Troop 132

Our winter Court of Honor was last week and it was led by Senior Patrol Leader Simon along with Lucas and Christian. Congratulations to all of you for both your accomplishments and for supporting each other. We only do these three times a year and it’s a special time to savor and encourage all our scouts to attend with parents, friends, and relatives. We follow a process by which a scout learns, is tested, is reviewed, and is recognized. A special shout out to those scouts earning the 3 Point Award (Points of the Scout Law): Wesley – Cheerful, Brandon - Brave, and Jonah - Trustworthy. These 3 Point Awards are nominated by the PLC, your fellow scouts. Past SPL recognition was also provided to Ben Spraque, whose term ended in January for his leadership to the troop. Good job scouts.

This year the Oustanding Order of the Fir (OOF) was given to several Scouters (adults): Mr. & Mrs. Spraque, Mr. Carter, Mrs. McLoud and Mr. Paulter (who was provided a model u-Haul truck) for all the outstanding help for the Christmas tree pickup which resulted in over $7400 being raised for the Troop. Mr.Anthony was presented with an interesting book about Mt. Washington in the 30’s and 40’s as a small gift of appreciation for his many hikes, ski trips, and support. Thank you.

The patrol leader council (PLC) meeting was also held last week and planning was conducted through the first of April. Good job.

Next week the Webelos will be attending our Troop and this is an opportunity to bring your boots in to be waterproofed in preparation for Mt. Washington.

Scouts – you asked to go to Mt. Washington and it’s a week away. 16 slots are available and only 4 scouts are signed up. Adults and scouts are encouraged to do one of the two trips. It’s a good challenge and we have equipment if you need it. Don’t be shy. The weather is warmer and there will be later sunsets with daylight savings kicking in. Sign up today and you can find additional information below.

Don’t forget, February 25 is our next Court of Honor (COH) and please bring parents, friends, and siblings to the COH.

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!  

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:

1. Lashing  - Ben Yankee Patrol
2. Fire building  - Lincoln – Uniform
3. Two Man Saw – Ben Yankee  1:03 vs 1:26 vs 2:16
4. Tomahawk Throw – Tied – Cameron Hotel 5 and Lincoln – Uniform – 5 Ben Yankee 3rd
5. Race – Ben Yankee 1:52, Lincoln Uniform – 2:04 Cameron Hotel – 2:14
6. Cooking 1 point difference  - Ben Yankee Lincoln Uniform

• Overall - Ben & Yankee Patrol - #1 - 10 low points
• #2 Lincoln’s Uniform Patrol - 11 points
• #3 Cameron’s Hotel Patrol - 15 Points

Troop 132 1st Place Team Category 2019 Gingerbread House Contest at Concord’s Colonial Inn. This entry (thanks Team Grady) received over 1200 votes and was a crowd favorite. Check out the Facebook page for a picture. Two gift certificates were the prize and they were converted to a check and a donation to the Scout House was made. Yea Troop 132!
 
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.