Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Hello Scouts,

A friendly reminder to please bring an item or gift card donation (suggested value $10+) for your patrol’s raffle basket to tomorrow’s troop meeting (April 26). The deadline for basket donations is this meeting, Tuesday, April 26th. Many thanks to those who have already contributed!

Basket Themes:
Pirates- Dine Around Town (Patrol Leader- Joe Hart)
Royals- Summertime Fun (Patrol Leader- David Yu)
Leprechauns- Spa/Pamper (Patrol Leader- Cameron Copley)

If you have any questions regarding the raffle baskets, please contact your patrol leader or Nick Murphy at murphynickp@gmail.com.

Please also bring any donations you’ve procured for the silent auction to the troop meeting. Mrs. Conrad will be collecting them. If you need to make alternative arrangements or have any questions regarding the auction, please contact Mrs. Conrad at elizconrad072110@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Michael and Karin McFetters

Hello Troop 648

Mr. Conrad will be starting a new group for the Personal Fitness Merit Badge this Sunday, April 24th, 10:00am at the park on 56th Street and Paradise Lane (halfway between Bell and Greenway). We can meet in the parking lot. Scouts should wear some physical fitness clothes as they will be doing push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and a 1-mile run. Should be less than 1 hour total. This MB starts by setting a baseline for these activities, while the Scouts track, train and hope to improve at the end of 90 days.

If your Scout does not have this Merit Badge, I HIGHLY recommend they take part this weekend. If your Scout would like to start this MB, but is unable to make it this weekend, please let me or Mr. Conrad know.

Have your Scout bring a pen/pencil and this worksheet — Personal Fitness Discussion with them on Sunday. Please ignore the date listed in the worksheet. If your Scout has a current BSA Medical Form, please bring it along. If they don’t, they can still participate.  Again, this is an Eagle required MB, is fun and basically self-directed, but has a 90-day minimum timeframe to complete. All Scouts are welcome.

See you Sunday!

Scoutmaster T648

P.S. Did I mention how I HIGHLY recommend your Scout get this EAGLE required MB started?! ;o)

Hello Troop 648

An update from Mr. Cole regarding last weekend’s outing to the Lava Tubes.

‘Another rip-roaring T648 outing weekend. It wasn’t a planned snow outing, like January’s, but it became one! Swirling flakes as the group drove in on Forest Road 245, couldn’t even find FR 812 where we had planned to camp, and just as well, as we had more than 2 inches already on the ground when we got to the Lava Tubes entrance road at almost 10PM.

We set up in a small meadow just south of the entrance, right off of FR 171, and set up with the snow still coming down heavily. It turned out fantastic, as usual. The snow stopped sometime after midnight, and only dusted us again Saturday afternoon. We had a low of 25 degrees, but a fire all day long, and an excellent morning in the tubes, and an afternoon huddling around the youth fire, or the advancement fire, followed by a rousing evening of s’mores and an 8PM bedtime.

We had excellent progress on multiple fronts – Zane achieved First Class rank, Cameron sat for a Scoutmaster conference and then achieved Life rank, Ian completed his final 2nd class requirement, and is now ready for two Scoutmaster conferences and two Boards of Review. Kevin drove up Saturday morning, and completed Citizenship in the Nation merit badge with Mr. Conrad. I understand that Ryan Conrad rode down the hill with Mr. Benyi, and completed copious amounts of the Cooking merit badge as well. As noted by Reese, a weekend of roses filled with older Scout camaraderie.’

Mr. Cole

Thank you Mr. Cole! Sorry to have missed this one!

See you all soon,

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

A reminder – we will be participating in the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ tomorrow, Tuesday April 19th, at the City of Scottsdale’s City Council Meeting.

Per Kevin W: All boys interested in participating, please meet at 4 o’clock in the church parking lot near the shed. We will car pool over together. This is a Class A uniform event and we should be done by about 5:15pm. The council meeting starts at 5:00pm. We will be traveling to the Civic Center which is located at 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251. The meeting is in the Kiva room.

If you have any questions, please contact Kevin at kweinhold22@gmail.com. Thank you to those scouts that have already signed up.

See you tomorrow!

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

Some last minute details from our outing organizer, Cameron C.

• It will be cold, with lows in the 20s and highs in the 50s  – pack warm gear
• We will not be pulling the trailer, so food will be backpacking style. You will need to bring breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for Saturday and breakfast for Sunday
• Be prepared - bring two flashlights and/or extra batteries
• Bring a helmet and knee pads, though they are not mandatory
• Find a tent buddy beforehand or work it out when you get to the church
• We will meet in the south parking lot of the church near the trailer/shed
• Don’t forget money for dinner tonight
• Travel costs for the campout will be $15

Be safe and have fun!

Scoutmaster T648

Hello T648,

The below Pancake Breakfast & Silent Auction flyer was featured in yesterday’s Chaparral Christian Church program. We appreciate our charter organization’s help promoting this wonderful community event!

The fundraiser will be very successful if each scout and his family help pre-sell tickets, procure auction items, and work at the pancake breakfast.

TICKETS

Rick Parizek has been sharing great advice with the boys on how to sell breakfast tickets. He said, “The most important thing in selling anything is to ask. I tell the boys to ask. Each week I give them a different leads list for five weeks. I also tell them to plan a time to sell tickets. An hour a week will sell 5 tickets a week; Five tickets a week will get them to 25 tickets and a steak dinner.”

Please partner with your son and encourage him to sell tickets to family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, teachers, etc. Set a goal. For every $5 ticket your son sells, $4 will go into his troop account. Every scout who sells 25+ tickets will also receive a delicious home cooked dinner graciously hosted by Mr. Parizek.

AUCTION & RAFFLE

Please send in silent auction items and donations for patrol baskets to tomorrow’s troop meeting. Mike Conrad and the patrol leaders will collect them.

Tips For Soliciting Donations:

* Keep copies of the donation request letter & donor form in your car. (Click here for the T648 Pancake Breakfast Donation Letter and the T648 Pancake Breakfast Donation Form).) That way they’ll be handy when you need them.

* When soliciting from retail outlets, face-to-face solicitation tends to work better than phone or email.

* Just ask! You will be surprised by how many people are willing to help. Businesses understand that donating something to an auction brings them publicity and exposure. Ask the places you frequent- restaurants, retail, recreation spots, popular destinations around town, etc.

* Some of the best donations come from your own supporters—for example, a ride on someone’s sailboat, dinner at someone’s home, a round of golf at a private golf club or use of a vacation home.

* Chaparral Christian Church, our chartered organization, is a non-profit 501(c)3. Remind donors that their donations are tax deductible.

* Regardless of the outcome, stay positive- don’t take a “no” personally.

VOLUNTEER

We need many volunteers (Scouts & adults) to make the day of the event run smoothly. Whether you plan to help the entire morning, or for an hour or two, please take a moment to sign up. Click here to sign up on SignUpGenius.

If you need more breakfast tickets, please email Mr. Parizek at armar@cox.net. If you have questions about the auction, please contact Mrs. Conrad at elizconrad072110@gmail.com. For Patrol Raffle Basket questions, please contact Nick Murphy at murphynickp@gmail.com. For any other questions regarding the event, please contact David Cole at dwcoleaz@cox.net or Michael McFetters at kmcfetters@mac.com.

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Michael and Karin McFetters

Hello Troop 648

PLC

Reminder – we have our monthly PLC meeting tonight at 6:00pm. If your Scout is leading a meeting this month, please make sure they are prepared to discuss their meeting plan. Tonight’s meeting is being lead by Cameron C. with backup support from Nick M. We are staring a new theme tonight – Orienteering, so it should be a lot of fun.

Lava Tubes

Our outing this month is a base camp, just outside of Flagstaff in the cool pines. We will leave the church Friday night, visit the Lava Tubes on Saturday and make our way back home on Sunday. There is a possible side trip for those that want to do an overnight backpack Saturday night (no guarantees! we need enough adults to go to make this work). More details to follow, but be sure to save the date – April 15-17. Cameron C. is leading. This is a great outing, in a beautiful setting, with a super fun trip to the Lava Tubes. I’m sure we will have plenty of advancement opportunity during the weekend as well. Highly recommended!

See you tonight!

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

Well, we are in the middle of lots of activities for Troop 648! Of course, when don’t we have lots going on…:o)!

First, we had a fantastic family campout last weekend. Over 20 Scouts, Scouters and family members made their way down to Catalina State Park outside of Oro Valley near Tucson. We had a beautiful campsite and great facilities.

Mr. Benyi’s quarterly patch swap…what to sew on next!

Saturday morning, the majority of attendees traveled back in time to Tombstone, Arizona – ‘the town too tough to die.’ With our spurs and ten gallon hats we wandered the wooden sidewalks of Tombstone visiting a variety of attractions. Tops on the list was a re-creation of the infamous Shootout at the OK Corral. The bad guys got their due, the good guys prevailed and the troop had a memorable time.

Boothill Cemetery

After a night of riddles by the campfire, most of the group headed out for a journey into the future, this time with a visit to Biosphere 2. If you haven’t been, I recommend adding it to your list. It’s a wonderfully unique, quirky and amazing place full of awesome science and ‘I-can’t-believe-they-lived-there-for-two-years’ kind of amazement.

We have the pancake breakfast coming up and an opportunity for scouts to save money for summer camp or other camping opportunities. I will be sending out a separate post with updated information.

See you Tuesday night!

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

I wanted to remind you that the 2017 National Jamboree is right around the corner. Really!

The National Jamboree is one of the most amazing experiences your Scout can have during their scouting career. In 2009, the BSA purchased 10,600 acres of property adjacent to West Virginia’s New River Gorge National River area in order to create the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve. The Summit is the new home of achievement, adventure, and innovation in Scouting. With world-class facilities and a focus on outdoor action sports, the Summit welcomed Scouts to a whole new jamboree experience during the summer of 2013. Whitewater rafting and kayaking, rock climbing and bouldering, and mountain biking are just a few of the activities offered at the Summit. There’s also skateboarding, BMX, shooting sports, and zip-line challenge courses. And that’s just the beginning…

The Grand Canyon Council has formed 7 troops specific for just the Jamboree. Your Scout can choose to be part of a troop that tours a few major cities prior to the Jamboree or just be part of the Jamboree. We have had two Scouts sign-up for Troop 3, Jamboree only.

I’m told signs-ups have been ramping up lately and all slots are near or may even be full. For more info and to register, please click here.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Scoutmaster T648

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