Yours In Scouting

Welcome new Scouts. We are so pleased you crossed over and joining our Troop. This will be a different experience from Cub Scouts. Give yourself time to adjust and get to know your patrol. Christian Perrotta is our Troop Guide who will help you at meetings and during the summer camp. In addition to Christian, all of our scouts are “Friendly and Kind”  (otherwise they would not be scouts) and will help to answer any and all your questions. We are all here for you.

During the cross over our scouts misplaced a camp stove which delayed one patrol from cooking. Sorry about that. This delay for preparing and cooking the meal set us back into the early evening for one patrol and some may have left the island a bit hungry. When you join a patrol you will have some say in the meal planning and preparation so this case is a bit unusual. One thing (of many) that our Troop can do better will be to have the Den Chiefs plan, prepare and host our Webelos next year. This will not help you now, but next years Webelos will have meals planned and prepared so that you will be well fed. We would also encourage the Den Chiefs to arrange the tenting. We double or triple up scouts usually and have tents that accommodate 3-4. Scouts learn from each other and this would be one more thing we can do (plan the tents and camping gear) a bit more effective. The scouts also discussed ways to make the rope bridge better (short, higher and tie off between trees). Every camping event is an opportunity to learn, grown and try things. I know several scouts who helped keep the bridge going. Well done.

Thank you to Mr. McWilliams and the Spragues for such a good job with the adult cooking. You may have noticed some adult scouts, Will, Nick, and Logan were present. Our troop is fortunate that these scouts, who have a lot on their calendar, are still so engaged with our Troop. Two scouts I know took the patrol gear and put it back to the Scout House. Thank you.  I hope all your gear is dried out and put back.

Special thanks to Mr. Thyne for his efforts and results with the DropOff & SwapOff. Scouts unloaded over 965 cars and got some neat things – best things were praise like “Good scouts…and we could not have done this without them”.  Yes, they managed to get some cool things like iMACs, laptop, speakers and I got some new rope for the Troop.

Please sign up for the Memorial Day Family Bike Trip. All family/friends are invited and summer camp is coming.
Here are some suggestions for the new families:

• If you don’t get the announcements, please send an email to committeechair@troop132.com
• Contact me at scoutmaster@troop132.com or the committeechair@troop132.com with questions 
• I’m available before/after meetings and anytime with a little planning.  Of course, I am available on any trip for scoutmaster conferences.  During the meetings, we focus on the Troop activity and we want scouts to be fully engaged in the Troop meetings.  Therefore, we schedule (7PM) boards of review before meetings and not during Troop meetings.
• With a permanent marker, please put your name neatly on the inside cover and on the fore-edge of your new Scout Book.  Fore-edge = The outside edge of the book where the book opens (opposite of the spine).
• Lost and found is kept at the Scout House is the top drawer of the cabinet as you enter the Scout House.
• Standard Troop meeting dress code is Class A Scout shirts that are tucked into the pants.  The pants (or shorts) need a belt and no athletic shorts or pants.  The Troop dress policy is decided by the senior scouts.  The pants do not need to be formal scout pants and neckerchief are also optional.
• Class B t-shirts are used on most outings (and summer camp) and can be purchased from Mrs. Pautler (pautler@comcast.net) at a Troop meeting.
• Troop Numbers are back ordered and when available they will be distributed.
• Next Troop Court of Honor is on June 11 and all scouts are highly encouraged to attend with at least one parent/guardian.
• The Eagle Court of Honors (COH) come up about every 2-3 times per year and we highly suggest attending.  The next Eagle COH is on June 2.
• The Saturday bulletin is our primary method of Troop communication. All scouts and parents should read the weekly bulletin.   
• We are always looking for adult help – we are all volunteers! Please help out where and when you can. All parents are invited on trips and those adult trip participants need to coordinate with the trip honcho and take Youth Protection Training. The attached PDF provides instructions for Youth Protection Training which is required for all adults who are driving and/or participating in any Troop 132 activities. We take youth protection very seriously and it would be great for all Troop 132 parents/adults to take the training so you know what is required of all of us (adults). Once you complete the training, please email the certificate of completion to Michael Sprague at mhsprague@gmail.com.
• Have your scout invite a friend to a meeting or outing/camping. The best way to stay engaged for scouts is when their friends come and they do fun things like fire building, biking, camping…all that fun scout stuff.

Welcome to the Troop! Our approach as a boy led unit is to empower the scouts to learn how to be good followers so they can also be good leaders. We also hope you find the Troop to be a stress-free zone. This is a place to enjoy scouting with pressure. Please come to all the meetings and do everything or participate in some things. It’s up to the scout. We work to have a great program and we do that through the patrol method. That’s the heart of our Troop. It’s not always perfect and it is sometimes messy, but it works best when the scouts learn for themselves.
Please ask any question at any time. I (Scoutmaster) am available before/after meetings and anytime with a little planning and of course, on any trip. These are good times for Scoutmaster Conferences and signing off on requirements for advancements.