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Dear Scouts,
Weeks are flying by and it’s the end of school year. Happy to say we had a great White Water Kayaking Trip last weekend led by our APL and Acting Crew Chief Matt. Matt stepped into the breach to organize the troop, and review the equipment and food prior to leaving. Our SPL, Cameron was not feeling well and Matt was called to do his duty for the troop. Due to the water release we did not get onto the water until almost 4pm and off the river at 7:30pm. That means back to camp and dinner prep and no campfire program unfortunately but enough time for the senior scouts to plan Sunday. Thanks to Mr. Greene as honcho who coordinated all the logistics for this first-time event for the troop. We have rafted as a troop before but this is the first time that we were in our own kayaks. Mohawk State Park camping was great, a short hike the next day and pizza and ice cream. All in all a super fun trip. This week we also had another first; thanks to Mr. Herrero for organizing a Surfing day-trip the day after school was done, providing another new opportunity for scouts. The waves were unexpectedly strong, but the scouts were prepared, did a great job and had some fun in the process! Scouts elected new leaders for the July, August and September term, which requires commitment to participating in all the events during that time frame; we have these terms to enable scouts to weave in other activities they are typically involved with during the year. Thank you to Cameron, Matt and Jonah as our senior leadership team. Cameron specifically did an outstanding job as Senior Patrol Leader (SPL). It takes a team and he managed to hear everyone’s point of view and then make progress in all our planning. Well done. New leaders, Jonah (SPL), Tommy ASPL, and Freddy ASPL fill the role for the July, August and September which again requires full commitment. They will be working on goals and can share those next week. Summer camp is on the horizon next. Here is my quick advice as Scoutmaster for new scouts:
Remember: If you like something, put your name on it. If you love it, leave it at home. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster
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Dear Scouts,
As we head into summer, I want to make the Troop aware of some Spirit of Adventure Council activities this summer, as well as some new resources we are putting up on our Troop website. First, here is the SoA Council Calendar of Events for the Summer. There are lots of fun activities, including camps - and campouts - for any scout looking for something to do over the summer. 6/16 - Council Recognition Dinner 6/18-19 - Wilderness First Aid 6/26-7/2 - Brownsea - Overnight Camp 7/5-7/8 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 7/5-7/8 - Lexington Day Camp 7/8-7/10 - Crossover Camp - Overnight Camp 7/11-7/15 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 7/11-7/15 & 7/18-7/22 - Base Camp Learning Summer 7/17-7/22 - Eagle Week - Overnight Camp 7/18-7/22 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 7/18-7/22 - Topsfield Day Camp 7/18-7/22 - Kayak Day Camp 7/21 - Council-Wide Membership Meeting 7/25-7/29 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/1-8/5 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/8-8/12 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/8-8/12 - Environmental Studies Day Camp 8/15-8/19 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/15-8/19 - Scuba Week - Overnight Camp 8/15-8/19 - North Andover Day Camp 8/15-8/19 - Magee Maker Day Camp 8/15-8/19 & 8/22-8/26 - Base Camp Learning Summer 8/16 - Membership Kickoff - Danvers 8/21-8/26 - Kodiak - Overnight Camp 8/22-8/26 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/22 - Membership Kickoff - Haverhill 8/22-8/26 - Chelmsford Day Camp 8/23 - Membership Kickoff - Chelmsford 8/25 - Membership Kickoff - Milton I have also been building up the resources and documents included on the website for scouts, and the troop adult leadership. For example, click here to find some new one-pagers for troop leaders! Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
The scouts and families enjoyed the annual bike trip. This year the destination was Martha’s Vineyard, which is part of our 3-year rotation between Cape Cod Rail Trail, Nantucket and the Vineyard. Next year the trip goes back to Nantucket where we set up at Camp Richards. Trip Report – Annual Family Biking Trip to Martha’s Vineyard Our Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) Cameron led the bike trip putting leadership into action with help from Jonah and Lincoln as troop guide. These boys do a great organizing, assembling and tracking our plan at all times. Also good work from the Patrol Leaders Alexander and Eric B, who also had their hands full with planning and running the patrols. While waiting for the ferry, I noticed that the S/V Cramer from the Sea Education Association (www.sea.edu) was just in from a student trip out to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Captain Chris Nolan, who provided the troop with a zoom introduction to sailing and seamanship during the Sea Base preparation sessions, was on hand to provide a brief tour of the ship. We all had a chance to get on board, and I hope this was especially fun for the Sea Base crew. Cramer is 134’ brigantine with gear and oceanographic equipment to go anywhere in the world. She has a sister ship named the Robert Seamans which operates in the Pacific. I’m an alum of the program along with my daughter Kaleigh and I also participate on the board of advisors. They offer limited high school and college programs, combining learning ashore and then at sea. I’ve heard it said that farmers, sailors and scouts are the groups of people that are independent, capable, and always ready to help. I think that is true. After departing our short Cramer visit, the troop got on the ferry with bikes and day packs. This coordination of tickets, cars and arrangements was accomplished with excellent honcho oversight by Julie Jones and the many parents that helped drive up and down to Woods Hole. Thank you for doing all this and making this opportunity possible. Many hands make light work and this is what makes our troop go and scouting opportunities possible! Thank You! The scouts biked to camp, set up and then biked to East Point Beach. The water was cold and the skies cloudy, but all enjoyed the short trip. Sunday was the real biking experience, where two groups set out; one group biked long and fast, and the other went less aggressively, but both met up in Edgartown. That went well, and then one group headed out with the goal of doing a 50-miler and the other group set out to enjoy Chappaquiddick Island, the Myoti Japanese Garden and the beach. Later, we again broke into two teams, with one heading directly back to camp and the other taking the northern route to the beach and the so-called Jaws bridge. We parked our bikes under the sign that clearly said no jumping of diving off the bridge . . . and because a scout is obedient, we observed all the rules. We met back in camp for the second campfire program. Lincoln led a vespers practice and at the end of the night it sounded 100% better than the night before. I can say the adult food was terrific, the campsite was very nice (we were good neighbors) and the scouts did a great job of setting up camp, tables, preparing food, cleaning up and observing the quite hours. I think we can continue hone up our biking skills, including maintaining spacing. This seems easy but can be hard to do and we need more practice as a group. Last years trip was cancelled because of rain so we were glad to be back having bike trips. All in all, it was a great trip and a terrific way to see scouts in action and working together. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
This weekend, we will head to Martha's Vineyard for our Annual Family Bike Trip. For those who are going, I will see you there. I hope everyone else also finds a great way to celebrate the beginning of summer. And while you are out having fun this weekend, do remember what Memorial Day is all about - it is a day of remembrance that honors all military members who have died while serving in the U.S. forces. Let's think of those who sacrificed for all of us, and mark the true meaning of this holiday. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Congratulations Eagle Scouts Ben and Henry. The Eagle Court of Honor was a wonderful way to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of these scouts, who have spent half their life in scouting. It’s wonderful to see the displays of scouting from cub scouts all the way through to Eagle projects and the many camping, hiking, sailing, and high adventures in between. Many friends and relatives turned out to celebrate along with many Eagle scouts from our troop including Ben, Simon, John, Lucas. Also Mr. Prewitt attended and said hello on behalf of Logan and Will D stopped by after work. So glad so many attended to show support. All past scouts are warmly welcomed back anytime and it’s great to see you supporting your troop. Many thanks to all those who have helped Henry and Ben along the path and special shout out to SPL Cameron who presided. He led the ceremony with poise and confidence. Tommy did a wonderful job leading us in an invocation. Well done. Also, thanks to all our scouts and scouters who set up chairs, brought the colors, played the bugle (Nathanial – you are doing a great job), and those that describe the trail to Eagle. We are grateful for all our scouts who support each other and again congratulations Eagles. Monday night, Cameron led an especially long Patrol Leader Council (PLC) meeting for the planning required for next year. Many old and some new thoughts were put forth. The next step is to provide your patrol leaders and all the leaders with feedback on what you liked and what you want to try new next year. One small theme I’ll introduce going forward is to have a monthly scout law focus starting with Trustworthy and then 11 more points as we go through the year. Each month we will delve into one point and listen for examples where our scouts have lived that part of the scout law by example. Some are obvious and some will be good points for discussion like obedient. We say these words and recite an oath. Let’s make sure we know those words and live by examples. It will be fun. Maybe we can recognize the scout of the month who best exhibits those traits. Something to think about. Advancement Corner: Congratulation to Cameron for earning Star Rank. He certainly is a star and leads by example. Congratulations to Matt for earning Star and for recently finishing the bottle recycling project; I’ll ask Matt to talk about this and come up with recommendations on what to do with that cash he collected as result of the donated bottles). If I missed someone who advanced, I’m sorry; let me know and make sure to send a picture of your completed signed book rank pages to Mr. O’Neil our advancement chair. Welcome new scouts. You are in good hands with Lincoln, who will help guide you through the rank of Scout. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Scoutmaster Duggan Dear Scouts,
Please come on Saturday May 14,2022 for the Eagle Court of Honor. Most likely this will be our one and only Eagle Court of Honor in 2022 and hope to see you there to celebrate Ben and Henry’s accomplishments. They are role models for our troop and they all started as Webelos! I would also welcome any and all scouts to help with Eagle Service Projects as they come up. It’s a great way to work as a troop and maybe learn new skills. They are always challenging. Welcome new families; I hope you can attend our Memorial Day Annual Family Bike (and Camping) Trip to Martha’s Vineyard. This is open to all families, as a way to get to know the troop, the scouts and other scouting families. Hope to see you all soon. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Cross-over is today Saturday and here is the high-level schedule:
It will be cool and breezy, dress appropriately. Class A for the ceremony and class B otherwise. PLC Meeting has been moved to Monday May 16, 6:30pm-8:30pm and will have pizza. It's a longer meeting so we can do more planning. Bring ideas and thoughts of what you and your patrols like and things you want to try that are new. Welcome Webelos. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Welcome back from Sea Base and April vacation. Scouting is in full swing with Cross-over Ceremony & Campout coming up, followed by an Eagle Court of Honor; the District Eagle Dinner; Eagle Service projects for Christian and Lucas; an E-Prep Merit Badge training for those scouts that need to complete the badges started at camp last summer; the Troop Food Drive; and the Family Bike Trip over Memorial Day Weekend. There are plenty of scouting opportunities to increase your scout skills, provide cheerful service and advance your rank. I’m looking forward to hearing more about sailing and managed to get some sailing in myself over the April break. Sailing and scouting have many similar characteristics - self-reliance, resourcefulness, being in touch with nature, and community. We learned a lot in preparation for this trip about ship, shipmate and self and I think that holds true with scouting. Ship being our mission; shipmates, our patrol and troop; and self at the end and in that order. A troop functions the same way and relies up on patrols and leaders to meet the mission and our own personal issues come after our group. Our leaders also practice servant leadership putting the well being ahead of themselves. These practices build good habits and lead to good citizenship. Keep up the good work and I’m looking forward to a May of good scouting events! Thanks to your many scouters (adults) who make all these opportunities a reality! Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
A big thank you to all those who helped last weekend with the Scout House cleanup. There were over 80 leaf bags removed, which filled a truck, trailer and mini van for two trips to the landfill. The raking went well and you made a big impact. All that remains now is compost. It was also fun to have pancakes for all in the morning and many thanks to Mrs. McLeod’s efforts on the grill and her recipe. Thanks to Mrs. Liazos for her mini van and thanks to all for the manpower, raking and contribution to the cleanup. It was also nice to meet many of the parents and Webelos to our troop. Good cheerful service is a mark of our troop and you all showed that. Last Saturday also continued with a rainy bike ride; thanks to Mr. Green for his scouters help. One memory I’ll have is driving down the road on Saturday morning and seeing Lucien and Jonah on their bikes with Rakes. Lucien’s rake was vertical and making a big arc in the sky. Cars had a hard time passing and it just shows scouts in action. Speaking of scouts in action, with help from Mr. Rzepczynski and Marcus and Alexander, they were able to recycle over 1200 plastic bottles which were donated to our troop by a local landscaper and friend to our Troop, Mr. Neal Hathaway, Hathaway Tree and Landscaping. These 20 large bags of bottles will yield over $125 to our troop and Matt and Charlie were working together to complete this. Only 5 more bags to go. Marcus and Alexander worked hard along with your Scoutmaster, son Mr. Will and my daughter to recycle 5 bags. We are cleaning up and raising money at the same time. A shout out to Marcus last weekend for his kindness to others. While at the landfill, Marcus went out of his way to help a concord resident unload their car. He did this on his own, saw what was needed, was friendly kind and helpful. He also stayed and helped with the bottle recycling and put in a long day of service. Also, while recycling bottles, he stopped his efforts, and recycled someone else’s bottles who was waiting since we were tying up the machines. He then gave back the receipt to the person who then asked if we wanted it for our troop. Both these acts of thinking of others, being aware of the needs for others and putting the scout law into action deserve to be called out. I know many of you do similar acts of kindness too, and for that I’m grateful and proud. This week we had a PLC meeting led by Cameron to plan out the next few meetings. We need to do more long-term planning and have rotations for our favorite trips in time so that we explore new opportunities. We will work on that over the next couple months. One more about ‘scouting in action.’ Many of the PLC wrote thank you notes to 30+ residents who donated more than $50 to our Christmas tree pickup. This is the first time we did this and thank you for the hand written notes. On to Sea Base. The last preparation meeting was last night. Be good shipmates. Think of Ship, Shipmate and Self! We will take the week off next week and maybe get an update from the Sea Base. Do your good turn daily! YiS, Scoutmaster Duggan Dear Scouts,
Tomorrow is spring clean-up at the Scout House and look forward to seeing many of you early. We will have a table or two and a grill for pancakes. Bring rakes, gloves and enthusiasm. We hope many new Webelos join us and remember the scout law point 4! This is also your opportunity to do your good turn. And if it doesn't rain, we will have a mini bike trip afterward, so bring your bike too, if you’d like to join in. Sea Base scouts continue to learn and ready themselves for an adventure. The best way is to be prepared. Read up, do your homework. The more you know, the more you will be able to do and the more you will be comfortable on the water. Someone one said that sailing can be 90% boredom and 10% terror. The 10% is because you are outside in a hostile environment, conditions change quickly, and you can be caught off guard and in serious trouble quickly. They also say eternal vigilance is the price for safety so be alert, take care of each other and be vigilant and observant of the situation around you! Cameron’s first SPL meeting went well and he is following the tradition to start on time, which sets a good pace for the meeting. Well done. The Troop Committee meeting was Wednesday night and we decided to use some Troop funds to offset trip costs and summer camp. Remember, no scout should not go to a trip because of cost. We are pleased to start using some funds raised by Cameron to be used for Eagle projects. He was able to raise funds last summer and kindly donated them to the troop. Please let me know if there is any financial hardship that gets in the way of going on a trip or summer camp. We can help. Do your good turn ! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster |
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