Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Good evening,

Windblown, sun-soaked and plum tuckered out, our adventurous canoers headed back this afternoon from the Lake Roosevelt outing, straight for air conditioning and a shower.  The sun was warm, the water was cool, and the new EZ-Ups worked well in the wind – the general consensus was that the two dozen of us from T648 had had a great time swamping, paddling and unswamping all over the lake.  It was great to have so many of our newest scouts and dads diving in on the outing – many thanks!

This week we have a number of key items of which to take note.  Tomorrow night from 7-8:15 at Scottsdale Worship Center, we will have a monthly adult scout leader / father meeting to go over leadership and programming considerations.  Tuesday night we ask that you arrive for the scout meeting at Blessed Sacrament as close to 6:30 as possible, as the scheduled CPR training will begin promptly at 6:45.  The training takes 90 minutes, and we want to leave time for us to make the $20 payment and receive certification cards before the room closes shortly after 8:30.  Any adult needing certification can also participate by paying the fee, for this very key skill to have for any scout in ‘being prepared’.  I am very hopeful that a very large percentage of our troop will attend and receive this training.  The next week on the 19^th will be our early summer Court of Honor, getting as many boys to current on their rank badges for summer camp as possible.  If you have achieved a rank advancement since January, your responsibility is to please let Mr. McFetters or Mr. Cole know by midweek, so that our records will properly reflect that advancement, and you will receive your badge on the 19^th.

You may have noticed some changes to our calendar in August.  Due scheduling concerns, we have had to move our Patrol Leadership Council planning session later in the month than normal.  This results in the following revised calendar for August:  August 3 is tentatively the start of a high adventure climbing of Mount Humphries, followed by August 10^th beginning our Sink Hole outing, and August 24^th kicking off our PLC retreat at the Scottsdale Conference Resort.  Please mark your own calendars, and plan accordingly.

A reminder for those of you who signed up, to continue working your Citizenship Merit Badges with Mr. Harness, and your Personal Fitness Merit Badges with Mr. Conrad.  These require some amount of dogged plugging away, but are key cornerstones in the Eagle requirements, so it is a worthy goal!  If you have not already done so, please obtain merit badge books for the badges you will be taking at summer camp, and do the prerequisites that Mr. Benyi annotated for you in a personal email last month.  Check in our library or at either of the scout shops.  Outstanding health forms and payments are also due.  Most any general question on summer camp can be answered by the email from Mr. Benyi on 6/2, but if anything else is stumping you at the moment – let us know.

See you for CPR training at 6:30 Tuesday night!

Mr. Cole

Good evening,

Two quick items of note to bring to you tonight.  I received some words to pass along to the wise regarding this weekend’s camping at Roosevelt.  Mr. Finnegan let me know last night that fishing is free for adults and kids this weekend only, so for those attendees with a rod and reel, now’s the time to break them out and bring them on the outing.  Also, with the Court of Honor being held on the 19th, and CPR class being held on the 12th, the last opportunity for advancement for this month’s Court of Honor will be on the outing at Lake Roosevelt on the 8th-10th.

Safety Afloat!

Mr. Cole

Good morning!

Many thanks to the McFetters family for hosting an enthusiastic canoe swamping in their backyard pool last Tuesday.  Those participating are now much more prepared to handle an upside down canoe  at Roosevelt Lake.  The outing this weekend sounds to be perfect weather for a lake outing – sunny skies, warm air at about 100 degrees which will make getting into the cool water feel great!  Be sure to pack plenty of sunscreen, bring your troop hats, and ensure you have enough ice covering your patrol food to withstand the shadeless heat.

Tomorrow night we have Patrol Leaders Council at 6PM, and the troop meeting and a parent / committee meeting at 7PM.  The meeting will include troop Order of the Arrow elections.  Order of the Arrow is an honor society within scouting, and one of the terrific services performed by OA members are the memorable Arrow of Light ceremonies that many of you have seen as cub scouts.  A number of our older scouts are eligible, and have expressed an interest in being nominated.  Next week’s meeting on the 12^th will be an opportunity for the scouts and any adults interested to obtain CPR training.  The PLC has arranged for Phoenix CPR to be onsite, and for $19.25 per person, those wishing to be certified can do so.  The training is required for some of the merit badges being taken at Geronimo, and is another excellent way to ‘Be Prepared’ – so I would hope a significant percentage of the troop – both scouts and adults – will take advantage of this convenient opportunity.

We also have two short weeks remaining until our pre-Geronimo Court of Honor.  This is often a brief and targeted one, primarily in place to allow for boys to receive their current rank patches prior to going to summer camp.  We will also have a unique presentation or two, so please plan to attend and support our advancing scouts if you are in town that week.  Then two and a half short weeks after that, we head off to summer camp.  We have 26 scouts attending, and a number of adults who have committed to at least a part of the week.  If you are an adult leader who has not yet been to summer camp, I would encourage you to attend this year and camp for a few days or at least a partial weekend.  It is only a couple hour drive from Scottsdale, and the experience of seeing hundreds of scouts marching to flag ceremonies, or shooting or riding or climbing at one of our beautiful BSA properties, is one that will most definitely stay with you.

For those of you plugging away on troop merit badges or projects, this is the best time of year to make significant progress.  No homework to get in the way, and something to occupy your time should a case of the boredoms overtake you.  See Mr. Harness with questions on the Citizenship badges, Mr. Conrad on the Personal Fitness badges, Mr. Cole or Mr. Benyi on Eagle projects.

See you at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole

Greetings!

Summer Camp is just over 1 month away. Below is a link to the annual logistics and information bulletin for camp. This covers all of the elements that you and/or your son need to know to have a successful week at camp. Please review this and feel free to contact me with any questions.

I will also be available to answer questions following the Troop Committee Meeting this Tuesday.

Thanks! – Mr. Benyi

2012 – Geronimo – Information Bulletin

Please recall that the location for tonight’s troop meeting will be the McFetters home.  Come wearing a swimsuit, bearing a towel, and prepared for a good swamping.

Mr. Cole

Greetings!

We will hold a Committee/Parent Meeting on Tuesday, June 5 in the small classroom adjacent to the usual troop meeting room. We will begin about 7:10pm; I expect that the committee meeting will be relatively brief. All committee members and interested parents are welcome to attend.

Summer Camp:

1) Payments: If you are not yet paid in full, ($365) please try to do so ASAP. If you would like to utilize funds in your personal scout account, please let me know.

2) Health Forms: We have collected about 25% of the health forms so far. All scouts attending camp should turn in a completed Annual Health & Medical (A+B+C) as soon as possible. Also, adults staying longer than a couple days need to complete a medical form as well; particularly those planning to stay for the full week.

3) Adults: If you are an adult planning to attend part or all of summer camp, please send me an email to confirm which days you plan to attend (if not for the full week) along with how many seatbelts you have for driving either up to camp, or back from camp.

4) Merit Badges: Hopefully everyone received the merit badge summaries that I sent out a few weeks back. With school wrapping up, please take advantage of the opportunity to get prepared for your merit badges. (The troop will be scheduling a CPR class prior to camp; there are many scouts that need to complete that for various merit badges.)

5) Information Bulletin: I will distribute the official summer camp information bulletin next weekend which will include general logistics, things to bring, how to prepare, etc. Please watch for that.

Thanks!

Mr. Benyi

Bright and early yesterday, on an amazingly crisp and clear morning, over forty of our extended troop family joined hundreds of other scout families in supporting the annual National Veteran’s Cemetery flag planting event.  For those of you who have not experienced it – it is one of the more moving experiences that you will ever do in support of our servicemen and women.  Approximately 50,000 flags are planted atop headstones in about forty minutes by a reverent but quickly moving wave of scouting volunteers in full uniform, resulting in a vast sea of red white and blue flapping smartly in the breeze.  There were many reasons for each of us from T648 to be there – some for their first time, overwhelmed by the efficiency and spectacle of the event, some for the dozenth time – still warmed by the caring enthusiasm by the scores of scouting families of all ages who remember those who served our country so valiantly.  Some were there as part of a multi-generational family reunion, some to find and take a picture of a headstone for another who could not attend.  Some were there to expose both their boy scouts and their girl scout to the incredible experience, some to thank their fathers for giving their all for America.  Some were there to honor their son for his current service, another because there is no more fitting way to spend Memorial Day weekend.  To the 17 boys who just finished school this week, and could have celebrated by staying up late and sleeping in – THANK YOU for attending.  Your priorities are outstanding, and your service to our veterans in this way makes me proud to be a member of your troop.

As a reminder, the troop meeting WILL NOT be at the church this Tuesday, but at the McFetters home.    The scouts will practice swamping and righting a canoe in the pool, begin to prep for our June outing at Roosevelt Lake on the 8^th, and will continue to work on individual advancement ahead of the Court of Honor on June 19^th.  On the merit badges currently in flight, Citizenship will be transitioned to Mr. Harness while Mr. Clapp is out of town for the next month, so please review your work and direct any questions to him.  Mr. Conrad will be beginning the Physical Fitness merit badge early this week, so if you have not signed up, please contact him directly for details.  There are three of our scouts taking National Youth Leadership Training this week at Camp Geronimo.  We will also have CPR training for our whole troop during June, so please stay tuned for details on that.

Order of the Arrow is an honor society within scouting, which focuses on camping and service to scouting and the community.  OA members often perform – often in Native American costume – for cub scout Arrow of Light and other scouting ceremonies.   Additional information can be found in the following link:  http://www.oa-bsa.org/misc/basics/   Order of the Arrow eligibility includes a requirement to have had 15 nights of camping in the previous two years, first class status, a nomination from your scoutmaster, and election by your peers.  We will be holding Order of the Arrow elections on June 5^th, and will also have our next parent and committee meeting on that night as well.  The following week we will have an adult leader meeting at Scottsdale Worship Center on June 11^th.

School may be out, but the troop is still very active during the summer.  As you begin your family vacation schedule, please enjoy, explore, and rejuvenate.  When you are back in town, please plan on joining your scouting family on Tuesday nights or on our outings.  We look forward to seeing you!

Mr. Cole

Good morning,

With Memorial Day fast approaching, I want to again make you aware of a T648 event that young Mr. McFetters is coordinating.  Phoenix is home to a National Memorial Cemetery off the 101 freeway at Pinnacle Peak and Cave Creek Roads.  This site contains over 49,500 veteran gravesites.  Every year on the Saturday before Memorial Day, the Grand Canyon Council of BSA supports an event in which participants arrive between 0630 and 0645 to honor our veterans.  This year, as in past years we have attended, there will be many hundreds of scouts, scout leaders and families gathered in the cool air for a brief ceremony, reflection, and work.  After a brief ceremony, at 0705 hole punchers and bundles of American flags will be distributed, and the crowd will fan 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 their workplace without rushing, but respectful, relentless efficiency.  Boy scouts, scouters, cub scouts, girl scouts, little sisters, parents and grandparents – from Eagles to Brownies, the whole cemetery is filled with workers.  By 0755, every grave will have two feet worth of American Flag waving smartly in the wind, in time for our national anthem and taps to be played at 0800.  Every year that I have participated, it gives me chills to see the sea of waving red white and blue, and as I depart, I give thanks for the millions who have fought to keep us free.  Please stay tuned for further details, and if you are in town this weekend, I hope that you will be able to participate.

Additionally, I’d like to provide a few random thoughts on additional upcoming items of note.  Our troop is the proud owner of a trailer full of canoes, and our June outing will be a canoe outing at Roosevelt Lake on the weekend of the 8^th-10^th .  In preparation for that event, we will be having the May 29^th meeting offsite at a troop member’s backyard pool to practice swamping and righting a canoe.  For those needing swim checks for the outing, we will actually hold those at the lake itself on the morning of the 9^th.  Please note we also have a parent / committee meeting on the 5^th, and a Court of Honor on the 19^th – so keep working on advancement!  For those of you working on the Citizenship Merit Badges, Mr. Harness will be checking on you and answering questions while Mr. Clapp is out of town for the next few weeks – Thanks Mr. Harness!  For those of you who received a leadership survey, please turn it in tomorrow night at the troop meeting.

Hope to see you there!  By the way – less than 7 weeks until summer camp!  Have you gotten your medical done or scheduled yet?

Mr. Cole

Good evening,

I heard tonight from Mr. Agich that the church is missing a 50 foot rope that was in the youth room, most probably on one of the tables.  It is likely that we saw it and assumed it belonged to our troop.  Did anyone grab the rope and put it in the shed, trailer, or otherwise take care of it in some way on Tuesday night.  If so, please let Mr. Cole know its location so we can get it back to its rightful owners.  Many thanks!

Good morning,

The troop survived a wild and wooly weekend of blowouts, near freezing temperatures (okay 46 degrees), multiple brush fires on the commute up and back, and trailblazing over rocks and through thickets to have as Mother Hen said on Mother’s Day a ‘perfect backpacking weekend.’  Chevlon was all it was advertized to be – tall pines and oaks, lush grassy meadows, pine needle beds, pooling crystal creek water, all the seafood you could eat, and a group of scouts who worked and played together as well as any in recent memory.  Whether it was an outstanding day hike to the mouth of Canyon Lake, farming and boiling buckets full of craw-dads, singing a 1960s and 1970s playlist that did not end, telling riddles and jokes around the fire (no, there were not fire restrictions in the Sitgreaves Forest yet), or sleeping under the billions of brilliant stars, a most magnificent time was had by all.  Begin planning now to attend the June canoe outing at Lake Roosevelt on the weekend of June 8-10 to take part in next month’s fun!  It’ll be perfect for swimming and canoeing – hot air temperatures and cool, crisp water.

Many thanks to the senior boys who worked the Knights dinner last Saturday night.  Tonight is the troop meeting, and an brief exposure into the exceptional career opportunity followed by one of our scout dads.  Looking ahead, we have finalized a number of dates for June that have now been making their way onto the calendar.  June 5^th will be Patrol Leaders Council and a troop committee and parent meeting, June 12^th is the target date for troop CPR training (required for a number of the Geronimo merit badges, but good training to boot for any scout), and June 19^th is the pre-summer camp court of honor.  Finish up the rank you have been working on, and proudly wear your new rank at summer camp!  If you can’t quite get there, never fear.  There is a ton of opportunity for advancement at summer camp, and there will be another court of honor in the 3^rd quarter.  The latest calendar entry I’d like to bring to your attention is the PLC weekend date this year.  In working through some key scheduling dates, we have decided to push it back to August  24^th – 26^th this year.  For those boys in leadership (Patrol Leaders and above), this is the key weekend at a local resort where the entire yearly troop calendar comes together through their research, negotiation and hard work.

I hope that you had a terrific Mother’s Day with the mother or mother figure in your life, best wishes for outstanding results as school winds to a close, and we’ll see you tonight at the troop meeting….

Mr. Cole