Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Good morning,

Many thanks to the early risers who drilled and scraped and primed the troop shed on Saturday morning, the older scouts who returned later in the afternoon to spray, and the many adults who had a hand in coordinating or providing some very effective elbow grease.  We re-painted both the T648 shed and a Blessed Sacrament shed, and the results are outstanding!  Spring cleaning the scout way!  Next up – a future working of the shed from the inside out….Mrs Andrews would like to re-claim some of their garage space currently overrun with wonderful troop treasures, and the tacky syrup encrusted chuckboxes also are in need of an extreme makeover.

Tonight is the May adult leader meeting – please check your email for the new meeting location at Scottsdale Worship Center.  Tomorrow night is troop meeting, as we begin to investigate career opportunities chosen by some of the adults in our troop.  This weekend is the Chevlon canyon backpack – all scouts and leaders wishing to attend should check to see that they are on the list (Mr. DeAngelis and Mr. Dahlmann are manning the list) to ensure that we have seatbelts to cover the attendees.  Chevlon is going to be an outstanding trip in an out-of-the-way area east of Payson.  Much of it will be unmaintained trail, so this should be as rural as it gets, for those of us who want to get away from it all!  We will be backpacking for approximately 5 miles roundtrip, with another 5-7 miles of day hike after dropping our packs at a base camp during the day on Saturday.  It’s going to be triple digits in the valley – join us up north along  Chevlon creek for a brief respite from the heat!

We are working to schedule a committee meeting and a court of honor at the church during the month of June to get us all organized and prepared for Geronimo.  All payments and merit badge selections should be submitted at this time, and we currently have an outstanding group of 26 boys signed up to experience the 2012 Big G Gold challenge at Geronimo July 7th through the 14th.  For those of you adults wanting to spend some or all of the week with the troop, please get your names and dates to Mr. Benyi.  FYI – all adults attending summer camp for the entire week will also need to have a BSA health form signed by their physician – just like the scouts!  Fire up!  Camp is a mere two months away from today!

See you tomorrow night….

Mr. Cole

Dear Parents/Scouts,

As you may have heard from your boys or from the meetings there will be a shed re-painting this weekend. We will be scraping the rusty areas and we will also be primering the surface, a crew(Older Boys) will come later to do the painting as it won’t take as many kids to do the painting. We will be meeting at the church by the shed at 7 o’clock in the morning, there will be doughnuts for food in the morning. We will need as many people as possible to make the process to go faster, and you don’t need to bring anything unless you want to bring gloves. Lastly all the kids need to wear are class b’s and scout pants. I expect the event to only take 2-3 hours depending on the number of boys that do present themselves there.

Thank you,

P. Kuhl

On a terrific weekend for scouting, T648 joined troops from all over our district in our glorious spring Camporeee in the booming metropolis of Bumble Bee.  Days began at 5AM with the lowing of free range cows wandering through camp (the website cattle count is wrong, I heard 162 of them), and ended late in the evening as tired young men fell exhausted into their tents.  From an enthusiastic intra-troop tug-of-war, to a most prodigious bowling ball throw, to archery bulls-eyes and hawk over handle hatchet throws, the boys had an outstanding time relating and experiencing and exploring.  The food was tremendous (from Mr. Butler’s jambalaya, to the Wolves’ cherry pineapple upside down cake) as were advancement opportunities undertaken by both some of our oldest and newest scouts.  The climax of the weekend had to have been our senior scouts Pirate Patrol winning the ultimate scout competition, despite feeling that they would be happy with third place after their exhausting completion of the diabolical course designed by none other than our own Mr. Parizek.  Our thanks as well to those of you who represented our troop back in Phoenix at the Blessed Sacrament Golf Tournament Saturday noon, and presented the flag as Mayor Lane of Scottsdale led the Pledge of Allegiance.  These are the weekends that make scouting such a outstanding organization – make sure you are also getting your fair share of putting the ‘out’ back in scouting!

Don’t forget that tomorrow is Patrol Leader Council and our troop meeting.  Come and continue to work on your scout skills to challenge yourself in advancing another rank by our Court of Honor in June.  We will also have the opportunity to explore the details of various interesting careers, even as school is once again already winding down for the year.  This upcoming Saturday is also a very important event – sprucing up the troop shed area at the back of our host churches’ property.  Stay tuned for details from young Mr. Kuhl – we will be beginning early Saturday morning the 5th for a shed painting party, and the more participation we have from the troop, the earlier we will finish, the better the property will look, and we will doing our part in a small way to repay our host organization for their kindness in allowing us to use their back lot for our storage area.  The following Saturday is our backpacking outing to Chevlon canyon – an amazing off-trail experience of bushwhacking through some more of Arizona’s beautiful back country.  Opportunities abound to serve and explore!

Future calendar events include an adult leader meeting on May 7^th, an inspiring flag planting service project at the National Veteran’s Memorial cemetery on May 26^th, and a canoe outing to Apache Lake on June 8^th.  Please remember to schedule your doctor’s appointment and bring your BSA Health Form (it can be obtained on our website under ‘documents’) during May or June.  We should have one for each scout on file in the troop and it is also required in order to participate as a scout or an adult in summer camp at Camp Geronimo in July.

See you tomorrow night!

Mr. Cole

Holy Heat Wave, Batman!  A T648 biking contingent braved the triple digits yesterday, and got in some mountain biking on the competitive trails in McDowell Mountain Regional Park.  That got me looking ahead to next weekend, but the good news is, it appears that the temps will be coming back down a dozen degrees for our campout up at the Four Peaks District Camporee.  We will have patrol planning on Tuesday for the trip, so bring your menu ideas, and get ready for a weekend packed with camping fun and competition.  And I hear tell, the 19 residents, 45 horses and 161 cattle of Bumble Bee, Arizona have been whipped up into a frenzy to make this an outstanding event!  Please sign up no later than Tuesday night, so the meals and seatbelts can be planned accordingly.  We should be at the church at around 5-5:30 Friday night, and be back shortly after noon on Sunday.  We also ask to have a final count of adult leaders / drivers by Tuesday night, as well, so our volunteer adult camp chef Mr. Butler can size his menus – please sign up or let me know you can come.  For those of you desiring additional details on the site or the Camporee itself, please access the following link:

https://www.doubleknot.com/registration/calendardetail.asp?orgkey=1255&ActivityKey=937953

For those of you not attending Camporee, we have an opportunity to give back to our charter organization and community on Saturday, April 28^th.  As a number of you are aware, Blessed Sacrament is holding a charity golf tournament at Stonecreek, and has asked whether a couple of scouts could perform a flag ceremony at the closing lunch around noon on Saturday.  The mayor will be attending, and it is a terrific honor and good visibility for our troop to perform this service.  The problem is that it is during our outing weekend.  I will continue checking with those of you not attending Camporee to determine whether we can accomplish this for our host church.  It would involve leading a flag ceremony, including the Pledge of Allegiance, in your Class A uniform, and would take about an hour or so of your time.  Please let me know if you can perform this service.

It is only two and a half short months until Camp Geronimo!  At this point, those of you attending should have made your merit badge selections with Mr. Benyi, and the third payment of $100 is due this Tuesday.  If you have not scheduled your annual exam with your doctor, and gotten the BSA Health form signed, now is the time to begin that, as well.  All scouts and those adults attending all week need to have signed health forms within the 12 months since last July.  I hope you are also planning on helping with the Great American T648 Shed Clean Out on the 5^th, and to experience the amazing Chevlon Canyon backpacking trip on the 11^th – 13^th.  Google ‘Chevlon Canyon’ and click Images, and you will see the swimming holes, canyons and trees we will be hiking through – lots to look forward to in T648!

See you Tuesday night!

Mr. Cole

Hey guys, Michael here! As you may know there is a day bike this saturday. We will meet at 8 in the church at the shed, and be sure to bring 3 dollars for entrance fee. You can call me at 602-996-0486 or email me at mharness96@gmail.com with any questions. I’m super excited, I hope you are too! 🙂

Wow!  Let me second our intrepid SPL’s assessment of yesterday’s event.  It was well attended, well run, and I think a great time was had by everyone hosting and attending.  Many thanks to all participants, especially our adult volunteers who put many hours of support into ensuring that scouts benefited appropriately based upon their levels of participation.  We also thank our Knights of Columbus partners without whom none of this would have been possible.  Excellent work all around – stay tuned for the results to be coming soon from our own very fine banker, Mr. Parizek.  Many scout accounts within T648 are going to be much healthier going into this summer camp season.

Speaking of which, we currently have a good group of 25 scouts signed up for Camp Geronimo on July 7^th.  No later than Tuesday night Mr. Benyi needs to know your 6 requested merit badge selections, as merit badge sign-up has opened at the camp and the most popular ones are filling up.  If you have not been to see your physician to get the annual BSA health form completed, that also needs to occur before July – the form is under ‘documents’ on our website.  If you haven’t signed up for camp, and would like to, please see Mr. Benyi Tuesday night.  It will be a bit of a scramble, but it is still not too late! Camp experience in Arizona’s northern pines is the one of the cornerstones of our troop’s scouting experience – I hope you are able to join us!

Two weekends from now will be a mini-version of the Camp Geronimo experience, as we head north for District Camporee.  Most of the troops in the Four Peaks District will send their troops, and it will be a weekend outing of scouting camaraderie and competition shared with our District peers.  It will logistically be a normal outing, where we will leave on Friday night, have fast food dinner, camp two nights, cook by patrols, and return by Sunday noon.  The weather is warming up in Phoenix next weekend, so come join us for a cool down in fabulous Bumble Bee, Arizona.

Additional items to plan for include a mountain bike day outing next weekend in the McDowell Mountains.  There will be two tracks – a more advanced trail for the accomplished mountain bikers, and a more leisurely trail for those less experienced.  Stay tuned for announcements from young Mr. Harness for the details.  We also have a key event coming up Saturday May 5^th. Young Mr. Kuhl is coordinating the 2012 troop shed improvement and spring cleaning program – an opportunity to get our shed put back together, and to bring together troop equipment from the various garages and attics where it has accumulated over the years.  Let’s all take this opportunity to ensure that our patrols are fully outfitted and know what they have and/or need, and the junk cluttering our ability to do this is carted away and disposed of.

For those of you older scouts, please continue to work on your Citizenship merit badge with Mr. Clapp.  We also have an opportunity to now be working on the Personal Fitness merit badge with Mr. Conrad – please sign up directly with him.  Keep working on your advancements, we will have another Court of Honor in June, prior to summer camp to ensure you have your current rank awarded by the time Camp Geronimo comes our way.

See you Tuesday night!

Mr. Cole

Boys, parents, and leaders:

Thank you all so much for coming out to support one of our finest pancake breakfast fundraisers ever! The attendance from boys to leaders was enthralling, and every one of you helped to relieve my trepidation of not withholding the high standards of past breakfasts. From the master chefs in the kitchen, to the creative flag pin sellers at their booth, you all helped make this an outstanding event. It is always great to see the younger members of our troop pitching in and working as hard as they can to help out. A special thanks to Mr. McFetters in the kitchen, whom without we would never even figured out how to turn on the ovens. And also a great deal of credit goes to everyone who helped make the silent auction and raffles such a resounding success. Thank you all again selling tickets for waking up early to help out!

Sincerely,

Kyle Martin

Greetings!

For those unable to attend last week’s parent meeting, I have attached the Merit Badge signup form for Summer Camp along with instructions on how to fill it out.

Camp Geronimo 2012 Merit Badge Signup

Please make your Merit Badge selections and return them to Mr. Benyi as soon as possible. I will pick up any completed forms at the end of the troop meeting on April 10. Other options include emailing me your selections directly OR bring the completed form to the meeting on April 17 which is the signup deadline.

If you are having trouble making your selections, or have specific questions about a particular merit badge, please feel free to email me or ask at a meeting.

Thank you!

Mr. Benyi

PS – Just a friendly reminder to return ALL Scout O Rama Monies & un-sold tickets to Mr Jeorling at the meeting tomorrow night, April 10. We must turn these materials in to council this week so please do not miss this deadline and miss out on credit for your hard work!

As the Christian church across the globe celebrates new life represented by today’s Easter holiday, I pray that you and your family have had a blessed holy week.  For many, it also represents the sweet relief in being able to once again have back what was given up for Lent.  In a sign of the times for the Lenten top 10 in 2012, along with chocolate, alcohol and swearing, Twitter and Facebook will be among the things many people will again be resuming during their family feasts today…. Happy Easter back online!

We are less than a week away from our annual pancake breakfast and silent auction fundraiser at Blessed Sacrament.  Next Saturday, April 14^th, the doors will be open from 7:00-10:00, so from 6:00AM – 11:00AM will be a full shift for the boys, maximizing the amount they can earn from the pool money (auction and walk-in tickets).  If you can’t attend the full shift, come for what you can, and the scout will receive a prorated amount based upon his time worked.  Of course the best way to continue to increase the scout accounts is through individual ticket sales to family, friends and neighbors, and for those of you needing additional tickets, the remaining books will be available Tuesday night.  All assigned contributions to the patrol baskets for the auction need to be brought to the troop meeting Tuesday night.  If you have obtained additional new items or services which can be auctioned separately, please also bring those as well so they can be categorized by the committee, and auction sheets prepared.   Many thanks to the adults working the event, helping to coordinate the auction or donating food for the breakfast.  And special thanks to the Knights of Columbus for their continued support of this terrific fundraising opportunity for our scouts.

There will be a slight alteration in our outings this month.  The Patrol Leaders Council decided this week to not do two full weekend outings as originally planned for April, since we now have scout activities the next 5 weekends in a row.  Thus, the Soldier’s Pass bike outing and base camp will no longer occur, and instead will transform into a troop bike day on Saturday, April 21^st.  Stay tuned for further updates.  We will be attending the Four Peaks Camporee, a gathering of the troops in our district up by Bumblebee the weekend of April 27-29.  Camporees  are terrific opportunities to gather as a district, and typically  involves fun events such as axe throwing or shooting and competitions, with events such as fire building, knot tying, first aid, emergency preparedness, pioneering or orienteering.  We’d encourage all scouts to attend this excellent opportunity for fun and advancement.  We’d like to have a headcount in to district this week, so please sign up on Tuesday night or email Mr. Cole by Wednesday with an RSVP.

Additional activities upcoming include a troop shed painting extravaganza at the church on the 5^th of May, and the May backpacking outing at Chevlon Canyon beginning May 11^th.  As we look ahead toward summer camp you should have your merit badge selections in to Mr. Benyi, and have made arrangements for the first three payments to be made via scout account or check – we have reserved our spot with council, and are preparing for an excellent in-council camp July 7-14 at Geronimo !

Have a nap after Easter dinner today – you’ll need the energy for all we have planned….see you Tuesday night – bring your auction items!

Mr. Cole

Good day,

This has been a week of small, but intense, groups of activity.  Many thanks to the adult leaders who gathered Monday to take a closer look at troop leadership, for those of you who participated in our final Friday of providing support for the Lenten fish fries at Blessed Sacrament, for those of you who achieved Scout-O-Rama ticket sales success last year and were rewarded by Mr. Parizek with a fine mountain-top dinner on Sunday night, and for all of you who have been pounding the pavement this week in your current sales activities.  Keep in mind that we are down to the last week of sales for Scout-O-Rama tickets – all books of unused tickets and money need to be turned in no later than at the 4/10 troop meeting.  We have an additional week of sales opportunity on the pancake ticket sales, as you can continue selling those right up until the event on the morning of 4/14.  Keep in mind, that in addition to reaping the benefit of the additional money as a result that will be deposited into your scout accounts, Mr. Parizek has again put the incentive out there of another fabulous dinner on him – likely in the September timeframe - for all of you selling at least a book of the Pancake Breakfast tickets.  With family and neighbors as potential customers – that could be a layup to achieving this goal.  And to top it off - I understand there will be a grilled steak dinner this time for all of you sales champion carnivores! 

Coming up, tomorrow is the Paterol Leader’s Council for the boy leadership at 6PM, the troop meeting at 7PM, and a parallel parent / committee meeting also at the church at 7PM.  All boys should be working on ticket sales and supporting the basket theme for their patrol, by obtaining donated or purchased items for their patrol basket to be placed in the 4/14 silent auction.  Please begin bringing items in tomorrow night.  All boys should be planning to work the breakfast / auction the morning of the 14th, as that will also activate their ability to participate in the outcome of the pooled ticket receipts as well as the auction results.  The work schedule will be 6AM until approximately 11AM, and each hour worked will gain them an additional 1/5 share of the pooled receipts.  They will also receive a hefty chunk of the amount for the tickets they individually sell, after accounting for expenses.  This truly is the time of year that they can have the greatest effect on deferring their individual costs of scouting.  Best wishes and good selling!

There will possibly be two opportunities for outings this month, as we are scheduled to attend Soldiers Pass outing on the weekend of the 21st, and we now have the district Camporee scheduled up by Bumble Bee for the weekend of the 28th.  The PLC will finalize decisioning these tomorrow night, but please plan to attend an outing this month – this is an excellent time of year to be exploring the great Arizona out of doors!  And don’t forget the Chevlon Canyon backpack coming up in May.  Even Mr. Benyi has not been on this particular hike – that’s amazing!  You could be experiencing it with him for the very first time, and it comes extremely highly recommended by a friend of the troop.

See you tomorrow night!

Mr. Cole