Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

What a wonderful weekend to take a moment and give thanks for America’s years of both peace and conflict, but especially for the countless millions of lives who have served to keep her free.  Many thanks as well to the 30 + participants from T648 who joined hundreds of other scouting families planting flags Saturday morning at Phoenix National Memorial Cemetery.  Every year something new tugs at my heart, and renews my passion for this holiday.  Our first year planting flags as an entire Cole family, the solemn speed and efficiency of 48,000+ flags being planted in 40 minutes overwhelmed me.  A subsequent year, a treasured photo of my two youngest scouts in a tree resulted, complete with a sea of flags flowing out for what seemed like miles beneath them. Three years ago, the haunting sight of a mother laying on a freshly buried plot, devastated over the loss of her son in Afghanistan. Two years ago, a picture of two generations of  scouting Harness men standing next to the grave of their third generation Lieutenant Colonel father and grandfather.  And this year, the fierce protectiveness of a tiny mother bird, sitting on her four eggs at the head of Korean veteran D. Welty’s headstone, as a quiet sea of people and flags swept by her, gently placing a flag next to her home.  I am not one to often quote President Bill Clinton, but he once said ‘There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America’.  We are members of a nation founded under God, with liberty to believe in our God.  We are blessed every day to have hundreds of thousands of servicemen and women willing to lay down their lives to protect those freedoms, while millions more across our great land give of their time today to say thanks.  Happy Memorial Day!

This week as schools let out we begin to lose a number of our scouts at various times throughout the summer.  This year we have a number of scouts working at scout camps, attending council or national leadership training, or attending our scouting National Jamboree at its new location in West Virginia.  Best wishes to all of you in these most excellent endeavors!  The rest of us will soldier on as we have a troop meeting tomorrow night, C. Williams’ Eagle Court of Honor at 7PM on Thursday night the 30^th, at the Elks Club at Acoma and 32^nd Street, and both Patrol Leaders’ Council at 6PM and the Troop Committee and Parent’s meeting at 7PM on June the 4^th (this is the correct date – I mistakenly gave another date last week).  The focus for the Committee/Parent meeting will be Summer Camp, which is a mere 7 weeks away as I write this.  Yeeehahhh!  Please also be looking ahead to our June outing at Lake Roosevelt on June 7-9, and our Summer Court of Honor on June 18^th at Scottsdale Worship Center.  We may be missing a few scouts for a week here or there, but we certainly won’t be missing out on activities for those of us still here in the valley!

See you tomorrow at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

Good Sunday evening!

What a great week of service and celebration!  Friday night a crack crew of culinary scouts served spaghetti and meatballs on the Blessed Sacrament courtyard patio in support of the Knights of Columbus charity dinner to raise money for those in the parish in need of a hand up.   A beautiful evening meal under the trees was followed by a talent show in the social hall / sanctuary, but there also was real talent in the organized tear-down by T648, getting the courtyard back to spic and span readiness for the weekend services.  Many thanks to the scouts for their usual efficient service!  On Saturday, we had a number of scouts finishing up their Personal Fitness merit badge, but the highlight of the week occurred Saturday night as the troop gathered to celebrate in a court of honor ceremony for our 38^th Eagle Scout, young Mr. E. Lara.  Hilarity ensued as the senior boys reminisced about little Mr. Lara stories, including his integration into the troop, archery skills, canoe demolition derby, time management (or lack thereof), and medical hijinks.  But as always, the true measure was in the remembrance of growth, accomplishments and the great times had along the journey – including his beautification project at the Henry Ashurst cabin at Pioneer Living History Museum.  Congratulations on reaching the T648 Eagle’s Nest, and many thanks for a wonderful evening to commemorate the achievement of the highest rank in scouting!

This week it is back to scout technology month, and the 7PM troop meeting will include a deeper dive into Geocaching.  This weekend we will have an opportunity to honor our nations soldier heroes in the annual Memorial Day flag planting ceremony at National Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Cave Creek Road north of the 101 freeway.  The troop traditionally meets at the event on the Saturday before Memorial Day (May 25^th this year) shortly after 6:30 AM by the flagpole to prepare for the ceremony and flag planting.  At 7AM there is a brief orientation and ceremony, followed by a fanning out by the hundreds of scouting and family volunteers to locate strategically placed flag bundles and hole punchers throughout the cemetery.  After an amazingly brief 45 minutes or so, the entire 225 acres of gravesites are awash in red white and blue flags, smartly waving in the early morning breeze.

Coming up the following week, we will have another Eagle court of honor.  This one will be for C. Williams at 7PM on Thursday, May 30^th at the Elks Club on 32^nd Street and Acoma.  There is no better way to visualize the road to Eagle for a young scout than to see the pictures, hear the stories, and watch as one of T648’s own joins the Eagle’s Nest.  School will be out, so please plan to celebrate with young Mr. Williams and the rest of your troop family.  Coming in June we will have PLC on June 4^th, a canoe outing to Roosevelt Lake on June 7^th-9^th, a troop committee meeting on June 11^th, and our next T648 Court of Honor on June 18^th.   School may be winding down, but scouting is just gearing up!  Summer Camp is a mere two months away! (get your medicals scheduled……)

Mr. Cole

Good evening,

This past weekend more than a dozen of the troop gathered to assess and repair our fleet of T648 canoes.  After a morning of wrenching combined with elbow grease, we had cannibalized a couple of rickety canoes, and using their spare parts, had completed three seaworthy green vessels to join their silver sister on the trailer.  Once we repair a crack in the side of a fifth canoe, we will be ready to head out on our next canoeing outing to Roosevelt, one of the desert Salt River lakes the weekend of June 7-9.  Many thanks to the scouts and adults who joined young Mr. Conrad in his project to refurbish our armada just in the nick of time!

This is another busy week, as we have the troop meeting on Tuesday night, with another Personal Management sessions with Mr. Turner at 6PM for those of you taking the merit badge class.  On Friday night, we will have a service project opportunity to assist Blessed Sacrament in set up, serving and cleanup for their spaghetti dinner and talent show.  Come help out our charter organization, and receive a spaghetti dinner as a bonus!  The evening will be from approximately 4PM (or as soon as you can get there) until 7PM.  On Saturday we have the first of two Eagle Courts of Honor this month.  Scout Eric Lara became an Eagle Scout in late 2011, and will be having his COH Saturday, May 18^th at 5PM at the Mountain View Presbyterian Church at 8050 E. Mountain View Road in Scottsdale.  Later in the month, Scout Clark Williams, who completed his Eagle board early this year, will have his COH on the evening of Thursday, May 30^th.  Start time is still to be determined, but will likely be around 7PM, at the Elks Club, 14424 N. 32^nd Street in Phoenix.  I hope that you will make it a point to join these young men as we celebrate their excellent achievements in attaining their Eagle ranks within T648.

For those of you who have not yet had an opportunity to assist with the Miracle League baseball games on Saturday mornings, they are still in need of volunteers during May.  Please contact Mr. Turner for details.  This month is also the Memorial Day weekend flag planting at 7AM on May 25^th at the National Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery, north on Cave Creek Road off of the 101 freeway.  Someday I would like to view this event from the air, as the hundreds of scouting volunteers fan out with their flags, and stand up flags over every one of the 50,000 graves in about 45 minutes.  It is an amazing sight to behold.  This is always held the Saturday before Memorial Day, and we have often had upwards of 40 members of our troop participate.

For those of you working on advancement or merit badges, we are approximately a month away from our next troop court of honor.  It will be held at 7PM at Scottsdale Worship Center on June 18^th.  Please continue to work on your skills and/or activities, and go into summer camp with your new rank!  Our glorious out-of-council summer camp at Camp Alexander in Colorado is a mere 2 months away!   Mr. Benyi worked his magic, and was able to obtain almost 90% of the merit badges that attendees most wanted – we can review the details upon his return from Italy next week. In the meantime, schedule your medical exams if you do not have a current one on file with the troop.  And start to get fired up!!

See you tomorrow night at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

Good morning!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  Well, which was it?? I checked in with our backpackers yesterday afternoon, and heard the weather at Parson Springs was terrible, the hike was horrible and never-ending, and everyone had a really bad time.  Upon further grilling, I determined that they were just trying to be kind, and ease my unhappiness that I had been unable to attend this week’s fantastic outing to one of my favorite places in the state.  The weather was indeed spectacular, the boys hiked their adult leaders into the ground, and the swimming hole was clear, deep and refreshing.  It was another outstanding outing in Troop 648.  We have another refreshing water outing upcoming – this one a canoeing trip from June 7-9, so make your plans to join us now.  There was a rumor that Mr. Parizek might be planning to have his award dinner for the pancake breakfast ticket sales champions during this event, so stay tuned for further details.  In preparation for this outing, we will be having a canoe shakedown beginning 7:30AM this coming Saturday the 11^th to prepare our well-used (okay, somewhat bettered) canoes for another lake trip.  Young Mr. B. Conrad asks you to please bring screwdrivers, wrenches, and other assorted tools, along with gloves and sunscreen (and maybe some elbow grease), and get personal with your troop watercraft on land, before we go get them wet again next month!

I hope you have had an opportunity to peruse our April newsletter, coordinated exceptionally again by Mrs. Traynor.  A highlight for me is the detailing of the upcoming meeting agendas provided by young Mr. Harper.  It is wonderful to have a monthly view of the upcoming meeting topics, and the boy leaders in charge of providing the content.  Please join us Tuesday night at 7PM as we begin a technology and communications month, focusing first on geocaching.  Prior to the meeting at 6PM will be our monthly PLC meeting – so all leaders please plan to come with your unit reports and prepared to plan.  With PLC this month, we will take a hiatus from Mr. Turner’s Personal Management merit badge class – it will resume on the 14^th at 6PM.

This is a busy month as school winds down and summer begins.  We have a full calendar as well, an we hope that you can continue to work scouting in to your end of year scheduling.   Miracle League service project continues Saturday mornings as we assist the physically challenged in playing baseball games – please see the Turners to sign up for a game on Saturday mornings during May.  We will have an adult leader meeting at the SWC board room at 7PM on the 13^th.  On Friday, 5/17 we have a service project opportunity at the Blessed Sacrament Spaghetti Dinner and talent show.  The boys will be provided dinner, and receive service hours for serving and cleaning up.   Tentative times are 5PM until 8PM.  One of our Eagles has finally been able to schedule his Court of Honor – please plan to join young Mr. E. Lara and the troop as we celebrate his outstanding achievement at 5PM on 5/18 at Mountain View Presbyterian Church.   I hope you are also planning to join us for the 7AM Memorial Day flag planting at Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery on 5/25.  Please also plan ahead to join us for a committee meeting on June 4^th during our regular troop meeting.  Final preparation for the June Court of Honor and Summer Camp will be highlights.

One requirement for all participants (boys and adults) who will attend summer camp is a BSA medical release form signed by your physician.  The forms can be found on our website under ‘Documents.’  These are easily filled out by your physician during your annual physical, but can also be scheduled as a quick check (and sometimes as a paperwork-only update for a nominal charge) depending on your physician, and the date of your last appointment.  Please ensure this gets done in the next 8 weeks or so – we are amazingly only two and a half months away from our trip to Camp Alexander in the Colorado Springs Rockies.  For those of you not attending summer camp, please also fill one of these out at your next medical appointment.  It gives your adult leaders an overview of allergies and other items to be aware of about your sons on outings and other activities throughout the year.

See you Tuesday night for PLC and the troop meeting.

Mr. Cole

Good afternoon!

I realized yesterday just how far I have come in my lifetime from an ‘always connected’ perspective.  Yesterday morning was our annual pancake breakfast fundraiser, which as usual included scores of workers and hundreds of attendees.  In the 5AM hour I was on my way to open the facility to allow the scouts to begin cooking and perform final setup when I discovered 10 minutes into the 20-minute drive that I did not have my cellphone.  As I weighed the alternatives of turning around (we would have dozens of people delayed in beginning work, and would not have food ready for early attendees) with not turning around (I would miss multiple calls from troop members looking for last minute information), I realized how much I have become one with the culture of needing instant access to everyone in my address book.  This is the same kid who was so out of touch as a child that when I would leave the house, and head into the northern Arizona desert to play, the only connection I had was that I would need to be home by dark.  In those unconnected days, I would encounter such things as bobcats when climbing up into a cave on a mesa, bootleggers doing their business in the trees in a dry washbed, or a skeleton wearing all its earthly turquoise jewelry as erosion had exposed the random burial plot for old man Yellowhair.

I can’t even comprehend turning my kids loose similarly all day long today without any way to contact them.  In an era where we had no TV, phone or newspaper, and no radio until after dark, I recall it being days before we knew that Bobby Kennedy had been shot, while today a bomb goes off in Boston, and everyone is instantly aware.  I finally made the painful decision yesterday that it was more important to have food on time than to be plugged in to my network.  (As usual, my wife would say, I let my stomach decide for me!)  If it was one of my teenagers, they most definitely would have turned around, as the average teen today texts something like 4,000 times per month.  In any case, it was an interesting exercise to realize that I have travelled in my lifetime from not even having a TV or phone to now having 16 devices in my household that are either TVs or internet capable.  So how come actual personal communication skills are at an all time low?  Perhaps additional musings for another time….

Once I finally got there, yesterday’s pancake breakfast and silent auction were a rousing success!  We are still working through the financials, but we had great participation from a majority of our scouts, and good traffic through the door.  Numbers of plates sold were down slightly, but the silent auction activity was lively on the baskets and other items, and even without final numbers tallied, those scouts who participated will benefit tremendously from their efforts.  Many thanks to Mr. Jeorling, Mrs. Conrad, and Mr. McFetters for their coordination, and for all who donated, worked, sold, lent, ate and otherwise supported the event.  Scout accounts will be adjusted upwards in the next couple of weeks, with new funds available for summer camp or other scouting related activities.  Nicely done!

This week will be a busy one.  On Tuesday night at 6PM, Mr. Turner will continue his Personal Management merit badge class.  At 7PM is our weekly troop meeting, and this weekend is our May outing to Parson Springs.  This is an approximately 7.5 mile roundtrip backpack following Sycamore Creek, with a large swimming pool at Parson Springs.  This time of year will be warm days, cold water and nice cool overnights alongside of the babbling creek – perfect opportunities to experience the best our great Arizona outdoors has to offer.  I hope you can join us from May 3-5.  Thursday night at 7PM is our District Roundtable at the usual LDS church – all adult leaders are welcome.  At the same time and location is the monthly Ordeer of the Arrow meeting for those scouts in OA.  Miracle League service project also continues on Saturday mornings this spring.  Join the Turners in being a ‘buddy’ assisting physically challenged kids and young adults perform as athletes during baseball games at Miracle League field on Via Linda.  Contact Mr. Turner for further details.  Also, please plan ahead for two additional upcoming service projects.  Blessed Sacrament will have a talent show and spaghetti dinner the evening of May 17^th, where our troop will seat, serve and cleanup.  On May 25^th, we will have our early morning annual flag planting ceremony at the National  Memorial Cemetery of Arizona at Cave Creek Road north of the 101 Freeway.  This is an incredible experience of joining with Valley scout families in placing flags on 50,000 graves.  Hundreds of volunteers fan out beginning at 7AM, and have completed the task before 8AM, leaving behind a sea of red, white, and blue everywhere the eye can see.  If you have not participated, it is a memorable way to begin your Memorial Day weekend.

See you Tuesday night at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

Good morning,

Tomorrow is the day!  Which means today is the last day for selling those few remaining tickets in your ticket book.  Remember that a full scout account and a full tummy from a Mr. Parizek award dinner as a result of selling your entire book is at stake!

Please wear your class B uniform, and arrive at Scottsdale Worship Center between 6-7AM ready to cook, serve, cleanup and auction off our baskets an other items.  If you can only be there for a part of the morning, that is also fine.  We will have a sign-in sheet, and you will receive credit for the actual time you can work.

Contact Mr. Jeorling or myself with any questions – our phone numbers are in the roster on the webpage.  Let’s make this one the best one yet!

Mr. Cole

Good evening!

It was a happy canoe crew of twenty-two returning yesterday from a desert lake outing at a new venue in far western Arizona.  Ingenuity and patience overcame a slow start from a broken down troop trailer, and an outstanding aquatic adventure ensued.  The stars were brilliant and right in front of your face, and a perfect setting for two star advancement boards.  The lake was large, cool, and uncrowded, and the picnic voyage over the lake to the dam went off without a hitch (if you don’t count the adults capsizing when first getting into the canoe).   Strong breezes took the heat away, splashing in the coves distracted the scouts from the poor luck fishing, and the multi-color sunset was the perfect transition to a night of singing and s’mores around the campfire.  Local wildlife included the creepy crawlies that sent two squeamish scouts outta their tent and crowding in with other scouts.  And Mr. Jeorling heard noises and peaked out of his side window in the middle of the night to see a wild burro peering in at him.  Getting out of his vehicle to investigate, he discovered seven more of the wild bunch wandering around in camp.  Between skipping stones, pretending to get stuck in the muddy coves, and climbing to the top of Alamo dam, T648 now has a new favorite desert canoeing location to factor in to future rotations.

This week, please remember to pay up for summer camp (we are at $350 due, with another $100 next month).  If you are planning to use scout account funds, be sure you are selling, selling, selling those tickets – we have less than two weeks until the pancake breakfast.  Tomorrow night the patrols have agreed to bring in their appointed auction basket items, so they each can begin to assess what is still missing.  Many thanks to the adults who cleaned and then spray-painted our troop shed last week to be a bit more heat-proof during Arizona summers!  Other items upcoming include the Miracle League service project, which happens weekly on Saturday mornings for the next two months – come help a special needs child play baseball!  For those of you needing the Eagle required Personal Management merit badge, Mr. Turner will begin teaching the 90 day course beginning on the 23^rd at 6PM at Blessed Sacrament.  Looking ahead, we have the pancake breakfast on the 27^th, the May backpack outing to Parson Springs in Sycamore Canyon on the 3^rd, and PLC on the 7^th.

See you tomorrow night at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

Greetings!

As we enter the month of April, it is time to start seriously thinking about summer camp which is only a few months away. The fourth payment was due this past week; everyone should be paid through $350, with $100 due in May. Unfortunately, as a collective group, we are very behind on payments. I have to make a payment to Camp Alexander each month and have presently paid nearly $4000 more than I have collected, with another large payment due immediately.

I would ask that everyone please review the payment schedule and make sure that you are up to date. If we cannot get caught up in the next couple of weeks, we will risk losing our reservation.

Deposit – $50 – Dec 1, 2012

Payment #2 – $100 – Feb 1, 2013

Payment #3 – $100 – Mar 1, 2013

Payment #4 – $100 – Apr 1, 2013

Payment #5 – $100 – May 1, 2013

Please also note that the Merit Badge / Activity sign up forms were due this past week. As it stands, I have collected about 2/3 of these. I would strongly encourage each attendee to complete their form ASAP, as signups will begin later this month. In case you have missed the forms that I have distributed over the past month, I have attached one here for your use.

Camp Alexander Merit Badge & Activity Signup Sheet (Due April 2, 2013)

Finally, please do not forget that it is necessary to complete the Annual Health and Medical Form. This is the same form that we use each year and can be found in the “Documents” section of the troop website. For your convenience, I have also provided a link below. Please note that Parts A & B must be completed by a parent; Part C must be completed by a Doctor.

Health Form Notes:

• If you have questions about how to complete your medical form, please feel free to see me.
• The Doctor’s evaluation must be dated within 12 months of the start of camp. (This means any forms from summer camp last year will be expired.)
• Please also note that Part D does not apply for summer camp; it is not necessary to print that portion of the form.
• Please plan to attach photocopies of the front and back of your insurance card, plus your immunization records.
• Please plan to have your form turned in no later than July 1, 2013.
• Please also note that adults attending camp must also have a medical form.

Annual Health and Medical Form (Fillable PDF – Only Parts A, B, & C Required!)

You can expect to hear more detailed information about camp around mid May.

Thank you for your attention; I am looking forward to another great week at summer camp in Colorado! Please feel free to email me with any questions.

Thank you!

Mr. Benyi

Good afternoon!

Last week Easter, this week April Fools’ Day.  Great family times, but us Coles are feeling like maybe we can take a break on any more holidays for awhile.  This latest one took its toll on the Cole adults, beginning with Mrs. Cole being fooled by the kind offer of an Oreo cookie, whereby the white filling had been sneakily replaced with toothpaste.  Much grimacing, gagging and other fun faces ensued! The signature ‘gotcha’ this year was at bed time, however, when the senior Coles turned out the lights and turned on the ceiling fan on their way into bed, and proceeded to get pelted by flying objects.  Upon further review with the lights back on, the room was covered in large marshmallows, which had been strategically placed on the fan blades.  Very nicely done, but it does beg the question.  Why can’t such outstanding imagination and creativity be invested in such things as homework?

This was to be a month of technology meetings, but with our canoe outing this month, the PLC decided to swap months and pull ahead next month’s aquatics agenda into this month.  Come prepared for a Tuesday meeting led by the eldest DeAngelis detailing canoeing and aquatics at an overview level.  The team putting this weekend’s canoeing outing has changed from a Verde River float to a desert lake outing instead – likely Alamo Lake – due to high release volumes in the Verde.  There will be a focus on canoe skills and safety, working on keeping clothes and camp gear dry in lake crossings rather than a focus on swamping and righting canoes on this particular outing.  We will also have sufficient time for advancement, so for those of you looking to hold boards of review or sign off on water rescues or lashings or other complex items, this will be a perfect opportunity.  Ensure that any materials you need (rope, poles, etc.) are planned for and gathered to be loaded on the trailers Friday night.

We are also getting into the final stretch before our pancake breakfast and silent auction fundraiser.  You should be well on your way to selling your first round of tickets, and perhaps looking for a second ticket book by now.  Patrols should also be gathering their auction basket items – either through donations or other means.  Patrol leaders should begin doing inventories to determine what additional items might be needed to round out the baskets.  Hopefully you are all planning to attend on the 27^th – it should be an absolutely marvelous, and profitable morning!

Looking ahead, you should have your 6 top merit badge choices for summer camp in to Mr. Benyi by now.  Also, young Mr. Turner presented a service opportunity to the PLC this week that is an outstanding way to give back to our community.  Stay tuned for more information on how to help the Miracle League on Saturday mornings this spring as we assist special needs children and adults play a real baseball game, complete with announcers, concession stands, screaming crowds, and able bodied buddies out in the field with them.  Mr. Turner will have volunteer applications on Tuesday night, and I would encourage us all to contribute at least one morning to this very worthwhile endeavor.  It is also likely time again to get your newsletter items in to Mrs. Traynor, so please share your newsworthy items with our whole troop!  Tomorrow night is our monthly adult leader meeting, and this weekend Mr. Butler has rented a paint sprayer and has offered to paint our troop shed/container on Saturday with 2-3 adult leaders who may not be going on the canoe outing.

I hope the majority of you can come to the canoe prep meeting and follow it up with the canoe outing this weekend. It is a great time of year to be enjoying the great out of doors before the onset of the summer heat.  Come enjoy the outing part of scouting with T648!

Mr. Cole

He Lives!

America routinely gets slammed around the world for a multitude of reasons (deserved and undeserved), ranging from our politics, military deployments, our lack of knowledge or interest in the rest of the world, and our heavy-handed commercialism and increasing obesity.  I’m not going to fight that battle this morning, but I’d like to explore something that America does get right – and that is holidays.  Both the religious and commercial sides of Christmas make that whole season a Cole family favorite, and being the unabashed patriot that I am, Fourth of July is always a special time honoring this wonderful country of ours (no matter the global opinion of our supposed many shortcomings).  I’m a ‘glass half full’ sort of individual, so Thanksgiving is an outstanding time of reflection on the many blessings in my life.  But, Easter may be the best of this amazing list.  What was unforgiveable has been forgiven, what was dead has come alive!  And simultaneously the world around us springs to life!  Warm sun, cool air – orange blossom smells everywhere! This weekend the Cole family explored a wild animal park, and the baby giraffes, ducklings, monkeys and flamingos were simply entrancing.  They say that the only time you can safely put all your eggs in one basket is at Easter time.  May your life’s Easter basket be overflowing today, and throughout the remainder of the year for your entire family.

This week is the start of a new month, so the youth leadership will meet at 6PM for Patrol Leadership Council prior to Tuesday’s troop meeting.  I will have a work commitment, but Mr. Benyi will be available for any conferences or questions requiring program input from adult leadership.  Mr. Parizek and Mr. Jeorling have provided materials to assist in the ticket sales process, so hopefully you have begun canvassing your friends, neighbors and families to come to our Pancake Breakfast and Auction on the 27^th of April.  Don’t forget to be thinking of ways to accumulate the auction items you will be obtaining, as well.  Please provide donation thank you letters to those individuals and businesses providing donated items for the auction.  For summer camp, you should have finalized your top six merit badge selections at Camp Alexander in Colorado, and be ready to present those to Mr. Benyi on Tuesday night.

Looking ahead, we have an excellent spring base camp with canoeing coming up on the 12^th of April – most likely around Lake Roosevelt.  Springtime on the water in Arizona in our troop canoes, it doesn’t get much better than that!  And on the 3^rd of May, we have one of my all-time favorite backpacks coming up on the Parson Trail through the beautiful Sycamore Canyon to Parson Springs (about 7 miles round trip, max).  It is outside of Cottonwood, the stars are as brilliant as any I have ever seen in Arizona, and the trail is flat and well marked – crossing the stream 6 or 7 times under the canopies of beautiful sycamore trees.  Please plan on attending our upcoming spring outings.  This is one of the best times of the year to be exploring all the beauty Arizona has to offer.

Have a great troop meeting, and I’ll see you in a week!

Mr. Cole