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Dear Scouts,
I spent last weekend and part of the week sailing from Newport to Swansea (near Fall River), stopping along the way at Gloucester, Provincetown, Marion, Cuttyhunk (Elizabeth Islands) and on to Swansea in Narragansett Bay. Will and I sailed about 175 miles with a lot of motoring since we either had too much wind from the wrong direction or not enough wind from the right direction. Such is sailing. Sailing is a lot like camping. You carry everything you need, plan in advance, pack your gear, food, check the weather and off you go. As conditions change, you monitor and make adjustments. You always check your mates to see if everyone is ok. Glad to say we had a great time and covered a lot of miles and it was a great trip. I hope school is off to a good start. Tommy’s Eagle Board of Review is Monday September 11, 2023, so we will move our PLC meeting to Monday September 18, 2023 starting at 6:30-8:00pm. All senior scouts are invited. Our focus for this year will be to help scouts who want to, achieve the First Class rank. First Class is a big milestone in your scout journey, and requires meeting many requirements. Once you have achieved them, you know how to set up camp, what to bring and how to pack your gear, how to administer first aid, find your way (navigation), how to recognize animals and avoid poisonous plants, and how to demonstrate scout spirit. You also know your duty (to God, to country), and to help your patrol and troop. So this focus is important and will ensure the Troop has more . Congratulations to the 8 scouts (Grady, Ethan, Matt, Nathaniel, Lincoln, Rowan, Eric M, Charlie) and 5 scouters (Mr. Ely, Ms. Green, Ms. Liazos, Ms. McLeod, Mr. Sprague) who hiked Mt. Frissell on August 20, as a kickoff for our "ANE" (Atop New England) adventure series. The Troop hiked through Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts and reached the Connecticut high point! Great work Grady for arranging and promoting this exciting trip. For more information/pictures, see the trip report below. We are also looking to schedule the follow up for the Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge. Just looking for a time that works for many of you. This is a good opportunity to learn how to maintain a vehicle. Welcome back and ith all the trees, limbs and branches down, it will be easy to do your good turn. Help a neighbor and help pick up after the thunderstorm! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster
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Dear Scouts,
Summer is drawing to a close and we will be meeting in the Scout House next week (9/5/23). I won’t be attending as I’ll be sailing from Newburyport to Rhode Island and will be in transit at this time. I’ll brush up on my sailing for our trip September 16 and 17. Congratulations Rowan for passing his Second Class Board of Review ! Good luck with back to school and here’s a question for you. How would you recognize other scouts in school (if you didn’t already know them to be scouts)? Remember to do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
It was nice to see Cameron M back from hiking over 500 miles on El Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James), which is a pilgrim route in northern Spain leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the town of Galicia. There are many routes and Cameron chose to do the “northern” route and logged about 15 miles daily for about forty (40) days. What a fantastic way to spend time before college. Well done and congratulations Cameron on completing this challenging hike. Sending good luck to both Tommy and Lucien, who were also at the Tuesday meeting. They are both off to college and we wish them well and insist they come back often and in perhaps a new capacity as a venture crew if we have enough scouts! Tommy will be having his Eagle Board of Review Monday September 11, 2023 and he is well prepared. Congratulations to Marcus for passing a five (5) member Board or Review on Tuesday. These board members really challenged Marcus and it was the unanimous decision to approve his rank of Star scout. Well done Marcus. Hopefully rain won’t be in the forecast for next meeting. I will be kicking off a Family Life Merit Badge in September but for anyone interested, please see me at the next meeting. Even better, bring the merit badge worksheets (Family Life MB Worksheet is here), and we can start planning together. This is a great merit badge and a parent favorite. It also takes 90 days to complete. So if you are interested, let’s get the blue card signed and started next week (no rain). Remember to do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Welcome to the new summer schedule. I’m returning this weekend from Chicago. While I was there, I had the chance to see the Oshkosh Experimental Aircraft Association Air Show. They run a program called young Eagles, which takes youth under 18 years up for discovery flights. They used to run this from the Stow airport and I’ll check to see if they still do this post-COVID and get back with some information for any scouts interested in learning to fly. The airshow was spectacular. Scouts would love it. Lots of small to very large planes including the C-17 and F-22 and F-35 fighters and a chance to get down on the runway. I’ll tell you more about it at upcoming meetings. See you Tuesday at Emerson - hopefully we won’t have any inclement weather! Hope your summer is going well. Remember to do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Two weeks in a row we got rained out. Last week we thought it would clear and anxious to deliver on the patrol cup ice cream treat but the weather had other plans. Going forward we will make the weather call earlier in the day and get the word out so people can make plans. This weekend, I’m traveling with my son Will to the Oshkosh Air Show and then staying in Chicago for the week for business. At the airport I glanced and say a book titled “How To Lead When You are Not in Charge” and thought, all our scouts know that. But I bet adults need reminders. Every scout can show leadership in four (4) ways; Self-Leadership, Cooperative, Supportive and Directive.
Mr. Hillman has offered to help the troop with ice cream next week and we will stick to the same format. Meet at Emerson, hike over to Bedford Farms and back for pickup. Always check in and check out with your senior leaders. Summer is a great time to continue working on advancements. Bring your book to summer meetings and get signed off. Do your good turn daily. It does not have to be big. Start with small things like opening the door for someone or picking up trash. It’s easy but you have to do it and you always feel good when to do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Welcome back from camp. I’m looking forward to reviewing with you all the rank requirements and merit badges you earned. Please bring your books even to summer meetings so we can make sure your records are up to date. Your Scout Book contains pages in the back for service project hours, camping nights, hiking and biking. I strongly recommend that you take a few minutes an update those records. Some of the older senior leaders will be more than happy to show you what they have done and with so many scouting opportunities you will be surprised by how many camping nights and hours of service you have participated in during scouting. Our last meeting got rained out so this week, we plan on taking the troop from Emerson to Bedford Farms and celebrating the Patrol Cup! This coming year will be challenging and a great opportunity for the senior leaders to influence the troop. With only seven current senior (Star or higher) scouts, they will be holding a couple positions of responsibility as we re-organize into most likely two patrols. For scouts currently ranked at less than Star, I would recommend focusing on First Class as a goal. First Class rank is not easy and is the culmination of many skills that build from the Scout, Tenderfoot and Second Class ranks. By the time you reach First Class you can cook, set up camp, apply first aid, navigate and identify animals and plants that might impact your camping and hiking. These are great skills to have in life. For scouters, those adults who help our troop, there’s a course called IOLS, introduction to Outdoor Leader Training required for all ASM’s. This is basically the same as First Class rank for scouts. In the past, we had the adults get signed off by the senior members of the scouts, which is great way to help seniors teach and review and for scouters to learn from our scouts. Every camping trip we have can be an opportunity and I’ll share a checklist for IOLS for those interested in pursuing this. Just email me as we need more adults trained as well. Tommy turns 18 tomorrow and has submitted his application to Eagle. Good work Tommy! We are looking to form a small Venture Crew, 133V for those scouts 18 who would like to participate. I’ll have more information over the summer but our venture crew would be able to attend all our trips plus others until they turn 21. This is a timely direction for our troop. See you Tuesday and remember to do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster 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 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 It's Memorial Day Weekend . . . Time for the Annual Bike Trip
May 26, 2023 Dear Scouts, We are off to Nantucket this weekend as part of our annual Family Bike Trip, which rotates between Cape Cod (rail trail and Camp Greenough), Martha’s Vineyard (Family Campground), and Nantucket (Camp Richards). This trip is structured with the purpose of introducing new families and scouts into our troop. Cross-over scouts and families (siblings) and families of all our scouts are invited. The design is for families and new scouts to “see in actions” how the scouts work in patrols, set up camp, cook, and in this trip, bike together. Our older scouts who usually hold positions of responsibility ranging from Senior Patrol Leaders (SPL) and Assistant PL (ASPL), and all those in the PLC (Patrol Leadership Council) usually attend so that new scouts have an understanding of who is who in the troop, the jobs that are needed to keep the troop moving and to ask questions as they start the journey through the ranks and learn more. The bike trip is also an opportunity for adult families and siblings (all welcome) to come and have some fun. This weekend we will take the ferry to Nantucket. Scouts will have their bikes and a day pack and all the gear (tents, food, stoves) will be loaded into the truck/trailer to journey to Camp Richards. There are opportunities to visit the whaling museum, life saving station, beach, biking and of course ice cream. Most likely there will be other scouts at Camp Richards and it’s a good opportunity to talk to other scouts from other troops. I hope and encourage all our scouts to attend and realize this has been a very busy (perhaps too busy between cross over, drop off (different dates), and the bike trip. In the past, the Cross Over was the same date as the Drop Off / Swap Off (DOSO), and we usually don’t schedule more than one major troop activity in a month and do our best to spread them over the year. This year’s DOSO was coordinated by our budding Assistant Scout Master Lucien Aibel. Lucien asked how he could help out and dived in as a veteran of many DOSO events. It is fantastic to have Lucien (a former SPL) take this on. We have a special troop with many older scouts (now adults) jumping in to help. You see them at meetings, at service projects and trips like this weekend, where both Cameron and Lucas will be coming and Jonah came (in a sling) to help with bike safety! Fantastic group of young men! Advancement Corner Many of the scouts have been working hard to earn ranks. I encourage all scouts under First Class rank to focus on advancements. First Class is an important rank and requires many skills to master. It also means you are eligible for some high adventure trips and Order of the Arrow. It also means you can function within the troop with more independence and have the skills to set up camp, cook/clean, provide first aid and know your way (navigation) and know what is out there (animals) and what to stay away from (poisonous plants), and how to build things that help (lashings & some pioneering) - it’s a big rank! In our troop, we do our best to give out the badge when it's earned (most of the time we have some, sometimes not). Congratulations! The following scouts have successfully passed their Boards of Review, and have earned ranks:
YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster |
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