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Greetings Scouts, We had a busy scouting week starting with Monday Patrol Leaders Council (PLC), Troop meeting and preparing for Newport Sailing. I’ve had to retake my Hazardous Weather training in addition to Safety Afloat. These trainings expire every 2 years and are required for our trips. We follow the mantra that every scout deserves a trained leader ! The PLC (all positions of responsibility reporting in) spent time to plan the upcoming meetings and make some decisions on patrols. One decision was to keep a new scout patrol active through the December time period and then integrate the new scouts into the three existing patrols in January 2022. This enables the new scouts to learn a lot and stay focused on Scout and Tenderfoot rank requirements. Of course, this will still mean working with all the scouts and learning from the older scouts. Scouts use the EDGE technique to do this and they learn by doing. This is also good for the older, more experienced scouts to re learn as they prepare to teach these skills. The PLC have posted meeting minutes so if you have not received them ask Cameron, who is the Troop Scribe. Sailing New this year is a visit to the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (URI GSO) who are hosting an open house STEM related. Good timing. We plan to be there and visit. I spent some time at URI as an undergraduate Mech & Ocean Engineering and also spent time (months) on the URI’s research vessel the RV Endeavor (I know, weird brag). Anyone interested in Oceanography merit badge please see me. Advancement Corner Please check rank and merit badges completed so that the Court of Honor, on 9/28/21 will be up to date. New Scout Corner Welcome new scouts and some were given new books last week. Please update your uniform and just to let you know that 1st class is when you receive a troop neckerchief. This is an optional uniform item and one worth working for. Please focus on Scout rank and we are in planning for Cyber Chit. Do your good turn daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster
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Greetings Scouts,
9-11 Remembrance Scouts, all of you were born before this event. Take a moment today and ask your parents or other adults about the events of this day and what impact it had. Take a moment to think that Mr. Alexander Filipov, Troop 132 Assistant Scoutmaster in the 1970/80’s, who was killed on 9-11 on flight 11 on his way to LA for business. I remember him as being full of enthusiasm for scouts, Concord youth programs and a nice guy! Meeting Locations and Scout House Rules After 544 days we had our first meeting back in the Scout House. Please standby each week for our meeting locations. As we get feedback from the Scout House, which hosts the Barn Nursery school, we may need to make adjustments. So, the rules for now are to be masked. Let’s open all the windows upon arrival, adults will need to sign in and scouts, your scribe will record all the scouts. We are not allowed downstairs. Welcome new scouts. We had a few more new scouts attend and join the meeting. Tell your parents to see Mr. Herrero, our scouter (adult) responsible for member application and all the paperwork and dues needed to join the troop. Service Projects Update I’ve heard from the Town of Concord that the Swap-Off will not be held in October due to Covid restrictions. The Drop-Off will occur, but we we are not part of this. The Town is planning on a spring Swap-Off and may revisit how this is done. So for now, we are planning NOT to do an October troop Swap-Off and will PLAN on a spring event in May. I’m in discussion with the Town on some alternatives to the October Swap-Off and will communicate what I learn when we make some progress. Sailing Next weekend we will be sailing on Saturday afternoon. Complications from COVID have made it challenging for our honcho Mr. McWilliams to arrange camping and fishing. Stay tuned for announcements at the meeting or through email as the situation evolves. The good news is the J22’s are rigged and ready and always challenging and fun to be on the water. Advancement Corner Under the umbrella of advancement, the troop held Senior Patrol Leader and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader elections. The next elections will be for Patrol Leaders, so get your forms submitted to Henry and Ben. While the position of responsibility has “leader” in it, I can’t stress enough the responsibility part. All of these positions require a strong commitment in time, effort and service to others (the troop). This means they are the first to arrive, last to leave, last in line to make sure the troop comes first. Leadership is an outcome of the responsibility and service to others. A special shout out to Henry, Lincoln and Lucas who have demonstrated this during the spring and summer. Thank you and great job. The troop has done well as a result of your commitment. Congratulations to Lucas for being elected SPL, and Jonah and Grady as ASPL. The hard work and challenge is in front of you! Congratulations. Next elections will be for patrol leader and instead of the patrols electing the patrol leaders we will have the troop elect them and rebalance the patrols. PLC Meetings – both past and present/future leaders plan on attending Patrol Leader Council (PLC) Meetings are scheduled for the second Monday of each month from 6-7pm. September 13 is the next PLC meeting and we will start with Zoom meeting and will decide if the next one will be in person with pizza. So please make your plans and put these dates in your calendar.
New Scout Corner For the brand-new scouts, please see me (Mr. Duggan) for Scout Books (I’ll have some for next week). Also, please update your class A uniform with the troop numbers and shoulder boards (green). Troop neckerchiefs are awarded after earning first class rank and an optional part of the uniform as set by our troop leaders. Work on your scout skills and next week we will be hosting a cyber chit meeting so that you can earn that. This is a requirement for Scout Rank. Tommy is your Troop Guide so see him when you line up for patrols; he and all the other scouts are here to help. Do your good turn daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Scoutmaster Message 08-27-21
Greetings Scouts, Welcome back Philmont crew. A big shout out to Mr. Sprague who tirelessly began organized this high adventure trip more than a year and half ago, planned and ran all the preparation meetings, trips and gear; and did so many more things to make this possible. The entire troop thanks you for providing this wonderful opportunity to our Troop! One more summer meeting and we will start our new school year and a new scouting year. We have a sailing trip in September and many more scouting opportunities ahead. At the end of September, we will be having a Court of Honor. We may be making some schedule adjustments as the COVID situation evolves. Of course, stand by for more information; we will do our best to communicate as soon as we have guidance. Since we share the Scout House with a pre-school, we will also need to accommodate any considerations and issues they have. We did receive the list of merit badges from GSR (Summer Camp) and will be sorting through that. It will be important to review this well before the Court of Honor. Last week, we did some preliminary planning with Holy Family Parish and are scheduling the Turkey Truck along with Christmas Tree Pickup. There will be ample opportunities for service, and I encourage all our scouts to be active in our community and take advantage of helping out. Forming habits to serve others is what scouts do. It’s a way of life of giving back to others and being engaged in our community. Stay tuned for more information on upcoming opportunities. Do your good turn daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Greetings Scouts & Campers,
There is a renewed interest and energy on advancement and I want to shout out to many of you who have met new rank requirements. Keep going! Now is the time to finish those persnickety requirements. If you are stuck on one or two, you are not alone. Sometimes one or two requirements can be difficult to achieve and you will need some help. Please ask for any help you need. One example is that at next week’s meeting, Marcus will be giving the troop an update on invasive species. I think this is a great way we all work together and learn at the same time. I know we are looking forward to this update. Early in September we will be doing Cyber Chip Training for both middle school and high school. This is a requirement and getting this training early will be good for the Troop and help the new scouts earn Scout rank. Eagle scout and back in Concord from the sunny west is John Rzepczynski, who has volunteered to help with this training. Thanks in advance John; welcome back and thanks for helping out. We still have not received our Troop photos and completed merit badges from camp. I called over a week ago and will call again to see where this information is. For those earning First Class, we will be handing out troop neckerchiefs! For those First Class and above who have not received one, please let me know. Do your good turn daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan Greetings Scouts & Campers,
There are a lot of things to say about camp and they are all good, with many lessons learned. I hope all your scouts are more enthusiastic about scouting after this experience. This update maybe a bit long but there are some important notes. Let me begin with some gratitude to those who made it happen. Mr. Carter, for all your coordination and follow ups to each detail along the camp trail. To all our Troop Committee Members who come each month to meetings to keep us on track for risk, planning, membership, high adventures, compliance, and fund raising (this year campers had a $100 discount). Thanks to Mr. Rzepczynski for keeping our troop focused on the important and vital things that matter the most. Thanks to Mr. Belmont & Mr. Will (Duggan) who stayed with us three nights and four days of camp experience, giving up work commitments and listening in on Camp scouter meetings. To all our scout parents who made the trip on time both ways. Thanks to SPL Henry, ASPLs Lincoln and Lucas and JASM Ben for their service to the troop. To our scouts who are also volunteers in scouting to fit scout camp into a busy schedule. Scout Camp is valuable; the value is earned as we come together as a unit with a shared mission. New scouts are working with older scouts to set up tents, clean camp, clean latrines, learn to be a waiter (sweep the floor, clear the tables, get water and food). They learn lessons like adults get the first serving and how to pass family style plates without reaching across their neighbor and spilling drinks that need to be cleaned up or spilling all the food for the table. They learn to be courteous and use words like please and thank you. They learn many, many scout and life skills. The older scouts learn to plan each day in detail with who goes where, when and what equipment will be needed. They learn to deal with issues including first aid, morale, hygiene, and logistics. They learn good sportsmanship and the value of working together. They learn rules are there for their safety. They also learn to challenge themselves. I can say all scouts this week did something new and were challenged, which leads to growth. It was a great camping experience and long days. Ask your scouts about it and scouts, tell your parents what the day was like. First, wake up calls at 6:30, assembly for troop colors 7:15, down to the dining hall for roll call and breakfast, grab your bag lunch, then off for the morning, lunch on the run between morning and afternoon activities (Weather, e-Prep, ATV’s, Blacksmithing, Environmental Science, Welding, Rifle, Waterskiing, Archery, etc.…). Then back to camp after 4:30 pm, get ready and don class A’s for dinner. Troop assembly, strike the colors, off to camp, roll call, dinner, camp colors and announcements, then evening activities, and back uphill to troop camp for PLC meeting at 10pm-11ish for planning the next day. Morning to late night each day. The facilities like the dining hall, Carter Lodge for adult meetings, waterfront (power boats, sailing catamarans, kayaks), council ring, camp sites with new canvas tents, blacksmithing forges, welding facilities, scout craft areas were “super fantastic”. The dining hall was good but all those with TL Storer experience said the dining experience and spirit was on a different level and I would agree. It was all good but TL Storer meals were beyond compare for scout spirit and songs and inter-table cooperation. Hidden Valley GSR was a great camp and there are so many more ways that this camp can be used for even more high adventure for older scouts. All scouts earned merit badges, learned new skills and many earned rank advancements. All our new scouts earned Scout rank (parents, you need to complete #6 in the scout book). Many others earned ranks that have been allusive for a few months. Let’s get all these requirements in, boards of review complete and records all updated. I’m proud to say that our troop shared the camp spirit award with their enthusiastic “shower patrol” camp challenge. This is a topic all to itself. A special shout out to the senior leaders and Marcus for challenging the entire camp to keep hygiene to the next level. It was the buzz of the camp. Another shout out to Charlie, who on Wednesday set the camp obstacle course record (for the entire season) at 2:53 minutes but was beaten by another individual by about 13 seconds later in the week). To the entire teams that completed in the Iron man and came in second place to a very senior Dover NH troop. Henry, Ben, Christian, Jonah, Charlie . You guys were super competitive. The entire troop was supportive and I witnessed great examples of sportsmanship from our entire troop. Scouts - you lived the scout law and I’m proud of all your accomplishments at Camp. Keep up the good scouting and remember to do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan BE PREPARED!
Greetings Scouts & Campers, Prepare for rain next week. Have extra socks in plastic bags. Have good footwear. Sneakers when wet will stay wet and lead to blisters. Think wisely about your choices and prepare for the worst…and hope for the best weather-wise. This is a new camp for us and we will be sharing with several other troops. Our troop has a camp code of conduct. Basically if you always follow the scout law you will not have a problem at camp or in life for that matter. The code of conduct does have a couple points in that document that is important for you and your parents to read and understand. This is a big camp and we need to follow the buddy system at all times. Next, obey your leaders at all level so that we as a troop can be prepared and counted on for doing our duty to help the camp, be on time for meals, colors, merit badges, events, and keeping our space, troop space and camp in order. Please read this with your parents, sign and have your parents sign. Please support all requests for camp from Mr. Carter and other leaders. For example, if you are doing welding or blacksmithing, you need proper clothing for camp (non-synthetic). Stand by for instructions from your leaders. Once again, this is a huge job to coordinate with camp. Thank you Mr. Carter for all your hard work and preparation. I know I’m looking forward to camping once again. Camp is a great time to work on advancements and we will have plenty of opportunities. While I will miss our Camp Cheyenne at TL Storer and all the fun and adventure we had there, I am also looking forward to Hidden Valley and all it has to offer. See you tomorrow and be prepared for weather and all your activities. YiS, Mr. Duggan Preparing for Summer Camp Greetings Scouts,
I hope you all are preparing for summer camp. There was a zoom meeting with Hidden Valley and I will say I was really impressed with their program and organization. One thing that jumped out is that if they say our check-in time is 2pm. It’s 2pm. Not 12 or 1. It’s 2. So please pay close attention to Mr. Carter’s emails and instructions to ensure smooth sailing for check-in. As always, there is a Code of Conduct form. Please read and sign this and have your parents do the same. We will be collecting these and they must be signed before camp. No surprises here. Good conduct is outlined by the scout law and this year, new camp, we must be good followers because this will all be new. Additionally, the buddy system will be also enforced and key. Once, I remember being part of a search for and and luckily finding, a stray scout after the alarms went out (he was not in our troop). Let’s not be like that scout!; that means following the lead from your patrol, SPL and SM. Rules exist for a reason and our job is to follow them and set a good example. Troop 132 will be an example for others. Speaking of camp, we will have a duty roster, nightly PLC/cracker meetings to review the day and make adjustments. This is also a good time to work on advancements. It will be good to get back to camp, even though many of us will miss TL Storer - that will always be a special place for the Troop. Stay flexible as we will also learn a lot from this camp experience, at a new camp and in a new district. Remember, help Ben with his project this weekend, if you are able. Bring rain gear and be prepared. YiS, Mr. Duggan Greetings Scouts,
A week ago we had a few scouts, parents and siblings at our rescheduled bike trip. We stayed at BSA Camp Greenough in Yarmouthport, MA at a new, for us, camp site. There were three newish adirondaks with bunks, flagpole, fire pit and picnic tables. Overall camp was clean and ready for scouts and we are lucky to have access to such a great place to camp, right in central Cape Cod. This year the trip was led by ASPL and crew chief Lincoln. We biked directly from Camp Greeough to the Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) link which then led to the full CCRT. This was new for us too. We proceeded east along the bike path. When we hit Nickerson we made the decision to push ahead for ice cream in Orleans which put us about 19.2. Our usual bike trips are 25 miles. This year, with a smaller group and a longer day, we tallied 38.5 miles. No scout was interested in doing 11.5 miles more for the 50 miler! It was a nice day, everyone stayed hydrated and we got back to camp and to plan around inclement weather conditions. We moved the tables inside for cooking and had some great meals. By 9:30 pm most everyone was ready to turn in after a long day. Sunday, we broke camp, cleaned and left it cleaner than we found it (I’m pretty sure), and all departed for home. I’m looking forward to having a big family bike trip in 2022 at our usual Memorial Day weekend time. We will need a quartermaster, so if anyone is interested talk to Henry first. Tuesday we had a rainy meeting under the tents but made good use of the time to remind everyone about camp. The scouts shared experiences; lessons learned for packing and preparation; what is new this year; and what works best. One reminder is the camp troop Code of Conduct policy, which needs to be reviewed and signed by scouts and parents prior to camp. If you have any questions, let me know and I will be reviewing this with all scouts in preparation for camp. See you next week. Do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan Scoutmaster Message 06-11-21Greetings Scouts,
We have an Eagle Court of Honor this weekend for three graduating high school seniors, JJ, Simon and Lucas. Please come to the Scout House Sunday (June 13) from 3:30-5:00 pm, to take part of our troop’s celebration of this accomplishment. These scouts have been a big part of our troop and what makes Troop 132 special. Looking forward to seeing you Sunday. Our bike trip is planned for the weekend of June 18 to 20; and while we hope many of you will attend, we understand that some had other plans for this rescheduled date. Still, this is a family trip and we welcome all family members; we are hoping for good weather but are prepared for anything that comes up. At Tuesday meeting, we will be to do some updated planning and ensure the patrols are ready, especially with their new gear. Planning for the year has started and we are making progress and will have a schedule out for the remainder of the year soon. This calendar will include meetings, Courts of Honor, service projects and our camping/outdoor events to the best of our ability to plan 12 months out. We will align on the dates and leave some flexibility in case the event itself changes so you can at least plan on that. Of course, we will be looking for adult “Honchos” for many of these events. Keep in mind Honcho’ing is the activity by which adults plan the logistics, arrange the fees, and work with the SM (Scoutmaster-me) and Outdoor Activity Chair (Melissa Liazos) for camping/outdoor events. Sometimes we ask the Honcho to attend a Patrol Leader Council meeting (PLC) to describe the prospective event, and get feedback and decisions from the scouts. Ultimately, the scouts are the ones that initiate the ideas, and the adult leaders and Honchos help make it happen. Honcho’ing is a great opportunity to get engaged with the troop. In fact, you don’t actually have to attend the event, it’s planning and logistics to make it happen. What is really good from my perspective is that having many hands makes light the work. We have a great group of adult volunteers that make all these events possible, so I encourage scouts to ask your parents if they want to help. The best way is to contact Melissa Liazos to see where we might need help at mliazos@hotmail.com Do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan Greetings Scouts,
I’m sure we were all disappointed canceling of the Annual Family Bike Trip, but it’s a good lesson on how to update your plans given new information and changing weather conditions. This happens all the time when outdoors on hikes, while paddling on rivers, lakes or sailing on the ocean. You have to factor in the weather and be watching for changing conditions and adjust your plans accordingly. Not adapting in real time can put you at risk; there are lots of good books to read about this. One book I read, borrowed from Mr. Spraque, is Critical Hours: Search and Rescue in the White Mountains. Plenty of case studies of where very experiences hikers did not factor in changing weather conditions. It’s a good read. I always thought that the Weather Merit Badge should be an Eagle-required merit badge, since most - if not all - our activities are outdoors. Most council, district or national scouting events require we post a forecast for the troop along with our duty rooster which is good practice. Many of you have this merit badge. This fall we will see if there is an interest in offering it again. Of course, we prepare for most weather conditions but should remain aware and adjust plans as conditions warrant. Cancelling the trip was a good decision. The Troop Committee discussed this and in the future if there are any questions then a small group between the honcho, assistant scoutmasters, troop risk manager, scoutmaster and troop committee chair will make the decision. Hopefully that will be rare. In the words of Ben Franklin: “Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise." Let’s have a troop of scouts that is weather-wise and makes good decisions. Do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan PS: We have postponed the Annual Family Bike Trip to June 19-20, weather permitting, of course! |
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