Troop Four Family Newsletter – November 2, 2007

Thanks: to all the scouts, parents and leaders who helped out at the Eagle Court of Honor and Troop Pig Roast & Camping trip. A great time was had by all at both events!

Thanks: to all the scouts and adults who participated in the annual Milford Scouting for Food!

Dues and Forms Required for This 2007 – 2008 Year:
Please send in the $80 dues/recharter for the year and/or the health form or photo release form if you have not sent them in already. The $ and forms can be mailed to our troop treasurer, Mrs. Judy Alley at 7 Paula Road I Milford. The forms can be downloaded from the troop website.

Merit Badges and Other Advancement: The merit badge classes for Oceanography, First Aid, and Computers are underway. The Communications classes will start soon. We are also working with the younger scouts on rank advancement.

The November Backpacking Trip: will be Saturday, November 17 through Sunday November 18. We will be backpacking and camping overnight on the South Taconic Trail in the Berkshire Hills of Southwestern Massachusetts.

We will start at Bash Bish Falls, the highest waterfall in the state, and end in Mt. Washington State Forest. We will be hiking the South Taconic trail, which comes up from the gorge with the falls onto some ridge lines that have some of the best hiking views in the state. Coming down off the ridge line we will be camping in some campsites along the Ashley Brook. On Sunday we will be hiking through wilderness areas in the State Forest out to the trails end. As with all our backpacking trips, the distances and difficulty of the trails we take will fit the scouts we have on the trip. On the way home we will stop for a fast food lunch in the Berkshires.

This will be a great backpacking trip for beginners as well as veteran scouts. We plan on having two hiking groups, one for beginners and one for advanced scouts. The troop has a good supply of patrol/troop backpacking gear, so scouts just need to bring their personal gear. A list of gear for backpacking can be found on the troop website under “Troop Resources – Camping Information”.

We will be cooking patrol style for Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast. Scouts should bring a bag lunch for Saturday and some $ for a lunch on Sunday. We would be happy to have a few parents drive and participate in the event.

We will meet at the parish center on Saturday November 17 at 8:00 AM and leave for the Berkshires by about 8:30 AM. We will return to the parish center for pick up by 4:00 PM on Sunday.

If your son is planning to attend, please return the attached permission slip by the November 8 troop meeting. If you son can’t make the meeting on the 8th but would like to attend, please call or email Dave Kirchner by the 8th. We will be planning for the event at the troop meeting November 8, so it is important to know who will be participating for planning purposes.

Troop Swim Night: will be Thursday, November 15 at the Milford High School pool from 7:00 to 8:30 PM (instead of the troop meeting that night). There will be pizza and drinks after.

Service Hours Opportunity: this is the same weekend as the backpacking trip, but if any scouts not going on the backpacking trip would like to earn some service time they can participate in the Milford Bike Trail fall cleanup Saturday, November 17 from 9:00 AM to noon. Meet at Fino Field for some trail cleanup. Scouts need to be accompanied by an adult and wear old cloths/bring gloves.

Personal Fitness Merit Badge Class: will start at the Milford High School track on Saturday Nov. 10 from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM. This meeting is great for scouts beginning this Eagle required merit badge, as well as for the scouts who have already started and want to gauge their fitness progress. Dress in warm workout clothes. Please email Mr. Phil Bedard at bedard18@verizon.net if your son plans to attend.

Parent Information Meeting for 2008 High Adventure Trip: will be during the November 29 regular troop meeting. We will have information for the 2008 High Adventure trip to Colorado. For that evening we will be meeting on the on the third floor of the parish center (the scouts on the third floor too). Please use the front door of the parish center that night – St. Mary’s is using the first floor for a play practice.

Draper Park Nativity Service Project: For many years the troop has been decorating the nativity in Draper Park with pine branches. We need a few scouts and parents to help out. We will meet at the troop campsite in Milford at 9:00 AM on December 1 and gather a supply of pine. We will drive over to Draper Park and add the pine to the nativity scene. The project will be finished by 11:00 AM. If your son would like to participate please let Dave Kirchner know before the end of November.

Venture Scout Corner

Career Presentations: we should have one or two more this fall for the Venture scouts.

Life Scouts Starting on Their Eagle Projects: there will be another meeting to go over the Eagle Scout requirements for scouts and their parents.

November Backpacking Trip: we are planning to have a separate hike set up for the Venture Scouts for the backpacking trip.

Personal Fitness Merit Badge: Mr. Bedard is be running another Personal Fitness Merit Badge Class this fall. If you are a Venture scout and haven’t started it yet, now is a great time!

Upcoming Event Dates & Reminders:

  • November 8 is a regular troop meeting.
  • November 15 is swim night at Milford High School Pool
  • Saturday Nov. 17 is the Backpacking Trip to the Berkshires
  • November 22 – Happy Thanksgiving!
  • November 29 is a troop meeting and Parent Info Night for the High Adventure Trip
  • Saturday Dec. 1 is the Draper Park Nativity Service Project
  • December 6 is a regular troop meeting
  • December 13 is a regular troop meeting
  • December 20 – no meeting – Happy Holidays!
  • December 27 – no meeting – Happy Holidays!
  • January 3 is a regular troop meeting
  • January 5 is the Troop winter camping trip at Peppercorn Hill

Troop Four Website: checkout the Troop 4 website at: www.troop4milford.org we have lots of information and event calendars/dates listed.

Please call the Dave Kirchner at 508-478-5915 or email at if you have any questions.

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