Carpentry Merit Badge – Must be Complete by 12/31/10:
Scouts working on the historical Carpentry Merit Badge must finish up by 12/31/2010. The badge can only be earned in this 100th anniversary BSA year. Contact Mr. Matondi to close out your work before this due date. Don’t forget to bring the piece of furniture you made to the Jan 6 troop meeting. The best piece wins the mystery prize in the black case.
Eagle Scout Re-Union:
The troop is holding its first Eagle Scout re-union on Jan 6th, at 7pm, during normal troop meeting hours. We hope many of our 20+ eagles can join us for a night of fellowship, and inspiration to our younger scouts. All are welcome to come and meet the elite scouts of Troop 4 who have made it to Scouting’s highest rank, and who are now active leaders at college, in their community, or in their profession.
Merit Badges:
Several are in process; including carpentry, personal fitness, communications, environmental science, CIT Community. For scouts that are committed to advancing to the highest ranks, do not wait for troop meetings to make progress on badges. Many badges can and should be worked at home. See a merit badge councilor if you want to start any of the badges that are the troop has councilors for. Also – the troop could use more merit badge books. If you have unused books at home please consider donating them to the troop. MB book donations save the troop a lot of money. Thanks!
January Winter Camping Trip:
Last chance to sign-up! This trip will be Saturday January 22, 2010 through Sunday January 23. We will be camping in the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park in nearby Uxbridge MA. Blackstone Canal State Park has a large forest with lots of trails and a secluded and sheltered pine grove camping spot that is perfect for winter camping. Planned activities include sledding, hiking, animal tracking, snowshoeing, and perhaps a visit to King Philips Cave and Lookout, and other adventures. At this winter camping trip we will be doing some aluminum foil cooking (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, too!
The Troop 4 Website has a list of gear needed for a one night winter campout. Most scouts already have most of the gear and anything else is usually around in the scouts homes. Read the list carefully. Winter camping can be comfortable and fun, but only if you come prepared.
We will be patrol cooking for Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast. Scouts should bring a bag lunch for Saturday (no soda). A plastic sled comes in handy on this trip, for both sledding and for hauling in your gear. If you have one, please bring it.
We will meet at St. Mary’s parish center at 9:00 AM on Saturday January 22. Patrols will have an opportunity to assemble their ingredients into tin-foil cooking packets using the parish center kitchen before we depart. We will need a few parents to drive to/from the site. We will return for pick up on Sunday, January 23 by noon.
We will be planning the trip at the January 13 troop meeting. If your son is planning to attend, please return the attached permission slip by the January 13 troop meeting. If your son can’t make the January 13 troop meeting but wants to attend, please call or email Phil Bedard before that date so we can include him in planning for the event.
Winter camping is fun and a great outdoor experience – and not that difficult. The adult leaders and troop have many years of winter camping experience and all of our trips have been a great time. Hope for lots of snow cover!
Town Christmas Tree Pick Up:
Sunday, January 2. This is a fun combination fund raiser and service project that we participate in with other scout units in town. We are looking for one or two 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. Our trucks leave the parish center at 8:30 AM sharp, and we will not return to the parish center until the end of the event, so please be on time. The event ends at noon. Please call or email Ken Matondi at kenmatondi@comcast.net if you can participate.
Advancement Reminders:
Be aware that there are several requirements for Scout, Tenderfoot, and 2nd Class that can’t be finished at troop meetings. Scouts must work these at home and/or at campouts. These are requirements that frequently hold scouts up from advancing in rank. If applicable, please encourage your scout to make progress on these requirements.
For Scout Badge: Complete the youth protection exercises in the pamphlet attached to the inside cover of the scout handbook. Parents must email the scoutmaster when complete.
For Tenderfoot: Camp overnight in a tent that the scout set up himself. This requirement is completed on the scout’s first overnight campout.
For Tenderfoot: 30 day fitness requirement. Scout must exercise for 30 days, and turn in the exercise log form to the scoutmaster when done. Scouts should ask an adult leader if they need a new form.
For 2nd Class: 30 day money management requirement. Scout must track saving and spending for 30 days, and turn in the form to the scoutmaster when done. Scouts should ask an adult leader if they need a new form.
OA Election:
Re-scheduled for Thursday, Jan 13th at the regular troop meeting. A separate mailing has been sent directly to those scouts who meet the eligibility requirements for this BSA honor society. Questions can be directed to the Scoutmaster, or the Troops OA Rep, Richard.
Pancake Breakfast:
Is coming soon on Feb 6th. Ticket sales for the breakfast have begun, and should be in high gear over this holiday break. 20 tickets were distributed to all scouts already. If you’ve run out…get more! The ticket package included a list of all the rules and incentives for this year’s ticket selling. There are lots of great prizes for the top sellers this year. Scouts are expected to sell a minimum of 20 tickets. This breakfast is a very important fundraiser. Without good sales, our bi-annual high adventure trips (e.g., Colorado, Canoe Trips, etc) would be prohibitively expensive. Please sell hard, and turn in money to the Troop scribe as you sell tickets. The scribe will be tracking sales weekly and reporting on progress for both total troop ticket sales and the patrol ticket sales contest. This year’s pancake breakfast advertising sales has also kicked off. The Biohazard Patrol is in charge of this year’s ad sales effort. Final ad salesman training is complete. Please contact Mark Stiles or Bruce Hastings for upcoming ad sales events. Other logistical questions regarding this year’s Pancake Breakfast can be directed to Amy Croteau at Amy.Croteau@comcast.net.
Troop Four Website:
Have you seen the recent improvements to the Troop Web-Site? Troop web-master Bob Garber recently added an attractive “Troop History” tab that is very cool, and chronicles the major accomplishments and milestones of the troop over the years. Thanks Bob!
Checkout the Troop 4 website at: www.troop4milford.org.
It contains lots of current schedule and other useful information. Pictures, too.
Please call the Phil Bedard at 508-478-5773 or email at pbedard1@gmail.com if you have any questions.