Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Hello Troop 648

Kevin Weinhold is missing poles for backpacking tent. They were in an orange bag and are a set of one-piece poles for a 3-man tent.

If found, please contact Kevin at kweinhold22@gmail.com or (480) 352-9308. He believes they were lost after the Wet Beaver outing in August.

Thanks,

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday weekend! We have much to be thankful for, including being thankful for all those that came before us and worked hard to create and nurture the best BSA troop in the world!

The following are a few important announcements:

• A BIG thank you to the following who help to move Troop 648 from Blessed Sacrament to our new home, Chaparral Christian Church:
  • Organizer extraordinary Nick Murphy! Also, Nic T, the Achor boys – Drew, Ian and Eric, Michael M, Kevin W, Ryan C, Cullen T, David Y, Cameron C. and Alex D.
  • Adults – Misters Murphy, Clapp, Benyi, Traynor, Matthew M, Weinhold and Conrad.
  • We accomplished much more than I thought and are in great shape to complete the move before the end of the year. Thanks everybody for your time and hard work!
• PLC – we have our next PLC Tuesday, December 1st starting at 6pm. We will be meeting at the new church - Chaparral Christian Church, located at 6451 E Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85254. Please be there and prepared to talk about your December meeting if you are in charge of one. The meeting is the Forum room which is on the south west side of the Chaparral campus.
• Regular Tuesday Troop meeting – same time, NEW PLACE! 7:00pm at Chaparral Christian Church, see address above.
• The first opportunity we have for service with the new church is coming up. Chaparral has a fantastic event called Follow the Star and it happens on December 11-13. “Follow the Star is a unique outdoor journey to ancient Bethlehem.  Join Chaparral’s expert guides along the bustling streets of Bethlehem as the story of Christmas unfolds around you. Each journey begins every ten minutes and last approximately 25 minutes.  There are also activities for children while you await your journey through Follow the Star.” We have the opportunity to help with this production in a variety of areas including the in the Kid’s Craft area, monitoring snacks and the fire pits and parking. We would like every Scout and Adult to work at least one shift. Let’s show CCC how great Troop 648 is! Shifts will be either 6:00pm to 7:30pm or 7:00pm to 8:30pm and you can work as many shifts as you’d like. Look for an online Sign-up Genius email in the next day or so to sign-up or let me know on Tuesday. I encourage everyone to work a shift as well as taking the journey. It’s a great way to kick off this holiday season.

See you Tuesday night!

Scoutmaster T648

Greetings!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and is enjoying the long weekend.

This is a reminder that we will have our usual quarterly Troop Committee and Parent meeting this coming Tuesday, December 1, 2015. The meeting will be at our new location, Chaparral Christian Church, located at 6451 E Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85254.

All parents and committee members are invited and encouraged to attend. In addition to usual troop business, we will also discuss summer camp and other upcoming opportunities in the spring of 2016. We will begin shortly after 7pm and will run concurrent with the troop meeting which will be at the same location.

Thanks,

Mr. Benyi

Hello Troop 648

A reminder to please help Cameron with his Life Project by bringing lightly used or new towels and blankets to this evening’s meeting. They will be donated to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). The ASPCA’s mission, as stated by founder Henry Bergh in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.” Their focus is to get pets out of shelters and keep them in homes, while increasing the protections of animals under the law. They are helping to shape a society that continuously improves the lives of animals.

Hello Troop 648

I am behind in posting a number of very important activities that have taken place over the last few weeks. So, without further ado…

1.  Alex Demski Eagle Scout Project – a great project at Horses Help, an organization that teaches special needs youth how to ride a horse and uses the horses for therapeutic properties. Alex directed the troop in a number of upgrades to the facility including repairing a walkway and building a compost area.

2. Gio Jeorling, Eagle Scout! – Troop 648 newest Eagle Scout is Gio Jeorling. A hearty congratulations to Gio on a job well done and well deserved. We are very proud of you Gio.

3.  Emergency Prep Disaster Drill – a number of T648 Scouts and Scouters participated in an emergency drill organized by the City of Scottsdale’s Emergency Manager’s office. Don’t worry, all the Scouts were okay despite their ‘gruesome’ wounds. Scouts also completed a challenging requirement as part of the Emergency Preparedness (Eagle required) Merit Badge.

  

4.  Black Canyon Mountain Bike Outing – and finally, 14 members of the Troop traveled to the Black Canyon area for a weekend of camping, camaraderie and mountain biking. I marvel at the commitment of many of the adults in our troop. We quite simply cannot have the great program we do, without the support of these awesome adults. And if you ever hear the phrase regarding any upcoming outing ‘…and Bill Traynor is in charge of cooking for the adults…,’ run don’t walk to the sign-up sheet! Among other things, dutch oven bread pudding, St. Louis BBQ ribs, homemade mashed potatoes, Drunken Apples, oh my…

See you Tuesday night and have a great Thanksgiving!

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648

This Saturday, November 28th, Nick Murphy will be conducting his Life Project. This project is a very important one as we will be cleaning out the troop shed in preparation for our move to Chaparral Christian Church.

The project will begin promptly at 8:00 am and is expected to be completed before noon. Nick has asked the Troop to arrive by 7:45 am to set up the sorting area. Coffee, water and donuts will be provided.

This will be a shed clean “out” — the project will involve removing everything except the shelves from the troop shed so that the shed can be transported to our new Charter Organization. Contents will be sorted into one of three categories:

1. Troop gear to be kept by the troop

2. Trash – to be thrown away

3. Gear to be donated, auctioned or given away

It will be important to attend as Scouts will be given the opportunity to add gear and supplies to their patrol chuck boxes.

It is recommended to bring work gloves.

If you have borrowed any of the troop tables, please plan to return them prior to Saturday or bring them with you to the project. We will need all the troop tables for this project. You can contact Nick to make arrangements to return tables if you are unable to do so Tuesday night or Saturday morning. Call Nick Murphy at 480-767-1314.

Your help is needed with this time sensitive project … please send Nick an email to murphynickp@gmail.com if you are planning to attend (please do not use the email listed on the Troop roster as it has a typo).

See you this Saturday!

Scoutmaster T648

Hello Troop 648 Moms

Please remember to RSVP to the Troop 648 Mom event happening this Friday, November 20th at Priscilla Traynor’s home. The get together will start just after Scouts are dropped off for our weekend Mountain Bike outing – should be around 6pm.

If you have any questions, you can reach Priscilla at 480-621-7366.

Thank you Priscilla for hosting what I’m sure will be a great party!

Scoutmaster T648

Greetings Troop 648

If your Scout needs the EAGLE required merit badge – Emergency Preparedness, the most challenging requirement is participating in an emergency drill. As you may recall, we have that opportunity this Saturday, November 14th in conjunction with a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) event that the City of Scottsdale is having. The following provides the final particulars:

When: Saturday, November 14, 2015

Time: 7:00am

Where: Thomas Hontz Training Facility, 911 N Stadem Dr, Tempe, AZ 85281

Other: Please print and complete the following two releases:

COS Photo Video Release

HARMLESS_CERT_ADEM1 SCOUTS(15-02) REV

Please note that adults are welcome to participate as well. Should be very informative and a lot of fun! If you would like to carpool, please meet at Blessed Sacrament, just outside our Tuesday night meeting room at 6:20am. Also, please let Kevin Weinhold know you would like to carpool. Kevin can be reached at kweinhold22@gmail.com. We expect the event to conclude around 1:00pm. 

Class B uniform is fine. We will be the ‘victims’ in the event and be made up by some make-up artists, so wear a work version of your Class B. Also, please pack a lunch and/or some light snacks and bring plenty of water.

If you have any questions, please contact Kevin or myself (602) 793-1058. If you can, please take advantage of this terrific opportunity.

See you on Saturday!

Scoutmaster T648

Greetings!

Based on the general consensus of the PLC, we have pursued and been granted a spot at Camp Emerald Bay on Catalina Island off the coast of California for summer camp in 2016. Our reservation falls during “week 5” which is Sunday, July 3 – Saturday, July 9, 2016.

Over the next week or so, I will put together an information package with more specifics about the logistical arrangements for the trip. I will also include more detailed information about the cost of camp. As has been previously expressed, Catalina is more expensive than our “average” summer camp, but it also provides some unique opportunities not available at other “on shore” camps. I will do everything I can to make this as economical as possible, but anticipate that it will be around $750-$775. I will have more detailed information on this soon. As usual, we will have fundraising opportunities throughout the year.

For the moment, I need to begin assembling an accurate projection of who plans to attend. Please email me if you definitely plan to attend (or if you definitely plan NOT to attend.) – If you are on the fence for whatever the reason, please let me know that as well. I have put in a place-holder count for our troop. While we have the option to add more spots, once the Catalina Ferry fills, they will not accept additional reservations. This further underscores the need for a good count. (Even if you have sent previous emails expressing interest, please email me again.)

I will provide more details about the programs at Emerald Bay in the coming weeks. There are a unique variety of great activities that should make for an enjoyable experience.

Thanks!

Mr. Benyi

Hello Troop 648

A quick reminder – if you are going on the outing next weekend (Nov 20-22) and will be bringing your mountain bike, please remember to bring your bike to the meeting tonight so we can check it out and make sure it is in fine working order. We can also make some repairs to any bike as well.

Thanks and see you tonight!

Scoutmaster T648