Troop Four Family Newsletter – March 12, 2008

Welcome: to the ten new Scouts from Pack 4 and their families! It’s great to have you with us. You will get a family newsletter about once a month during the scouting year from September through June.

Changes for Adult Leadership for the Troop: At the March 13 troop meeting Dave Kirchner will retire as scoutmaster and turn over the position to Phil Bedard. Please read the attached letter from Dave Kirchner (See bottom).

Merit Badges and Other Advancement: We will be starting the Environmental Science merit badge at the March 13 troop meeting. In addition, we will be meeting with the scouts who started the Citizenship merit badges to be sure that they have their blue cards filled out for the work that was done at the troop meetings. Mrs. Furlo has completed the Coin Collecting merit badge requirements that can be done in a meeting; the rest is up to the scouts. First Class advancement is taking place at the troop meetings and camping trips. Our new scouts will start to work on their Scout Badge, Tenderfoot Badge, and Totin Chip Card during the upcoming troop meetings.

Troop Web Site Update: We now have more pictures of troop activities posted on the web site! Check them out at the troop website: www.troop4milford.org for our new scouts and families – check out the website for all sorts of information that new scouts will need to know. Thanks to our troop’s Webmaster Mr. Steve Eddins for all of his efforts.

Troop Swim Night: will be Thursday, March 20 at the Milford High School pool from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. There will be pizza and soda after swimming. (No meeting at the parish center).

Troop Day Hike: will be Saturday, March 29 at the Douglas State Forest. We will meet at the parish center at 9:00 AM and leave about 9:30 AM for the park. We will return for pick up at the parish center by 5:00 PM that evening. Scouts need to bring: a bag lunch, poncho or rain coat if it looks like rain that day, wear boots, bring a hat and gloves/mittens. A spare pair of socks is a must to bring. If the weather is cold, bring a warm coat as well. Scouts should bring at least one quart/liter of water (no soda, juice, punch, etc.). Do not bring water in disposable water bottles – get a canteen or hiking water bottle at Wal-Mart, Target, etc. for about $10. Scouts need to bring a day pack (school pack will work fine) to carry all their gear for the day.

Douglas State Forest is a great place to hike and explore – we will divide the scouts into age/ability groups and cover distances that are comfortable for each group. At the end of the hike we will have some of Troop 4’s famous fried dough!

If you son will be attending the hike, please complete the attached permission slip and return to the March 20 (swim night) meeting. If you son would like to attend but won’t be at the swim night on the 20th, please call or email Phil Bedard at 508-282-0283 or bedard18@verizon.net We will need a few parents to drive to/from and/or stay for the event. If you can help out please indicate on the permission slip.

Uniform Reminder: Scouts should wear their uniforms to all regular troop meetings, unless they are coming directly from a sports activity, work, etc.

High Adventure Trip Update: Scout Camp Health forms for Camp Tahosa – are a special form for the state of Colorado – you can download the form from our troop website.

Also, all older scouts that have registered for this trip, and who meet the alpine adventure age requirements, must send Phil Bedard an email by March 20th indicating their preference of attending the Tahosa Alpine Adventure, or the Tahosa Eagle Point adventure program. Both options will be unique, once-in-a-lifetime mountain experiences, and both are detailed in the material posted on the troop website. Scouts who do not meet the minimum age requirement are automatically enrolled in the Eagle Point program. Please call or email Phil Bedard if there are any questions.

Venture Scout Corner

Career Information: Mr. Kirchner will be giving a talk on careers in investigating white collar crime in business at the March 13 troop meeting.

Life Scouts Starting on Their Eagle Projects: If you have a project under way, be sure to get the proposal in to Mr. Kirchner as soon as possible to be able to do the project this summer.

Eagle Projects: We are working with the town of Milford and St. Mary’s Church on developing projects – hope to have some soon!

Environmental Science Merit Badge Classes: Start up at the troop meeting on the 13th. – If you need the badge, now is the time to earn it!

Upcoming Event Dates & Reminders:

  • March 13 is a regular troop meeting
  • March 20 is troop swim night at the Milford High School Pool
  • March 27 is a regular troop meeting.
  • March 29 Saturday is troop day hike at Douglas State Forest
  • April 3 is a regular troop meeting
  • April 10 is a regular troop meeting
  • April 12 Saturday – April 13 is troop camping trip at the Troop Campsite
  • April 17 is a regular troop meeting
  • April 24 – no troop meeting – school vacation

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

Please call the Dave Kirchner at 508-478-5915 or email at kirchner5@comcast.net or Phil Bedard at 508-282-0283 or email at bedard18@verizon.net if you have any questions.

troop-four-family-newsletter-march-12-2008.doc

troop-four-family-newsletter-march-12-2008.pdf

scoutmaster-letter-march-12-2008.doc

scoutmaster-letter-march-12-2008.pdf