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Dear Scouts,
The Spring Court of Honor is on Tuesday night (6/20). All scouts should attend and support each other; and all parents, siblings, relatives and friends are always invited. We have plenty of room! Congratulations Nathaniel and Lincoln on the SPL/ASPL election results. The summer term starts at Scout Camo (with some positions appointed at Camp), and we will be going back to basics for Positions of Responsibility (POR) qualifications. This might mean we have fewer eligible candidates for POR (First Class rank or higher) and maybe doubling up on positions and possibly decreasing the number of patrols. Most of these operational details will be worked out at summer camp. For those who want to be in these positions, summer camp is the time to work on rank advancement. All the ranks to First Class are skill-based and build for each rank. My advice is to keep going, learn, get tested, be recognized, and get signed off. We keep our POR lengths short to accommodate sports and other school events and provide opportunities for scouts. Some troops elect SPL’s for 6 or more months. While it might be hard to elect and transition, the benefit is we have more opportunities for scouts. This comes with responsibility. That means that to be in a POR means participation for troop meetings, PLC’s, camping and service projects during your terms, regardless of position. We usually need all hands at these events and leading means being first to arrive and often last to leave and putting others ahead of your needs. For the first time in a few weeks, we don’t have any projects or events this weekend so enjoy time to regroup. Next week we have our Surfing Outing, the Court of Honor and then we are off to Iceland Thursday night. This is a very exciting time for the Troop! Thank you all for pitching in to help others (at all times!), especially the helping at the Concord Free Public Library Book Sale, and at Lincoln and Tommy’s Eagle projects. I’ve received many compliments on your good manners, helpfulness and hard work. Special shout out to Lucien, who led in the book sale service project's afternoon session, and who is now coordinating with the Library and to get us a shelf for our merit badge books! You are all good scouts living the scout law and having fun working together. We need to pick a time for Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge completion including learning how to do an oil change and some hands-on tire changing. I’ll look for some opportunities to accomplish this. I know many of you are continuing to work on advancements, and some of you earned ranks and merit badges beyond our 5/23 cut-off for this Court of Honor. We will make sure your records are updated with Mr. O’Neil, updated in ScoutBook and we will do our best to recognize you at this COH; but don’t worry – even we don’t formally recognize you this week, your records will still be updated (you will get credit from the date you actually earned the advancement or badge), and you will be “formally” recognized at our next Court of Honor. Finally, this weekend is Father’s Day. Take some time to recognize and thank your dads, either here or in heaven, related by blood or not, or even your Mom (who can sometimes also fill the role of father). As we learn in the Family Life Merit Badge, families take on many shapes and sizes so think about fathers, grandfathers, uncles, moms or whoever serves that important in your life and thank them for all they do. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster
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Dear Scouts,
Two weeks from now many of us will be in Iceland. The past few weeks have been really busy with Scout activities; even though the pace will start to slow after camp (somewhat) but there will be plenty of scouting opportunities. Coming up next is the Concord Free Public Library Book Sale service project (Saturday 6/10 morning and afternoon), Tommy’s Eagle Project (6/10 afternoon), scout Positions of Responsibility (POR) elections (Tuesday meeting), Surfing Outing (6/19), the Court of Honor (6/20) then to Iceland. After the Court of Honor, we will switch to summer meetings and I suggest those scouts not on the trip to come to the 6/27 for reminders of what to bring to summer camp (7/10-7/15). If you are running for a position, please submit the form to me and Grady as soon as possible. First class or higher required and we will elect one SPL and one ASPL. Patrol leader elections will be held at a later date, as we adjust the troop. Many thanks to many of the volunteers who participated this past weekend in Lincoln’s Eagle Project. Pickaxe, shovels, drills and lifting rocks and beams were done by many to make these improvements possible. It takes many of us working together under the leadership of the Life scout to make this work. Well done Lincoln. Don’t forget the details on the project write up and take lots of pictures. Sunday afternoon was followed up by several scouts checking oil, coolant, brake fluid, transmission fluid and reading the owner’s manual for maintenance schedule as just part of the hands-on learning done by ASM Will Duggan. Will allowed many scouts to actually hold his Snap-on Tools which was a treat. There are tools only he knows what they are. There will be a second class schedule to change oil, air filters and such and complete so stay tuned. Many thanks to the scouters (adults) specifically Laura Ely, Christian Ely and Casey Carlson for putting the Iceland trip together. This is exciting for sure. Just a reminder, the sunset is 12:03 and rises at 2:55. It sets at 340 degrees and rises at 20 degrees meaning the sun just dips under the horizon. Interesting, we will be there 1 day after the solstice and will start to lose 9 seconds the first day and by June 27 losing almost 2 minutes until the day reaches 12 hours at the equinox in September. Very cool. Advancement Corner Congratulations to Breck for earning the ranks of Scout and Tenderfoot (with a Board of Review) in one night! I know many of you are working on ranks. Keep up the good work and check out the list of awards on the next page and let me know if see any discrepancies. I’ll do my best until Mr. O’Neil returns from South America! See you this weekend and do your good turn daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Last weekend’s Bike Trip to Nantucket was fantastic. Best weather we ever had on any trip and all worked to plan (mostly). Some scouts forgot some important cooking items and that’s a good opportunity to learn. Many thanks to Juli Davenport (Elan’s mom) and the other adult scouters who put the trip together such as the Ferry tickets, adult meal planning, camp reservations, signups and coordination and the many, many details that go into planning. Thank You. Ms. Jones has volunteered to lead a Cycling Merit Badge and for those scouts interested. Cycling is one of three (3) merit badges that can count for Eagle; Hiking, Swimming or Cycling. You must pick one of these three (or do all if you desire). The pinnacle of the Cycling Merit Badge is the 50 miler for the road bikes and 22 for Mountain Bike (over terrain). This is very achievable. Scouts this weekend biked over 40 miles under Nathaniel’s leadership as ASPL and Nantucket Crew Chief. He did a great job coordinating the many details such as packing, biking, trip planning, meal planning, preparation, and cleanup, not including all the fire building and leaving Camp Richard in better condition than we found it. Two adult scouts, Cameron and Lucas helped and focused on the fire building and brush removal (burning) that helped clean up the camp and produced a very robust and enjoyable fire. Nantucket is my favorite bike trip and we shared the ferry with troop 79 Marblehead as we have done in the past. The ferry ride gives us an opportunity to leave the mainland and connect as a group and just catch up. Of course, camping, biking, great food and ice cream. You can’t beat that combo. Our senior scouts will graduate high school soon (many tomorrow!) and congratulations. You are fantastic scouts. We all share pride in all your accomplishments but also who you have become. You follow the scout law and oath and act as role models ! We are very proud. Congratulations. Life Scouts Lincoln and Tommy will need your help for their Eagle Projects so please sign up. The Concord Library Book Sale is coming up too, so there is lots of opportunities for service ahead. Advancement Corner Our Court of Honor is moving to June 20, 2023 and hopefully that’s not a problem. I’ve had some last minute business travel come up. There are many scouts who have earned ranks and please check out the list and let me and Mr. O’Neil know if you are expecting something that is not officially signed off. ScoutBook is our system of record and the dates are important. Mr. O’Neil does a fabulous job putting this all together and wish him luck on his South American journey to Machu Picchu in Peru. See you this weekend! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster |
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