August 28th, 2020

Outdoor summer game meetings are going well. The Patrol Leaders Council (PLC) meeting was held last Monday, August 24 and the next PLC is scheduled for Monday 9/14 from 6 - 7:30 pm. I also encourage all senior scouts to attend the PLC, even if you don’t have a current position of responsibility. You can learn and participate in the decisions of the troop. The PLC put a lot of work into planning the September 19th Scout Day at Camp Acton. Similar to our Troop Klondike Derby, this one-day (9:00 am to 3:00 pm) outing will set up camp, break into patrols, use the buddy system to go through several “stations” where older scouts can teach younger scouts, and all scouts can test their knowledge and skills. Some stations will include tent/campsite preparation and set up, stove choices, stove operations for propane and liquid fuel, and first aid which will include burns, hypothermia, blisters, heat stroke, altitude sickness for the Philmont crew, and etc. Totn’ Chip will also be started (knife, ax, saws). We will have a noontime meal for those scouts looking for advancement for preparing and cooking a hot lunch meal. Scouts can bring their own lunch and in all cases social distancing and following the guidelines will help to prevent Covid. All are encouraged to attend and especially the younger scouts who did not have the opportunity to do a “trailblazer” summer camp program where they can earn Totn’chip and Firen’Chit. Of course, this will be fun and dynamic scouts in action. We decided to do a program focused on scout skills to kick off the year on learning and practicing good scouting.

Don’t forget, September 8th we will welcome our new scouts with a North Bridge Cross Over Event. 
Good work from Henry and Lucas on conducting trail cleanups. They took a lot of trash out of the Rifle Range and some trash along the Nashoba Brook. This is good scouting and good citizenship.
Good work for Life Scout Kevin O’Neil on completing his library project and Lucas Anthony is building his project this weekend (see signup above). You can learn woodworking and get some tool experience with wrenches, sockets, and drills. To me, these are essential must-have skills all scouts should have including changing a tire. Someday we will do that for the automotive merit badge, but one thing at a time.
Looking ahead, the PLC is looking to host our September meetings outdoors and we will need to make adjustments to our schedule to capture daylight. Stay tuned because we are losing daylight and will need to start the meetings earlier and earlier.  More information in the announcements.