Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Hello Troop 648

From Lisa Hoberg and regarding tomorrow (December 5) regular troop meeting:

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Jacob Hoberg will be leading an activity on cyber safety tomorrow night. He asks that each scout try to bring a smart phone, tablet, or laptop to the meeting. Wifi access will be available. The activity will be done in pairs, so it is okay if a scout does not have a device, but the more the better. Also, to save a bit of time, consider accessing this site on the device prior to the meeting https://sos.fbi.gov/ but please DO NOT begin any of the activities.

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This will be a great (and fun!) opportunity to learn more about safe online activity for our Scouts and something created by the FBI. I hope your Scout can join us.

Thanks,

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

We are back from another awesome outing, this time a backpacking trip to Bluff Springs and a visit to the world’s largest Saguaro cactus – the ’50 in 1.’ Named for the number of arms this 45 foot cactus grew, it is located in the Superstition mountains, about a 1 mile from camp. More on this later.

9 Scouts and 5 Scouters started the hike with the challenging ‘Cardiac Hill!’ We made it to camp shortly after lunch, where we pitched our tents, re-hydrated (near 80Ëš F in December!) rested then headed out for a hike to visit the 50 in 1 cactus. Unfortunately, this amazing cactus succumbed to old age and is now providing shelter to the many ground animals and insects that live in the area.

We returned to camp, where Drew Achor grilled up a tasty NY Strip steak, his brother Ian  completed the Chess Merit Badge by flashlight, and Stephan, Will, Chaz, Liam, Isaac, Sam and Cameron all bundled up for some much needed rest.

A total of 12 miles hiked, more liters of water than I dare to count (thank you Mr. Cole!!) and smiles all around, we made it back to the parking lot and headed for home. It was great fun and camaraderie and another successful T648 outing. Many thanks to Brandon Bollimpalli for organizing the trip, and Mister Cole, Benyi and Gay for driving and participating.  Thanks also to Mr. Weinhold for driving as well as mentoring Brandon. A special thanks to Cameron for leading the Scouts and Drew for assisting. A job well done all!

See you on Tuesday!

Scoutmaster T648

50 in 1 back in 2012 on another T648 Outing

50 in 1 Today – R.I.P!

  

Greetings!

This is a reminder that we will be holding our Troop Committee/Parent Meeting this coming Tuesday, 12/5/17. The meeting will be held during the usual troop meeting from 7pm-8:30pm over in the Conference Room on the north end of the CCC campus. All parents and committee members of the troop are invited and welcome to attend. We will have several topics to discuss and cover at this meeting.

The following week, 12/12/17 will be a Philmont Information Meeting from 6pm-7pm, prior to the troop meeting. (This meeting will also be in the CCC Conference Room.) All scouts and/or adults signed up for Philmont need to attend this meeting, or at least send a representative. Philmont is just about 7 months away, so it is time to start getting prepared. We do still have two open spots for Philmont, so anyone who will be 14 before June, 2018 who might be interested in Philmont is welcome to attend.

Thanks!

Mr. Benyi

Greetings!

A quick update regarding our December backpacking outing to the Superstition Mountains this weekend.

We will meet at the Troop Shed @ CCC at 7:30am on Saturday morning, Dec 2, and will return midday on Sunday, Dec 3. We will travel to the Peralta Trailhead in the Superstition Mountains east of Mesa, where we will do a moderately easy backpacking trip on the Bluff Springs Trail. The backpacking to the overnight campsite is a relatively short 3.2 miles, to be followed up by a 1 mile each way day hike (no backpacks) to the world’s largest saguaro cactus named 50 in 1. For those needing the Second Class “5-Mile Hike” requirement, this hike will meet that requirement. For those attending Philmont this summer, this is a good hiking and backpacking to help your skills and conditioning between now and June.

Some logistics:

• Eat breakfast Saturday morning before meeting up at the church.
• The daytime highs are forecast to be in the low 70’s, fantastic for hiking.
• The overnight lows are forecast to be in the mid 40’s, so bring layers to keep you warm in the evening and an appropriately rated sleeping bag and sleeping pad. Don’t forget a beanie to keep you noggin warm at night.
• As is typical with backpacking trips, each person brings their own food. Bring food for lunch and dinner Saturday, and breakfast Sunday. The adults will have jetboils to boil water for freeze dried foods.
• Bring 5 to 6 liters of water, There will not likely be any water on the trail since it has not rained for so long.
• If you did not sign up for this outing on SignupGenius, please let Brandon Bollimpalli know you are planning on participating. You can reach Brandon @ 480-688-8240

See you there!

Hello Troop 648

I hope your week is going well. We had a busy meeting last night and a fair amount of rank advancement, so good job Scouts.

Now, we need your help. We have a final list of tasks that need to be completed for Nick Murphy’s Eagle Scout project at Chaparral Christian Church. This list must be completed on Saturday, November 18th, starting at 7am, so that the church can be ready for Sunday service and their children’s program.

We are looking for a handful of adults to help us finish with final painting, some touch-up and clean-up. Many hands will make light work, but it’s crucial we get some help.

If you are able and willing, please call (602) 793-1058 or email me – dmcfetters@gmail.com by Thursday (Nov 16), end of day. Nick has done a fantastic job leading this project, but we need help to push it over the finish line. This has been a very important project for Nick, the troop and our Charter Org, so please help if you can.

Thanks,

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

I hope you enjoyed your weekend! Nick Murphy led the troop in an awesome Eagle Project at the church. Thanks to everyone that helped.

If you are going on this weekend’s mountain bike outing in Sedona, don’t forgot to bring your bike to the Scout meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday, Nov 14). We will have experienced riders check out your bike and make or suggest any necessary repairs. Also, don’t forgot that you have to have a helmet in order to ride on the outing this weekend. If you are going and don’t have one, please let me know.

Thanks and see you tomorrow night!

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

An important announcement from Nick Murphy:

Nick Murphy’s Eagle Scout Project to benefit Chaparral Christian Church

WHEN:         TOMORROW!!! Saturday, November 11^th from 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM

WHERE:      Chaparral Christian Church, 6451 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale

WHAT:         Painting the Children’s Ministry rooms

All scouts, scouters, friends and family are welcomed to participate.

Please wear clothing suitable for painting.

Continental breakfast and lunch provided.

* * Please contact Nick if you have any of the following items that we can use: * *

5’- 8’ ladders; paint roller frames, extension poles, and/or pans, drop cloths!!!

Nick Murphy at 480-518-0402 or email murphynickp@gmail.com

Unavailable on November 11^th but would like to help? Please consider making a contribution to help defray the cost of paint and supplies. Any amount will help! Click here to donate!

Hello Troop 648 Scouts and Families,

David Yu (ASPL – Meetings) and Mrs. Hoberg have 3 announcements regarding meeting planning.

1. All November meetings are covered and will be about Engineering. The November 14 meeting will be a rank advancement requirement meeting, so be sure to come prepared to get some requirements signed off.
2. We still need 2 scouts to lead meetings in December on the theme of Safety. And be thinking ahead for January on Winter Camping.
3. In an effort to continue providing informative and engaging weekly meetings for our troop, we would like to solicit your input as we compile a list of ideas for thematic meeting activities. Senior scouts, this request is especially directed towards you! What have been your most memorable/interesting/fun meeting activities? Parents, do you have any adult connections, within the themes below, to whom you could introduce a scout?

The idea is to be able to provide newer scouts with a list of ideas to assist them in their meeting planning. If you can’t think of a specific activity, it would even be helpful to list “sub-topic” suggestions for the broader themes (eg. Safety – Fire safety, Internet safety, etc.). Remember to consider “field trip” meeting ideas.

Please email (LMHoberg@cox.net) or text (602-359-4611) Mrs. Hoberg (Jacob’s mom) with your ideas. You may also jot down your ideas on paper and give them to her at a meeting.

Themes for the upcoming year include:

• Safety
• Winter Camping
• Leadership
• Boating/Canoeing
• High Adventure
• Physical Fitness
• Aquatics
• Communications
• Backpacking
• Fishing

Thank you!

Scoutmaster T648

Calling all Troop 648 talented and generous parents and leaders. This is Arjun Blair’s Dad Mark. I’m the Troop Merit Badge Coordinator. Merit badges have been an integral part of the Scouting program for over 100 years. Merit badges exist to encourage Scouts to explore areas that interest them and to teach them valuable skills in Scoutcraft.^[4]The award of merit badges sometimes leads to careers and lifelong hobbies. The badge itself, being given in front of the troop as a sign of accomplishment and success, is an important part to stimulating the interest of the Scout in Scouting and instill the values of Scouting on the road to Eagle. It all begins with a Scout’s initial interest and effort in a merit badge subject, followed by a discussion with the unit leader or designated assistant, continues through meetings with a counselor, and culminates in advancement and recognition. It is an uncomplicated process that gives a Scout the confidence achieved through overcoming obstacles. Social skills improve. Self-reliance develops. Self-confidence evolves. Examples are set and followed. And fields of study and interest are explored beyond the limits of the school classroom.

I would like to take this time to ask all the current Merit Badge (MB) Counselors to re-register with the district, and the Troop. We currently have only a few parents/adult leaders officially registered as Merit Badge Counselors for the Troop (Myself, Jacob Benyi, Jon Komar and Mike Conrad). I will attach the forms required to officially register. Return these forms to me so that I can turn them in directly to the district. This includes everyone not on the above list. I would also like to encourage all parents to look at the Merit Badge list and choose at least 1-2 Badges that they have knowledge of or interest in. You can choose more if you desire, but if just starting out, try 1-2 to get started. Our goal is to have 100% parent participation. This will continue to show the Scouts how committed we all our to their, and the Troop’s, success. We would like to try to cover all of the Eagle required Badges, and have more than one counselor as back up for each (list of available MB’s attached).

Registering is fairly easy (AND IT’S FREE!!!!)… Each person just needs to complete an adult application. (attached) For the position code put “42” and write Merit Badge Counselor. A MB counselor is a registrant of the District, not the troop… So, it is not necessary for the Committee Chair and COR to sign these apps. They just need to be signed by the applicant, and then turned into Council (turn in to me and I’ll get them to Council). For those of us who are already registered Scouters, it is helpful to put our BSA ID on the application. This will make sure that we are properly linked to our existing account.

When it comes to the actual materials to turn in, we just need the adult application with disclosure page, a copy of our YPT (Youth Protection Training) completion certificate http://www.scouting.org/youthprotection.aspx and the MB registration form (attached). Note that each person has the ability (on this form) to specify if they want to work with everyone, or just a particular unit. If someone signs up to be a counselor for something, and does not restrict themselves to T648 only, then they will be on the master District list, and they will potentially get contacted by scouts from across the district. For some of you, that may be perfectly fine, and to others, you may just want to be involved with our Troop exclusively.  There is no right answer to that decision. It is an individual decision that everyone can make for themselves. I will confirm with everyone when paperwork is turned in what their wishes are.

This should only have to be done once for MB Counselors. The YPT needs to be recertified every 2 years, but is very straight forward and completed at your leisure on-line at the link above.

Once complete you can e-mail the documents to me or hand them in to me at an upcoming meeting. Please contact me if you have any questions. My e-mail is hornetdermdoc@gmail.com

Sorry for the long e-mail, and thanks in advance for all of your help.

BSA Adult Application

List of Merit Badges

MB Counselor Application

MB Counselor Orientaion

Hello Troop 648

An important announcement from Nick Murphy:

Nick Murphy’s Eagle Scout Project to benefit Chaparral Christian Church

WHEN:         Saturday, November 11^th from 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM

WHERE:      Chaparral Christian Church, 6451 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale

WHAT:         Painting the Children’s Ministry rooms

All scouts, scouters, friends and family are welcomed to participate.

Please wear clothing suitable for painting.

Continental breakfast and lunch provided.

* * Please contact Nick if you have any of the following items that we can use: * *

5’- 8’ ladders; paint roller frames, extension poles, and/or pans, drop cloths

Nick Murphy at 480-518-0402 or email murphynickp@gmail.com

Unavailable on November 11^th but would like to help? Please consider making a contribution to help defray the cost of paint and supplies. Any amount will help! Click here to donate!