Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

What an outstanding week in troop 648!  On Saturday, we had the unprecedented pleasure of beholding 16 of the troop’s 39 Eagles gathered in one room to celebrate the Eagle Court of Honor of P. Huston – the youngest of the three Huston Eagle brothers from our troop.  In undoubtedly the first occasion of a T648 scout receiving his Eagle neckerchief while wearing a full leg cast, an emotional ceremony including many roasts and stories ensued.  While we didn’t benefit from one last skit led by the ultimate campfire standup comedian, it was a truly memorable moment in the life of the troop and the Huston family.  Many thanks to all who attended!

While this pomp and circumstance was unfolding, an ordeal was also underway.  Two of our members were up north undergoing a weekend of service and self-sacrifice preparing them for their entrance into the Order of the Arrow through their Ordeal.  Young M. McFetters and A. DeAngelis spent much of the weekend in complete silence, slept alone outdoors overnight, received limited amounts of food, and performed service projects.  At the end of the weekend, they were welcomed as full-fledged members of the OA through a formal induction ceremony.  Congratulations to both on completing this significant scouting achievement, and best wishes as they continue to serve scouting in this service organization.

We have an opportunity to help the underprivileged in our community next weekend through C. Williams’ Eagle Project.  There is an organization called Save the Family Foundation in Mesa which provides apartments for those families in need as they are getting back upon their feet after catastrophic financial or medical events in their lives.  We will be repairing and painting apartments which have had families move out in preparation for new families to move in.  Stay tuned this week for additional details, but the fun and service begins early this Saturday, September 15^th.

Quickly running through some additional upcoming events, tonight is the monthly assistant scoutmasters and adult leaders planning meeting, and tomorrow night is the troop meeting.  Come and find out how the Lava Caves we will be visiting later in the month came to be!  That outing is scheduled for September 21-23, and is an excellent opportunity to hike high above the earth (Mt. Kendrick), and well under the surface (a frosty mile-long lava cave trail, deep underground).  This has traditionally been a trip that everyone enjoys.  There will be an opportunity for adult leaders to learn how to hold an effective board of review, or assist the boys in planning an outing during a class to be held the 18^th during the troop meeting.  Keep working on your advancement on Tuesday nights, during breaks from homework, and on the Lava Tubes outing.  Our next Court of Honor is scheduled for October 2^nd at 6PM, and all advancement for that ceremony must be completed by September 25th.  Please also be planning to bring an entrée, salad or a dessert to share during our annual troop pot luck the evening of the COH!

We have additional changes afoot.  Mrs Traynor is working on developing a troop newsletter, which will give opportunities for our scouts to contribute input into the news and notes of our troop family.  Stay tuned for more details – deadline for the first newsletter will be later this month.

See you at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

Sorry for the late notice, but if you have been working on the Personal Fitness Merit Badge, Mr. Conrad and scouts in the merit badge program will meet at the park at 56th Street and Paradise Lane tomorrow / Saturday at 6:30 am to do the final fitness evaluations. For those who can’t make Saturday, Mr. Conrad will set up an alternative testing date TBD. Also, if anyone else would like to begin the 12 week process, they are welcome to come Saturday, take the tests,  and start the process to begin training for the MB for the next 12 weeks. They need to make sure they have a medical form on file with the troop (most do from summer camp), first, and get authorization from Mr. Cole via a blue card to start – you can follow up on that this coming Tuesday.  Mr. Conrad made the announcement at last Tuesday’s meeting – this web update is a final confirmation for tomorrow’s event.

Thanks!

Reminder:

Please join the Huston family tomorrow in the celebration of P. Huston’s Eagle Court of Honor.  There will be opportunities for food, fellowship, and fun, and an excellent chance to connect with a convocation of Eagles from T648 past, as well as a good number of Eagles from T648’s future.  Please wear your formal scout uniform, and come prepared to visualize yourself in young Mr. Huston’s shoes in the not too distant future.

We will need scouts from every rank to participate in the ceremony, and the family is also looking for a number of you to arrive 45-60 minutes early to help set up.  I look forward to seeing you there.

2PM, Saturday, September 8th, Elks Lodge, 14424 N. 32nd Street

(32nd Street and Acoma)

Mr. Cole

Hello  everyone!

In a few weeks we all have a fantastic opportunity to help an Eagle project indoors. On September 15 the Save the Family foundation needs our help to restore one of their apartments used to house families with children living on the streets. Be sure to mark and keep this morning open on your calendar and details on exactly when and where to show up will be provided via email and at the meeting next Tuesday.

Come and help out with this project and offer some of your time for a great cause.

Life Scout C. Williams

Good morning,

Hope everyone is having a mostly labor-free Labor Day weekend, and enjoying family and food and a bit of a respite from the monsoon.  You also get a break from a scout update, as we had a relatively quiet week in the T648 family for a change.  So let’s look ahead instead.

Please recall that this coming Tuesday we will not have PLC, as we accomplished that during the introductory PLC with our new members during the planning session at Scottsdale Plaza Resort.  If you recall from Mr. Harper’s update, the meeting on Tuesday will be patrol competitions and backcountry games led by Mr. McFetters and the youngest Mr. Jeorling.  Tuesday night is also a troop committee meeting at 7PM.  Please come and learn the outcomes of the troop planning session – the new scout leadership, the troop calendar, and much more.  Thursday the 6^th at 7PM is the Four Peaks District Roundtable of adult leaders and the monthly Order of the Arrow meeting at the LDS church on Thunderbird west of 32^nd Street.

The absolute highlight of the week, and undoubtedly the month, is Saturday’s Eagle Court of Honor for the youngest Mr. Huston.  He will be celebrating with his family and friends the completion of the first triune achievement in troop history – three Eagle brothers from T648.  The primary purpose of an Eagle COH is to celebrate the individual scout’s achievement, but a side benefit is the tangible evidence that an Eagle rank is actually achievable.   Hopefully beyond having a great time, this will also inspire the many scouts in attendance to continue following the trail to Eagle.  Please join your troop family in celebration by wearing your Class A, and come to the Elks Lodge on Acoma and 32^nd Street at 2PM Saturday the 8^th of September.  We will also be reaching out to some of the older scouts to come an hour early and help the family set up – see you there!

A bit further ahead, we will have the adult leader meeting on Monday the 10^th at 7PM at Scottsdale Worship Center, our outing this month the week of the 21^st will be an outstanding opportunity to summit one of the San Francisco peaks, while during the same weekend diving into the depths of an amazing mile-long lava river cave.  When I say it is cool, I also mean that literally, as it is approximately 40 degrees in there year round.  And don’t forget that we will be having our next troop Court of Honor on October 2^nd at 6PM in the church social hall.  If there are a couple of troop moms who would help coordinate the potluck dinner that goes with this fun family event, please contact Mr. Cole.

Okay, time to get back to planning the BBQ menu for today.  Enjoy whatever your end of summer celebration is this weekend, and hope to see you all back at the troop meeting tomorrow night!

Mr. Cole

Greetings!

I will defer to Mr. Cole’s eloquent recap of the PLC Retreat this past weekend and will echo how pleased and impressed I am with all of the participants. The boys did remarkable work while putting together an excellent calendar for 2012-2013.

On Tuesday, September 4, 2012 we will have a Committee Meeting beginning at 7:00pm in the classroom adjacent to the troop meeting room. The agenda will include an overview of the upcoming year’s calendar. We will also look briefly at fundraising, recharter, and other business. All committee members and interested parents are invited and welcome to attend.

Please also note that we have set the date for the annual Fall Court of Honor & Potluck dinner for October 2, 2012. Please save the date and we will have more information in the coming weeks.

Best wishes for a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Mr. Benyi

Good morning resorters!

Many thanks to those dauntless denizens of Scottsdale Plaza Resort this weekend for working and playing at full capacity for 38 hours as the 2012-13 troop leadership structure and calendar came sharply into focus.  It is always one of the highlights of the year to witness the dynamics of the marketing and negotiations, creativity and awakenings that occur as a dozen of our boy leaders determine the content within the upcoming year.  Leader positions were identified, explained and understood, outings, service projects, fundraising, meetings, Patrol Leader’s Council were all developed and clothed in responsibility, timeframes and location.  All ideas originated from the boys, and decisions were aligned by the group of boys toiling this weekend.  We somehow seemed to be more organized this year, credit is certainly due to new processes implemented by Mr. Benyi and executed expertly by the scouts.  We go into this fall confident that the leadership that is in place, the boys who are in our patrols, and the activities that have been planned will result in an excellent 12 months for T648.  Somehow a young thing’s sweet sixteen birthday party in the suite next door could not even distract our heroes from their appointed tasks – despite the party moving to the swimming pool right outside our window.  The boys’ focus and determination got them done early with their planning duties, in plenty of time to partake of that tantalizing object of their affection waiting for them just beyond our planning room – their X-Boxes with Call of Duty or other treasures back in their rooms.  I don’t know about you, but I’m really ready to get away from all the paper work and other distractions on an actual outing!

Our next outing will be almost a month away on September 21^s , at the Lava Tubes in the Coconino Forest northwest of Flagstaff.  The scouts will explore a mile-long underground cave formed by a river of lava about 700,000 years ago.  We will also attempt another summit of Mount Kendrick, as well as have plenty of opportunities for advancement.  In the meantime, we will not have a PLC meeting on 9/4, as we accomplished our September/October planning during this weekend’s activities.  We are tentatively planning to use that 6-7PM timeslot for our older scouts to finalize and plan their high adventures for the year.  On September 8^th, we will gather at the Elk’s Lodge at 14424 N. 32^nd Street (cross Street is Acoma) at 2PM for Patrick Huston’s Eagle Court of Honor.  Please join the Huston family in this celebration of Patrick’s accomplishments in scouting, and use this event as additional incentive to keep following your own trail to Eagle.  Please also note that the next troop Court of Honor has been scheduled for October 2^nd at 6PM at the church social hall.  This will be our annual family pot luck dinner, so please plan to attend to get reacquainted with our extended family, sample lots of wonderful food, and to provide support for all the advancement accomplished at Camp Geronimo and since.

See you at 7PM tomorrow for our weekly troop meeting…

Mr. Cole

Good morning!

A couple dozen Assistant Scoutmasters, Committee Members, friends and family gathered at a surprise birthday party last night for one of our own who has been through a rough patch lately.  Assistant Scoutmaster D. Grisa is recovering from broken vertebrae in his neck, but got himself up and out to dinner last night with his wife and a party broke out.  In spite of the neck brace, it is great to see Dave as himself again, regaling stories of biking, his Eagle son, and threatening to be on vacation by himself this time next year to avoid any repeat surprise parties.  In other medical news, we are thrilled that Mr. Benyi’s father is back home from the hospital after a recent heart attack.  Please continue to keep the Grisas and the Benyis in your thoughts and prayers.

The upcoming week is annually one of the most critical in the life of our troop.  All boys should have been providing input to their patrol leaders and troop guides on outings they are interested in doing over the next year.  If they have ideas on fundraisers or service projects they would like considered, now is the time to make those known, as well.  This weekend from Friday night through late morning Sunday is our annual planning retreat at a local resort where about a dozen of our senior patrol leaders, troop guides and patrol leaders will plan the troop calendar for the next year.  This year we will also have some of the newest leaders (Historian, Scribe, Instructors, Librarian, etc.) come by Saturday afternoon for an opportunity to get some initial role training, and to experience briefly the weekend that they will be leading in upcoming years.  It is always an amazing experience to see the boys present their cases, threaten, cajole, plead, and dust off or develop new communication and negotiation skills as the calendar begins to take form.   Thank you to each of you for your investment in your future.  It is a part of the DNA of our troop, and it is magical when it all finally comes together.

Tomorrow night is the troop meeting –  I believe there has been planning for some dutch oven cooking.  Looking ahead, we have an Eagle Court of Honor planned for P. Huston on September 8^th – 2PM at the Elks Lodge on 32^nd Street & Acoma.  Our September outing will be exploring Lava Tubes and summiting a peak west of Flagstaff the weekend of the 21^st.  Keep working on your advancement and finishing up your partial merit badges – our next troop court of honor will be late September / early October.

See you Tuesday night!

Mr. Cole

Good evening!

Your troop had an outstanding experience in the cool waters of Willow Springs Lake this weekend.  The T648 canoes got an extensive workout, and Game & Fish loaned the troop a couple dozen fishing rods & reels, resulting in a full day on the shore and in the water of one of our truly spectacular high country wooded lakes.  A subset of the participants also went off in the late afternoon on a map-orienting trip to discover the military sinkhole (a large natural depression off an old General Crook military road) and to enjoy the vistas of the Rim Trail.  All told, 25 scouts paddled, splashed, explored, swamped each other, casted, hiked and enjoyed temperatures a full 30 degrees under the sweltering heat that Phoenix endured.  There were also a record 20 adults leaders along on the outing, the majority of whom were taking a BSA required outdoor adult leader class, led and contributed to by our own senior troop leadership.  Thanks to Mr. Parizek’s initiative, and the investment of these leaders, T648 will have trained leaders for years to come.  The culinary highlight of the year was the new york strip steak dinner and 4 types of cobbler fed to this year’s ticket sales qualifiers from the troop pancake breakfast.  After a campfire, another wonderfully cool night’s sleep, and a brief church service, a tired but happy crew came back down the hill into the scorching reality of a Phoenix Sunday afternoon.

Upcoming events include Monday night the 13th’s adult leader meeting at 7PM in the Scottsdale Worship Center Board Room (65^th Street and Cactus).  Tuesday night is the troop meeting at 7PM.  Please remember young Mr. McFetters’ request to bring a case of bottled water to the troop meeting to benefit the homeless, who are also attempting to deal with this heat without the many comforts that we enjoy.  Additional key dates include August 24-26^th, which is our annual boy leader planning session and retreat.  All participants should look for an email from Mr. Benyi with all the pertinent logistics and details.  At 2PM on September 8^th, please plan on attending the Court of Honor for young Mr. Huston at the Elks club on Acoma and 32^nd Street.  And don’t forget that our September outing on the 21^st will also take us back into the northern pines – this time to the Lava Tubes west of Flagstaff.  This is a truly unique experience, traveling for almost a mile underground in an enormous tunnel created by cooling lava.  Along with more orienting opportunities, and a summit of nearby Mount Kendrick, you will not want to miss it!

I looked around the large circle of scouts and leaders this morning, and listened to the boys one after another describe a lack of thorns, but then launch into each of their multitudes of roses.  I am so very thankful for their participation and enthusiasm in our troop family, and to be able to experience what it is to be a scout through them.  See you Tuesday night!

Mr. Cole

As you pack for this weekend’s outing remember that the activities will have you away from base camp for four hours in the morning and for four hours in the afternoon. Please remember to bring your hat, plus water bottles, plus sun block. You will need to reapply sun block throughout the day.

Also remember that it should rain in the late afternoon or evening. As such you should bring rain gear and a way to carry it with you during afternoon activities. It is likely that it will rain on camp at a most inopportune time. Therefore, I encourage you and your patrol leaders to bring rain flies for your tents and to bring at least on Patrol dining fly per patrol.

We will provide maps for the orienteering hike. If you have a compass, please bring it as it will help you to get to and from the objective more quickly and make it easier for you to learns and practice orienteering skills.

We will also have a campfire program. You may want to bring a chair.

We’ve got 27 Scouts who’ve committed to attend including three who will be joining us Midday Saturday after band and football activities. We’ve also got 19 adults coming up. It should be fun?

Yours in Scouting,

Mr. Parizek