March 23rd, 2019

Nice Job scout leaders with planning our first movie night at the Scout House. The choice of “Free Solo” was a good one. The climber Alex Holonld practiced and prepared many times leading up to his ascent. In some cases, he practices over 60 times to master certain pitches. Being prepared means you can do most anything. His special gifts of climbing enabled him to do that. You all have special gifts and its up to you to find them. Scouting may unlock or expose you to new things. Who knows, in the future some of you may camping in your cars, cooking your meals and climbing to new personal heights.

This week we reconciled the accounts with Holy Family Parish and closed on the 2019 Christmas Tree Pickup event with over $7400. Wow. Thanks to the Spragues and so many others who make this so successful. It’s a community event, we do a good turn and we get some funds for our troop. Super! There are not enough words of thanks to all the scouts & family.

This coming Tuesday Troop meeting we will have a guest speaker from Concord and one of our own, Erik Limpeacher. Mr. Limpeacher will describe how the government prepares for emergencies in and around our energy grid. As part of all of us being prepared and those learning about Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge, this will be very beneficial. Friends and family are welcome to attend.

Congratulations to Miles Inman who recently passed his Eagle Board of Review. He earned it and he was prepared. He lives the scout law and that was evident and demonstrated in his board of review. Well done.

All of our scouts at this rank are well prepared and ready thanks to Mr. Rzepczynski. Mr. Rzepczynski’s has helped all our Eagles for the past several years now. His experience with the process and attention to detail makes us a stronger, well-prepared troop. When Troop 132 presents an Eagle candidate we can rest assured they have earned it, know it and can past muster. We can’t thank Mr. Rzepczynski enough for all his advice and counsel as each Star and Life scout knows.

Our troop has many unsung Scouters (adults) who help all our scouts. That’s what makes us a strong, active troop. This means parents (and scouts) read the weekly announcements, support the program with both time and energy (our most precious resources), get our kids to the meetings, help with equipment, drive to far places, camp at remote locations, provide merit badge counseling, and provide adult leadership. We are all volunteers and are awarded with great scouts and a strong Troop.

This year, our Troop Committee Chair, Mr. Gekle, was nominated and recognized and awarded The Flintlock District’s Scout Leader of the Year. This award will be presented at the District dinner on April 24, 2019. This is for Mr. Gekle’s devotion to supporting our Troop, organizing the adults, acting as a honcho on Troop outings, facilitating monthly adult planning meetings, publishing the weekly announcements, representing the Troop to our council, leading high adventure trips, and a general commitment to the success of our Troop and scouts. He makes this look easy. Well done.

On behalf of Pack 133, Troop 132, and the Flintlock District, it is with great honor and appreciation to inform the Troop that Fred McWilliams is the recipient of the 2019 Flintlock District Service Award for his tireless and selfless devotion to Scouting in Concord. We appreciate all that Mr. McWilliams has done for Pack 133 over so many years. We all recognize his generous commitment to transitioning the Webelos to the Troop, his love of the outdoors, and making sure all of our Scouts (and leaders) are safe, learning new things, and having fun.  With great enthusiasm, Pack 133 and Troop 132 congratulates Mr. McWilliams on this fantastic achievement and he will be presented this award on April 24 at the District dinner.