Boy Scout Troop 648 Scottsdale, Arizona

Good morning

A reminder that Mr. Butler will be teaching Tenderfoot requirement 4a at the church on Tuesday night 6PM, March 29th, before our troop meeting.  If the youth room is not open, he will be at the picnic tables just west of the room.  4a is the scout skill of whipping and fusing ropes to prolong their lives, making older ropes more usable as the ends begin to fray.  Please look at the appropriate page (34 in my older scout book) to familiarize yourself prior to the class.  If time remains, Mr. Butler may begin to overview 4b, which is learning to tie a couple of useful hitch knots.  All boys who need this requirement, or would like a refresher in whipping and fusing for an upcoming board of review are welcome to attend.

Mr. Cole

Greetings!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Spring Break and is enjoying the warmer weather. Summer Camp is right around the corner! (July 9-16; Mataguay Scout Ranch, San Diego-Imperial Council)

* For those already signed up for Summer Camp AND making their payments, please note that Payment #3 is due by 3/31/11. ($100) You can pay with cash, check (to Troop 648), or out of your scout account. Please see Mr Benyi, Mr Cole, or Mr Runberg to turn in payments.

* For those signed up for Summer Camp who have NOT begun payments, please speak to us ASAP to discuss getting caught up. I will have to drop anyone who has not started payments by 3/31/11.

* For those who have recently crossed over or have otherwise joined the Troop, welcome to the Troop! Please be aware that it is not too late to sign up for Summer Camp and join us for a fantastic, week-long experience of camping. There is no better formative experience in scouting than your first Summer Camp, so I strongly encourage all to consider attending. Anyone wishing to attend that has not already signed up should email me to do so.

We have an information meeting in April to go over everything you need to know about Summer Camp 2011. We will announce that date in the coming weeks.

Notes:

1)  Please fill out the attached permission forms and return to Mr. Benyi, Mr. Cole, or Mr. Runberg. (Note: Unless you specifically do not want your son to participate in a particular activity, it is best to fill out all portions of these forms to allow for flexibility at camp.)

2)  Prior to Summer Camp, you must also complete the Annual Health and Medical Report, including doctor’s physical. This form can be found on the Troop website under “documents”. (You only need to fill out Parts A-C, pages 1-4.)

Please do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions about Summer Camp 2011. It will be an experience to remember!

Mr. Benyi

As you all know Troop 648 does Fire by Friction for Scout O Rama every year and we are planning on continuing with that tradition but, our supplies for this event  have gone missing and if anyone knows of the where abouts of these supplies please contact Me (Mikey F) or Mr.Cole  Immediately!!!!!

Thank you and have a wonderful rest of the week!!!!

We have decided to move tomorrow’s meetings to Cactus Park, on the northeast corner of Scottsdale and Cactus Roads.  Access to the park is off of Cactus east of Scottsdale – head north, and then down the hill to the west of the buildings, and you should find Mr Clapp at one of the ramadas north of the basketball courts at 6:15PM to begin the Citizenship merit badge class (older scouts).  At 7:00PM we will hold our regular troop meeting in the same general vicinity.  We will be preparing for Scout-O-Rama, so come prepared to make some smoke (where there is smoke, there is fire!)  

Please remember to dress quite warmly – it will be clear and cold.  See you then.  Mr Cole

I have been notified this afternoon by our charter organization representative, Mr. Agich, that due to a three day mission event at the church which requires use of the whole facility and parking lots, we will be unable to meet at Blessed Sacrament for Mr. Clapp’s merit badge class tomorrow at 6:15 or the troop meeting at 7:00.  Please stay tuned for further updates on whether (and where) we are able to relocate.

My apologies for the late notice.  

Mr Cole

For those of you older scouts planning on taking the Citizenship in the Community merit badge (Eagle Required), please plan on meeting with Mr Clapp at the picnic tables west of the Blessed Sacrament youth room at 6:15PM tomorrow, March 23rd.  Thanks!

What a marvelous weekend for a T648 family campout!  Under a supermoon which was closer to the earth and brighter than any time in the past 18 yeaars, troop grandparents, parents, siblings, friends and scouts met to renew friendships, make new friends, hike, swim in the mountain pools, grill, share marvelous potluck creations, perform advancements, shiver, shower, and generally have an awesome time.  Many thanks to Mr Yu and Mr Martin for putting together an outstanding weekend, and for Mr Patton who came down on Saturday to teach Toten Chip to new scouts.  While not as many families as anticipated could participate due to spring break and other family commitments, those 40-50 of us who did attend were universally pleased with the fun, food, and fellowship (despite the Vassar College track team late night hijinks in the adjacent group camp site).  Many thanks as well for the great turnout back in Phoenix at the fish fry by those who were unable to camp with us.  The excellent coverage was unusual for family camp week, and very much appreciated.

Tomorrow is our weekly troop meeting, and we also have Mr Chadwick’s Arrow of Light crossover and our 3rd fish fry / flag pin sale opportunity this week.  Upcoming events include a planned shed painting the 2nd of April and Scout-O-Rama on the 9th.  Our troop’s booth theme for this Arizona-wide scouting event at Tempe Kiwanis Park is fire-by-friction, so please plan to come to upcoming troop meetings to ensure that you learn (or refresh) the techniques needed to perform this very cool, but very difficult scout skill of starting a fire with a bow, spindle and birds’s nest. 

Happy Trails!  

Mr Cole

Good morning Scouts, Leaders and families.

Family Campout’ is coming up this weekend, at Catalina State Park.  Take I-10 South past Marana to the Tangerine Exit.  Travel East until it dead-ends into Hwy-77 (N. Oracle Rd.).  Turn right (South) and the park will be on your left (half mile or so).  We will be camping  at the small group campsite.  The same site as last year.  For those of you that are not familiar with the park I refer to it as “almost camping”.  The facilities are outstanding.  Please feel free to camp in any fashion.  You may choose to sleep in a one man tent or your 40′ motor home.  It matters not.  Fun is the only item on the agenda.  The troop with provide hot coals for anything that you wish to cook Saturday evening.  Please bring a side dish to share.

There will be a hike on Saturday.  There is some elevation to it. The distance to the top is 2.8 miles with 900′ of elevation. The views are spectacular and the reward at the top is a stream fed pool to wade in or swim if you wish.  If you plan to hike to the top please remember to bring plenty of water to drink.  Check with your son;  he will tell you how much to carry.

I will plan to arrive Friday afternoon and depart late Sunday morning.  This a special weekend for the troop.  This is the only time all year that we have the opportunity for all our families camp out together.  Hope to see you there.

Take care and God Bless……Mr. Martin

Good evening T648!

Many thanks to all of you who helped to successfully kick off the Lenten season fish fries this past Friday night.  I had mutiple compliments on the excellent work, and helpful scouts – and the flag pin sellers topped $100 in sales as well, providing excellent competition at the front door for the girl scouts cookie table.

It is a busy time in T648.  Tomorrow night at 6PM Mr. Butler is providing help for anyone needing Tenderfoot level first aid training.  Meet at the  trrop meeting room an hour before the troop meeting.  During the troop meeting tomorrow night, please make sure you obtain answers to any remaining questions you may have about the family camp in the Catalina mountains from 3/18-3/20.  It is an opportunity for you to camp and cook with your own family, provide a side dish to share at the BBQ Saturday night, and observe your son in action – I have a feeling a significant amount of training and advancement will take place this weekend, in between hikes and other events.  We also have ScoutORama coming up 4/8.  This is an all-day scouting skills event in the southern part of the valley attended by packs and troops from all over the council.  We will participate by manning a tent all day, and our theme will be ‘Fire by Friction’.  Your son will have an opportunity to learn this rare scout skill over the course of the next few weeks in preparation for this terrific event.  The final thing (other than continuing to stump for summer camp!) that I will bring to your attention is the pancake breakfast & silent auction fundraiser on 4/30.  Plan on having your son sell tickets to the breakfast, collect silent auction items, and work the event from 6-10:30AM that morning.  This traditionally has been our most successful fundraiser, and is an excellent way for you to defray summer camp costs.

We’ve got family camp, backpacking and Fort Tuthill archery coming up this spring.  800 people had to be rescued from their cars during a blizzard this past weekend in North Dakota.  Let’s all be thankful we live in Arizona, and get out and enjoy our wonderful state!

Mr. Cole

It has been another busy week for T648!  I hope many of you are interested in Camp Mataguay’s Aviation Merit Badge for summer camp after seeing Mr. Martin’s inspiring description of his career up in the air.  Gliding is not fighter pilot training, but it’s a pretty exciting alternative.  Then Friday night was a terrific cub scout cross-over ceremony with P316 led by the Order of the Arrow.  Many thanks to the members who came out to Dreamy Draw park to support the three youth who  joined our troop that night.  And the culmination of an excellent week of scouting was Mr. Huston’s Eagle Project on the Pinnacle Peak trail last weekend.  Under a beautiful sky overlooking the exquisite Estancia golf club, the troop hauled and dug and pounded, resulting in substantial trail improvements along the 1 1/4 marker. 

Tonight we continue with our troop meeting.  Please sign up to assist in seating, serving and cleaning during our Fish Fry service project the next 6 Fridays in Lent.  Also, I hope you will be able to bring the whole family out to Catalina State Park the weekend of March 18-20.  And don’t forget to keep planning ahead for summer camp.  Decide whether your initial installment payments will be out of your scout account or via check.  Also start thinking about which merit badges you will want to take at camp.  Mr. Benyi will be having a merit badge information session soon, and will then ask for your top 6 choices.

There is no better time to be a scout than today!