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Under the light of the Super Snow Moon, Troop 132 enjoyed a great weekend in the Berkshires! A quick stop at perennial 132 favorite Five Guys on Friday kicked off the weekend. We rose early to hit the slopes at Berkshire East where there was enough cover for some great runs. Dinner was hearty with replenishing carbs (thanks to Mr. Anthony for the focaccia, and Mr. Ely for the sourdough) and much fun was had sledding and x-c skiing by the bright light of the moon. Once it got really cold, we enjoyed an internet-free evening of board games and camaraderie. Sunday was a great day but as there wasn't quite enough snow to go x-c skiing, we put our skills to the test with winter fire-building. Thanks to Mr. Anthony, Mr. Aibel, Mr. Ely, Mr. McWilliams and Mr. Perotta for all of their help!
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The Troop is off skiing this weekend and it should be a great trip. Good planning last weekend.
This Tuesday is our annual Tubing event and it looks like it will be cold enough at night for Nashoba to make snow. This means that you will need rides to Nashoba and back. Please read the announcement below for more details and signup. We also have the Court of Honor (COH) scheduled for February 25 and please see the message above from Mr. O'Neil concerning the COH. Simon Cadavid (SPL) will be our host for the COH. No advancement Corner this week. The Troop Klondike: fire-building, tomahawk throwing, lashings, 2-man sawing, patrol cook-off, sled race, and a campfire program was a good learning experience for all. I think we need more practice and skill development in fire-building and cooking has come a long way.
Here are the results:
Christmas Tree Thank You’s –A scout is courteous; We have over 40 Concord residents who donated more than $50 and we will be enlisting help to send out “Thank you letters”. In the next meeting, we will carve some time out. Opportunities There is an intern position with the National Parks (in Concord). They reached out and wanted to share this opportunity: Opening for a Community Volunteer Ambassador. Apply to Margie Coffin Brown, Integrated Resources Program Manager/Historical Landscape Architect, Minute Man National Historical Park. 174 Liberty Street Concord, MA 01742 (cell) 617 620 2942 Advancement Corner – Service Projects We have four total Troop service projects yearly: The semi-annual Dropoff & SwapOffs, a Cleanup day for the Scout House, and finally the Christmas Tree Pickup (1/2 credit for service hours because it is both fundraiser and service). These Troop service projects are as close to mandatory as we can ask. That said, please let Mr. Sprague or I know if you cannot attend any of the service opportunities. The Troop and community and need help. Just think of Christmas Tree pickup for example: each scout contributes through hard work and we raise about $175 per scout towards Troop expenses. So each scout makes a major contribution. Star scouts need to perform 3 hours of a conservation minded project. Drop off Swap off is not one of them. Please seek permission from the Scoutmaster before (as required) to see if your service project fits. Eagle Projects: Our Troop culture is that every scout should help on these projects to the best of their scheduling ability. Someday, you will be needing help with your project and this is what we do in our Troop. We help each other. Often, many Eagle scouts come back to help showing how important this is. You can learn new skills and learn to work side by side with all our Troop. Please be on the lookout for these projects and be prepared to help. Other Service Requests: We as a Troop get requests to help in many events. Unfortunately we can’t respond to them all and sometimes we will ask through the announcements for help on a specific event. If you can, please help. Otherwise, we plan our service projects out (Eagle projects are subject to approvals and other time constraints). For asking organizations, we would also ask them to have a youth protection trained adults and also an SM or ASM attending. This takes planning and while I would like to do more service projects, we are doing all we can now and just don’t have the capacity. Service projects are also required for Camping and Citizenship merit badges. Generally, they are unique to the merit badge and Troop service does not satisfy those requirements. Of course, for high schoolers, you can count all your Troop and merit badge service hours, you earned it. We had a lively meeting this week, while the senior leaders prepared the Troop for our intra-patrol Klondike/winter skills event. Our outdoor program is where you can learn and develop scout skills while having fun.
Advancement Corner – Rank Advancement Process Unlike Cub Scouts where a parent signs off, the Boy Scout Rank requirements are signed off by the Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Scoutmasters (ASM) and Scoutmaster (SM). First, bring your Scout Book to every meeting. Keep track of camping nights, service projects which you can log and have an ASM or SM sign off in the back of your book. The book record of your advancement. The Troop maintains these lists in another application called Troop Master, but it is good practice for the scouts to do their own record keeping. When you have learned skills and ready for sign off, the first person you should ask is your patrol leader (PL). Your patrol leader is your first point of contact to show or demonstrate the skills and have them sign off. The patrol leader makes an effort to learn what his scouts need. So when there are Troop activities, those that need cooking (for example) have that opportunity. If the PL is not available, please check with the ASPL or SPL and they can review, sign and date the books. For senior scouts, that is, higher than 1st class, many or most of those requirements have to be signed off by an ASM or SM and /or the Advancement Chair. Specifically, the requirements for merit badges earned should be signed off by Mr. O’Neil, Advancement Chair. We will service projects next week. Excellent presentation and interest in Philmont 2021. Challenge yourself. “If you can do this, you can do anything”, spoken by Will Duggan while at Philmont. …and have a life lasting experience …and fun.
Reminder, our Patrol Leader Council meeting is this Monday (1/20/20) at 6pm, Monument Hall. All positions need to report in prior to the meeting if you will not be in person. Others are welcome and this is where we plan for the next month. Another reminder, the February Court of Honor will be right after February vacation, so keep working on rank advancements & earning merit badges. Congratulations to Tommy Stone who passed his Board of Review and earned Tenderfoot. I’m going to start a little section of the blog here called Advancement Corner; as a reminder of how we get scouting done in our Troop. Advancement Corner – Topic- Merit Badges (MB) There are many merit badges, Reading, Art, Traffic Safety, and others. If you have an interest, there possibly is a merit badge for your desires. Check it out on the merit list. If you want to earn a merit badge, please ask for a blue card first from Mr. Spraque. You will then need to approach Mr. Cancio on getting a councilor. The scouts call the 'merit badge folks' merit badge councilors, because they council – not teach. The councilors guide and enable you to learn and earn the merit badge. You are an active participant not a student. Keep that in mind. This is not like school. Of course, there are merit badge universities posted in past announcements and often we will host a session for the troop. We make those opportunities available via the “announcements” and encourage scouts to attend if possible. Some advice I will pass down for Scout rank, Tenderfoot and Second Class Scouts. Stay focused on rank advancements first and you do not need to focus on merit badges. Getting to First Class should be your goal. All the skills you earn up to and including 1st Class makes you a good, independent scout who has the scout skills to handle most events and trips we take, including high adventures. These skills include navigation, camping, first aid, cooking, planning, knots, and working as a patrol. As a First Class Scout, you are very capable. Beyond First Class, the merit badges will matter for advancement. Stay Focused. Next week's topic – rank advancement sign off! Happy New Year. Good job with Christmas Tree Pickup. You learned that working together, working hard and helping our community is core to our values as scouts. Nice job. I heard many compliments about the scouts and how you all followed the scout law. Specifically, friendly, courteous, kind, and loyal to our Troop and community.
We also had our Troop talent show and the timing was not great because it was hard to get the word out ahead of time. We will do better in the future. This month we have our troop Klondike derby where patrols will work together and compete on time for things like fire building and log sawing to name a couple. Don’t forget, that is a one-day event on Saturday, January 25, 2020, Camp Acton. Next week we will start preparations for that next week. We have a great year planned – Ski trips, Hiking, Service Projects, Summer Camp, Sea Base and that’s just the first half of the calendar year. We Scouters (adults) are all here to help you along the scouting journey. You set the pace and direction. You decide if you want to focus on ranks and merit badges and/or just the outing experiences. We will help you achieve your scouting goals and desires both big and small, but they all start with living the Scout Law and Oath. What are your New Year Scout goals? I look forward to seeing everyone today at Christmas Tree Pickup.
Reminder, Christmas Tree pickup is Saturday, January 4, 2020, at 7:30AM at Monument Hall. We need SIGNIFICANTLY MORE scouts to sign up for the Christmas Tree Pickup. This is a mandatory event for the Troop.
I look forward to seeing everyone on January 4, 2020. This is the last message of the decade! The PLC Meeting met this past Monday and planned ahead for January including a Klondike, talent show, details on the holiday party complete with slide show and Yankee swap. Monday night’s PLC was followed by the Christmas Tree Pickup Committee. A full Troop 132 type of week!
First, the Troop holiday party was great. Good job leaders Ben, Christian, Lucas, and Lucien who put a lot into making this a fun event. It was great to see Logan, Will, and Luke come to the party. We have so many scouts from our Troop out in the world it is great to see them come back. Once a scout of Troop 132, always a scout of Troop 132! Reminder, Christmas Tree pickup is Saturday, January 4, 2020, at 7:30AM at Monument Hall. We need SIGNIFICANTLY MORE scouts to sign up for the Christmas Tree Pickup. This is a mandatory event for the Troop. The holidays are a great time to put the Scout Oath and Law into practice. Be kind, courteous, and helpful are the ones that jump out to me during the holidays. Shovel out a neighbor, help your parents clean cars, take out the trash, set the table and clean up, say grace…these are all part of the Scout Law. This past weekend's Winter Skills & Shooting Sports campout at Leominster Sportsmen's Association (LSA) was one our scouts won't soon forget! The trip was led by SPL Ben Sprague with PLs Tommy Dohoney, Jonah Carter, and Freddy McWilliams, and honcho'd by myself and Mr. Ramon "Iron Chef" Cancio. Our host, Mr. Art O'Leary (LSA president & Scout chairman) brought a few of his Troop 11 Leominster scouts to the Saturday activities, but only our Troop 132 boys braved the elements to stay overnight for one of our coldest campouts on record... temperatures dipped down to -1 degree F!
Upon arrival at the campsite, scouts quickly offloaded vehicles, established their bed-down locations, and dropped off packs and gear before heading to the skeet range just 1/4 mile away. After receiving a safety briefing from the Rangemaster, about 3/4 of the scouts elected to try their hand at turning clay pigeons into powder one 20-gauge shotgun shell at a time. The remaining scouts looked on and cheered for each shooter while putting the ample snow cover to good use for caves and snowball fights. Tommy "Deadeye" Dohoney and "Lucas the Laser" Anthony were among our best young shooters (though several others nipped at their heels) as scouts each got to shoot upwards of 30 rounds in some cases. Since the Army-Navy game is coming up this weekend, it should also be mentioned that our West Point grad honcho Jon Belmont) outshot our Annapolis grad honcho (Ramon Cancio) without breaking a sweat :) After finishing at the skeet range, scouts grabbed some lunch and set up the campsite. Most scouts used troop-issued tents, but some of our hardier boys erected snow tents or shelters of various shape and configuration. With daylight waning, the SPL mustered the troop and proceeded to the pond's spillway, across from the LSA lodge. There, we found that branches, logs, and other debris had partially blocked up the overflow, which was holding the pond about a foot higher than normal. Using gravel rakes, gloves, and (most importantly) the buddy system, the gang broke up the jam in a manner that would have made the Corps of Engineers proud, and left the club's president quite pleased. With an hour's worth of service project well-earned under their belts, the boys returned to the campsite to dry off wet gloves and to cook their patrol meals. One patrol prepared some delicious tacos with all the fixins', another prepared some spaghetti with -- well -- LESS than all the fixins', and a third patrol let the campfire do the hard work for them as they enjoyed foil-wrapped sausage and peppers. A one-legged chicken also found its way onto a rotisserie spit over the fire! Meanwhile, the two honchos suffered through a meager meal consisting of a slow-cooked and dry-rubbed rack of ribs, Dutch oven cornbread, foil-cooked sweet potato casserole, and a Dutch oven cobbler..... those poor souls. With dinner cleaned up, the sun long since set, and the temperature dropping, the scouts made their way to the LSA lodge to take turns firing .22 rifles on the indoor range downstairs. Some scouts fired more than 100 rounds, as there were ample lanes, targets, and different types of rifles to choose from, all under the watchful eye of Mr. O'Leary and a highly capable assistant instructor. With their "rounds complete", the scouts proceeded upstairs to take in a classic movie - Monty Python and the Holy Grail - before returning to camp just before midnight. The surest way to get a good night's sleep in a cold environment is to enjoy a FULL and TIRING day... and these boys did just that! The following morning, everyone awoke to a bright, cloudless sky and crisp air... as scouts emerged from their tents and shelters, they quickly found their way to the fire to warm up and start preparing breakfast. With full bellies and warmed up boots and gloves, they packed up the campsites and loaded up cars as the return transportation arrived around 10:30, bidding farewell to LSA for another year by 11:15 or so. All the scouts did an outstanding job! The leaders led, the followers followed, everyone stayed SAFE, and everyone had fun and learned something new! |
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January 2020
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