Come Eat!

By request, I’m going to start using this site again. I kind of faded out when I discovered that no one was actually using it. That said, tonight’s activity is a BBQ at my house. I’m cooking burgers and dogs. If you want something else grilled, bring it and I’ll cook it.

Youth Conference and Camp Stuff

Youth Conference this week. Sounds like it will be a great experience so be there if you can.

Just a reminder, if your folks want to reimburse me for your cool camp uniform t-shirts, have them send over a check for $8.95. So far only one person has paid.

Also, the agreement was that your folks would pay for your food at camp while the troop picks up the tab for registration. The food plan is $61 per boy, so have your folks put that in the budget. We’ll want to collect that by the end of the month.

Fun Golf Night

Had a great turn-out for the golfing merit badge. 13 boys swinging metal clubs. It was an adventure though fortunately no blood was shed or teeth lost.

To complete the Merit Badge, you need to be able to report to Brother Lees on a famous golfer, and play either two nine-hole rounds or one 18 hole round. I'm going to talk to the golf course and see what kind of a deal we can make. If we're lucky, we can all go together.

I took some pictures. Check them out.

FORE!

Brother Lees has agreed to counsel us on the Golf Merit Badge this week. We’ll meet at the park at 7:00. Be prepared and download the Golf Merit Badge worksheet and bring it with you. Looks like this turned into a multi-group thing so be ready to show the Teachers and Priests how things are done. :)

If you've got golf gear, bring it with you.

Plan on being bribed for wearing your uniform.

Combined activity this week

Spring Break

According to the calendar, this week is Spring Break. I recall you guys didn't want to interrupt your your vacations with Scouts so you elected not to hold it this week. We'll stick with that plan. Enjoy.

Athletics

We’ll start the Athletics Merit Badge tomorrow. Meet at the church at 7:00 and wear your uniform.

We Have A Plan!

We had a great meeting last night and planned our events for the summer. I’ve updated the calendar to reflect our new plans so feel free to check it out and let me know if you have questions.

I also had those who attended fill out a signup sheet for which merit badges they want to earn at scout camp. If you missed last night, get with me ASAP so I can get you signed up.

Garett was the sole recipient of the uniform bribe last night. Good Job Garrett. Pretty much every time I talk to the Bishop about Scouts he talks about how he really wants to have a “real” Scout troop that wears their uniforms. I’m shooting for that too (hence the bribe that come out of my own hind pocket) but we can’t do it without you. In other words, wear your uniforms. If you don’t have one or can’t afford one, talk to me and we’ll work something out.



Combined activity next week so no Scouts. When we meet again on April 1, we’ll work on the Athletics Merit Badge.

Get a Job!

You'll be going to a stake job fair on Thursday night instead of Scouts on Wednesday.

Meet at the church at 6:30 PM on Thursday.

Tonight

Okay, okay. I know it is a late post. Been sick but feeling better now. We don’t have big plans tonight but if you’d like to come over to my place, we can have a Wii tournament and I believe my daughter is making cupcakes.

7:00 – Bro Rea’s house.

Winter Campout

Meet at the park at 4:00. I would like to be on the road by 4:30.

You are responsible for your own dinner tonight. If you are bringing a foil dinner, you should probably pre-cook it. We will have a fire but you'll probably want to just use it to warm your meal. We'll also brew up some hot chocolate to warm you up before you go to bed. We’ll feed you breakfast in the morning. Brother Maxfield is planning a mountain man breakfast for you.

Remember, guys the key to staying warm is staying DRY. When we get to the campsite, focus on getting set up for the night, not playing in the snow. Make sure you have dry clothes in reserve and take off anything wet before you crawl in for the night.

This Week

Had a good turnout for the food drive. Only took an hour to cover the neighborhood and we had quite a pile of food when it was over. Thanks to all who participated. Don’t forget, that hour counts as a service hour toward your Life advancement.

Don’t forget flags Monday morning. We’ll meet at the park at 6:30 am.

No scouts this week, but I’m planning on using Wednesday evening to visit you and your parents to talk about Scout camp, your rank advancements, and the winter campout next weekend. Hope to see you then.

Where You At?

Wow. Only three Scouts last week. Kind of a quiet meeting but at least I saved money on ice cream when we went to Arctic Circle :) .

The Nuclear Science counselor couldn’t make it last week so we went over advancements to see where everyone was. The boys who were there found that they surprisingly close to earning Life. Each of us needs to take some time to figure out precisely what we have earned, what our rank is, and what we need to move forward. You can’t get to your destination if you don’t know where you're at right now.

Per the Bishop, we won’t be meeting on the 11th. Instead, we’ll meet at the park on Saturday the 14th at 10:00 am to help out with the food drive. Keep in mind that you need six hours of service to earn Life. The time you spend on the food drive (probably only an hour) will count toward that.

The uniform bribe is still in effect. Last week I got to pay Garrett and Justin. Good job, guys.

Nuclear Science

The plan is to work on the Nuclear Science merit badge this week. The original counselor I had planned isn’t going to be able to make it, but Brother Maxfield might do it instead. I’ll keep you posted if things change.

Gavin and Jared both have requirements to complete for the merit badges they earned at the BYU PowWow. See if you can get those done this week and let me know.

I owe a couple of you money for the uniform bribe from last time. I’ll remember to bring the cash to the next meeting. It’s easy money, but you have to wear your uniform.

Also, if you haven't talked to your parents about scout camp yet, do so now so I can get a final count of who will be attending.

Combined Activity - Sledding!

Looks like you'll be going sledding for your combined activity on Tuesday. I had a sick baby yesterday so I wasn’t able to attend church and learn all the details. I know you are meeting at 7:00 on Tuesday, but I'm not sure where you are meeting. I'm guessing at the church but you'll want to confirm that.

E-mail me or post a comment here if you have the real information.

Totin’ Chip

We’re going to earn our Totin’ Chip cards this week. What, you may ask, is a Totin’ Chip? It is a certification that grants a Scout the right to carry and use woods tools such as knives, axes, and saws. We’re planning to do some fun camp outs when things warm up a little and the ability to safely use woods tools are essential to being able to take care of yourselves in the outdoors.


The key word here is "safely." Keep in mind that even if you earn your Totin' Chip, I reserve the right to confiscate both your card and your tool if I catch you endangering yourself or others. If I do confiscate them, you can count on getting them back about the time you turn 30.

I am going to bring a variety of tools to use for instruction, but on Sunday some of you asked if you should bring your knives. I’ll leave that up to your parents. If you do bring a knife, I insist that you leave it in your pocket until I tell you otherwise. I don’t want you hurting yourself or, even worse, hurting others.

Here are some of the requirements we'll be covering.

The Scout must show his Scout leader, or someone designated by his leader, that he understands his responsibility to do the following:

1. Read and understand woods tools use and safety rules from the Boy Scout Handbook.
2. Demonstrate proper handling, care, and use of the pocket knife, ax, and saw.
3. Use the knife, ax, and saw as tools, not playthings.
4. Respect all safety rules to protect others.
5. Respect property. Cut living and dead trees only with permission and with good reason.
6. Subscribe to the Outdoor Code.

The Scout's "Totin' Rights" can be taken from him if he fails in his responsibility.

Don't forget, the uniform bribe is still available.

Wii Tournament

So I guess we found a way to get the boys to attend – offer video game time! We worked on Citizenship in the World for a while and then broke down and played Mario Cart. Gavin – he of the large noggin – won most of the rounds, though I think Tristan, Jonny and Colin won a round or two too. Someone brought cookies by for Sister Rea so refreshments were taken care of. The boys swarmed over them like locusts but they were nice enough to leave one for me and Sister Rea.

I am happy to say I got to give away two dollars tonight. Both Tristan and Alex collected on the uniform bribe.
Our initial plan was for ice fishing next week but we are going to delay that until the 21st of February. Gavin has promised to make reservations this week for laser tag next Wednesday. Don't forget to bring $6.

Come be a Citizen!

We have Citizenship in the World on the schedule for this week. I thought that we could meet at my house because a couple of the requirements are to visit some web pages - I’ll just hook the computer up to the big TV.

If we hurry on the merit badge, maybe we can have a little tournament on the Wii while we’re at it… :)

This is a required merit badge for your Eagle, so do your best to make it. Remember, the uniform bribe is still in effect.

Be prepared, download and print the worksheet for the Citizenship in the World merit badge.