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Hi Folks,

Man, we're dizzy with success. We've now picked up four new members since the start of the year and I'm pretty sure we're going to pick up an additional five or six this spring with new scouts and cross-overs...possibly more. This is completely great but it's going to mean we need really good adult and youth leadership. So, get ready to help make this one of the most fun and dynamic troops in the area. The good times will roll if we work together to make it happen.

Welcome new member Bryan Jenkins

Welcome new members (when I get their applications) Leon and Luis

Lots of important information about this weekend's campout below. Make sure you read it.

Meeting Attendance

Acting SPL Daniel Kurtz and Acting ASPL Keith Ploeger presiding

Biohazards, PL Ben Painton, Coach, Dr. J.

Bryan
Nathan
Mason
Justin

Crimson Fromage, PL Chris Jenkins, Coach, Mr. Painton

Chris
Tony
Sean
Josh
Ben
Gus
Corey

H. F. Piffs, PL Zach Painton, Coach, Ms. Patty

Keith
Will
Daniel

And, new patrol forming, "Blikk", PL and Coach, TBA

Trevor
Kirkland
Luis
Leon

Folks, that would be a record meeting attendance of 18 Scouts...and some of our regulars were missing.

After opening, announcements included a presentation on the upcoming school bond issue by Kirk Baen, Luis, and Leon. They report that San Marcos schools are in really horrible physical condition and urge you to go out and vote yes on the upcoming bond elections. Those elections are on Feb 7th. Early voting begins soon. (I also, personally urge you, for the good of our kids and community, vote yes on those bonds). After announcements, the patrols attempted to play the cricket race game, but didn't like that too much, so ended up playing a game of dodge ball. Afterwards, we met as patrols to work out menus and assign duties for the upcoming camp-out. The meeting closed at about 8:30.

HELP! We really could use some additional adult leadership on this event. The only people currently scheduled to be there for the entire event are Ms. Patty and myself. I must leave at 8:30 on Sunday morning. So, if we could have another adult or two to stay over Saturday night, it would help out a lot, since, if it's only Ms. Patty and me, that means EVERYONE must leave at 8:30 Sunday (scouting requires 2 deep adult leadership).

!!!!!!!!!! Upcoming Events !!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!! January (now February) PLC Retreat !!!!!!!!!!!!

PLC Retreat will be held at the Painton's on Sunday February 8. We'll start after at about 4:00 and continue through early evening. We will be setting the meeting schedule and activities for the next three months as well as discussing issues of organization and leadership. SPL, ASPL, and the PL from each patrol (or other representative) as well as the patrol coaches should plan on attending. Other scouts and parents, please e-mail me or any youth or adult leader with your ideas and suggestions.

!!!!!!!!!!REPORT TO STATE!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, Feb. 7 is the Report to State Parade.

!!!!!!!!!!MERIT BADGE COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, Feb 21 is Merit Badge College

!!!!!!!!!!TWIN VALLEY CAMPOREE!!!!!!!!!!

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.
More information soon.

!!!!!!!!!! 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.

!!!!!!!!!! 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.

Hi Folks, Great meeting last night. Really good to have so many kids and adults and to welcome new members and guests. Special thanks to Stephanie Painton for beginning the Horsemanship Merit Badge. Attendance at last night's meeting: Presiding: Acting SPL Zach, Acting ASPL Dane Biohazards, Ben Painton PL, Dr. J. Coach Justin Nathan Mason Ben Alexey Crimson Fromage, Chris Jenkins PL, Mr. Painton, Coach Ben Sean Tony Gus Corey Jaimie (Guest, Corey's brother) H.F. Piffs, Zach Painton PL, Ms. Patty, Coach Will Trevor Luis (Guest) Kirk Zach Dane After our opening and announcements, we played a game of Horse and Rider. While this had been chosen by the PLC, the version of it we ended up with was pretty confusing. It took us a while to get organized, but turned out to be a good time once we had figured it out. After the game, Stephanie Painton began teaching the horsemanship merit badge. We thank her for her excellent work and we're really looking forward to finishing up the classroom part and getting to ride the horses! After that the patrols worked on figuring the lumber necessary for the gaga court and how much it will cost. We do have some gaga controversy! How high shall we make the walls of the court? Within limits, the higher...kind of the better... (and Ben W., who plays a lot of gaga, doesn't think 2 feet is enough) but also the more expensive. We can make 2 foot walls using 4 sheets of plywood. Three foot solid walls would take 8 sheets. We can also make three foot walls by putting a two foot wide and a one foot wide piece together. That would require 6 sheets. Currently, 1/2 inch thick plywood is $30 a sheet...35 for 3/4 inch. So, increasing the height of the walls could really increase the cost. Any input? After a brief Scoutmaster minute, the meeting closed on time at 8:30 (no mean achievement). !!!!!!!!!!! Announcements !!!!!!!!!! 1) We extend a special welcome to Corey Collier and his brother Jaimie. Corey is a Star Scout and will be joining our group. Jaimie is a Webelos II and will be joining Pack 1954, and crossing into the troop this spring. We are really pleased to have them join us and already appreciate the energy and enthusiasm of the Collier family. 2) Thanks to Garry White for visiting our meeting last night. Garry is the District Training Coordinator. He's running several training programs this spring. You'll see them listed under upcoming events. The more training the more of us have, the better, so if you can make room in your schedule for any of these training programs please do. 3) SCOUT ORIENTING CHALLENGE! This Saturday in Bastrop! We'll be participating. You can find all the information and the schedule for the event at http://www.swt.edu/~rw04/troop1954/scout_orienteering_challenge.htm but here's what you need to know fast. a) We'll be leaving for Bastrop at 7:30 from the Scout Hut. Please get there a bit before then so we can leave on time. b) Please make sure you bring the following: A daypack, a sack lunch and some snacks, some raingear (according to the current weather forecast (weather.com at 9:00 on 1/14) it will be cloudy with a high of 56 and a 40% chance of showers). Please also remember to bring a compass. c) The cost of the event is $10 and includes the usual cool patch. d) We'll be back in time for dinner. 4) Friday Jan 23 - Sunday Jan 25th, we'll be camping at the Kiwanis camp on the Blanco just outside of town. This will be a two night campout and we'll be doing activities aimed specifically at qualifying our scouts for advancement. It will also include some fun activity in the Austin area Saturday afternoon. Patrols will do different activities (providing we have adequate participation and personnel).

Hi Folks, Great to be back and up and running for the new year. Lots of good stuff ahead, so stay tuned. Attendance at last night's meeting: Biohazards, Ben Painton PL, Dr. J. Coach Justin Alexey Mason Nick Nathan Flip Ben Crimson Fromage, Chris Jenkins PL, Mr. Painton, Coach Ben Warms Sean Fink H.F. Piffs, Zach Painton PL, Ms. Patty, Coach Kirkland Will Zach Lee Dane Daniel After a brief opening, we had a report on the caving trip to Bustamonte. After this we broke into patrols to work on first aid requirements for Second and First Class for the two younger patrols. The H.F. Piffs did some background work on the Horsemanship Merit Badge and worked on Physical Fitness. This was followed by a game which pitted younger kids against older in their knowledge of first aid facts. Neither group was what you call real impressive but both had a pretty good time. The older kids won the competition but the candy was shared out among all the kids. We ended with a discussion of building a gaga court (see pictures on the web-site) and closed at around 8:30. !!!!!!!!!!! Announcements !!!!!!!!!! 1) We'll be participating in the Scout Orienteering Challenge on Saturday January 17th in Bastrop. Registration starts at 7:30. There is a brief orienteering course starting at 9:00 and the event itself starts at 10. Complete information on this event is available on our website by following this link: http://www.swt.edu/~rw04/troop1954/scout_orienteering_challenge.htm 2) Friday Jan 23 - Sunday Jan 25th, we'll be camping at the Kiwanis camp on the Blanco just outside of town. This will be a two night campout and we'll be doing activities aimed specifically at qualifying our scouts for advancement. It will also include some fun activity in the Austin area Saturday afternoon. Patrols will do different activities (providing we have adequate participation and personnel). !!!!!!!!!! Upcoming Events !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! January Roundtable !!!!!!!!! Thursday, January 8 (that's tomorrow folks) 7pm District Roundtable at First United Methodist Church. !!!!!!!!!! January PLC !!!!!!!!!!!! PLC will be meeting in late January to plan the troop meeting calendar for Feb/March. More details to come. !!!!!!!!!!REPORT TO STATE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Feb. 7 is the Report to State Parade. !!!!!!!!!!MERIT BADGE COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Feb 21 is Merit Badge College !!!!!!!!!!TWIN VALLEY CAMPOREE!!!!!!!!!! Friday, March 26 - Sunday March 28 is the Twin Valley Camporee

Hi Folks, What a meeting last night. I hope you all enjoyed the first annual 1954 patrol cooking contest. We had some spectacular dinners made. First prize went to the Biohazards for their version of Crepes San Marcos. The Biohazards did an outstanding job of presentation. I think it was the orange juice in champagne flutes that really got me (for those of you who weren't there, no joke, they really had this). The Biohazards also showed outstanding cheerful cooperation. First prize was $50 to spend at an outdoors store. Second prize went to the Crimson Fromage for their rendition of South Texas Sukiyaki. They scored outstanding marks on creativity, as well as on showing hospitality. Second prize was a aerobe flying ring for the patrol and $20 to spend at an outdoor store. Third prize went to the H. F. Piffs. The Piffs really showed outstanding ability to work and eat in good fellowship without adult supervision. Third prize (also known as the Peter Baen "I think it's my stomach" award) was three bags of candy. Congrats to all the scouts. Speaking as Scoutmaster, you all made me really proud last night. I learned a couple things myself for next year's contest. First, we scheduled this as one week planning and one week execution. I think we probably need two weeks planning. Second, I think we'll schedule the next one for a different time of year. Too many scouts had conflicts with school activities last night. Probably the week before school vacation isn't the best time for this one. Attendance last night: Biohazards: Ben Painton Patrol Leader, Dr. J., Adult Coach Ben Nick Justin Flip Mason Matt (guest last night, but we hope you'll formally join us) Crimson Fromage: Chris Jenkins Patrol Leader, Mr. Painton, Adult Coach Ben Sean Josh Tony H. F. Piffs: Zach Painton Patrol Leader, Ms. Patty, Adult Coach Zach Lee Daniel Will Kirk !!!!!!!!!! Announcements !!!!!!!!!! 1) There will be no scout meetings on December 23 or 30. Our next regular meeting will be on January 6. 2) There will be no Wednesday Newsletter on December 24 or 31. I'll try to put something out on January 5 or failing that, early in the day January 6. 3) Our next event will be the Scout Orienteering Challenge in Bastrop. That will be Saturday January 17. Registration starts at 7:30. There is a brief orienteering course starting at 9:00 and the event itself starts at 10. Complete information on this event is available on our website by following this link: http://www.swt.edu/~rw04/troop1954/scout_orienteering_challenge.htm 4) The following weekend, January 23-24, we'll be camping at the Kiwanis camp. This will be an important one for younger scouts. We'll be working on completing requirements for Second and First Class. 5) All the best for the holidays and the new year to everyone. I want to take a second and thank everyone for all their help and support over these past few months. I'm really pleased with the way things are going. Our membership is strong (24 kids active), our meeting attendance is high, and our leadership is unified. 2004 is a really promising year for Troop 1954. We're going to see fun weekly activities, adventure, advancement, and hopefully a few positive surprises along the way. So, here's to the future. We've got a great group and we're gonna have fun! !!!!!!!!!! UPCOMING EVENTS !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details. !!!!!!!!!!WINTER CAMP!!!!!!!!!! We've got at least one going to Winter Camp. Anyone else interested might try contacting Ande Rasmussen. !!!!!!!!!!JANUARY PLC!!!!!!!!!!!! PLC will be meeting in mid-January to plan the troop meeting calendar for Feb/March. More details to come. !!!!!!!!!SCOUT ORIENTEERING CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Jan 17 in Bastrop. Details at: http://www.swt.edu/~rw04/troop1954/scout_orienteering_challenge.htm !!!!!!!!!JANUARY CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! Friday Jan 23 - Sunday Jan 25th, we'll be camping at the Kiwanis camp on the Blanco just outside of town. This will be a two night campout and we'll be doing activities aimed specifically at qualifying our scouts for advancement. It will also include some fun activity in the Austin area Saturday afternoon. Patrols will do different activities (providing we have adequate participation and personnel). More details in late December, early January. !!!!!!!!!!REPORT TO STATE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Feb. 7 is the Report to State Parade. !!!!!!!!!!MERIT BADGE COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Feb 21 is Merit Badge College !!!!!!!!!!TWIN VALLEY CAMPOREE!!!!!!!!!! Friday, March 26 - Sunday March 28 is the Twin Valley CamporeeWEDNESDAY DECEMBER 10

Great meeting last night. I think everyone had a good time and I for one am really looking to next week's cooking contest.

BY THE WAY: Please let me know if I've missed anyone off of the attendance roster. We will most likely be moving toward a system that rewards scouts for good attendance (though we will continue to understand if you can't be there all the time).

We actually had a "gathering" activity last night. The kids had a spontaneous game of wall ball before the meeting started. That was fantastic. Scout meetings are supposed to have something going on before the beginning and wall ball is a great one. Let's keep it going.

After the meeting opening and announcements, we had a candle relay game, which was won by the H.F. Piffs. Then Mr. Childress launched the rockets we had made in earlier weeks. Next I distributed some equipment to each patrol. Each patrol received the beginnings of a camp kit including a large container to store stuff in, a backpacking stove, a gas canister to make it go, eight light weight stainless steel camping bowls, and several packs of waterproof matches. Look for additional stuff to be added to each kit at coming meetings. After that, the group broke into patrols to learn how to operate their backpacking stove and plan for next week's cook-off. The meeting closed after a Scoutmaster's minute at about 8:40

Next Tuesday we'll be having what I hope will be our first annual cook-off. The patrols will be competing for a prize of $50 to spend as they wish at a camping/outdoors store. Here are some very important points for scouts and parents:

1) The meeting will begin EARLY: We'll be opening ONE HOUR EARLY at 6:00 to allow the patrols time to prepare.

2) The patrols are making dinner for themselves and the judges. Patrols are encouraged to make enough food so that adults attending can eat as well.

3) The cook-off will begin immediately after the opening (no games or skits this week).

4) Patrols will have approximately one hour to cook. Eating and judging will be at approximately 7:15

6) Patrol Leaders and coaches need to make sure that shopping gets done and appropriate equipment gets brought. Folks, I'm sorry, we probably should have had one week more planning on this but live and learn.

7) Awards will be made after the judging. $50 goes to the first place team but there will be awards for second and third place as well.

NO SCOUT MEETINGS ON DECEMBER 23 OR 30. Happy vacation to all. We'll resume regular weekly meetings on January 6.

In the next day or so, look for a rather long questionnaire in your e-mail. Fay has done a great job keeping advancement records, but I want to get our background files up to date. So, I'll be sending out a questionnaire asking for all the information requested by our Troopmaster software. This will help keep us legal on stuff like medical information and driving information. Please get it back to me as soon as you can. I'll probably keep bugging you until you do.

Blanco just outside of town. This will be a two night campout and we'll be doing

Hi Folks, Well, first, thanks to all who helped in the Scout Hut clean-up last week. We made a huge dent in the mess (and did some good painting as well) but we've got a long way to go to make the place look really spiffy. Second, Did folks see our picture in the paper last Friday? Scouts and Cubs who were at the Pack 1954 food drive meeting before Thanksgiving were featured in a picture on page 3 of the San Marcos Daily Record. Thanks much to Chris Baker of the Cubs who did the publicity work on this one. Another wild meeting last night. Not entirely free of problems (more on that below) but I think the guys had a good time and performed some useful service for the troop. We had record attendance: Biohazards: Ben Nick Mason Nathan Flip Justin Alexey Fromage: Ben Tony Johnny Gus (WELCOME BACK!!!) Sean HF Piffs Trevor Will Dane Kirk Lee Daniel Zach THAT'S 19 KIDS PRESENT LAST NIGHT!!! I'm not sure we've ever had more than that. Man, what a great gang and what an opportunity. The meeting opened at 7:05 with opening ceremonies followed by announcements from SPL Lee, Ms. Patty, and Dr. J. This was followed by a game of milk jug soccer. The game went really well and the guys really seemed to like it, but there is no doubt that if we play it again, we need a few more rules (I just used the ones provided by BSA). After this, the scouts helped load funnel cake making equipment on the trailer. After a brief clean-up and very brief Scoutmaster's minute, the meeting closed at about 8:30. DISCIPLINE ISSUES. Folks, it's really hard to keep this many kids under some vague sort of control and all heading in more or less the same direction (talk about herding cats!). Here are some things that we really need. 1) Please stress to the scouts that the scout sign is one of the most basic things in Scouting. When they see anyone holding up the scout sign, they do the sign as well and come to some degree of order. As far as I know, this is absolutely universal in Scouting and our guys aren't doing such a good job of it. 2) We really need one adult coach for each patrol. I realize that most adults were involved in funnel cake issues last night but I can't be the only adult minding the kids. The kids do need to do some running around and I can't mind all three rooms as well as the front and back of the building. 3) We need a system to reward good behavior and punish bad. I've been thinking of a point system for patrols (something like what Hogwarts uses in the Harry Potter books) with rewards both for achieving certain point levels and for achieving more points than the other patrols. I could use help and suggestions. 4) We need the Junior Leadership to really step up to the tasks for which they were elected. They have to participate and lead by example. I know it's difficult for them so please encourage and support them (and remind them that they need to be where the scouts are). 5) As we become more successful (and I think we are becoming more successful and will continue to do so) we're going to grow. If we cross over a bunch of new scouts and few people leave, we're going to have meetings with 25 kids present. That's fantastic but it also means that we really need to get our discipline issues worked out or it's going to be chaos. ANNOUNCEMENTS (made at the meeting) 1) Next week is planning for the patrol cook off. The only rules are that you must cook a complete dinner ('cause it's what's for dinner) and it must be stuff you could cook on a car-camp-out. Next week is planning, and the following week is the cook-off itself. That week, we'll meet early and eat what the guys prepare. The cook-off will be judged by a panel of experts and the winning patrol will receive $50 to spend at a camping/outdoor store. 2) Next Thursday, Dec. 11 is the Pack 1954 meeting. This one includes stories of the holidays told by exchange students from all over and caroling at a local nursing home. THE MEETING STARTS AT 6:30 (not 7:00 as previously announced). We'll be caroling at CARE INN (used to be The Arboretum). Most all scouts who are not yet first class need an hour of community service to advance and this will count for that hour. Note to the cautious: meeting with Pack 1954 will not be a regular event. The next time we join them will probably be to cross new scouts into our troop. 3) Ms. Patty really needs to know about Merit Badge College. Merit Badge College is coming up in February in Austin. There's good news and bad news. The good news is that you can get a lot of advancement toward merit badges in a single 8 hour day. The bad news is that the group that went last year didn't love it. Individuals can go, it doesn't have to be a patrol or troop. This is strongly recommended for all kids looking for serious advancement in Scouts. If you've a mind to get your Eagle, this will really help you out. Please get in touch with Ms. Patty as soon as possible if you're interested. 4) We've lots of exciting things coming up. One is our project for a Super-trip in 2005. Two possibilities for that are Philmont and the National Jamboree (though I still want to hike and camp the Grand Canyon). Kids should tell their patrol leaders places that they really want to go and things that they really want to do. Stay tuned for money raising for super-trips and new ways of money distribution. We're working on all of this and will provide details in the spring. NEXT WEEK'S MEETING: 1) Opening 2) Skit: none this meeting 3) Game: Candle Relay 4) Mr. Childress launches rockets 5) Plan for patrol cook-off (Younger patrols instruction on light weight camping stoves. Older patrols instruct.) 6) Scoutmaster's minute 7) Closing !!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT NEWS: COMING EVENTS !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!SIGHTS AND SOUNDS!!!!!!!!!! Our annual Sights and Sounds fundraiser is coming December 4-6. Please make some time to work at the funnel cake booth. Hopefully, you're already signed up. If not, don't wait. e-mail the list with times you can work. !!!!!!!!!!CUB SCOUT DECEMBER PACK MEETING!!!!!!!!!! This year we will be joining with the 1954 Cubs for their November and December pack meetings on Thursday, December 11. The pack meeting will feature foreign exchange students from several countries who will tell us how the holidays are celebrated in their countries. We will then go Christmas Caroling at a local nursing home. Please join us for this Community Service event. Most scouts need additional community service hours and this will count toward them. !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details. !!!!!!!!!!WINTER CAMP!!!!!!!!!! As far as I know, no one has expressed any interest in going to/leading a group to winter camp. Unless their is a quick change, winter camp will be cancelled. !!!!!!!!!!JANUARY PLC!!!!!!!!!!!! PLC will be meeting in mid-January to plan the troop meeting calendar for Feb/March. More details to come. !!!!!!!!!JANUARY CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! Friday Jan 23 - Sunday Jan 25th, we'll be camping at the Kiwanis camp on the Blanco just outside of town. This will be a two night campout and we'll be doing activities aimed specifically at qualifying our scouts for advancement. It will also include some fun activity in the Austin area Saturday afternoon. Patrols will do different activities (providing we have adequate participation and personnel). More details in late December, early January. !!!!!!!!!!REPORT TO STATE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Feb. 7 is the Report to State Parade. !!!!!!!!!!MERIT BADGE COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Feb 21 is Merit Badge College !!!!!!!!!!TWIN VALLEY CAMPOREE!!!!!!!!!! Friday, March 26 - Sunday March 28 is the Twin Valley Camporee

Hi Folks, Even though there was no meeting last night, it's been a busy week for Troop 1954 Last Thursday we had a successful meeting with Pack 1954. As I think Tom Heathman has already told you, we collected over 150 pounds of food and $80 for the San Marcos Foodbank. Thanks much to all those who contributed food and to those who showed up at the Pack Meeting. Our friends in the Pack really appreciate this connection so lets help them out. Friday and Saturday we had an excellent campout at Lost Maples. I've already reported on that so I won't repeat what I said here. THIS FRIDAY, I'm going to be working at the Scout Hut, doing general cleaning and, perhaps a little bit of painting. If any of you are available and can help, I'd appreciate it. We could particularly use someone to bring a long ladder so we can see about the possibility of fixing the outdoor light. And if anyone has a paint sprayer, that might be good too. HELP WANTED: I'm looking for one or more Assistant Scoutmasters. Qualifications are a willingness to work actively with the boys, particularly the PLC, in planning meetings, campouts, and other events, ability to be at most meetings, willingness to help maintain order and keep boys on track and focused during meetings. Please note that I will probably be out of town from about July 5 to about August 10, so we really need someone to oversee troop operations during that time. I may also be away at other times as other obligations call me out of town. If you're interested, drop me a line or talk to me before or after a meeting. Thanks. NEXT TUESDAY'S MEETING AGENDA: 1) Opening 2) Game: Milk Jug Hockey 3) Set up for Sights and Sounds (I think this is mostly adult participation) 4) Mr. Childress continues making and launching rockets. 5) Scoutmaster's minute 6) Closing NOTE: We need a one gallon plastic milk jug for each player. If you could send your son with one, it would be helpful ALSO NOTE: At least for the moment, I've taken the skit out of the schedule. It doesn't seem to be working too well. We need a higher degree of patrol planning for that to work. Maybe we'll be able to get it in the coming year. SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: As I'm sure you've seen, Scott Smith has sent a sign-up sheet around by e-mail. If you haven't already, please do take a moment to read it and get back to him with times you're willing to work. !!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT NEWS: COMING EVENTS !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!SIGHTS AND SOUNDS!!!!!!!!!! Our annual Sights and Sounds fundraiser is coming December 4-6. Please make some time to work at the funnel cake booth (and, if you could, please arrange some good weather). !!!!!!!!!!CUB SCOUT DECEMBER PACK MEETING!!!!!!!!!! This year we will be joining with the 1954 Cubs for their November and December pack meetings on Thursday, December 11. The pack meeting will feature foreign exchange students from several countries who will tell us how the holidays are celebrated in their countries. We will then go Christmas Caroling at a local nursing home. Please join us for this Community Service event. Most scouts need additional community service hours and this will count toward them. !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details. !!!!!!!!!!WINTER CAMP!!!!!!!!!! As far as I know, no one has expressed any interest in going to/leading a group to winter camp. Unless their is a quick change, winter camp will be cancelled. !!!!!!!!!!JANUARY PLC!!!!!!!!!!!! PLC will be meeting in mid-January to plan the troop meeting calendar for Feb/March. More details to come. !!!!!!!!!JANUARY CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! Friday Jan 23 - Sunday Jan 25th, we'll be camping at the Kiwanis camp on the Blanco just outside of town. This will be a two night campout and we'll be doing activities aimed specifically at qualifying our scouts for advancement. It will also include some fun activity in the Austin area Saturday afternoon. Patrols will do different activities (providing we have adequate participation and personnel). More details in late December, early January. !!!!!!!!!!REPORT TO STATE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Feb. 7 is the Report to State Parade !!!!!!!!!!MERIT BADGE COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, Feb 21 is Merit Badge College !!!!!!!!!!TWIN VALLEY CAMPOREE!!!!!!!!!! Friday, March 26 - Sunday March 28 is the Twin Valley Camporee

Hello Folks, Thanks to everyone for a successful meeting last night. I felt like this one was an improvement over the week before. Special thanks to outgoing Scoutmaster Ande Rasmussen for his work with the troop. I've really appreciated Ande's cool head and his deep commitment to scouting. We look forward to Ande's continued participation in the troop. With good cheer but some degree of trepidation, I've accepted the position of Scoutmaster. I thank those who encouraged me to take this job and those who offered it to me. In the past 18 months, this troop has had four Scoutmasters. No one can know the future, but it is my intention to remain in this position for several years. I pledge to you all to work hard both in-front-of and behind the scenes to build Troop 1954 into the best scouting organization we can possibly make it. I also pledge that I will, to the best of my ability, conduct myself and encourage others to conduct themselves, according to the word and spirit of the Scout Oath and Law. Attending last night's meeting: Biohazards: Nick Mason Ben Flip Alexy Nathan Fromage: Ben Sean Josh H.F. Piffs Zach Kirk Daniel Lee Keith Trevor Dane That's once again an attendance of 16 scouts. Fantastic. Lets keep up the good work. Here's what happened at the meeting: After the opening and announcements, the patrols played a map symbol version of Kim's Game. The winning patrol was the Biohazards. They received a bag of crunch bars for their victory (more and larger prizes in the future). The Fromage came in second and the HFPs third. This was followed by work on building rockets led by Mr. Childress. Mr. Childress ended this portion of the meeting by firing a rocket he made. Pretty cool stuff. After the rocket project, the scouts are planning to go on this weekend's Lost Maples campout met to plan menus and departure times. Others should have met to work on toten chip stuff but that did not happen effectively (sorry). The meeting closed at about 8:40. ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1) NO MEETING NEXT WEEK. We're on Thanksgiving Break. Tuesday meetings resume on December 2. 2) Please join us for the Cub Scout Pack meeting this Thursday night at 7:00 at the Scout Hut. This is the annual Cub Scout food drive, so please bring cans of food. It would be good to wear a Class “A” uniform. Remember, we are role models for the little kids, so lets be good ones! 3) Merit Badge College is coming up in February in Austin. There's good news and bad news. The good news is that you can get a lot of advancement toward merit badges in a single 8 hour day. The bad news is that the group that went last year didn't love it. Individuals can go, it doesn't have to be a patrol or troop. Please come to the next meeting prepared to tell Ms. Patty if you will be going or not. I believe the date is February 21. LOST MAPLES CAMPOUT INFORMATION (from Ms. Patty) Lost Maples is a pack in and pack out trip. We will leave the scout hut between 5 and 5:30. At Lost Maples we will camp in base camp Friday night. Saturday morning we will hike about 5 miles to a primitive campsite, set up camp, cook, and sleep there. Sunday morning we will hike back, the short way, to our cars and return to San Marcos. Remember to bring: 1. Class A shirt 2. $2 for entrance fee 3. Mess kit or plate and spoon 4. Cold/Wet weather gear (We have been there at 32 degrees) 5. Brown bag supper for Friday 6. Patrol pot and serving utensil (We will provide the stoves but please bring one if you have one) 7. At least 3 qts. of personal water 8. Cook/Wash water 9. Pack patrol food in zip lock bags (Each bag holding food for 3 or 4 people per meal) 10. Spending money in case we stop for lunch Sunday I'd add that there are also some scouts going early Saturday morning. If you're interested in that, contact me at r.warms@txstate.edu !!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT NEWS: COMING EVENTS !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!! Get ready, here it comes again, our big annual fundraiser. Thursday December 4 to Saturday December 6. We're going to have to move into high gear on this one pretty soon so please be prepared to help out. The primary task of the meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2 will be planning for this event. !!!!!!!!!!CUB SCOUT DECEMBER PACK MEETING!!!!!!!!!! This year we will be joining with the 1954 Cubs for their November and December pack meetings. The pack meeting will feature foreign exchange students from several countries who will tell us how the holidays are celebrated in their countries. We will then go Christmas Caroling at a local nursing home. Please join us for this Community Service event. All scouts need more community service for advancement and my current understanding is that this would count (someone please correct me if I'm wrong about that). !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details. !!!!!!!!!!WINTER CAMP!!!!!!!!!! Details as soon as I have them. !!!!!!!!!JANUARY CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! In mid January, we'll be camping at the Kiwanis camp on the Blanco just outside of town. This will be a two night campout and we'll be doing activities aimed specifically at qualifying our scouts for advancement. It will also include some fun activity in the Austin area Saturday afternoon. Patrols will do different activities (providing we have adequate participation and personnel). More details in late December, early January. !!!!!!!!!!JANUARY PLC!!!!!!!!!!!! PLC will be meeting in mid-January to plan the troop meeting calendar for Feb/March. More details to come.

Hi Folks, Thanks to everyone for an excellent meeting last night. A bit rough at the beginning and a bit frustrating for me at points but overall, I think the kids really had a good time. Thanks particularly to David Childress who has volunteered his time and energy to do projects with the kids. He really had them in the last half hour of last night's meeting. Fantastic! Congratulations (I think) and welcome to our new Committee Chair, Curtis Painton. I'd like to add on to what Don said in his note by listing the general responsibilities of the Troop Committee. This is by way of information to new members and by way of refresher from old members. This list is copied directly from the current edition of the BSA Troop Committee Guidebook (page 13) and it's as important for what it doesn't say as for what it does. So, here it is: The troop committee: 1) Ensures that quality adult leadership is recruited and trained... 2) Provides adequate meeting facilities, 3) Advises the Scoutmaster on policies relating to Boy Scouting and the chartered organization, 4) supports leaders in carrying out the program, 5) is responsible for finances, adequate funds, and disbursements in line with the approved budget plan, 6) obtains, maintains, and properly cares for troop property, 7) ensures that the troop has an outdoor program (minimum 10 days and nights per year), 8) serves on boards of review and courts of honor, 9) supports the Scoutmaster in working with individual boys and problems that may affect the overall troop program, 10) provides for the special needs and assistance some boys may require, 11) helps with the Friends of Scouting campaign, 12) assists the Scoutmaster with handling boy behavior problems. We had some good attendance last night, and saw some friends we hadn't seen in a while. Here's who came: Biohazards: Nathan Ben Mason Flip Fromage: Ben Sean Chris H.F.P.: Daniel Lee Kurt Zach Keith Will Dane So, 14 kids! Here's what happened at the meeting: After the opening we had a compass game led by Ben Painton (who is acquiring the unofficial title of gamesmaster. It took a while to get that organized but ultimately it worked. Dane came out the winner on that one. That was followed by Mr. Baen and some of our older scouts setting up a fast orienteering course and most of the rest of the scouts trying to follow it. We could have used a bit more planning on that one but the kids did learn some basic stuff about how a compass works and how to find a direction in degrees (something which none of the younger and only about half of the older kids seemed to know). After that, Mr. Childress led the kids in making small air-powered rockets. The meeting closed around 8:40. The kids were pretty unruly at the start (and I heard a bunch more raised voices than I want to hear) but we really had a bang-up ending. What I hear is that they are very enthusiastic about Mr. Childress's help. In other important news: We had a successful JLT last weekend with 8 boys attending. We also had a successful retreat which established a meeting calendar through the end of January and a provisional events calendar through May. I'll provide details of these calendars in a future e-mail and handout (I just don't have time to type them up today). NEXT WEEK: The order of the meeting will be as follows: 1) Opening 2) Skit from the Crimson Fromage 3) Game: map symbols Kim's Game 4) Patrol planning for those who are going on the Lost Maples campout 4a) Older boys help younger boys on Toten Chip requirements for those who are not going on campout 5) Mr. Childress continues to work on the rocket project. Mr. Childress requests a bit more time so activities 1-4 need to be completed no later than 7:40 6) Scoutmaster's Minute 7) Closing !!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT NEWS: COMING EVENTS !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!CUB SCOUT NOVEMBER PACK MEETING!!!!!!!!!! This year we will be joining with the 1954 Cubs for their November and December pack meetings. The November meeting will be held on Thursday, November 20th. It's part of the Cub's fall food drive. At the meeting, canned goods (and I believe a check) will be presented to the San Marcos Food Bank. Please attend this meeting if at all possible, and please bring canned goods to donate. !!!!!!!!!!LOST MAPLES BACKPACK AND CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! Always a good one. We've got reservations at Lost Maples for November 21-23. I we still need an adult leader to help organize this. Will someone please step forward by contacting me or Ms. Patty. !!!!!!!!!!SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!! Get ready, here it comes again, our big annual fundraiser. Thursday December 4 to Saturday December 6. We're going to have to move into high gear on this one pretty soon so please be prepared to help out. !!!!!!!!!!CUB SCOUT DECEMBER PACK MEETING!!!!!!!!!! This year we will be joining with the 1954 Cubs for their November and December pack meetings. The pack meeting will feature foreign exchange students from several countries who will tell us how the holidays are celebrated in their countries. We will then go Christmas Caroling at a local nursing home. Please join us for this Community Service event. All scouts need more community service for advancement and my current understanding is that this would count (someone please correct me if I'm wrong about that). !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details. !!!!!!!!!!WINTER CAMP!!!!!!!!!! Details as soon as I have them.

Hi Folks, Thanks to everyone who participated in last night's meeting. It was a really great high-energy meeting and I was very pleased with the way it went. First, I'd like to welcome back our members returning from the long fall sports season: Johnny Lozano Nick Thurman and Nathan Hicks We're really glad to have you guys back with us. I hope we can make this program so much fun that you might consider staying with us through the fall season next year. Attending last night's meeting: Biohazards: Ben Flip Alexy Nick Nathan Crimson Fromage: Josh Ben Tony Sean Johnny Chris H.F. Piffs: Dane Will Zach Lee Daniel That makes 16 boys at last night's meeting, one of the best turn-outs I can remember. Lets keep it up guys! Important JLT Stuff: Here's my current list of people going to JLT this Saturday. Please send me corrections and additions: Daniel Kurtz Josh Rose Ben Warms Sean Fink Chris Jenkins Zach Painton Ben Painton Nick Thurman Dane Rasmussen Not confirmed but possibly attending: Tony Frediani Johnny Lozano Nathan Hicks Three important things about JLT: 1) I'm sure Garry will accept a few late registrations if there is anyone else who wants to come. 2)Garry is encouraging the kids to bring friends, so if any of the guys have friends who might like to join them, that would be great. It would be helpful if you could give me a heads-up if your bringing extra people. 3) Garry also encourages parents to attend as much of it as they can. After last night's opening ceremony, we had announcements and a skit from the Biohazards. Then patrol were released to work on map and compass skills and speak to their leaders about the meeting and camping events they would like to pursue in the next six months. This weekend, after Junior Leader Training, the Patrol Leader's Council will meet in a retreat to use these suggestions to put together a preliminary calendar for the next couple of months of meetings and camping outings through the spring. This calendar will be subject to the approval of the Troop Committee and contingent on finding adult leadership for the events. More on these subjects later. Next Week: The specific agenda for next week's meeting will be decided by the PLC this weekend. It is the H.F. Piffs turn to do the skit or game. I expect that in patrol time we'll probably stay on map and compass use for another week. I really liked what the kids did last night but I'm not convinced they all really have it down. !!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT ISSUES: ADULT LEADERSHIP !!!!!!!!!! Folks, the boys seem to be coming together really well, but if we're going to have a full calendar of events for the coming year, we need good adult participation too. Our greatest need at the moment is for adults to lead and assist in camping and other "off campus" activities. Troop 399 in Austin uses the term "Adult Ramrods" to describe such individuals, and we might want to adopt that. Adult Ramrods are responsible for making sure campsites are reserved, tour permits submitted, any permissions needed have been acquired, fees are paid, there is adequate transportation, and food is provided for any adults going. Ramrods are also expected to attend the campout to serve as adult leadership. We might choose to set the duties of a "Ramrod" slightly differently than Troop 399, but one thing for sure, we've got to have two deep adult leadership on all events or we're not going to be able to have the events. !!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT NEWS: COMING EVENTS !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!JUNIOR LEADERSHIP TRAINING!!!!!!!!!! We'd really like as many scouts as possible to attend JLT on November 8th. This is a really critical step in pulling our troop together and getting all the boys on the same wavelength. Also, while it is not yet official policy, it is my belief that we're going to be moving to a policy that requires that boys have JLT or a substitute BSA training program before they can assume any leadership position in the troop. I don't want to begin a debate on this now...there will be a better time and place, but if it's at all possible, please let's have the boys attend this session. !!!!!!!!!!PATROL LEADERS COUNCIL RETREAT!!!!!!!!!! There will be a planning and program retreat for members of the PLC following the JLT, November 8. At this retreat, we hope to set the weekly activities calendar for the next two to three months and the camping calendar for the next six months. Members of the PLC will be soliciting the recommendations of their patrol members at the next meeting, November 4. If your son wants to have input into this process and is not a member of the PLC, please make sure they attend next week's meeting. !!!!!!!!!!CUB SCOUT NOVEMBER PACK MEETING!!!!!!!!!! This year we will be joining with the 1954 Cubs for their November and December pack meetings. The November meeting will be held on Thursday, November 20th. It's part of the Cub's fall food drive. At the meeting, canned goods (and I believe a check) will be presented to the San Marcos Food Bank. Please attend this meeting if at all possible, and please bring canned goods to donate. !!!!!!!!!!LOST MAPLES BACKPACK AND CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! Always a good one. We've got reservations at Lost Maples for November 21-23. I we still need an adult leader to help organize this. Will someone please step forward by contacting me or Ms. Patty. !!!!!!!!!!SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!! Get ready, here it comes again, our big annual fundraiser. Thursday December 4 to Saturday December 6. We're going to have to move into high gear on this one pretty soon so please be prepared to help out. !!!!!!!!!!CUB SCOUT DECEMBER PACK MEETING!!!!!!!!!! This year we will be joining with the 1954 Cubs for their November and December pack meetings. The pack meeting will feature foreign exchange students from several countries who will tell us how the holidays are celebrated in their countries. We will then go Christmas Caroling at a local nursing home. Please join us for this Community Service event. All scouts need more community service for advancement and my current understanding is that this would count (someone please correct me if I'm wrong about that). !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details.

Hello Folks, Sorry this is a bit late. I've been having trouble with the system. Thanks to everyone for their participation in last night's meeting. Attendance: Biohazards: Flip Ben P. Alexy Fromage: Ben W. Chris Sean H. F. Piffs. Lee Daniel Zach We're down three from last week in attendance. That's not too bad. I think we should expect attendance to drop a bit after major events. We had an extremely successful Webelos Woods. There were 9 scouts and seven Webelos attending. Unhappily, we didn't get any attendance from Pack 114. We still want those guys! Attending Webelos Woods: Chris, Sean, Tony, Ben W., Josh, Flip, Ben P. Alexy, and briefly, Kirkland. Last night's meeting was not our finest hour. We lacked a bit on the organizational side and there was a bit more "running wild" than I like to see ...but we still got quite a bit accomplished. The meeting opened with a flag ceremony led by the Biohazards. The Fromage did not have a skit ready (partly because some of its more dramatic members were missing) so we had a brief and not terribly successful joke telling session instead. After that, the patrols cleaned up the mess that had been left by the haunted house. We took down and folded all of the sheets of black plastic and put them back in storage for next year. We also gave the room a pretty thorough sweeping out so it looks much better than it has in a while (man, I don't know when it was last actually swept. We really need to make that a regular event). The meeting ended with a Scoutmaster minute provided by Dr. J., who told the boys that they would have to be more serious if they expected to go on high adventure trips with him. Since we hope to make major use of his leadership abilities, this was an important message for them. !!!!! NEXT MEETING !!!!! Opening skit by the Biohazards, Progress on advancement: Biohazards and Fromage: Compass and Map work for advancement to 2nd Class H.F. Piffs: Work on First Aid (with Ms. Patty) Important discussion of plans for next several months within patrols !!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT NEWS: COOPERATION WITH PACK 1954 !!!!!!!!!! One result of Webelos Woods is, I hope, going to be increased cooperation between Pack and Troop 1954. Our ultimate long-term goal should be to create a more-or-less unified scouting experience that begins with Tigers in first grade and extends through Venturing and Exploring for college age kids. Moving the troop and pack closer together is an important first step. So: Pack 1954 invites us to attend its next two pack meetings, scheduled for November and December (Dates and times forthcoming but usually Thursday late in the month at about 7). NOVEMBER'S pack meeting is a food drive for the San Marcos Food Bank. Please bring canned goods to donate to the food bank. The pack will have someone from the Food Bank to tell us about their work. More details will be forthcoming. DECEMBER'S pack meeting will feature foreign exchange students from several countries who will tell us how the holidays are celebrated in their countries. We will then go Christmas Caroling at a local nursing home. Both of these events are centered around community service...something our group needs to be much more heavily involved in. In addition, Pack 1954 will be using the scout area of the Scout Hut for events that have too many people for their smaller quarters. Since most of these event will be on Thursday evenings, they will not interfere with Troop activities. In return, the Pack will help us to maintain and improve our facilities. Of course both the troop and pack retain "first call" rights on their respective areas (meaning that, should their be a conflict, troop use takes priority in our area and pack use takes priority in theirs). We look forward to making the boys and families of Pack 1954 more welcome in our extended scout family. !!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT NEWS: COMING EVENTS !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!JUNIOR LEADERSHIP TRAINING!!!!!!!!!! We'd really like as many scouts as possible to attend JLT on November 8th. This is a really critical step in pulling our troop together and getting all the boys on the same wavelength. Also, while it is not yet official policy, it is my belief that we're going to be moving to a policy that requires that boys have JLT or a substitute BSA training program before they can assume any leadership position in the troop. I don't want to begin a debate on this now...there will be a better time and place, but if it's at all possible, please let's have the boys attend this session. !!!!!!!!!!PATROL LEADERS COUNCIL RETREAT!!!!!!!!!! There will be a planning and program retreat for members of the PLC following the JLT, November 8. At this retreat, we hope to set the weekly activities calendar for the next two to three months and the camping calendar for the next six months. Members of the PLC will be soliciting the recommendations of their patrol members at the next meeting, November 4. If your son wants to have input into this process and is not a member of the PLC, please make sure they attend next week's meeting. !!!!!!!!!!LOST MAPLES BACKPACK AND CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! Always a good one. We've got reservations at Lost Maples for November 21-23. I think we still need an adult leader to help organize this. Will someone please step forward by contacting me or Ms. Patty. !!!!!!!!!!SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!! Get ready, here it comes again, our big annual fundraiser. Thursday December 4 to Saturday December 6. We're going to have to move into high gear on this one pretty soon so please be prepared to help out. !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details.

Dear folks, Thanks to everyone for their help and participation at last night's meeting. Our attendance was 12 scouts as follows: Highly Flammable Piffs: Zach Lee Will Dane Crimson Fromage: Ben Josh Sean Tony Chris Biohazards: Flip Ben Luke Congrats to the Fromage for 100% attendance. After a opening ceremony led by our SPL Lee, we determined who was going on the Webelos Woods campout this weekend. My list for scouts attending is: Flip Ben P. Alexy (arriving Sat. morning) Ben W. Josh Sean Tony Chris (hopefully) Dane Kirkland (arriving Sat. morning) Please let me or Ms. Patty know about any corrections or changes. Shopping for the campout is tonight, 7:00 at the big HEB After this the Piffs led a brief game of Jackpot. It's easier in the light and with fewer mosquitoes but I think the guys had fun anyway. That was followed by those who are going on Webelos Woods figuring setting up food lists and duty rosters and everyone working on the haunted house. After much hanging of black plastic and stapling, the meeting closed at 9:00 !!!!!!!!!!NEXT WEEK'S MEETING PLANS!!!!!!!!!!! Next week's presentation will be from the Crimson Fromage (I've a feeling we might get Amish Paradise). The PLC should determine if there is going to be a game and what it will be. Two key tasks need to be accomplished: 1) Taking down the haunted house. 2) Determining what the next Troop Project will be. !!!!!!!!!!IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!!!!!!!! 1) Halloween Carnival begins at 7:00 tomorrow (Thursday) night. We did a lot of work last night but we ain't there yet. Please be at the Scout Hut between 6:15 and 6:30 tomorrow to finish up the haunted house. 2) Anyone who wants to ride to Webelos Woods with the group needs to be at the Scout Hut before 5:30 this Friday afternoon. 3) Now that meetings are running a bit longer we really need to start them on time. Please try to be at the Scout Hut by 7 on Tuesdays. We will aim to start meetings on time. @#@#@##@#@#@#@ VERY IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS #@#@#@#@#@#@# !!!!!!!!!!JUNIOR LEADERSHIP TRAINING!!!!!!!!!! We'd really like as many scouts as possible to attend JLT on November 8th. This is a really critical step in pulling our troop together and getting all the boys on the same wavelength. Also, while it is not yet official policy, it is my belief that we're going to be moving to a policy that requires that boys have JLT or a substitute BSA training program before they can assume any leadership position in the troop. I don't want to begin a debate on this now...there will be a better time and place, but if it's at all possible, please let's have the boys attend this session. !!!!!!!!!!PATROL LEADERS COUNCIL RETREAT!!!!!!!!!! There will be a planning and program retreat for members of the PLC following the JLT, November 8. !!!!!!!!!!LOST MAPLES BACKPACK AND CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! Always a good one. We've got reservations at Lost Maples for November 21-23 !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details.WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15

Hello Folks, Thanks to all for a good meeting Tuesday night. Our attendance was: Biohazards: 5 Crimson Fromage: 3 Older boy patrol (I'm not sure of the name...it's in flux): 5 So that's pretty good. We had a really good opening and flag ceremony organized by Lee Clendennen and Daniel Kurtz our SPL and ASPL. We're really on the right track with this one. The Biohazards presented a short skit and did a good job of it. The patrols spent their time working out what they were going to do for the Halloween carnival and the older boy patrol emptied the trailer of all of the stuff for funnel cakes. Our Scoutmaster Ande gave a good Scoutmaster's minute and we closed the meeting at approximately 8:15 The Patrol Leader's Council meeting afterwards, was attended by Lee Clendennen, Daniel Kurtz, Zach Painton and Ben Painton. The boys voted unanimously to add a games segment to the meetings. So the new order of meeting will go: Opening Announcements A presentation by a patrol A game Patrol time advancement Patrol time project Scoutmaster minute Retiring of colors Closing circle Business for next week's meeting includes: Need firm commitment from those going on Webelos Woods (see below) A presentation by the Older Boys Patrol Final preparation for the Halloween Carnival. Please remember that we need good attendance at the carnival too. It's on Thursday the 23. VERY IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS !!!!!!!!!!!WEBELOS WOODS!!!!!!!!!! The Webelos Woods Campout is scheduled for October 24-26 at Green Dixon. Let me emphasize again that this is really important to us. We have two Webelos groups scheduled to come with us and we need a strong showing of scouts to impress them. It's our chance to put a good foot forward and build our troop. These kids are the core of our future. All we've got to do is miss a year or two of recruiting Webelos and... We'll need two older scouts to act as guides, chaperones, and role models for the Webelos groups coming with us. We're scheduled to do cooking demonstrations on Saturday morning at a Ski activity in the afternoon. We could also really use someone to try to get down to Green Dixon early in the day to stake us out a good camping spot. We don't want to be down by the lake with the mosquitoes. Cost is $8 plus food for adults and kids. !!!!!!!!!!JUNIOR LEADERSHIP TRAINING!!!!!!!!!! We'd really like as many scouts as possible to attend JLT on November 8th. This is a really critical step in pulling our troop together and getting all the boys on the same wavelength. Also, while it is not yet official policy, it is my belief that we're going to be moving to a policy that requires that boys have JLT or a substitute BSA training program before they can assume any leadership position in the troop. I don't want to begin a debate on this now...there will be a better time and place, but if it's at all possible, please let's have the boys attend this session. !!!!!!!!!!LOST MAPLES BACKPACK AND CAMPOUT!!!!!!!!!! Always a good one. We've got reservations at Lost Maples for November 21-23 !!!!!!!!!!SILVER PINES!!!!!!!!!! Silver Pines is a leadership training course available to all scouts who are at least 13 years old and have attained at least first class rank. This year Winter Silver Pines will be held December 27-31. Cost is $150. See Ms. Patty for details.

Hi Folks, Thanks to all for making last night's meeting a good one. Congratulations to Lee Clendenon who was elected Senior Patrol Leader and Daniel Kurtz who was appointed his assistant. I'm sure that they're going to be outstanding leaders and really look forward to working with both of them. We had an excellent program with a rousing performance of "Don't Whiz on the Electric Fence" from the Crimson Fromage (our middle patrol) and some good planning both for advancement and the Halloween carnival. At Next Week's Meeting: We'll have a brief skit provided by The Biohazards (our new scout patrol) We will continue to plan for the Halloween carnival. We'll be working out activities and menus for the Webelos Woods campout on the 24-26 Important Upcoming Events: Roundtable is tomorrow night. I'll try to go but think I might have a conflict. Webelos Woods campout, Oct 24-26 at Green Dickson: This is our chance to look good for the Webelos from 1954 and 114. We really want to capture all of these incoming scouts so it's important for the kids to be there, and be cheerful, friendly, and helpful to the Cubs. Let's show them a good time. Junior Leadership Training, November 8: I'd really like to see all scouts of all ages and ranks go to this. I think it will help us pull our troop together. Gary White would also like scouts to bring their non-scout friends.

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