|
Dear Scouts,
Last weekend’s Bedford Flag Hike was a great success. Scouts learned about the history of the Bedford Flag and walked the same trail as the Bedford Minutemen to the North Bridge. Being good scouts, they also picked up trash along the way and also supported each out with good company. Well done scouts. Tuesday night, the scouts elected new senior leaders. Congratulations to Matt as the new SPL and Jonah and Nathanial being elected as ASPL’s. I believe we are increasing the term length to four months and this term will go from October through the end of January. These are exciting roles for scouts and having terms from 3-4 months provide opportunities for those with outside commitments. It takes planning but this model works really well for our troop. My thanks to Jonah as SPL, Freddy and Tommy as ASPL’s. These scouts work really hard behind the scenes to make sure our troop has well planned camping trips and service projects. The next few months will be very busy and I hope you all can attend as many events as possible because scouting happens out in the field. We use the Scout House to plan, organize, debrief and work on some general skills but our scouting program is outdoors and learning by doing. Coming up in October will be the Council Camporee at TL Storer, and then the Drop Off/Swap Off is coming back in a new form the weekend after. We were unsure of whether DO / SO service project would happen this year, and we try not to schedule back-to-back events, so our schedule is more full than expected - please mark your calendars. Let me share this. Today is my mother’s birthday and she has been gone from me for over 30 years. She lost a battle to fast, rare cancer at a relatively early age. So here is my request. Give your mothers a hug and if you follow the scout law and are brave, tell her you love her. Mothers love, care and concern for you are priceless and cannot be put into words. I was really lucky to have a great one. She grew up and lived right here in Concord. I know you all have great parents because I see it in action. Take a minute to appreciate them, they are priceless. Do your good turn, each day! Yours in Scouting, Mr. Duggan
0 Comments
Dear Scouts,
Here is our planned Hike on 9/17/22 following the Bedford Minutemen of 1775; Bedford Flag Trail: What; Hike the 1775 Bedford Flag Trail from the Bedford Library to Concord, end point will be the scout house. What to Wear: Class Bs What to Bring: A day pack with water, hat, sunscreen, bug spray, small personal first aid (band-aids or other items for blisters if you are so inclined), good walking or hiking shoes. Since mornings are cool, I plan to have a sweatshirt and shorts. No rain is in the forecast for 9/18/22. Electronics allowed for pick up, drop off or pictures but in general our policy is no electronics. Record this hike in your scout book just like camping, biking and service projects and have a senior leader or me (Scoutmaster) sign off When: 9:00AM-12:30pm Saturday September 17, 2022 From/To; Bedford MA to Concord (ending at the Scout House). Scouts need to arrange ride to drop off and pick up and some limited rides available from Concord to starting point in Bedford. Where: Assemble at Bedford Library, Bedford MA – I have room for 4 scouts if they need a ride from Concord and will be at the Scout House at 8:30AM. Please contact me or Jonah if you need a ride. My number is 978 697-2730 and Jonah is 978-831-0141. (Reminder: scouts should copy their parents on any communications with adult leadership). Why: This is a historic trail and scouts will learn the history and have the opportunity to earn a badge / medal. But you need to do more than hike you need to observe, learn and fil out a form which we can do as a troop or unit. We sent up a sign-up earlier this week (and included it below), but you can join us even if you haven’t signed up. We will assemble at the library and see the flag. If you plan to be late or have any issues, please let Jonah or Mr. Duggan know. We will bring small trash bags too and pick up what we can (avoid dangerous or suspect items) so we can do our good deed for the day and make the world a little better in any way we can. We have a busy fall season ahead of us full of camping, hiking and service projects galore. Stay tuned for all the details and looking forward to a nice walk. Finally, as we discussed at our Troop meeting this week, Troop 132's Reid Geckle, was in an accident last weekend. Please keep Reid and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Do your good turn, each day ! Yours in Scouting, Mr. Duggan Dear Scouts,
We have started our meetings back at the Scout House, on Tuesdays at 7:00-8:15pm; there maybe times where we meet outside, but we will communicate that ahead of time, so please check the announcements and scouts, tell your parents if there are decisions and announcements made at the meetings. Parents, you are more than welcome to stay for part or all our meetings. The scouts start on time and right after flags and oath and law, there are announcements and any adjustments that need to be made. Planning: Regarding changes to the calendar, we were unable to secure our J-22 sloops for Newport sailing due to another sailing event in Newport. Changing schedule dates for the trip was considered but conflicted with many other events. The scout leaders decided to substitute the overnight camping/sailing with a September day fishing outing and this information and sign-up will be coming out shortly. We have a full schedule for the 2022-2023 year including of camping, service projects, Courts of Honor and some interesting scouting day outings (ice climbing, skiing), Klondike or Polar Bear Challenge. Our first Patrol Leader Council Meeting (PLC) meeting (generally held on the second Monday of the month) will be held September 12 at Monument Hall. During this meeting, we will align our schedules including an exciting spring adventure trip and we will have more details next week, and plan the next month of Troop meetings. Scouts, tell your parents about all these events and your desire (or not) to participate in all or some. We structure our meetings around these events, provide opportunities for group scout skill learnings and patrol break-outs. Parents, we always need help and we will be having a parent meeting soon to describe what we need. As always, our big fund raiser and service project is the Christmas Tree Pickup. This is a mandatory all hands event as we prepare and pick up 750 trees in one day. This year that day is January 7, 2023. Please put this into your calendar. Many hands make light work, so if we all pitch in and use our gifts (skills, time and other resources) our troop will continue to be such a success. Another key success for our troop is the range of the ages of the scouts. This year we are especially grateful to have a total of seven high school seniors (Cameron, Christian, Freddy, Jonah, Lucas, Lucien, Tommy). All of these boys are exceptional scouts, great leaders, good followers and good teachers. They are always willing to help others with their scouting journey and I’m very proud of them. They can be counted on (Trustworthy) and as a troop, we are indeed fortunate. Welcome back. Start or continue your detailed planning for the year, and stay tuned for more information as it emerges. Advancement: Shoutout to two scouts who advanced this week. Congratulations to Charlie, who advanced to the rank of Life Scout, and to Nathaniel, who advanced to the rank of Star Scout. Do your good turn each day! Yours in Scouting, Mr. Duggan Dear Scouts,
As summer starts to fade away, I have been thinking about the fantastic time we had at Hidden Valley in July. It was great to see so many of you learning new skills and working so well as a troop. And I was especially proud of the way the older scouts worked to help the newer scouts get acclimated. I know many of you went on from camp to have other adventures, whether away from home - rafting in the Grand Canyon, cycling in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, navigating Times Square, surfing in Hawaii and visiting France, Kansas, the UK, and Denmark - or here in Concord - working, going to camp or school - it was a great summer for Troop 132! Shout out to a few scouts who spent their summer in support of the BSA. Cameron and Lucas headed back to Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico to volunteer. They participated in a program called Trail Crew, where they worked on trail improvements for one week, and adventured for another week. Proud they represented Troop 132 so well! We will have our first meeting of the 2022-2023 year at Scout House this Tuesday at 7 - 8:15 pm. I look forward to seeing you all in your class A uniforms ready for the new year. The older scouts will be doing a presentation on their High Adventure Trip to Sea Base in the Florida Keys. Please invite your parents to attend this presentation so they can learn more about this trip, and about our High Adventure trips in general. They are some of the real benefits of being a scout! Do your good turn daily. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
This week, we have our last summer schedule meeting, and our last week of "summer games." I won't be with you this week, as I am traveling to Denmark (where my colleagues and I are building robots); Mr. R. will be covering the meeting. As summer winds down, and many of you get ready to start a new school year, remember, the scout motto is "be prepared!." And don't forget plans are under way for our first meeting of the new year, September 6, 2022 back at Scout House. Være hjælpsom hver dag! (that's Danish for "Do your good turn, daily!"). YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Congratulations to Eagle Scout Christian! Christian passed his Eagle Board of Review on Wednesday July 20 with flying colors after answering many thought provoking and challenging questions ranging from merit badges, positions of responsibility to questions on his eagle project. For those traveling that path, reach out to ask Christian any questions you might have on how to prepare. Congratulations! The mission of scouting is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. This is how we run our troop and I can’t emphasize the scout oath and law enough. It’s not just words but it’s how we make decisions and how we treat each other. Not many organizations require an oath, a solemn promise regarding our behavior. We do. We also live by the scout law, a rule of conduct that’s enforced and binding. So please reflect on that and how you apply it daily. You know I ask because every advancement asks those questions, so please keep that in mind. Welcome back from Scout Camp. I was very glad to attend and very proud of the scout leaders, Jonah, Tommy, Freddy and the senior scouts Christian, Lucas, Lucien. Unfortunately, Cameron was not able to make it. Your senior leadership is a role model and sets the culture of our troop. As you know, you represent Concord and our Troop and take that seriously. Excellent job making camp a productive and enjoyable experience. Thank you for putting in long hours, attention to detail and energy into all you do. Well done and I’m very proud of all of you ! A special thanks to our scouters (scouters are adult volunteers) who helped pull all this together. Mr. Belmont, Mr. Carter, Mr. Rzepczynski, Mr. Sprague (great banner!), Mr. Webb, Mr. Hillman, Ms. Flinn, Mr. Perotta, Ms. Liazos and to all the parents who car-pooled and worked together to make all the magic happen. Many, many thanks. We are blessed as a troop to have so many great scouters. Good luck to Cameron and Lucas who are on their way to Philmont. We look forward to hearing about your adventures. Keep hydrated! I’m hoping that Marcus will be able to join the crew at GSR soon, as his energy and skills will be a big help to the crew and other scouts coming to Hidden Valley. Town Drop Off / Swap Off back on October 15 2022 - Quick Update; I’ve been contacted and the group of volunteers are back planning a Town Drop Off / Swap Off for the fall. So, save the date for now as plans emerge. This is a troop required service project for the town of Concord and on hiatus due to COVID restrictions. More information will be forthcoming. Do your good turn, daily. Think about how you live the scout law and oath every day. YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
Weeks are flying by and it’s the end of school year. Happy to say we had a great White Water Kayaking Trip last weekend led by our APL and Acting Crew Chief Matt. Matt stepped into the breach to organize the troop, and review the equipment and food prior to leaving. Our SPL, Cameron was not feeling well and Matt was called to do his duty for the troop. Due to the water release we did not get onto the water until almost 4pm and off the river at 7:30pm. That means back to camp and dinner prep and no campfire program unfortunately but enough time for the senior scouts to plan Sunday. Thanks to Mr. Greene as honcho who coordinated all the logistics for this first-time event for the troop. We have rafted as a troop before but this is the first time that we were in our own kayaks. Mohawk State Park camping was great, a short hike the next day and pizza and ice cream. All in all a super fun trip. This week we also had another first; thanks to Mr. Herrero for organizing a Surfing day-trip the day after school was done, providing another new opportunity for scouts. The waves were unexpectedly strong, but the scouts were prepared, did a great job and had some fun in the process! Scouts elected new leaders for the July, August and September term, which requires commitment to participating in all the events during that time frame; we have these terms to enable scouts to weave in other activities they are typically involved with during the year. Thank you to Cameron, Matt and Jonah as our senior leadership team. Cameron specifically did an outstanding job as Senior Patrol Leader (SPL). It takes a team and he managed to hear everyone’s point of view and then make progress in all our planning. Well done. New leaders, Jonah (SPL), Tommy ASPL, and Freddy ASPL fill the role for the July, August and September which again requires full commitment. They will be working on goals and can share those next week. Summer camp is on the horizon next. Here is my quick advice as Scoutmaster for new scouts:
Remember: If you like something, put your name on it. If you love it, leave it at home. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
As we head into summer, I want to make the Troop aware of some Spirit of Adventure Council activities this summer, as well as some new resources we are putting up on our Troop website. First, here is the SoA Council Calendar of Events for the Summer. There are lots of fun activities, including camps - and campouts - for any scout looking for something to do over the summer. 6/16 - Council Recognition Dinner 6/18-19 - Wilderness First Aid 6/26-7/2 - Brownsea - Overnight Camp 7/5-7/8 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 7/5-7/8 - Lexington Day Camp 7/8-7/10 - Crossover Camp - Overnight Camp 7/11-7/15 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 7/11-7/15 & 7/18-7/22 - Base Camp Learning Summer 7/17-7/22 - Eagle Week - Overnight Camp 7/18-7/22 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 7/18-7/22 - Topsfield Day Camp 7/18-7/22 - Kayak Day Camp 7/21 - Council-Wide Membership Meeting 7/25-7/29 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/1-8/5 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/8-8/12 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/8-8/12 - Environmental Studies Day Camp 8/15-8/19 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/15-8/19 - Scuba Week - Overnight Camp 8/15-8/19 - North Andover Day Camp 8/15-8/19 - Magee Maker Day Camp 8/15-8/19 & 8/22-8/26 - Base Camp Learning Summer 8/16 - Membership Kickoff - Danvers 8/21-8/26 - Kodiak - Overnight Camp 8/22-8/26 - NEBC Day Camp Milton 8/22 - Membership Kickoff - Haverhill 8/22-8/26 - Chelmsford Day Camp 8/23 - Membership Kickoff - Chelmsford 8/25 - Membership Kickoff - Milton I have also been building up the resources and documents included on the website for scouts, and the troop adult leadership. For example, click here to find some new one-pagers for troop leaders! Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
The scouts and families enjoyed the annual bike trip. This year the destination was Martha’s Vineyard, which is part of our 3-year rotation between Cape Cod Rail Trail, Nantucket and the Vineyard. Next year the trip goes back to Nantucket where we set up at Camp Richards. Trip Report – Annual Family Biking Trip to Martha’s Vineyard Our Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) Cameron led the bike trip putting leadership into action with help from Jonah and Lincoln as troop guide. These boys do a great organizing, assembling and tracking our plan at all times. Also good work from the Patrol Leaders Alexander and Eric B, who also had their hands full with planning and running the patrols. While waiting for the ferry, I noticed that the S/V Cramer from the Sea Education Association (www.sea.edu) was just in from a student trip out to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Captain Chris Nolan, who provided the troop with a zoom introduction to sailing and seamanship during the Sea Base preparation sessions, was on hand to provide a brief tour of the ship. We all had a chance to get on board, and I hope this was especially fun for the Sea Base crew. Cramer is 134’ brigantine with gear and oceanographic equipment to go anywhere in the world. She has a sister ship named the Robert Seamans which operates in the Pacific. I’m an alum of the program along with my daughter Kaleigh and I also participate on the board of advisors. They offer limited high school and college programs, combining learning ashore and then at sea. I’ve heard it said that farmers, sailors and scouts are the groups of people that are independent, capable, and always ready to help. I think that is true. After departing our short Cramer visit, the troop got on the ferry with bikes and day packs. This coordination of tickets, cars and arrangements was accomplished with excellent honcho oversight by Julie Jones and the many parents that helped drive up and down to Woods Hole. Thank you for doing all this and making this opportunity possible. Many hands make light work and this is what makes our troop go and scouting opportunities possible! Thank You! The scouts biked to camp, set up and then biked to East Point Beach. The water was cold and the skies cloudy, but all enjoyed the short trip. Sunday was the real biking experience, where two groups set out; one group biked long and fast, and the other went less aggressively, but both met up in Edgartown. That went well, and then one group headed out with the goal of doing a 50-miler and the other group set out to enjoy Chappaquiddick Island, the Myoti Japanese Garden and the beach. Later, we again broke into two teams, with one heading directly back to camp and the other taking the northern route to the beach and the so-called Jaws bridge. We parked our bikes under the sign that clearly said no jumping of diving off the bridge . . . and because a scout is obedient, we observed all the rules. We met back in camp for the second campfire program. Lincoln led a vespers practice and at the end of the night it sounded 100% better than the night before. I can say the adult food was terrific, the campsite was very nice (we were good neighbors) and the scouts did a great job of setting up camp, tables, preparing food, cleaning up and observing the quite hours. I think we can continue hone up our biking skills, including maintaining spacing. This seems easy but can be hard to do and we need more practice as a group. Last years trip was cancelled because of rain so we were glad to be back having bike trips. All in all, it was a great trip and a terrific way to see scouts in action and working together. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster Dear Scouts,
This weekend, we will head to Martha's Vineyard for our Annual Family Bike Trip. For those who are going, I will see you there. I hope everyone else also finds a great way to celebrate the beginning of summer. And while you are out having fun this weekend, do remember what Memorial Day is all about - it is a day of remembrance that honors all military members who have died while serving in the U.S. forces. Let's think of those who sacrificed for all of us, and mark the true meaning of this holiday. Do your good turn, daily! YiS, Mr. Duggan, Scoutmaster |
Blog ...This blog is a weekly message from the Scoutmaster. Archives
September 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed
