Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

The “Desert Clean Up” 2019 will take place on the morning of February 9th. We would like to start around 9 am and finish up around Noon. This is a good way to continue to rack up those service hours that are due for each rank advancement, and specifically for Life Rank where Conservation Service Hours are also required. If anyone knows of a deserved place to clean up please let me know. My current choice is an area where we used to live near Jomax and Tatum. A tremendous amount of dumping has occurred there year after year, and it’s a great feeling to make your community and desert landscape look as pretty as it can be. I already have some interested Scouts and leaders who have RSVP’d, but now that we have a date, I’ll ask everyone to let me know whether or not they are able to attend. E-mail me at hornetdermdoc@gmail.com so that we can get a head count. Thanks

The date for the First Aid Merit Badge (Eagle required) will be Februrary 10th at 10 AM. We will attempt to do this in the usual meeting room. We will probably need to go into the afternoon to complete and demonstrate all the skills, depending on how many sign up. I will provide lunch in the form of pizza pies. If I find out that a lot of people who need this required Merit Badge soon can’t make it, then we will look for another date. If you are interested in the Badge, or if you are an adult who can spare some time to come by in order to keep 2 deep leadership, please e-mail me at hornetdermdoc@gmail.com

Mr Blair

Troop 648 Scoutmaster

This past weekend eleven T648 snowmen headed up the big I-17 hill to embark upon a frosty adventure at the south rim of the Grand Canyon – a real price performer of a ‘wonders of the world’ category campout thanks to the federal government shutdown.  While certain amenities like pay booths, visitor centers and Bright Angel trails were not available, there was plenty of snow, laughs, wild life, food and rim trail along the canyon to satisfy the most discriminating outdoorsman.  Highlights included shirt and pant layering and sleeping bags within sleeping bags to counter the temperature in the teens; deer, elk, coyote and raven sightings everywhere; creative breakfast cooking to overcome diced tomatoes freezing the moment they were cut and water cubes that were frozen solid.  Heard in the morning – ‘I’m so cold, I can’t feel my nose’ – ‘Have you tried with your finger?’  A few new memories for this old scouter: playing Frisbee in the morning with the washcloths that had been laid flat on the table to ‘dry’ overnight; the pure wonder of a young scout who found a deer leg bone complete with fur still attached; watching the patrols attempt to use anything available to heat their dinners – stoves, campfire, portable fire pit, charcoal; an excited exploration of bear tracks in the snow, and what the scouts insisted was blood frozen on the ground behind the tents; the sheer poetry in motion of three adult leaders flying around the outdoor kitchen such that all the ingredients came off the grills and burners at the precise moment to warm the tummies rather than gather frost.  We joined the local avian thieves in ‘raven’ about the fantastic meals!  But the topper, as always, was witnessing a group of young men enjoying each others’ company while learning to thrive in whatever conditions our beautiful world provides – and our world doesn’t get much more beautiful than at the Grand Canyon dusted in snow under crystal blue skies.

Greetings!

Thank you to all who participated in our Philmont information meeting last week. Philmont is without a doubt the pinnacle scouting experience and I encourage any eligible scouts (14 years old, 1st Class by June 1, 2020) to consider attending. There will be a maximum of 12 participants on our crew departing in June of 2020 and we will fill the crew on a first come, first served basis.

In order for us to have our crew participate, I will need to have a minimum of seven (7) scouts and/or adults pay the $200 deposit no later than 1/29/19. If you know you are planning to attend, please bring your deposit to the Troop meeting tomorrow. If you have questions about Philmont, please let me know.

For the summer of 2019, the Troop is going to attend summer camp at beautiful Camp Raymond near Flagstaff, Arizona. Camp will run this year from Sunday, June 23 – Saturday, June 29 and the total cost of camp is only $375 for the week. There will be a wide range of Merit Badge opportunities and other programs, as well as a brand new high adventure program for older scouts.

Please let me know if you plan to participate in Summer Camp this year, and pay a $100 deposit by 2/12/19. I will follow up with more specific logistical information about camp, along with the full payment schedule and merit badge programs over the course of the next couple weeks.

Thanks! – Mr. Benyi

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/010-2019PlumbingMB (Plumbing Merit Badge) – January 27^th) â€“ PIPE and UA Local 469

https://mim.org/events/boy-scout-badge-day-feb-9-2019/ (Music Merit Badge) – February 9th) â€“ MIM

Please email Lee at lshedroff@aol.com for more information  (Stamp Collecting Merit Badge) – February 16^th or 17^th)

https://scoutingevent.com/010-23519 (Nuclear Science Merit Badge – March 2^nd)- APS

https://scoutingevent.com/010-marchhorsemb(Horsemanship MB)-Opens January 28^th to register

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2019stemmbu(Animation, Chess, Drafting, Graphic Arts and Game Design)-University of Advanced Tech.-March 30^th

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

https://scoutingevent.com/010-2019SoaringEaglesMBClinic (11 Eagle Required Merit Badges) – May 4^th (ALMOST SOLD OUT)

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

*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

Troop 648,

We are looking at setting up the “Desert Clean Up” 2019 for the morning of February 9th. We would like to start around 9 am and finish up around Noon. This is a good way to continue to rack up those service hours that are due for each rank advancement, and specifically for Life Rank where Conservation Service Hours are also required. If anyone knows of a deserved place to clean up please let me know. My current choice is an area where we used to live near Jomax and Tatum. A tremendous amount of dumping has occurred there year after year, and it’s a great feeling to make your community and desert landscape look as pretty as it can be. I already have some interested Scouts and leaders who have RSVP’d, but now that we have a date, I’ll ask everyone to let me know whether or not they are able to attend. E-mail me at hornetdermdoc@gmail.com so that we can get a head count. Thanks

Mr Blair

Troop 648 Scoutmaster

Troop 648,

I am setting a tentative date for the First Aid Merit Badge (Eagle required). We will attempt to do this in the usual meeting room on February 10th at 9 am. We will probably need to go into the afternoon to complete and demonstrate all the skills, depending on how many sign up. I will provide lunch in the form of pizza pies. If I find out that a lot of people who need this required Merit Badge soon can’t make it, then we will look for another date. If you are interested in the Badge, or if you are an adult who can spare some time to come by in order to keep 2 deep leadership, please e-mail me at hornetdermdoc@gmail.com

Mr Blair

Troop 648 Scoutmaster

Troop 648,

Just got back from feed my starving children today with many of the Cub Scouts from Pack 647 and and few Scouts from 648. I want to thank Liam B and his father, Michael D and his mother, Arjun B and his family, Mr Cole and Pastor Kevin for setting everything up. It was a great event. The entire group, and others that joined, produced 59,400 meals. Enough to feed 162 children 3 meals a day for a year. Thanks again for everyone’s help. Those were 2 very well deserved service hours. Have a great weekend.

Mr Blair

Troop 648 Scoutmaster

Troop 648 Leaders,

We have a great trip planned in Havasupai Falls near the end of March. In order to secure permits for this area we need to be on-line as soon as the permits open on February 1st at 8 am. They only give out a certain number of permits and they go fast. The Activity Committee was thinking that if we had a handful of people on a conference call, and trying to get on-line permits secured at the same time when it opens up we may have a chance to obtain the number we need. If you are available during this time, and are able to help, please let myself or Dr Egan know. We’ll gather more info and disseminate to the brave souls willing to help (we hear the website is very stressful). My contact info is hornetdermdoc@gmail.com. Dr Egan’s is jcegan91@gmail.com

Thank you

Mark

Troop 648,

We are interested in getting together a group of Scouts and Leaders to be part of a Desert Clean up project. This can be used for service hours and specifically Conservation Service Hours for older Scouts needed this for Rank Advancement. This should be a fun outing, and a great community project. I’ll see if we can get some media involved as well. Time and place to be determined, but it would be nice to try to complete in the next couple months while it’s cool out still. Once I get a descent number together we’ll figure out a good time and place. If you are interested please e-mail me at hornetdermdoc@gmail.com

Mr Blair

Scoutmaster Troop 648