raffle a big success! Each patrol has a basket theme. We are asking every scout family to donate an item according to their son’s patrol basket theme. We suggest the value be $15+, but please give whatever you feel most comfortable donating. No donation is too big or too small. If you prefer, you can opt to procure a donated item or gift card from a business to add to the patrol basket on behalf of your family.

Items should be new. Suggested items to donate are listed below, but any theme-appropriate item will be appreciated. The more exciting the basket, the more money it will generate from raffle ticket sales. Please note: Every Scout who donates an item or gift card to a raffle basket will receive a portion of the raffle proceeds. Earnings will be deposited into their troop account.

Please send in donations to a weekly troop meeting:

Basket Theme- Movie Night!

Pirates Patrol:

Drew Achor – Scout in charge of basket – Jody Achor – Parent Liaison – rspmdja@aol.com
Aiden Brown
Zane Gay
Sean Heart
Michael McFetters
David Yu

Ideas: Harkins, AMC, iPic, Netfilx, etc. Gift Cards, theatre size candy, Popcorn, bowls,

Basket Theme – For the Camper

Serpents Patrol:

Ryan Bollimpolli – Scout in charge of basket – Lita Bollimpolli-Parent Liaison – litabolli@hotmail.com
Ian Achor
Stephan Mechsner
Ryan Egan
Will Saba
Will Starr
Chaz Carson

Ideas: REI Gift card, high quality flash lights or head lamp, backpacking food, s’more fixins, playing cards, etc

Basket Theme – Spa Night

Raptors Patrol:

Aidan Tumminello – Scout in charge of basket – Anthony Tumminello – Parent Liason – actumminello@hotmail.com

Liam Brotherton
Eric Achor
Zach Egan
Samson Gay
Quentin Komar

Ideas: Gift cards to salons or spa’s, popular beauty products, spa wraps, candles

Basket Theme – Family Night Out

Royals Patrol:

Jacob Hoberg-Scout in charge of basket-Lisa Hoberg – Parent Liaison- lmhoberg@cox.net
Arjun Blair
Michael DeBarros
Isaac Englehard
Dylan Carson
Nicholas Muller-Vega
Kaden Proctor

Ideas: Restaurant gift cards, dessert gift cards (Coldstone, Baskin Robbins), activity gift cards (Top Golf, pottery painting),etc.

Thank you in advance for your support and generosity! Please contact the scout or parent liaison in charge if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jody Achor

Hello Scouts!

We’re excited to invite you to our first ever ScoutCon event at the Heard Scout Pueblo at South Mountain in Phoenix!  ScoutCon is Scout focused gaming convention with tabletop games, board games, card games, outdoor games, and even a Cosplay and costume competition!  We will also host Game Design and Chess merit badge workshops, as well as tutorials on how to play Magic the Gathering and Pokemon trading card games, culminating in a tournament on Saturday.  It’s all fun and games at ScoutCon, on top of a night of camping!

You can come individually or with your patrol or troop, so feel welcome to invite your friends as this is an overnight provisional troop event. You can choose to either camp outdoors or spend a night in a bunk at the Heard.  We encourage you to bring your favorite games to share and teach others, and to leave the electronics at home so you can join the fun and games at the Heard! 

There is no need to bring your class As or field uniform, but we welcome you to bring and wear costumes and hope you enter the Cosplay contest on Saturday. Costumes will be judged on creativity, conformity to lore, story, and hero. No true weapons allowed, so leave those battle axes and swords at home! There will be tournaments and cosplay contests for both Scouts and Adults.

ScoutCon! Sessions offers two camping experiences over spring break:  

Session #1 March 15-16 – Friday 7:00PM-Saturday 4:30PM

Session #2 March 22-23 – Friday 7:00PM-Saturday 4:30PM

Camp Fees:   $30.00 paid by March 8^th – Tent camping

                        $35.00 paid by March 8^th – Bunk in the Pueblo

  $25.00 paid by March 8^th – Mission Support- Those who would like to assist at the event during part of the time. You must be 16 and First Class.

                       * Fees increase by $5.00 after March 9^th.

* fees include Cracker-barrel snacks, Breakfast, Lunch, games, tournaments, supplies and camping fees.

For more information, our ScoutCon brochure and schedule can be downloaded here.

Registration can be found at https://scoutingevent.com/010-2019ScoutCon

We hope to see you there! If you have any questions, please feel welcome to contact us at:

Lynda Hale                  630-631-2871    lyndahale3@gmail.com  

Donna Kutarnia           480-330-8810    donna.kutarnia@scouting.org

Greetings!

This is a reminder that we will hold our quarterly Parent & Committee Meeting tomorrow, 3/5/19, at 7:00pm. We will discuss a number of subjects including the upcoming Pancake Breakfast and Summer Camp.

Note: Our usual location in the Conference Room is not available, so we will meet in a room immediately adjacent to the Choir Room instead. (The Choir Room is just north of the regular Troop Meeting area, across from Andie’s Coffee Shop.)

All committee members, leaders, and interested parents or guardians are invited and welcome to attend. We hope to see you there!

Here are some of the links to our upcoming Merit Badge Clinics (all of these will fill up fast!):

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2019InsectStudyMB(Insect Study Merit Badge – Multiple Days) â€“ Butterfly Wonderland 

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2019MammalStudyMB (Mammal Study Merit Badge – Multiple Days) â€“ Odysea Aquarium

https://scoutingevent.com/010-pangeaarchmb(Archeology Merit Badge) – March 24^th) – Pangaea Land of the Dinosaurs

https://scoutingevent.com/010-pangaealandmb(Archeology Merit Badge) – March 30th)  â€“ Pangaea Land of the Dinosaurs

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2019riflemb (Rifle Merit Badge) – April 27^th)

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2019MayRoboticsMB(Robotics Merit Badge) – May 4^th) â€“ Legoland

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2019FallNuclearScienceMB (Nuclear Science Merit Badge) – September 14^th) – APS

https://scoutingevent.com/010-midwesternmb(Dentistry, Medicine or Vet Medicine) – September 28^th)

https://scoutingevent.com/010-septplumbingmb(Plumbing Merit Badge) – September 29^th) â€“ PIPE and UA Local 469

 https://scoutingevent.com/010-citizenshipinthenation(Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge) – October 12^th)

*SAVE THE DATE* Ashley Furniture HomeStore Merit Badge Day (At least 8) – October 26^th at the Tempe Location

*SAVE THE DATE* Grand Canyon Council BIG Merit Badge Expo – November 1st-3rd at the Heard Scout Pueblo Scout Camp (At least 35 Merit Badges)

Look for upcoming Electronics, Aviation, and more Merit Badge Clinic Dates.

Dear Troop 648 Scout families:

I hope everyone has been busy seeking silent auction items for our Annual Pancake Breakfast & Silent Auction on Saturday, April 27!  The big event is two months from tomorrow so I’m anxious to see what items have been collected.  Last year’s silent auction had more than 80 items so let’s all work hard together and try to top that!

Scouts are encouraged to solicit or donate items to be included in the Silent Auction.  In years past, Scouts have been very successful in soliciting donations (gift certificates, goods and services) from local restaurants, shops and service providers.  Last year items donated to the auction included tickets to sporting events, concert tickets, restaurant gift cards, Ninja Camp, gift baskets, sunglasses, sports memorabilia and so much more.  The ideas are endless!

To help, we have made two documents available for your use.  The first is a Donation Request Letter.  I would suggest having your son practice his “pitch” before entering a business.  Use this letter as a guide to solicit donations.  This letter is usually a key factor and often essential when trying to obtain donations because it’s on Troop 648 letterhead and includes CCC’s 501(c)3 number. The second document is a Donation Form that you give to businesses once they agree to make a donation.  Make several copies of each document to hand out.  Last but not least, be sure your Scout wears his clean Class A uniform when he solicits businesses.

Please be aware that we are not able to accept alcoholic beverage items or tobacco products as auction items.  It is against BSA policy.

Auction items will be displayed for silent bidding during the event.  Scouts will receive a percentage of the purchase price for each item they secure or donate.  Funds raised will go directly to their individual Scout account.  Their Scout account funds can be used to pay for Scout-related items such as summer camp, new uniform items they grow out of, camping equipment, monthly camp outings, etc.

This event can’t be successful without everyone’s support.  Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you!

Barb Starr

Road closures and winter weather couldn’t stop Troop 648 pressing forward with our annual ski outing February 22-24.  11 Scouts and 4 adults made the trek to Show Low where we enjoyed tremendous comforts in the rented cabin.  After arriving late Friday, a team quickly began shoveling the driveway in the dark!  Saturday weather was cold and sunny, perfect for skiing.  We divided into 4 groups according to skill level and after a morning of great slopes met in the parking lot for a wonderful “tail-gate” lunch.  The entire group made sure to take advantage of the sublime conditions right up until the lifts closed at 4PM!  Saturday evening was spent with board games and exciting recounts of the day’s events.  From falls to jumps everyone had a favorite memory.  Special thanks go out to Mrs. Achor who masterminded the accommodations and coordinated the meals

Troop 648,

Just a quick reminder that this week’s Troop meeting is set up as an Open House for prospective Cub Scouts thinking about joining our Troop. All the Patrols have been working hard on their station activities. They will show the Scouts what some of the fun things they can do and learn in Scouting. If any of the Patrol leaders need any materials for their station, please remember to bring them, or reach out to those that can help you obtain the things you’ll need to impress the Scouts and put on a good show. See everyone tomorrow (2/26).

Mr Blair
Troop 648 Scoutmaster

I wanted to thank everyone that came and supported me in my journey in scouts and towards the Eagle rank. The Yee Fung Toy also would like to express their greatness towards everyone as well, they are awestruck that with the work we had completed.

From David Yu

Troop 648,

The Activity Committee Meeting members discussed how we can try to keep track of adults and Scouts who are attending events better. We want to try to encourage everyone to not just RSVP if they are going, but try to start RSVP’ing “No” if they know they can not attend. As the Adult Leaders check on Scoutbook, and we see some some “maybe”‘s or undecided Scouts, we may actually reach out to the parents or the Scouts to ask them if they have decided whether or not they are attending. Thanks again in advance for your continued support of the Troop and helping us run an efficient and smooth running program.

Mr Blair

Troop 648 Scoutmaster

Troop 648,

Next week is our next COH, where we recognize all the Scouts who worked hard and will be rewarded by officially receiving their Rank Advancements and Merit Badges. We will also be taking a long overdue Troop Photo. This has not been done in a while and we thought it would be the perfect place to get everyone in one place. Class A’s as always and Merit Badge Sashes would be very appreciated. Also, make sure you spread the word to as many Scouts in the Troop as possible so that we can have maximum participation for the Photo. Thanks in advanced, and see everyone Tuesday (2/19/19).

Mr Blair
Troop 648 Scoutmaster