Eagle Scouts

Congratulations to Mike Tusino, for whom we celebrated an Eagle Court of Honor on October 22nd. Mike is the Troop’s 18th Eagle Scout, and has also joined the adult leadership ranks as an Assistant Scoutmaster. Congratulations also to Anthony “TJ” Fasulo. TJ passed his Eagle Board of Review on Oct 27th to become the Troop’s 19th Eagle Scout. His Eagle Court of Honor will take place this coming February.

Trip Report – Taconic Mountains

The troop recently completed the rainiest campout in our history. Many inches of heavy rain fell while we camped along the slope of Bear Mountain in northwest Connecticut. Although conditions were rough, the troop remained cheerful throughout, and performed several impressive hikes. The troop summited 3 peaks (Round Mtn, Mt.Frissel and Bear Mtn), scouted a future group campsite in Sages Ravine, bagged the highest point in CT, and bagged the 2nd of four Massachusetts tri-state markers.

[flickr album=72157622738704174 num=3]

November “Pig Roast” Camping Trip

The November Pig Roast Camping Trip will be Saturday November 21 and Sunday November 22 at the troop campsite in Milford. This will be our famous pig roast dinner (with some hot dogs and other food too). We will be building a trebuchet along with other games/activities. We have invited some Second Year Webelos to attend as well. We will have a troop campfire Saturday night. The troop will provide a complete dinner and breakfast along with all the eating utensils, cups, plates, etc. The scouts will be planning the meals, activities, and doing the cooking for the weekend.

We will meet at St. Mary’s parish center at 9:00 AM Saturday November 21 and will return to the parish center by 1PM on Sunday for pickup on the 22nd. Scout should bring their regular camping gear and bag lunch for Saturday. As always, scouts can come/leave early late, etc, if they have conflicts with sporting or other local events. We will need a few parents to drive to/from the event.

If your son is planning to attend, please return the permission slip by the Nov 12 troop meeting along with a check for $12 to cover the cost of the food for the weekend. If your son can’t make the Nov 12 troop meeting but wants to attend, please call or email Phil Bedard before the 12th so we can include him in planning for the event.

Special Service Events

The troop will be supporting two service events this fall. Please make every effort to attend at least one of these events. It is mandatory for those scouts wishing to advance to an upper rank (Star, Life, Eagle) to attend at least one of these troop service events or the winter event (Christmas Tree Pickup).

One event involves a clean up project at St. Mary’s cemetery. This is an important event to support the troop’s sponsor. We’ll meet at the St.Mary’s cemetery Irish round tower at 10am on Sunday Nov 22nd. Bring work gloves and a rake. It would be helpful if another adult or two could bring a truck to haul leaves and debris to the woods. Note that this event will start immediately after the troop campout, so those at the campout have the benefit of automatic enrollment. Call Mr. Bedard if you have any questions.

The other event is on Sunday Nov 15th at the food pantry on Exchange Street. The troop will support the scouting for food event by receiving and sorting incoming food that other troops and packs have collected. The event will run from 1230 to 330pm. Mr. Hastings will be onsite to work with the senior attending scout to coordinate our troop’s activity.

Troop Dues and Medical Forms

Both the form and payment were due in early October.  The med form is a simple one page Class 1 form. The troop needs one annually for each scout. Unlike summer camp forms, only a parent signature is required. Vaccines, if current, can be stated as such. The combined troop and re-charter dues are $85 per scout ($65 for additional siblings). More information on these forms and dues was previously provided in the kickoff letter, which is still posted to the troop website. If you still owe dues or a form, please submit to the troop scribe at the beginning of the next troop meeting. Thanks!

Advancement

Life scouts are still actively working their Eagle service projects. Keep an eye out for emails and phone calls from these scouts as they recruit help for several interesting projects. Please help them as much as you can. Troop Guides will be re-starting our lower rank advancement activities. They are targeting Tenderfoot Scouts for advancement to 2nd Class by the February COH. 2nd Class Scouts are targeted for 1st Class by the June COH. Communications, Personal Fitness, Salesmanship, Personnel Mgmt and other merit badges are either in process, or about to start.

Troop 4 Eagle Scout Statistics

The troop recently calculated the percent of scouts joining Troop 4 that have reached the rank of Eagle. The figure is a whopping 23% (19 of 84). The figure considers the number that have reached Eagle, divided by the number of scouts who have joined the Troop since our founding and can advance no further (quit, aged out, or are active Eagles).

Parent Help List

In our newsletters, we will occasionally list items/tasks for which we are looking for parent help. If you are not into camping in the cold…here is an alternate way to help out the troop. Contact Phil Bedard if you would like to help on any of these items. Check the newsletter each month.

• Chef Kit Ditty bags. Our current bags (used to hold cooking utensils) are getting pretty gnarly from 10 years of use. If you are good at sewing, the troop can provide supplies (cloth, drawstrings and a grundgy sample). We’re looking for 6 new bags to be sewn.

Troop Equipment

Scouts should return equipment they were recently assigned to bring home and clean (e.g, tents) at the next troop meeting. All tents should be set-up, aired out, and thoroughly shaken out to remove debris. If the tent is short stakes (should be 6), notify the troop Quartermaster upon return. Coordinate all returns with the Quartermaster Josh Stiles.

Troop Recruiting

There are two big recruiting events coming up….the pig roast camp out, and the 11/5 troop meeting. Webelos will be attending both. Please take a moment or two to speak with these Webelos and their parents, and do your best to make them feel welcome. Thanks. Contact Troop recruiter Nolan Hobart if you want to help work with the Webelos at these events.

Survival!

Heads up – The 3 town troops are working to coordinate a presentation by a famous author of survival books. Keep your eyes open for an upcoming announcement of the date.

Venture Scout Corner

Venture Archery Day

There will be an Venture Archery event on Sunday November 8th from 10 am – noon.
We will be at the Maspenock Rod and Gun Club. Our special guest will be Randy Crock from Camp Tahosa in Colorado. Contact Mr.Garber if you would like to attend.

Upcoming Event Dates & Reminders

• Oct 31 – Personal Fitness MB at HS track 11AM
• Nov 5th – Troop Meeting
• Nov 8th – Venture Archery Event 10-noon at maspenock
• Nov 12th – Troop Meeting
• Nov 15th – Scouting for Food Troop Service Event. Meet at food pantry on Exchange Street at 1230pm.
• Nov 19th – Troop Meeting
• Nov 21/22 – Pig Roast Campout at troop campsite
• Nov 22 – Troop service event – cemetery cleanup – 10am to noon. Meet at round tower.
• Nov 26 – no meeting – happy thanksgiving

Questions

Please call the Phil Bedard at 508-282-0283 or email at pbedard1@gmail.com if you have any questions.

New: Troop 4 Jeopardy Contest

Rules:

• Provide questions for some or all of the answers listed below.
• Get it right…get the points.
• Get it wrong… lose that number of points.
• If you ignore the answer – no penalty
• Answer must be in the form of a question
• Email answers to Phil Bedard within a week of the newsletter date. Email only.
• Cumulative results to be posted in each newsletter.
• You can ask leaders and scouts for help.
• Winner / prize announced at the end of the season

This weeks answers:

Category: Troop 4 Backcountry Lore

$100 – His insatiable quest for coffee earned him the name Java Jim
$200 – This trailside piece of trash got us in hot water with the ranger during the 2006 Adirondack Canoe trip
$300 – This scout, currently in the lower ranks, has attended more troop camping trips than any other scout
$400 – The two rivers on which the troop has taken white water rafting trips
$500 – This infamous scout pair were the only two to flip their canoe with all their gear during the Adirondack canoe trip.