Happy New Year! There is much news and events to announce to kick off the New Year.

Thanks to Troop 4 and Jennifer Dundon’s Girl Scout Troop for Soldier Donations

The Troop has just received an email of thanks from SPC Charles Roesch on behalf of the members of the 201st Base Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, currently deployed in Afghanistan. Over 200 pounds of personal goods was donated and shipped to his unit. While the Army keeps these troops well clothed and fed, they often lack some of the comforts of home that we sometimes take for granted. Troop 4 and the Girl Scouts donated over 200 pounds of snacks, stationary, books, and personal hygiene supplies and other items, to provide a much needed morale boost to these soldiers. The following is the note we just received from SPC Roesch.

“Hey there! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! Sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner. For some reason my email hasn’t been working much the last few weeks. But I did get all the boxes you sent. Everything in there was great and all the guys in my unit loved everything. We are all very grateful for everyone’s generosity for all of that stuff. I have some pictures to send but the computers here are so slow that it takes forever to send them. I only get 20 minutes on the computer at a time so I will have to come in the middle of the night sometime soon so I can send them to you. But just wanted to say thanks for everything! Hope everything is going good over there. Cant wait to get back!”

For those interested in learning about Charlie’s unit, please visit: http://www.1id.army.mil/units/3ibct/history/201bsb.aspx

Change of Venue for Next Troop Meeting

St. Mary’s parish center will be closed for our next scheduled troop meeting on January 8th. However, the troop has lined up an alternate merit badge activity at the Milford Police Station at the normal troop meeting time. Officer Jay Ball will be conducting a fingerprinting merit badge class. This is a great opportunity to earn a merit badge in just ONE meeting. All you need to do is print out the worksheet that can be found at http://www.usscouts.org/mb/worksheets/Fingerprinting.pdf, and do a bit of on-line homework to complete the “history of fingerprinting” requirement #1. Bring the partially completed worksheet to the Jan 8th meeting, where Officer Ball will then work with all scouts that attend to complete the remaining requirements. Due to space constraints at the police station, this meeting is recommended only for those scouts who have not yet completed the fingerprinting merit badge. Attending scouts should meet the troop’s adult leaders in the Police Station front lobby at 7pm. It is very important that scouts arrive on-time for this meeting (a few minutes early is even better) in order to fill out some preliminary paperwork. Pickup will be at 8:30 in the same location. Older venture scouts that have already earned this badge may take the week off, though there is rumor that your SPL may arrange a venture-only activity. Stay tuned for a possible note from Brad.

National Jamboree 2010

The Council is accepting Scout applications to attend the BSA National Jamboree in the summer of 2010. Registered adult leaders are also invited to apply. The Council will be sending three provisional troops that are made up of scouts/leaders from troops throughout our Council. The approximate cost per scout will be $1700 – $1900. Those interested in applying to attend should visit http://www.ktc-bsa.org/jamboree.htm for more detail.

While the national jamboree will be a memorable adventure, be aware that Troop 4 will be conducting our own High Adventure trip that same summer at considerably less expense.

Whitewater Update

Thanks to all for the great response to the last round of whitewater surveys. There is plenty of interest to go forward with our plans. We are in the process of reserving the previously announced adventure down Maine’s Kennebec River on June 20-22. Additional news and payment information will be announced in the spring.

Hazardous Weather Training

The BSA now requires that at least one registered adult leader on an outing (e.g., camping trip) be trained in Hazardous Weather. All registered adult leaders should go to the Knox Trail Website to take this online training (http://www.ktc-bsa.org/). The course is easy, informative and only takes about 30 minutes. Please send a copy of your completion certificate to Phil Bedard when complete so we can update the troop training records. Thanks.

January Winter Camping Trip

9 rugged scouts have registered for the upcoming winter campout on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 through Sunday Jan 4th. Note that this is a revised date.

We have confirmed the site to be the Hopedale Parklands in Hopedale, MA. This is a historic site, with an old 3-sided shelter built in the days of the original park construction by the owners of the Draper Mill. The shelter is located on a small summit overlooking Milford, and is in a secluded area that’s great for sledding, hiking, animal tracking, snipe hunting and other adventures.

At the winter camping trip we will be doing some aluminum foil (no pots and pans to clean) and Dutch oven cooking. The winter is a great time to do this type of cooking because you need some good warm fires to cook – and to stay warm with! In addition, we will be doing other winter activities -depending on how much snow cover we have – making snow shelters, sledding, etc.

Scout food assignments were given at the last troop meeting, and have been confirmed via email.

The required winter camping gear is detailed on the troop website. Scouts are expected to come fully prepared. Most scouts already have most of the gear and anything else is usually around in the scouts homes. We will be patrol cooking for Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast. Scouts should bring a bag lunch for Saturday (no soda). For scouts that have a plastic sled, please bring that along, too. It will help haul in our gear.

We will meet at St. Mary’s parish center at 10:00 AM on Saturday January 3rd and leave about 10:30 AM for the site. We will return for pick up on Sunday, January 4th at 11am.

Town Christmas Tree Pick Up

The town Christmas tree pick up will be Sunday, January 4. This is a combination fund raiser and service project that we participate in with other scout units in town. We are still looking for a couple more parents with pick-up trucks or trailers to drive around our assigned territory in Milford to pick up the trees and transport them to the town disposal area. It starts about 8:00 am and ends about noon. We will be camping this weekend so we really need a few scouts and parents who won’t be camping to help out. Please call or email Bob Garber at bobg.home@comcast.net if you or your scout can participate. We had to schedule the January camping trip the same weekend because that was the best fit for all of our winter activities.

Advancement

The next Court of Honor is scheduled for Feb 5th. Scouts should make a final push to complete in-process merit badges. Many scouts have partial merit badge cards for Citizenship, Communications, Camping, Personal Fitness, Family Life and Wilderness Survival. If you’re not sure where you stand, see your Merit Badge Counselor. Merit Badge blue cards must be turned in by Jan 29th if you would like the badge to be awarded at the COH. Those requiring MB’s in order to advance to the next rank must complete them by the start of the Jan 15th troop meeting in order for the troop to have sufficient time to schedule and conduct the SM conference and BOR.

The Patrol Leader’s Council will soon meet to determine which merit badges to work on during winter/spring troop meetings. Scouts should give their preferences to their patrol leader.

Pancake Breakfast Update

The breakfast is scheduled for Sunday, February 1st from 8:00 AM until noon at St. Mary’s parish center. This is our big fundraiser to raise funds for our outdoor adventures. All scouts should have picked up an initial 20 tickets to sell for the breakfast.

Each scout is expected to contribute a strong effort on this sale and should sell at least 20 tickets. Scouts can get as many tickets to sell as they want. See Phil Bedard or Jim Brundrett if you need more tickets. THIS IS THE PRIMARY TROOP FUNDRAISER FOR THE YEAR… PLEASE HELP.

There will be some great ticket sale prizes for all scouts, regardless if they go on a future high adventure trip or not! There will be prizes (knives, backpacking stoves, etc) for scouts who sell the most, second and third amount of tickets. Some scouts have already reported very strong sales – great job! Aside from the top three sellers, all other scouts who sell tickets will have a chance at the drawing of 3 additional great prizes!

There is an additional effort to sell event advertising to local vendors. Scouts should see Mr. Brundrett and his team of Venture and 1st Class scouts if you would like to help. We are also in big need of parent help. Any parents that can donate a couple of late afternoon hours should contact Mr. Jim Brundrett at spidr2@comcast.net.

Upcoming Event Dates & Reminders

• January 3rd and 4th is the winter campout at the Hopedale Parklands
• January 4th is the Christmas Tree Pickup
• January 8th is a troop meeting at the Milford Police Station
• January 15th, 22nd and 29th are regular troop meetings
• February 1 is the pancake breakfast
• February 5th is the Troop Court of Honor
• February 6th – 8th is New Hampshire Winter Sports Weekend at the Lanciano Cabin. Ventures depart on Friday evening, others scouts Sat AM. More info in next newsletter.

Questions

Please call the Phil Bedard at 508-282-0283 or email at bedard18@verizon.net if you have any questions.