Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Hello Troop 648

It is shaping up to be another great trip to the mountains for some fun on the slopes! The following will provide details.

• We will meet, load up and leave from Chaparral Christian Church, back near the shed. Please plan on arriving at 5:00pm with the expectation of leaving at 5:30pm sharp. If this will be a challenge for you, please let me know.
• We are heading back to Snowbowl in the Flagstaff area this year. They have the better snow and conditions. Currently, 100% of the lifts are operating and 26 trails are open.
• We have secured a cabin for our accommodations. I mean, like a really nice cabin!

WHAT I NEED FROM YOU:

• I need to know if your Scout is going.
• I need to know if your Scout is skiing or snowboarding.
• I need to know if  your Scout is renting equipment or not (see below for more info).
• I need to know if your Scout needs a lesson (full day or half day). If this is your Scout’s first time skiing/snowboarding, it’s required. If they have been a few times, they may consider a lesson in the morning as a refresher.
• I need to know same info for any adult going. Yes, adults are welcome!!!
• We have again made arrangements with Ski Pro for equipment rentals. If you are renting:
  • You must go to Ski Pro to get fitted – their address is 2110 E. Camelback Road – just west of 24th street on the north side of Camelback. This location only.
  • Rental will be discounted by 20%, so be sure to pay when you are fitted.
  • While they do rent clothes, they DO NOT RENT HELMETS. Helmets are required per BSA policy. Your Scout will NOT BE ABLE TO SKI/SNOWBOARD if they don’t have a helmet.  When we assemble in the parking lot, we will do a helmet count. If you have an extra helmet and are willing to lend it to a fellow Scout, please let me know. If you don’t have one, try a friend, find something online, use a bike helmet or wrap your head in bubble wrap (kidding).
  • If you are renting, please secure your rentals by the end of day, Saturday, Feb 17th. You can go anytime and I suggest you go sooner rather than later to make sure you can get the equipment you want.
  • If you rent, please be sure to tell Ski Pro you are with BSA Troop 648. Justin is the rental leader and will know about our group. They will aggregate all our rentals under one account. Then please tell me what you have rented and your contract # so we know what to pick up.
  • Andy Gay has graciously offered to pick up all the equipment on Friday, Feb 23rd and will also drop off all the equipment on Sunday, Feb 25th in the afternoon by 4pm.  For the rest of you…no extra work as we will take care of the pick up and drop off for you!
  • We rent in PHX because it saves us A LOT of time and headaches, so thanks for helping.
• Also, please let me know if you are willing to drive (including how many seat belts you have) and if you or your Scout have any dietary restrictions. Remember, adults are welcome! Even encouraged to join us! Cabin, hot showers, a bed!

OTHER INFO

• Your Scout should plan on bringing money or pack a dinner for Friday night. We will stop off at the Anthem food court for dinner on the way up.
• We will eat all meals as a troop. Therefore, Sat breakfast, lunch and dinner and Sunday breakfast will be provided. Total cost will depend on total number of attendees. We will also have gas fees.
• Mr. Parizek will once again be serving his ‘Best Mountain Lunch’ in the parking lot at noon. Winner of the ‘Best of’ award 13 years running!  Thanks Mr. P! Ryan B will be assisting him. Thanks Ryan!
• Total fees for the trip are still to be determined, but are estimated to be:
  • Dinner Friday night = $8-$10 (at your discretion)
  • NEW THIS YEAR: If you can, please secure your Scout (your) lift ticket ahead of time. This will save time when we arrive Saturday morning. You can click here to purchase  – $59 for adults. I believe this represents a savings of $20 if you purchase 48 hours or more in advance. If anyone knows of another place to purchase tickets for less, please let me know asap. You can also purchase your lessons on the website in advance as well, so please do so. And if you do, please let me know so we are not double paying. Your Scout can use his Scout funds if you’d like, just let me know.
  • Snowbowl will be celebrating their 80th season during our time there, so we are expecting larger crowds. They should have some fun activities as well.
  • OPTIONAL: Lessons vary, so please call the resort to discuss – (928) 779-1951. Click here for the lessons page on the website.
  • Rentals $20 (for skis, snowboards are a bit more)
  • Sat+Sunday meals = $20-$40
  • Cabin = $30-$50, depending on number of attendees
  • Gas = $8-$10, depending again on number of attendees
  • We will work hard to keep costs as low as we can
• You can click here for the Snowbowl website and additional information.
• Everyone will need a sleeping bag and sleeping pad as well as a towel, soap and shampoo. We will have the opportunity to clean up after skiing. Also, don’t forgot your winter gear for the mountain.
• Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen!  Please bring plenty as the weather is looking to be clear and sunny. NO SUNBURNS ALLOWED!

This is great trip, don’t miss out!

Thanks,

Scoutmaster T648

Dear Troop 648 Scout Families:

It’s that time of year!! While it is only early February, April 28th will be here before you know it!! For those of you new to the troop this means our Annual Pancake Breakfast and Silent Auction. Troop 648’s largest fundraiser of the year.  The Scouts really need your help and support to make this a success.

Date & Time: Saturday, April 28th @ 7:00 am – 10:30 am

Location: Scottsdale Chaparral Christian Church, 6451 E. Shea Boulevard, Scottsdale, AZ

We all know that “many hands make for light work!”

Patrol Baskets

We will have a parent and a patrol member in charge of working with patrols  on their Patrol Baskets.  A separate email will be sent out outlining what is needed to make the patrol baskets a success.

• Pirates Patrol:  Zack Ramsey (Donna Ramsey)
• Patrol TBD:  Jacob Hoberg (Lisa Hoberg)
• Serpents Patrol: Ryan Bollimpalli (Lita Bollimpalli)
• Raptors Patrol: Liam Brotherton (Allison Wesley)

Silent Auction Items

I am the parent in charge of the Silent Auction and this is my second year. Clara Komar has graciously stepped forward to help organize the Silent Auction with us.

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 area restaurants, shops and service providers.  Last year we even had artwork donated for the auction. The ideas are endless….tickets to sporting events, hotel stays, concerts, music lessons.

To help, we have made two documents available for your use. The first is this – a Donation Request Letter  I would suggest having your son practice his “spiel” prior to entering a business.  Use this letter as a guide to solicit donations.  The second document is a Donor Form that you give to the business once they agree to make a donation.  This letter (which is on T648 letterhead and includes CCC’s 501 (c) (3) number) is usually a key factor and often essential when trying to procure donations.  Make several copies of these to hand out.  Last but not least, be sure your scout wears his clean Class A uniform when he plans to solicit donations.

Please be aware that we are not able to accept alcoholic beverage items or tobacco products as auctions 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 accounts. 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, etc.

As you receive your donated items, please bring them to the upcoming scout meetings.  We will gather the items in preparation for the auction by creating bid sheets and display them nicely.

THE HARD DEADLINE FOR COLLECTING AUCTION ITEMS WILL BE TUESDAY, April, 24th.  No items will be accepted after to allow time to prepare the display.

Pancake Breakfast Wish List Items

If you wish to make a donation to the pancake breakfast, the troop would appreciate gift cards to Wal-Mart, Target and Costco.  This will allow the committee to purchase items like plasticware, paper plates, napkins, food, etc.

Our imminent need will be the commitment from Adults to help set up on the evening prior to the breakfast (Friday, April 27th) and the morning of Saturday, April 28th. Please ink this into your schedule and look for more emails to come outlining what we may need.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Jody Achor

rspmdja@aol.com

310-710-8020

Troop 648 – Here is an update on the Swimming Merit Badge Session being offered the Saturday – 2/10 by Mrs Achor:

Date:                     Saturday, February 10, 2018

Time:                     12:45pm (pool opens at 1:00pm for open swim, be early so we can ensure a good spot)

Location:              Cactus Pool  (7202 E Cactus Rd (Southeast corner of Cactus and Scottsdale Rd))

Admission:          $2.00 fee for Scottsdale residents,  $3.00 fee for Phoenix residents

Prior to Saturday please complete section 1 a, b, 5 c (explain section), d and section 8 of the workbook that can be obtained from http://www.meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Swimming.  We will discuss this prior to getting into the water.  Please be prepared with your bathing suit and a towel.  There are locker rooms for changing if necessary.

Plan to be at the pool for up to two hours.

We currently have 3 Scouts signed up for this class – Make sure you get your Blue Merit Badge Card from Mr Mcfetters tonight (2/6) at the meeting.  If you have any questions please contact me at hornetdermdoc@gmail.com

Mark Blair

Troop 648 Merit Badge Coordinator

Hello Troop 648

A thank you to all those Scouts, Scouters, family and friends that helped this past Sunday, February 4th for Scout Sunday. The group, along with members of Pack 647, greeted Chaparral Christian Church parishioners, opened doors, handed out programs and manned the mini Boy Scout Museum display. We had a great response from the church and guests.

A special thanks to Jacob Hoberg for organizing, getting people to sign-up in the weeks leading up to the event and for leading the group on Sunday. Also, thanks to Lisa Hoberg for her help organizing and to Dean Butler for setting up and working the museum. It was a lot of fun and thanks to all!

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

Dr. Blair is scheduling an opportunity for our Scouts to earn the Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge. While there are some sessions he will be hosting and some self-directed requirements, this Eagle required MB has one challenging requirement, 7a – ‘Take part in an emergency service project, either a real one or a practice drill with a Scouting unit or a community agency.’ Some of the older scouts may recall participating in this drill a couple years ago with the City of Scottsdale. We will be doing the same thing again – playing the role of victims, while learning about what to do in a full-scale emergency.

This drill will take place on Saturday, March, 24th starting first thing in the morning. We should be finished up in the early afternoon.

If you are interested, please let Dr. Blair know right away as we need to send a participate head count to the city later this week. Dr. Blair can be reached at hornetdermdoc@gmail.com. If you have any questions please let us know. This is a fantastic opportunity and a lot of fun!

See you soon!

Scoutmaster T648

Attention Troop 648.  With the upcoming Court Of Honor (2/20), there has been some requests for a couple of much sought after Merit Badges.  Mrs Achor has graciously opened a session for the Swimming Merit Badge for next Saturday (2/10) in the morning (specific time and place will be confirmed by this week’s meeting).  We have 2 Scouts that have requested for this badge, but we can open it up to a handful more if interested.  Please e-mail me at hornetdermdoc@gmail.com if you would like to sign up.  Space will be limited, so please RSVP as soon as you can.  If you miss out on this session, there will be many more opportunities in the near future.  There has also been a request for the First Aid Merit Badge which might be tough to do so close to the Cost of Honor, but if last minute notice isn’t a problem for those wanting to participate, I will be holding an “extra long” session Sunday morning starting at 10 am.  For those going to Cameron Copley’s Eagle Court of Honor that day – I promise to get you out in time.  If we can’t finish it all we can set aside some time that week to complete before the 2/13 deadline for awards.  Once I get some replies we might split up the session into 2 because there is a lot of material to go over.  If interested, please bring a first Aid kit you have put together (one of the badge requirements), and e-mail me at the address above.  Thank you.

Mark Blair

Merit Badge Coordinator

Greetings!

This is a reminder that we will be having a Parent & Committee Meeting this coming Tuesday (2/6/18) at 7pm in the Conference Room at CCC. Although this is not our usual month for the Committee to meet, I have some important information from Council to share with everyone, and it is also a good time to talk about Summer Camp and the upcoming Pancake Breakfast.

I hope to see you there!

Thanks,

Mr. Benyi

Hello Troop 648

The following are some Troop updates.

CPR/AED/First Aid Training and Certification

Pastor Kevin has organized a great opportunity for us to participate in — a CPR/AED/First Aid Training and Certification course. The training will take place at the church on Saturday, February 17. It will run from 8:00am – 11:30am. If you are interested in just the CPR portion, that will end at 10:00am. Cost for Adults is $37 for the full course, or $22 just for the CPR. Youth will run $27 and $15 respectively. Youth = <18 years old. You must know CPR for both the First Class rank and the First Aid Merit Badge (Eagle required!). If you are interested in signing up (both adults and Scouts are welcome), please contact Pastor Kevin at kevin.kramar@chaparral.org

Upcoming Troop 648 Spring COH

We have our Winter Court of Honor on February 20th, 7:00pm. If you have not signed up to bring an item, you can do so by clicking here. Also, if your Scout is close to finishing a Merit Badge or Rank, he still has time. We are looking to have everything turned in by the Feb 13th meeting. If you miss that date, no worries. The next Court will be June 12th.

Cameron Copley Eagle Court of Honor

Cameron Copley’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor will be held on Sunday, February 11th! Hosted by Cameron’s family, the ceremony will be held at the church and start at 2:00pm. A reception will follow immediately after. Please be sure to join us and congratulate Cameron on his fantastic achievement!

Ski Trip

The annual Troop 648 Ski Trip is coming up later this month! We will depart on Friday, February 23rd, returning Sunday, February 25th. We will be heading to Snowbowl this year. Not to worry if you have had your fill of ‘winter camping…’ this is the one outing we stay in a cabin! That has heat! And showers! More details to come, but look for the Sign-up Genius in your email soon. Adults and Scouts are welcome. This is typically our largest attended outing for the year, so you won’t want to miss out!

Troop Activities Committee (TAC)

We are forming a new adult committee called the Troop Activities Committee. The committee will meet once a month and is specifically designed to discuss troop activities that involve the Scouts and our program. This primarily includes weekly meetings, monthly outings and summer camp. It is NOT in place of the quarterly Parent Meeting that covers the operations of the troop.

All adults are welcome. If you are mentoring a Scout for an outing or weekly meeting, this is a something you should attend. If you are looking to volunteer a little bit of your time, please attend as well. We need help in this area and hope to see you there. Look for more info about the first meeting coming up soon (February). One of the best ways to keep your Scout in Scouting is to get involved in some small way yourself.

Feed My Starving Children

Thank you to all those from the Troop who attended the recent event at Feed My Starving Children. We had nearly 30 adults and Scouts attend. Along with Chaparral Christian Church’s Cub Scout families (Pack 647) and a few others, we packed nearly 30,000 meals. Enough to feed 77 children for 1 year! Great job Troop 648 and Pack 647!

That’s it for now. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Scoutmaster T648

A ‘convocation’ of Eagles at Reese Galvin’s Eagle Court of Honor

Hello Troop 648 – We hope you all have Scout Sunday on your calendars from the flyers that have come home from the last few meetings. We would like to have an idea of how many scouts will attend, so please sign up at the next two meetings, or you may email jhoberg24@gmail.com. Please plan to meet Pastor Kevin in the courtyard (dressed in your Class A uniform) no later than 9:30am.

Additional details include:

– Scouts will assist in greeting, handing out bulletins, and possibly helping to collect offering (older Scouts only). The service starts at 10am and we can usually wind down our ‘posts’ around 10:15am or so after we accommodate any late-comers. At approximately 11am, we can man our ‘posts’ once again to extend greetings as our guests leave the service.

– Dean Butler will have a display from his Scouting Museum in our Courtyard. It would be great to post a few Scouts of various ages/levels at that display – provided we have enough Scouts in attendance.

– Everyone is invited to join in the regular Sunday Morning activities! Andie’s Coffee opens at 8am and will remain open until 12noon – an awesome hangout anytime. Scouts and their families are welcome to join for Worship or kids (Birth thru 5th grade) are free to join in Children’s Ministry and students (6th thru 12th grade) may join in Student/Youth Ministry. Parents will need to check in their children who wish to attend Children’s Ministry, prior to the service, in ROOM 11, straight across the courtyard from the Worship Center.

Thank you,

Jacob Hoberg
Chaplain Aide

Hello Troop 648

I wanted to provide a quick recap on a few recent outings. We have been a very busy troop with a lot of fun activities. Specifically:

Philmont Training Hike #1: 

Our first training hike for the 2018 Philmont crew was January 13th. Mr. Benyi led a crew of 5 scouts (Zane G, Aidan B, Zach R, Eric A and Michael M) and four other adults (Andy G, Joe B, Jody A and myself) on a 9.5 mile hike in the McDowell Mountains. We had a great time and looking forward to the next training hike!

Mormon Lake Campout, January 19-21, 2018

From Mr. Copley, one of the adult leaders on our most recent outing: