|
Dear Scouts,
Congratulations Eagle Scouts Ben and Henry. The Eagle Court of Honor was a wonderful way to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of these scouts, who have spent half their life in scouting. It’s wonderful to see the displays of scouting from cub scouts all the way through to Eagle projects and the many camping, hiking, sailing, and high adventures in between. Many friends and relatives turned out to celebrate along with many Eagle scouts from our troop including Ben, Simon, John, Lucas. Also Mr. Prewitt attended and said hello on behalf of Logan and Will D stopped by after work. So glad so many attended to show support. All past scouts are warmly welcomed back anytime and it’s great to see you supporting your troop. Many thanks to all those who have helped Henry and Ben along the path and special shout out to SPL Cameron who presided. He led the ceremony with poise and confidence. Tommy did a wonderful job leading us in an invocation. Well done. Also, thanks to all our scouts and scouters who set up chairs, brought the colors, played the bugle (Nathanial – you are doing a great job), and those that describe the trail to Eagle. We are grateful for all our scouts who support each other and again congratulations Eagles. Monday night, Cameron led an especially long Patrol Leader Council (PLC) meeting for the planning required for next year. Many old and some new thoughts were put forth. The next step is to provide your patrol leaders and all the leaders with feedback on what you liked and what you want to try new next year. One small theme I’ll introduce going forward is to have a monthly scout law focus starting with Trustworthy and then 11 more points as we go through the year. Each month we will delve into one point and listen for examples where our scouts have lived that part of the scout law by example. Some are obvious and some will be good points for discussion like obedient. We say these words and recite an oath. Let’s make sure we know those words and live by examples. It will be fun. Maybe we can recognize the scout of the month who best exhibits those traits. Something to think about. Advancement Corner: Congratulation to Cameron for earning Star Rank. He certainly is a star and leads by example. Congratulations to Matt for earning Star and for recently finishing the bottle recycling project; I’ll ask Matt to talk about this and come up with recommendations on what to do with that cash he collected as result of the donated bottles). If I missed someone who advanced, I’m sorry; let me know and make sure to send a picture of your completed signed book rank pages to Mr. O’Neil our advancement chair. Welcome new scouts. You are in good hands with Lincoln, who will help guide you through the rank of Scout. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Scoutmaster Duggan
0 Comments
Dear Scouts,
Please come on Saturday May 14,2022 for the Eagle Court of Honor. Most likely this will be our one and only Eagle Court of Honor in 2022 and hope to see you there to celebrate Ben and Henry’s accomplishments. They are role models for our troop and they all started as Webelos! I would also welcome any and all scouts to help with Eagle Service Projects as they come up. It’s a great way to work as a troop and maybe learn new skills. They are always challenging. Welcome new families; I hope you can attend our Memorial Day Annual Family Bike (and Camping) Trip to Martha’s Vineyard. This is open to all families, as a way to get to know the troop, the scouts and other scouting families. Hope to see you all soon. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Cross-over is today Saturday and here is the high-level schedule:
It will be cool and breezy, dress appropriately. Class A for the ceremony and class B otherwise. PLC Meeting has been moved to Monday May 16, 6:30pm-8:30pm and will have pizza. It's a longer meeting so we can do more planning. Bring ideas and thoughts of what you and your patrols like and things you want to try that are new. Welcome Webelos. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster 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 Greetings Scouts,
Welcome webelos and parents to our troop. We are proud to say our scouts live by the scout oath and law and hope that the announcements help you with all the information and opportunities that are provide for scouts. There are weekly, monthly, and yearly activities. One big event that is coming up is summer camp. Going to summer camp is fun and rewarding. You get to learn different skills, earn merit badges and learn how our troop works. You go with old friends and make new ones. Most of our troop goes to camp and this is a wonderful time to see it in action. This year we are going to camp July 10 to July 16; stay tuned for more information on sign up. In April, several scouts will be going to Sea Base and I’m happy to say that we had our first training session and many of the lessons they learned from our past sailing trips to Newport showed. The scouts knew the points of sail, how to tack and jibe, several key nautical terms and well on their way toward becoming confident mariners. The more they learn now will pay off at Sea Base. With COVID concerns, we will be holding our meetings outside and recommend masks. Instead of meeting at Emerson, we will meet at the Scout House but proceed to host our meetings outside. Do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Greetings Scouts,
I hope you all had a nice winter break. This past Tuesday meeting you planned the details of the Court of Honor (COH); completing planning for the ski trip; and many stayed after the Troop meeting to work on your Snow Sports Merit Badge. Just a reminder on the BSA merit badge process:
The next COH is next Tuesday. Pizza will be available. We are still in Scouts Gear 4, which requires mask, so please bring your mask to the next meeting. I will be again up in the great north woods of New Hampshire on snowmobiles and made those plans many months ago, otherwise I would be racing you down the slopes of Wachusett Mountain! I’m still recovering from sledding, which was a lot of fun except for the rocks. The scouters (adult scout leaders) met last Wednesday and discussed plans for the future, budget, including the Christmas tree funds (We earned over $7700 to the troop!), summer camp, Seabase, surfing, rafting, Webelos cross-over and our Scout House clean up. If you have some ideas of what you want to do next year…let’s start brainstorming and adding some time in to start planning. The Next PLC is Monday March 14. Please welcome all friends, family to the Court of Honor!! Do your good turn each day! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Greetings Scouts,
It was fantastic to be back at Camp TL Storer, our past summer camp location for the Polar Bear Challenge and Klondike. SPL Lucien, and ASPL Charlie and I had the opportunity to visit the dining hall after the fire program and before the leadership cracker barrel event and took some pictures of the McGee Cup, the camp-wide game trophy, which we won a few years ago, and to see the many troop signs that our troop has made, some hanging and some waiting to be hung from the rafters. We also noted the names of all the scouts who spent weeks over many years at TL Storer. TL Storer is not open but glad they hosted and we were up for this event. Thanks to Mr. Mark Rzepczynski, Mrs. McLeod, Mr. McWilliams and Mr. Gallucio for all the help organizing, preparing, and transporting our troop, sleds and poles for the A-Frame. A special shout out to Mr. McWilliams and Mrs. McLeod for running the A-Frame station all day in the cold. This was one of the colder events we have had, with temperatures dipping below 0 and highs only in the 20’s during the day. Good work to meet Friday night before setting off to review all the personal gear. This made a difference to “be prepared.” Troop 132 placed overall 2nd this year under Lucien, Charlie and Cameron’s leadership (with Nathaniel and Grady leading our two patrols), which is terrific. Lucien provided a short write-up below that hits the main points. Just for context, we have not attended a district event like this since 2019. In 2020 we did our own event and last year there was no district event. Why that matters is that this is a good test and challenge of our Troop. This tests our gear, attitude, leadership, and scout skills. In a short period of time, in challenging outdoor winter conditions, we had to coordinate, communicate, and plan a strategy on each event and time manage the entire team throughout the day. In addition to the event themselves, we have to set up camp for inspection, ready the sleds (for inspection) and have our gear ready. The Klondike gives us good feedback as a troop on how well we are doing overall as a unit. I’m extremely proud of your accomplishments and spirit. You worked well in small teams and as a troop. You lived the scout law and took care of each other with very cold temperatures. Of course we also learned we can do better with fire building and knots!!! Congratulations and well done on working together, having fun, and meeting the challenge of the Klondike. Of course, a visit to 5-Guys was a good way to get fuel, warm up and share stories. Seabase Video; Want to see what Seabase was like for the 2016 crew? Grady has posted an mp4 video, put together by Michael Flannery, to the Troop Dropbox (the link is in this week's Bulletin). Check it out. Shows what life is like sailing and some great footage. Some things we are working on are a camp entrance and banner and we will be looking for some help with the design and art work, a camp gadget, and some better way to post the menu’s, weather and duty rooster. We also have some sled work to do for repairs. At your Tuesday meeting the patrols presented some skits, which was fun to see while eating Klondike Bars! Monday night is a PLC Meeting; stay tuned for location and type of meeting we will have but note February vacation week there will be no meeting. Do your good turn daily! Look for opportunities to help others! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster |
Blog ...This blog is a weekly message from the Scoutmaster. Archives
March 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed
