Troop 132

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

Greetings Scouts,

First and foremost, thank you to the loyal and steadfast leadership demonstrated by our Senior Patrol Leader Lucien, assisted by ASPL’s Cameron and Charlie. They braved COVID, new scouts, subzero temperature camping, and the Christmas Tree Pickup, just to name a few challenges they took on. Well done and, on behalf of the troop, thank you.

Cameron was elected the new Senior Patrol Leader; his tenure starts in April and will continue through June, when we will host another election.

The rest of the election results (and the latest PLC) are:
· SPL: Cameron
· ASPL: Jonah and Matt
· PL1: Nathaniel
· PL2: Eric B
· PL3: Alexander
· Troop Guide: Lincoln
· Scribe: Grady
· Quartermaster: Tommy

April is here and the next couple months will be busy. Check out the schedule of upcoming events, continue to work through your advancements and merit badges, and summer camp will be here before you know it.

Sea Base scouts continue learning each Monday and last week learned about nautical charts (not maps) and underwater depths (not unlike a topographical map), as well as scales, plotting a course (compass) and how to know you are staying on track (take bearings often with known landmarks) and then make adjustments. This is good life practice: Know where you are. Have a plan to get you where you need to be. Take bearings off of landmarks you can trust. Make adjustments as you go. And of course, be prepared for whatever comes.

Do your good turn!

YiS,
Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster