The Troop 1954
Wednesday Newsletter

 

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

What a neat meeting last night.  It was really great to see the guys working well with each other.  It's always a pleasure when it works well, and last night it really did seem to work well.

There will be no scout meeting next week, March 16th.  We're taking a week off for Spring Break.  Regular meetings resume March 23.  There will also be no newsletter published on March 17.

Troop elections are coming up relatively soon...April 6.  Further down in this newsletter I'll begin a discussion of what offices we are going to elect and appoint as well as the policies concerning both elections and those offices.

Thanks much to Mike Dillon and Phillip Hicks for working with the Fromage last night.  Good job of keeping those guys a bit focused.

It was a pretty close competition last night, but the winners for the evening were The Highly Flammable Piffs.

I also want to remind you that the Troop 1954 events calendar is now available on the web in a user friendly calendar like format.  You can check it our at our website at www.sanmarcos1954.org

Attendance
SPL Lee Clendennen  presiding, assisted by ASPL Daniel Kurtz
 
Biohazards   Patrol Leader, Ben Painton.  Coached by Dr. J
Alexey
Nathan
Bryan
Flip
Ben
Justin		  
   
Crimson Fromage     Patrol Leader, Chris Jenkins. Coached by Mr. Painton
Sean
Tony
Chris
Johnny
Josh
Gus
Ben
 
Highly Flammable Piffs     Patrol Leader, Zach Painton.  Coached by Ms. Patty
Lee
Corey
Daniel
Zach
Dane

 

Point System Scoring

Patrol

Attend.

Uniform

Behavior

Spirit

Meeting

6 Mo
Biohazards 4 4 4 5 17 68
Fromage         16 61
Piffs 5 5 4 5 19 64
Note: I don't have the scoring sheet for the Fromage this morning.  They had great attendance and uniforming but slipped in the behavior category...but not too far (I've seen worse)
 

Behavior, subtract for each incident, but at the moment, lowest score is a 0

Fails to come to order when scout sign given -1
Fighting with each other -1 per incident
Bad language -1 per incident
Failure to treat others with respect -1
Asked repeatedly to do any task -1
Fails to clean up -1
Shows poor sportsmanship -1

Participation: Add for each, highest score is a five.

All members cooperate with game +1
Members make progress on meeting’s task +1
Members show enthusiasm for tasks +1
Members show good organization (listen to PL and Coach) +1
Members exemplify Scout Law +1

 


 

Announcements
 

1) There will be no Scout meeting next week. We’re on Spring Break.

2) Please be sure to get your car information and medical release forms to Ms. Fink as soon as possible. You will need to have these forms submitted to go to Camporee without a parent.

3) Please remember that your response for Summer Camp and first payment toward it is due at our next meeting on March 23.

4) If you are coming to Camporee you must bring $17 to the next meeting on March 23rd or speak with Mr. Warms to make alternative arrangements (the $7 is the fee that goes to BSA, $10 is for food).

5) Last night you should have received (or will receive in the mail) your letter of invitation for Philmont.  Responses to that letter are due at the March 30th meeting.  First payments will come in April.

6) Council Silver Pines Leadership Camp will be held from May 30 to June 5 at Green Dixon in Gonzales. This is a great opportunity to get away for a week and learn leadership skills (Daniel talk here). Cost for the camp is $175.   If you're interested in going to Silver Pines, drop me a line at r.warms@txstate.edu

7) Court of Honor  We'll be having our semi-annual Court of Honor at Thermon on April 13th.  We'd really like to make this a big event for the boys.  One way we'd like to do this is by having each family bring one dessert item so that we can have a big dessert buffet after the presentations.  There will also be a presentation by Friends of Scouting before the Court of Honor (but it's not connected with the dessert buffet...no auctions at courts of honor).
 
Troop Elections: Policies, Procedures, Offices, and Duties.


To have a really great troop, we need really great youth leadership.  All Scouts First Class and above need leadership experience in order to advance.  As our troop grows, we will be placing increasing emphasis on youth leadership positions.  We will be giving our youth increased responsibilities and expecting them to treat these seriously.

This is the first in a series of essays in which I'll discuss our upcoming troop elections and the policies that relate to them.  I'd like to begin by setting some ground rules for the operation of our troop.  Some of this codifies things we have done in the past.  Some of it is new.  No new policies apply to the term of office of any current boy leader (We have had no published policies in the past and none of this is  retroactive)

1) Troop 1954 works on a six month leadership schedule.  Troop elections shall be held on the first Tuesday in April and the first Tuesday in October.  All youth leaders are elected or appointed to a six month term of office.

2) Troop elections shall be followed by Courts of Honor which shall be held on the second Tuesday in April and the second Tuesday in October.  At those Courts of Honor, the leadership will formally change, all awards and advancements earned in the previous six months will be presented, and point contest winning patrols announced.

3) Troop 1954 will elect and appoint only  those leadership positions that have ongoing responsibilities.  In order for a position to count for leadership, it must have regular (preferably weekly) responsibilities.  These responsibilities must be clearly spelled out in the position description (I'll be furnishing those descriptions as we go along).  If the Scoutmaster and the Troop Committee believes that a Scout has not filled the responsibilities of his position, he will not be given credit for that position.

4) Not all leadership positions are necessarily continuing.  The Scoutmaster may give leadership credit for completion of specific projects that benefit the troop and demonstrate leadership.

5) All youth leaders, both elected and appointed, serve at the pleasure of the Scoutmaster who may dismiss them for any reason.  If the Scoutmaster dismisses a youth leader, he will appoint a Scout to fill the remainder of the dismissed leader's term as acting leader.  A dismissed leader may receive credit for the time he has served at the discretion of the Troop Committee.  (aside: this is a power I never hope to use and one that I wouldn't have used in the past six months.  However, it's important for the guys to understand that their leadership role is not a right and can be revoked.  Of course the Scoutmaster himself serves at the pleasure of the Committee Chair and Chartered Organization Rep who can revoke his position at any time too).

The offices we will fill on April 6 are: Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader for each of the three patrols, Assistant Patrol Leader for each of the patrols (we need this but, as per BSA rules, it does not count toward leadership requirements).  We'll also be filling Den Chief, Troop Guide, Scribe, Historian, Librarian, and Quartermaster.  In the next couple of newsletters, I will be detailing the requirements and duties for each of these positions.

 
Upcoming Events

 

District Roundtable, March 11: 7:00 at First United Methodist as usual.

Twin Valley Camporee, March 26-28

Friday, March 26 - Sunday March 28 is the Twin Valley Camporee.  This year
sounds like a really good one.  It will be held at the Ruby Ranch outside of Buda (very convenient).  It will have a medieval theme with competition in catapults and jousting as well as the usual first aid and fire building. Each scout has been assigned to be a specialist in one or two of the Camporee activities.  They should bone up on those activities over the next month and a half.

Service Hours Available, Saturday April 3

Help with the ongoing clean-up of the Guadeloupe Cemetery on Post Road

Troop Elections, Tuesday April 6

Court of Honor, Tuesday April 13

We'll be having our semi-annual Court of Honor at Thermon on April 13th.  We'd really like to make this a big event for the boys.  One way we'd like to do this is by having each family bring one dessert item so that we can have a big dessert buffet after the presentations.  There will also be a presentation by Friends of Scouting before the Court of Honor (but it's not connected with the dessert buffet...no auctions at courts of honor).

April Camping, April 24-25

We'll be once again at John Knox for our April Campout.  This will be a backpacking campout.  We'll be at a site that is not accessible by car.  The main event in this campout will be to assist at the Webelos Cross Over.  We will be receiving the new scouts on Saturday Night.  They'll be spending that night at our camp site and hopefully, we'll have some cool stuff for them.

Saturday April 24th, Indoor Training for Scout Leaders and Parents

8:30 to 4:00 at the San Marcos Methodist Church.  This is the essential course for understanding how Scout Troops and meetings are supposed to work. The more parents who have this the better.  I really urge anyone who hasn't taken this course to do so.

May Scout Hut Work Day, Date TBA

We're hoping to paint the main meeting room of the Scout Hut.

May Camping, Date TBA

Wolf mountain and Enchanted Rock.  Dates and details forthcoming.

Saturday and Sunday May 15 and 16, Outdoor Training

This is the second half of the complete scout leader training course.  It will be held at Kiwanis Camp outside San Marcos.

Silver Pines Junior Leadership Training Program, May 30 - June 5.  To go, boys must be First Class and 13 years old.  It's held this year at Green Dixon and parents do not go.  Here's how the Silver Pines web site describes the program.  The Silver Pines Junior Leader Training Conference  is a week long outdoor experience for boy leaders in support of their Scoutmaster’s responsibility for training troop junior leaders.  It is a junior leader training conference conducted by the Capitol Area Council using a training program that is approved by the Boy Scout Division of the Boy Scouts of America.  Scouting recognizes that Scoutmasters have the responsibility of training their own junior leaders. The purpose of this junior leader training conference is not to assume the role, but to support it.  The objectives of Silver Pines are:         To give participants the confidence and knowledge to run the troop program.        To give participants a basic knowledge of the eleven skills of leadership and help them relate these skills to their troop responsibilities.   To give participants the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with Scouts from other troops. To create an atmosphere where Scouts will experience Scouting at its best.    To enhance the relationship between the participant and his Scoutmaster.       To have FUN!

If you're interested in going to Silver Pines, drop me a line at r.warms@txstate.edu

Troop 1954 Summer Camp, July 3 - July 11

We will be doing summer camp at Camp Dale Resler in the mountains of New Mexico.  This trip will also include visits to White Sands National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  It should be a great chance to get away from the summer heat of San Marcos and into the cool mountains of New Mexico.  It is also a fantastic chance for the scouts to make progress on advancement, have a great time, and bond more tightly as a group.  If you can possibly send your scout to summer camp, please do so.  The estimated cost for this program (including travel, all visits, and spending money), about $330 for youth and $220 for adults.