Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Thanks to Kelli Demski for pointing out an error in my post…

Our November PLC meeting will be held this Tuesday at Blessed Sacrament at 6 pm with the Troop meeting starting promptly right after at 7 pm.  Please do your very best to show up so we can have a productive meeting.

November 1, 2013 Scoutmaster Update

Well it seems like we were off and running this week starting Sunday afternoon when Mr. Cole and I had the chance to sit down with Mr. Dahlmann the younger for his Eagle Scoutmaster Conference.  As you know, Mr. Dahlmann’s Eagle Project ranks right up there among the best in T648.  During the Conference we were able to see the amount of work that went into the planning, design, funding raising and execution.  It was a wonderful opportunity to share our thoughts with this fine young man as he works through the final steps towards earning his Eagle.

Tuesday nights Troop meeting was thrown a curveball as we had no power in the meeting room.  Nevertheless, Mr. Conrad took his Citizenship in the World Merit Badge group to Cactus Park and carried on in fine Boyscout fashion.  That was the last meeting for this merit badge.  Mr. Conrad will be sending out a notice to those who still have items to complete in the Workbook.  Please contact Mr. Conrad directly if you need any face-to-face time at Troop meeting to wrap up.   I encourage you to complete your assignments in short order as the longer you postpone the higher the risk that it slips through the cracks.

Mrs. Traynor is wrapping up the re-charter for the Troop for which we are most grateful and offer her a hearty thank-you.  For those of you still owe dues for scouts or adults, please try and get those checks to Mrs. T. next week.

The Honor Patrol departs for Disneyland this afternoon.  Please make sure you are at Blessed Sacrament by 3:45 pm so we can depart on time at 4 pm.  Mr. Cole sent out a checklist last night via email which I’m reproducing here.

• Bring snacks if you want and some hydration to eat in the van (hopefully something less than messy).  We will make a quick stop for dinner on the far side of town, and will also possibly make a California stop to get gas.

• Highs around 78 with nighttime lows in the high 50s.  It might even be wise to bring a sweatshirt or a light jacket for the park, and utilize one of the park lockers if you don’t want to carry it all during the day.  Bring an extra $10 or so for a locker.

• Reminder to bring a permission slip

• Reminder to bring $40 gas money

• Reminder to wear comfortable civilian clothes for the park – we will not be wearing scout uniforms this trip

• If you want a towel to wash your face or brush your teeth, please bring your own

• Bring your snack for the trip, and money for fast food later Friday night and Sunday noon, and for meals in the park Saturday noon and evening.  You can probably get by for $40 unless you are a big eater – I’m assuming $7 per fast food meal, and $12 per Disney meal – adjust accordingly.

• Bring your charger if you are bringing a cell phone

Our November PLC meeting will be held this Monday at Blessed Sacrament at 6 pm with the Toop meeting starting promptly right after at 7 pm.  Please do your very best to show up so we can have a productive meeting.

Our next Adult Leader Meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 11 at 7 – 8:30 at the Scottsdale Worship Center (65^th and Cactus) happens to fall on Veterans Day, which I failed to notice when scheduled.  We can discuss off-line but I will be in town and would suggest we hold that date since we didn’t meet in October.  I encourage some of you new parents to participate.  You’ll see what happens behind the curtain so to speak and have an opportunity to provide your input.

Looking ahead, our outing this month (November 15 – 17) will be an easy backpacking trip to Badger Springs, which is right off of I-17 about 50 miles north of Phoenix (exit #256).  While the details from Mr. DeAngelis the older, who is the Youth Lead and Mr. Cramer, who is the Youth Assistant (with Mr. Conrad as the Adult advisor) are forthcoming, our newer and less-experienced backpackers should know that this is a great intro-backpacking opportunity with the hike in at right around 1 mile.  Once base camp is set up we will do day hikes around the area.  The temperatures will be Arizona perfect with the trailhead at just over 3,000 feet.   Here is a link to the Badger Springs site if you are interested in learning more.

(http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/recreation/hiking/badger-springs.html)

On Saturday, November 9^th, the younger Conrads, are organizing a shed inventory project. This will basically be to build upon the shed-organizing project we did a while back. The project will be to basically count everything we have in the shed, throw out any junk, and maybe do some further organizing. It should take a few hours. I’m guessing we will start around 7 AM. The Conrads intend to have fliers at the troop meeting this Tuesday. This is a great opportunity to earn service hours and I encourage everyone to show up and help.  More information will be forthcoming but put this on the calendar.

Mr. Turner

For those of you attending this weekend’s backpack on the Weatherford Trail, be advised that the departure time has changed to Saturday morning, October 26th, for a 6:30AM departure from Blessed Sacrament, returning around 4PM on Sunday the 27th.  Please bring layers of clothing (highs will be in the 60s, but the lows will be in the 20s).  Also bring $25 for gas money, and additional money for lunch in Flagstaff on Sunday.  If you have not confirmed with young Mr. Turner or young Mr. Traynor, please do to ensure enough seatbelts to go around.  See you for a most excellent adventure this weekend!

It’s 7:30 PM on 21 October and I’m more than a little jet lagged as I return to my hotel room after a full day of meetings.  Normally we fly straight into Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from Amsterdam but the flights were full so my colleague and I had to spend the night in Nairobi, Kenya.  As you may recall, Nairobi is where terrorists attacked the Westgate Mall and killed many innocent civilians.  Well, I had our taxi driver swing by and show us the outside of the mall before heading to the Hilton.  Needless to say it was a bit spooky to get so close to where so much evil had just been.  We were off early this morning to continue our journey to Dar and flew past Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest point on the African continent) on the way south.  Stopped on the island of Zanzibar to drop off some passengers and then flew to Dar.  It is certainly an odd feeling to be the only one or two white faces among a city of Africans but no problems with the Tanzanians being some of the most friendly and affable people I’ve met in my travels.  We are meeting with government officials as we try to complete the negotiations around our solar projects and solar-powered water well project portfolio.  We met this afternoon with the the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Administration, which is equivalent to our Arizona Corporation Commission regarding the approval process for our projects.  Interestingly, they use many of the same regulatory tools used to set tariffs and rates as those developed by economists in the US and used by our own State and Federal government.  The reach that the US has in places like Tanzania is quite impressive when one considers the fact that they are trying to do the right thing in terms of good sound economic policy.  As with most anything, it comes down to access to investment capital!

I fly to Dodoma to meet with the University Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor and to see the site where our proposed project will be built.  There are many good opportunities here in Tanzania, which is one of the more stable countries in Africa.  The economy is improving here and lots of construction and activity which is a good and healthy sign.   The Power Africa initiative proposed by the President is starting to attract capital investment based on US manufactured goods and services and I see a number of American businessmen in the hotel lobby from Caterpillar, GM, Microsoft and others.

Well I better get back to work so I’m prepared for my meetings tomorrow.  Many, many thanks to Mr. Cole for filling in for me on such short notice.  I will be back in full swing next week after returning to Phoenix on Sunday.  I’m sorry I won’t make the San Francisco Peaks outing (one of my favorite places!!) but stay safe and warm up their lads and I look forward to seeing everyone next Tuesday.

Good night from Dar es Salaam!

Mr. Turner

Now that the Cole family has returned from fall break on the east coast, I’m winding down, catching my breath and reflecting back on the events of almost two weeks ago.  Congratulations to our Medal of Honor awardee, our Jamboree attendees, our new member scouts, our advancing scouts for their new ranks, our service star awardees, and for all the scouts who attended summer camp and received well deserved merit badges.  There was more pomp and circumstance during that brief Court of Honor than in many of our esteemed halls of higher learning, and I was proud of every one of you.  As I said my final Scoutmaster Minute, I certainly could have told a story about each of you, but I’ll save those stories for your Eagle Courts of Honor.  In the end, I was truly humbled by your kind words, and your generosity in the beautiful gift orchestrated by Mr. Gingrich, and assisted by each one of you in the troop.  I have been honored to be your Scoutmaster, and to have watched this boy-led troop continue its tradition of developing strong leaders from within.  I look forward to supporting Mr. Turner, as he begins his tenure as your new adult leader, and I especially look forward to working with many of you on your future boards of review, and to continue attending the outings that you develop and lead.

Mr. Turner was also with his family on fall break in the northeast, but was unexpectedly called to Tanzania, Africa for work this weekend, while the rest of the Turners have returned home without our new Scoutmaster.  Pinch hitting for Mr. Turner, I will let you know that this week we will have Tuesday’s meeting prepare us for the upcoming backpack in the San Francisco Peaks the 25^th-27^th.  Many thanks to young Mr.’s Turner and Traynor for this guidance on high altitude, low temperature hiking.  Due to Mr. Turner’s small side trip, we will not be having our October Adult Leaders meeting tomorrow night, but will instead focus our sights on the next one on November 11^th.  Additional areas of focus over the next few weeks include:

• For those of you in Mr. Conrad’s class, continuing work on your Citizenship in the World merit badge activities
• Bringing your 2014 dues to Tuesday’s meeting, and turn them in to Mrs. Traynor ($120/scout, $25/adult leader)
• Plan on coming on the outstanding backpacking outing this weekend
• Providing Mrs. Traynor your input this week for our next troop newsletter
• For those of you awarded the Honor Patrol trip to Disneyland, November 1^st is less than 2 weeks away!
• Our next PLC meeting will be November 5 at 6PM – be prepared to discuss your patrols and ideas for upcoming troop activities/meetings

On behalf of Scoutmaster Mr. Turner – see you at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

As we roll into SUSD’s Fall Break I thought I would provide a quick update for everyone’s calendar.  This month’s Adult Leader Meeting  will not take place on Monday, October 14 but is rescheduled for 7 pm on Monday, October 21 at Scottsdale Worship Center.  Please plan on attending if you can.

Troop 648 Meeting on Tuesday, October 15 at 7 pm will include a backpack relay race overseen by Mr. Hart the senior and Mr. Bowers.  Mr. Conrad will be teaching lashings for First Class advancement.  Please plan on attending as there are a number of you have just Lashings left to complete First Class so don’t miss this golden opportunity with Mr. Conrad.  Lashings is often one of the last First Class requirements that are checked off so I encourage as many of you as possible to attend and get this one done.

Citizenship in the World Merit Badge class starts before Troop meeting at 6:15.  Mr. Conrad will be teaching this Eagle required merit badge so those of you who qualify to take this class should!  Mr. Conrad circulated an email with the pre-requisites and the workbook assignments that should be completed before Tuesday’s class.

Have a nice relaxing weekend enjoying this beautiful Arizona weather.

Mr. Turner

Hello T648,

What a wonderful evening we had Tuesday night at the Scottsdale Worship Center (and a big heart-felt thank you to our most gracious hosts).  We had recognition and awards going on all over the place.  First our own Mr. Traynor the younger was recognized with the Honor Medal, which is one of four lifesaving awards giving out by the BSA.  Since 1923 only 2,354 Honor Medals have been award to scouts, making it a very rare honor that was certainly deserved.  After such a fast start we settled into recognizing the advancement and we had a number of our newer scouts advance to Scout and Tenderfoot in short order, which is commendable and a wonderful thing to see.  Not to be outdone some of our older scouts were recognized for their continued move up the ladder to Second Class, First Class and Star.  No Life advancement but I would bet that we wil have some by the next COH.  And of course our Eagles are recognized at their own special COH and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will see that happen in the coming months.  The advancement recognition was follow up by the awarding of merit badges earned since the last COH and we had some 50 merit badges handed out to a very deserving and hard working group of scouts.  This large number isn’t all that unusual as the scouts really rack up ’em up during summer camp.  Years of Service was next on the agenda with a number of our scouts hitting the 4 year mark (and with Mr. Gingrich hitting it out of the park with 44 years). Finally, we turned our attention to recognizing Mr. Cole for his three years of tenure as Scoutmaster to Troop 648.  There were many kinds words bestowed upon Mr. Cole and a BSA axe mounted on a beautiful piece of mesquite wood that was put together by Mr. Gingrich presented to Mr. Cole as a thanks for a job well done!  The axe handle was signed by as many in the troop that we could round up and it was a beautiful piece that I’m sure will grace the walls of the Cole household!  And with that we wrapped up the evening with some tasty cake and good conversation.

As we turn out attention to the coming weeks we have the following nearterm items on the Troop 648 calendar.   We could certainly use a good turnout this Saturday morning for a scout service project that wil benefit Blessed Sacrament to beautify the rock garden north of the parking lot next to the parish house.  Meet on the north side of the church at 6:30 AM and expect to be wrapped up no later than 8:30 AM.  Mr. Jeorling will be slinging burritos for those who show up and there will be plenty of cool beverages although the temperature looks like it will be nice and cool.  Bring a rake and shovel and a pair of gloves and we’ll knock this beautifying project in short order.

The next troop outing will be the weekend of October 26/27 in the San Francico Peaks north of Flagstaff.  More details will be forthcoming from Will Turner and Mr. Dahlman but this will be a spectacular  hike through the pine trees of Northern Arizon.  It will be a bit nippy at night so plan on bringing your 20 degree bag for this one!

Thanks,

Mr. Turner

What a beautiful weekend to be out working in the garden!  In absolutely perfect prognostication on the weather done many weeks in advance, young Mr. Dahlmann had 46 of T648’s friends and family spending a glorious Saturday working out of doors on his magnificent Eagle Project.  St Vincent de Paul enlisted him to assist them in helping their clients better help themselves by building irrigated food gardens on donated land just north of their South Phoenix facility.  Our troop developed and installed two large automated irrigation zones for salad plants (kale and other lettuce varietals) and two zones of citrus trees, for underprivileged people of the charity to tend and harvest for community meals.  It is always amazing to me the ingenuity and scale of the projects our scouts develop, and the fabulous results when the best and brightest of our organization are then brought to bear on those designs.  This project will benefit many of the neediest in our community for years to come.  Many thanks to all who gave up much of their Saturday to put together such an outstanding outcome.  Well done!

For a number of the top salesmen in T648, it was then home for a quick shower, and then off to an incredible award dinner at Mr. Parizek’s home.  Each of the top ticket sellers from last spring’s Pancake Breakfast were treated to the ultimate in haute cuisine (American style), as the boys were entertained with views from his mountaintop home, and overwhelmed by the tastiest beef ribeyes this side of Dodge City.  More than one scout was heard asking their parents as they left if they could please do steaks like Mr. Parizek.  Congratulations to the award winners!  It bears keeping in mind that there are sometimes additional benefits to a scout’s doing his best beyond simply having a fuller scout account – everybody who left that night was certainly full of some of the finest food in Phoenix.

For this next week, I have one last MEETING ALERT.  We will be meeting at Scottsdale Worship Center Tuesday night (not Blessed Sacrament), and at 6:30PM (not 7PM).  It will be a packed agenda, and it is important that everyone be in the right location ready for starting early, as we have a whirlwind tour of multitudinous piles of awards to wade through, and we want to ensure that every boy who has achieved so much is due his moment in the T648 sun.  You are encouraged to bring a sack dinner or fast food by 6PM, and eat and visit with our troop family as we are setting up for the ceremony at 65^th Street and Cactus.  Or simply come ready to begin sharply at 6:30PM.  You’ll be glad you did!  And we’ll have a better shot to send you home in time for bed on a school night.

Additional items of note include a service project this coming Saturday to benefit our charter organization, Blessed Sacrament.  Young Mr. Turner has developed a quick project to beautify a path on our host’s campus.  Please arrive by 6:30 AM on the 12^th, and we’ll plan to be done in two hours or less.  For those of you tracking your Eagle Merit badge requirements, Mr. Conrad’s Community in the World merit badge class will begin at 6:15PM at Blessed Sacrament before the October 15^th  troop meeting.  There will also be an opportunity to practice first class lashings during the troop meeting on the 15^th.  If you are interested, please practice some of the key knots (can you say clove hitch?), and be ready for some A-frame and other useful pole gadget building.  Looking ahead, we have a cool, crisp backpack planned for the San Francisco Peaks area on the weekend of the 25^th.  This is the absolute best time to be a scout in Arizona – please take advantage of all your troop has to offer.  It doesn’t get much better than this!

See you at the Court of Honor (did I mention Scottsdale Worship Center and no later than 6:30????)

Mr. Cole

Yesterday you may have missed it, but it was National Health and Family Fitness Day.  I suppose that my wife and I contributed in some unwitting way by walking the dogs in the cool of the morning, (‘An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day’ says Henry David Thoreau) but otherwise we did little to improve the overall fitness of our family.  On a typical Saturday as a kid, I would have likely been shooting baskets for hours, riding my bike a few miles to a friend’s hogan, exploring canyons and dry washes for ruins or Anasazi arrow points, or climbing the red rock mesas surrounding Rock Point.  Now that I am older, I generally work out in the dark of the morning – it works best for me, as in the 5AM hour my brain hasn’t yet figured out quite what I’m doing that early.  My kids, however, are unfortunately not currently in a regular exercise routine.  We don’t have red rock mesas in our back yard, but we do have the McDowell Mountains, which generally go unused by the Coles.  So, a couple years ago I got a family membership at Mountainside Fitness, figuring we’d try the ‘side’ of the mountain, since we don’t use the actual mountain.  The Coles are really not in significantly better shape as a result – apparently you actually have to go to the club for the fitness part to work.  So, yesterday after the walk we instead ran errands (using a car rather than our feet), redecorated my eldest son’s room, and variously ‘played’ sports (Madden NFL 2013), watched football (on TV), took a nap, or went to a movie (on the couch at a friend’s house).   Thank goodness for scouts!  Last week many of us at Family Camp up in Flagstaff walked a few miles in the pine forest to and from the archery range, rode bikes, did extreme sports, and for the next two months we have an opportunity to head back up north for outstanding backpacking outings.  We may live in electronics heavy suburban America, but the outing is still an integral part of T648 scouting!  Make sure that you are taking advantage of all the best your troop has to offer!

This week we are back at it.  Tuesday night at 6PM is the October Patrol Leader Meeting, followed by the troop meeting at 7PM.   With our October theme being ‘Getting Psyched for Backpacking’, and our next two outings being backpack weekends, the boys will be reviewing how to optimize weight and size in their packs.  Next weekend we will be at St. Vincent de Paul at 420 W. Watkins Road in Phoenix to install an irrigation system and plant a salad garden to help feed people in dire need of nutritious foods in our Valley.  Please join us for kickoff and some treats at 7AM on 10/5, and young Mr. Dahlmann plans for us to be finished with the bulk of his Eagle Project by noon.  Please let the Dahlmann’s know if you need a ride, as there will be cars leaving from Blessed Sacrament at 6:15AM.  We need one and all to bring a pair of work gloves and a smiling face to support this very worthwhile community service project (and as Mr. Dahlmann says, the smiling face is optional – since it’s so early in the morning J).

On October 8^th we will move our meeting from Blessed Sacrament to Scottsdale Worship Center on the northwest corner of Cactus and 65^th Street for our fall Court of Honor.  If you have advanced since the June COH, you should have notified Mr. McFetters, our advancement chair, and you will receive your new scout badge during the evening’s ceremony.  Additionally, all merit badges, summer camp awards, and a number of other special events will occur, so you do not want to miss this!  Beginning at 6PM, bring a sack dinner if you’d like, and chat with other on-the-go members of your troop.  If you will be dining at home, please plan to arrive at 6:30 PM for the festivities to begin.  We expect a long evening of celebration, so an early start on a school night would be welcome by all!

Due to PLC this week, and the COH next week, the start of Mr. Conrad’s Citizenship in the World merit badge class will be at 6PM at Blessed Sacrament on 10/15.  If you are 13+, have a desire to take this class, and have not yet confirmed with Mr. Conrad, please do so this week.  This is an Eagle required merit badge not taught at summer camps, so this is a perfect opportunity to get this one under your belt.

I’m looking forward to a great month of scouting!  See you Tuesday night at the troop meeting.

Mr. Cole

Good evening,

Sunday night finds a happy group of campers back in the Valley after our annual T648 family camp, this year at Ft. Tuthill outside of Flagstaff.  35 of our troop family spent portions of the weekend in everything from backpacking tents to 8 person mongo tents to 5^th wheel RVs.  We were at the Luke Air Force Base Recreation area, and for an incredible highlight, closed the weekend with Army Major Commander Darrin allowing our scouts to climb in and ride around camp in an almost fully equipped Army Humvee (minus only the 50 calibre gun).  Also on the agenda were the extreme sports undertaken by multiple families at Flagstaff Extreme.  Participants came back dead tired but smiling after hours of ziplines, rope swinging, net climbing, and other attractions.  Our own Robin Hood, Mr. Traynor, had earlier led dozens of us in training for action archery, followed by arrows, arrows whizzing everywhere – from 10 up to 70 yards.  Cub scout wolves to grandparents, the T648 family was increasingly accurate with every quiver of 5 arrows until raw fingers, bruised forearms, and aching shoulders finally conspired to send us all back in search of lunch.  An all-family pot luck dinner (apple caramel streusel pie, anyone?) followed by a Mr. Traynor-sized campfire was a perfect capper to an excellent day.   Sprinkled liberally elsewhere throughout the weekend were nature trail hikes, army museum tours, mountain bike rides, a soccer game, billiards, and even the occasional refreshing shower in the recreation area bath house.  Many thanks to young Mr. Hart and Mr. Traynor for their excellent leadership, and a special thanks to former marine pilot Mr. Martin for gaining our troop access to this special military recreational facility.

This week please remember that our troop meeting is NOT at Blessed Sacrament, but instead is a swim test and water rescue night at the Weinhold home.  Please obtain the address from the recent flyers or from the troop roster on the website.  Any questions, please let Mr. Cole know.  Since the meeting is offsite, the beginning of the Citizenship in the World merit badge with Mr. Conrad will now be delayed a few weeks until the 15^th, beginning at 6PM.  On  October 1^st , we will have PLC at 6PM, and the troop meeting at 7PM.  We also have an outstanding opportunity to assist young Mr. Dahlmann with his Eagle project on October 5^th.  If you wish to carpool, there will be rides leaving from Blessed Sacrament at 6:15AM in the morning, or please meet us at St. Vincent de Paul to begin his fresh vegetable garden building project at 7AM.

Attention all advancers.  If you have advanced a rank since our last court of honor, please ensure that you have notified our Advancement Chair, Mr. McFetters.  On October 8^th, at 6:30PM, we will have our fall Court of Honor, and it will be chock full of rank advancements, merit badges awards, summer camp awards, and other pomp and circumstance.  We are trying something new this year, as we are still meeting at Scottsdale Worship Center (65th Street and Cactus) while Blessed Sacrament finishes construction of the sanctuary and social hall.  We will not be having our annual potluck, but please plan instead to bring a picnic dinner or a bag of fast food for your family by 6PM, and eat and visit before the event commences at 6:30PM.  Or just plan to arrive at 6:30PM ready to begin – we’ll have a lot of ground to cover in honoring the many recent achievements of our scouts.

See you at the troop meeting

Mr. Cole