Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Good evening,

I have come down the hill tonight from Camp Geronimo, and have nothing but rave reviews to report on summer camp. The waning gibbons moon has been brilliant, and the 48 degree morning on Sunday was magnificent (but it does give one a shudder while anticipating the 5AM polar bear swim scheduled for tomorrow morning!). Our record of being awarded the ‘bandaid troop’ two years ago at Geronimo appears to be in no jeopardy from us this year, as tons of other troops’ scouts are already experiencing dehydration and other ailments, but the only T648 scout trip to the health lodge so far has been a small cut while doing KP this noon, and only because even a small accident in the kitchen requires such a trip. We performed a service project today hand sawing downed trees into 2 large piles of cord wood so they can be removed due to the fire danger. On Saturday night the troop successfully performed a 90 minute ‘cat eye’ orienteering hike in the pitch dark of the deep forest. Today began merit badge classes, with horse rides, shooting sports, insect study and other fun activities already well under way. It is amazing to watch these young men take pride and ownership in how their campsite and uniforms look, how big a pile of wood we can harvest, how many meals we can serve (704), the skills, the friendships, the tired, good feelings we all have settling down in the evening, and the anticipation of the new day to come upon arising yet again at 5AM. Thank you for sharing your young men for summer camp this year. I can’t wait to go back up the hill and join them for the grand finale later this week.

Mr. Cole

As a reminder, with the majority of the troop away at Camp Geronimo, there is no troop meeting Tuesday, June 17.  See you all next week!

Hello Troop 648 Family!

The scouts and scouters of Troop 648 departed (early!) yesterday from Blessed Sacrament on a heading for Camp Geronimo!  Yesterday and today will see the scouts getting settled in with their tent mates, swim checks, camp tour and other activities as they prepare for the start of their programs Monday morning.  The weather looks enviable and ‘fun’ is the primary item on their agenda.

I am heading to camp on Wednesday, leaving Scottsdale around 1:00pm.  If you would like me to deliver anything to your scout (or scouter), please drop it off at our house anytime between now and Weds 1:00pm.  Please call or send me a quick email if you will be sending something.

Have a great week and know your scout is having an awesome time!

Yours in Scouting,

Mr. McFetters

dmcfetters@gmail.com

(602) 793-1058

6550 E. Clinton (corner of Clinton and 66th Street, one block north of Shea)

As a reminder, tonight’s COH starts promptly at 7:00pm and will be held in the Social Hall at Blessed Sacrament. See you soon!

Good morning T648,

Thank you all for your flexibility last week, as our troop meeting ran well into its third hour, outpacing even a very full agenda on the Committee Meeting front. The scouts had a highly interactive CPR class with a trained and very interesting instructor, and as a result of the hundreds of questions they asked, the boys learned a ton of practical information in first aid. What suffered was the timeline. The good news is, none of them were tired for school the next day – the bad news is, all of us employed parents were dragging a bit! Every scout who paid $20 should now have a certified CPR card valid for the next two years. Even more importantly, they have received training in everything from how to handle a drowning infant, what to do with a choking 400 pound man, and all the legalities around how to protect oneself in this crazy suit-happy society. It is amazing to hear her stories of the occasional ungrateful person attempting to take legal advantage of a Good Samaritan’s efforts on their behalf, when the alternative would have been that they might now be dead.

This is an unusually busy summer week again with the troop. We have adult leader meeting at 7PM on Monday night at SWC, our summer court of honor at 7PM on Tuesday night, we are helping with some scouting activities at SWC’s vacation bible school during the week, and then this Saturday, we are heading for the high country and our crowning event for the year – Summer Camp! Anyone without a current medical form should be scheduled to see their doctor this week, and we will look to see those of you heading up the hill bright and early on Saturday morning the 14th. One more in a long line of going for the Gold – Big G Gold, at Geronimo!

See you at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

Good morning T648,

This past weekend’s backpacking outing was to one of the most fun-filled and beautiful locations in central Arizona. It was not one of the most remote, this time of year, as many local college students and families with children also made the day hike down to the pools and the waterfall below Fossil Springs. Although we didn’t ‘get away from it all,’ we had an excellent weekend of hiking, splashing and advancing. Most boys didn’t even take their packs off on the trip up out of the canyon, and we were amazingly back at the church before noon wondering why we had rushed to return to the heat. Multiple scouts expressed a desire to return next year – if it makes the PLC calendar, I would highly recommend you make every effort to attend this energizing hike, and refreshing water wonderland.

Tonight is PLC at 6PM, followed by CPR training during the troop meeting at 7PM. Please bring $20 to renew your card for another two years. In parallel, also at 7PM, we will also be having the troop quarterly parent and committee meeting. Join troop adult leadership for an up-to-the minute status on preparations for summer camp, beginning in less than two weeks on June 14th at Camp Geronimo. The following week is the adult leader meeting at 7PM on June 9th at Scottsdale Worship Center in the Board Room, followed by our Summer Court of Honor at 7PM on June 10th at Blessed Sacrament in the Social Hall. Come witness the recent achievements of many of our scouts in preparation for camp.

See you at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

Greetings!

Congrats to all on what has hopefully been a successful school year with a great summer ahead. There are a number of dates to make note of in this first part of June.

• June 3 – At 7pm, we will have our usual, quarterly Troop Committee and Parent Meeting. We will be in the classroom adjacent to the normal troop meeting room. All interested parents are invited to attend. (You don’t need to be a “formal” member of the committee!) We will begin with the Troop Committee business and updates for the first half of the meeting, and then I will reserve a block of time at the end to address parent questions about summer camp. Feel free to bring your son over for the CPR class that night, and then join us for the parent meeting.
• June 10 – Our summer Court of Honor will be held in the Social Hall (at the east end down by the stage.) – We have a number of advancements and merit badges to recognize; please come to the event and applaud the successes of our great scouts!
• June 14-21 – Camp Geronimo – Please make sure that you are getting your annual physicals completed; we are still missing several. The form is available on the website if you need one.
• June 17 – NO TROOP MEETING – Since the majority of the group will be at summer camp, we will not be meeting on the 17th. We will miss those of you not joining us at camp and will see you on the 24th when we return.

Also: Thanks to Mr. Parizek for the fine accounting at the Pancake Breakfast; based on the final numbers, I have updated the Scout Accounts which are now posted on the website. (I will also have copies at the Committee Meeting as well.)

Thanks!

Mr. Benyi

Good afternoon,

I hope that you are having a memorable Memorial Day weekend with family and friends. If you are like me, I assumed that the tradition of this day began from reflecting back on one of the World Wars, but in fact it began much earlier than that. While there is some disagreement on the site of the first observance of Memorial Day, it is agreed that the practice of honoring those who died protecting our freedoms was in place by 1866. At least a half dozen cities in both the North and the South claim to be the ‘birthplace’ of Memorial Day. One of the first was in Mississippi, when local women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were graves of Union soldiers falling into neglect because they were, of course, the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare earthen mounds, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves as well. In 1868 when the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established May 30 as an official ‘Decoration Day’, and held a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, they proclaimed ‘Let no neglect, nor ravages of time, testify to the present or coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.’ Then, as now, small American flags were placed on every grave – a practice still held at national cemeteries throughout the country.

Once again this weekend, T648 was well represented in honoring our veterans in this very way. At the National Memorial Cemetery, as in past years we have attended, there were many hundreds of scouts, scout leaders and families gathered in the cool air for a brief ceremony, reflection, and work. At 0705 hole punchers and bundles of American flags were distributed, and the crowd fanned out. I’ve often felt that from 30,000 feet, the event must look like an ant farm or a bee hive with the swarm intent upon covering every inch of the workplace without rushing, but with respectful, relentless efficiency. The 28 members from our troop pitched in, and by 0735 every one of the almost 50,000 graves had two feet worth of American Flag snapping smartly in the breeze, well in time for our national anthem to be played at 0800. Once again as we departed, it gave me chills to see the sea of waving red white and blue, and I gave thanks once more for the millions who have served to keep us free.

This week we are on summer vacation, but not from scouting! Tomorrow night is our troop meeting, and the focus will be on getting the patrols ready for summer camp (flags, yells, uniforms, merit badge books, etc). The next two meetings will also be preparation, but for different reasons – our CPR certification class on the 3rd (please bring $20), and our Summer Court of Honor on the 10th. Please be working to finish up any rank advancements or troop merit badges this week if you are planning to include them in the COH. Also on the 3rd will be our monthly PLC meeting, as well as a Troop Committee meeting for all parents and adult leaders. This coming weekend is our backpacking trip to Fossil Springs – a 3 ½ mile hike down switch backs to a canyon full of swimming holes with rope swings, sliding rocks, and a small lake below an old dam. The temperatures should be perfect for hiking in the cool mornings and swimming during the warm afternoon. Please let young Mr. Hart know you are planning to join us for what should be a fabulous outing.

Do you also realize that in three short weeks we will already be at sumer camp up in the cool pines of Camp Geronimo? On the 14th of June we will be leaving from the church early in the morning, having our individual sack brunches in a park in Payson, and be looking to be one of the first troops to check in around noon. We will be up there all week having a most excellent time, striving once again for another Big G Gold troop award, and arriving home happy, but tired and in dire need of a shower the following Saturday, the 21st. I can’t wait!

See you tomorrow at the troop meeting,

Mr. Cole

This coming weekend we pause and give thanks for the countless servicemen and women who have served, sometimes giving the ultimate sacrifice, to keep America free.  We will again have an opportunity this weekend to join with hundreds of other scouting families in planting flags on Saturday morning at Phoenix National Memorial Cemetery.  It is still an overwhelming moment for me to witness the solemn speed and efficiency of 48,000+ flags being planted in 40 minutes by hundreds of uniformed scouting families – from grandfathers to den mothers to Eagles to Brownies.  I can still picture in my mind my two youngest children 10 years ago up in a tree with a sea of flags flowing out for what seemed like miles beneath them. I recall a few years later the haunting sight of a mother lying on a freshly buried plot, devastated over the loss of her son in Afghanistan. One of my cherished photos is of two generations of scouting men from T648 tending to the grave of their Lieutenant Colonel father and grandfather.  I hope that you will plan to join with us in attending this year’s flag planting on Saturday, May 24^th.  I would recommend arriving by 6:30 at 23029 N. Cave Creek Road (north of the 101), park, and meet T648 members up by the American flag near the visitor center.  If you have done this service project before, it quickly becomes a tradition.  If you have never been to one of these moving events, doing so will create your own personalized memories. We’ll be completely done by 8AM, allowing you an opportunity to go to breakfast & still have the rest of your day and weekend ahead of you.

We have a number of items coming up in preparation for summer camp.  This week your SPL has asked that the patrols bring flag making materials to the troop meeting, as there is less than a month left to complete the design and construction of your camp patrol flags, patrol yells, and troop cheer for Geronimo.  We will also be having a CPR class on June 3^rd, required for those of you taking the Lifesaving Merit Badge, but important for all of us.  Adults and scouts can participate, and receive certification for only $20.  June 3^rd is also our next Committee Meeting, and final family planning and information about camp.  We will also be having our summer Court of Honor on the 10^th, so finish up your remaining troop-based merit badge activities (Citizenship, Cooking, etc.).  All boys and adult leaders should also have an updated BSA Medical/Health form by summer camp, so you still have a month to git ‘er done!  Prior to summer camp, we have one remaining treat of an outing.  The backpacking trip to the Fossil Springs swimming holes is always a refreshing opportunity to open up summer vacation appropriately.  Bring a swimming suit, and plan to spend most of Saturday, May 31^st in the creek pools, or the small lake by the dam – Ahhhhhh!  Sounds great with 104 degree temperatures back in the Valley.

I know many of you are finishing up your school years this week, with finals looming around the corner.  Best wishes for a strong finish, with the resulting reward of an entire summer in which to recover.

Mr. Cole

Good morning,

Happy Mother’s Day to all our troop mothers!  In our weekly meeting a few days ago, I shared a number of classic ‘mother quotes’ from my mother in the 60’s and 70’s that amazingly the boys in our current troop recognized 50 years later.  Can you finish ‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t…….’ or ‘Clean your plate, there are…..’?  Of course you can!  Mothers have wisdom that transcends generations, but also an amazing resilience, patience and never-ending love that gets us through some of the most challenging years of our lives (no way would I ever want to go through middle school again – and I can’t imagine what it would have been like without my mother)!  Thank you for everything you mean to the boys in T648.

This week we had a small but spirited group spruce up our canoe trailer.  Not only does our trailer now have a set of new treads, and is ready to take on our next lake adventure, but each of the boys are now equipped to rescue their mother from the inevitable family vehicle flat tire – a truly useful skill to have!  After a few final tugs on the tire iron, a couple of boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts were consumed, and everyone was back to their Saturdays before 9AM.  Many thanks to Mr. Turner, home for a couple of days from Chicago, for stopping by on his motorcycle, and for young Mr. Murphy for organizing the event.

Throughout this year we have been tracking participation, uniform completeness, and patrol competitions in our annual march toward the T648 Honor Patrol award.  This year the PLC has tentatively requested that the award be a fall trip to a different theme park – Magic Mountain.  There is still time to influence your patrol’s standings, as active participation is averaged, so the number of individuals in a patrol doesn’t ultimately matter – your individual participation does.  As usual, it is neck and neck coming down to the end at summer camp, with the Turtle Patrol in the lead, followed by the Royals, the Pirates, and the Leprechauns.

Looking ahead, tomorrow night we have our monthly adult leader meeting at 7PM in the Board Room at SWC (65^th Street and Cactus).  Tuesday night is the troop meeting at 7PM with the meeting theme to be a review of Engineering from young Misters Turner and Traynor.  On the long weekend of May 24^th, young Mr. J. DeAngelis will be leading our troop on our annual flag planting service project for Memorial Day.  If this is an event you have not attended in the past, you have to see it to believe it.  For those of you who have been, it is something not easily forgotten.  Also, don’t forget to begin getting your backpack ready for our trip to the Fossil Springs swimming holes the weekend of the 30^th.  This is one of the truly most magical destinations for cooling a hot hiker in all of Arizona!

Best wishes as you finish preparing for finals.  Work hard for only two more weeks – your summer awaits!  See you at the troop meeting.

Mr. Cole