Another Great Weekend

This past weekend we camped on our chartered organizations property. We had a great time and the boys functioned well as patrols. Our yearly planning went well although we didn't get as much done as I had hoped. We did, however, manage to plan our outings for the next 12 months and with a little more work we will be ready to present our plan to the troop committee for approval. The first night was clear and the full moon made the use of flashlights almost unnecessary. After dark the temperature dropped quickly and it was rather cold on Saturday morning. The boys were up around 5am and working on getting their fires restarted. I was glad to join them when I finally got up around 7. The second night wasn't nearly as cold and I had to wake the boys after I woke up. I guess they were tired from all the activity the previous day. I am including several pictures of the weekends activities.

October Outing

Our next outing is scheduled for October 22-24 on the Pinnacle Church campus. We will be camping as patrols on the banks of the Pigeon river. Scouts will be working on advancement requirements as well as fishing and working on some projects around our scout hut. Our patrol leaders council will be conducting their yearly planning conference.

The troop is growing and the scouts are beginning to take charge of their troop!

I'll let you know how it goes.

SCOUT-A-BRATION at Camp Daniel Boone

This year is the 100th anniversary of The Boy Scouts of America.
To celebrate, the Daniel Boone Council hosted a Scout-A-Bration event this past weekend at Camp Daniel Boone. Venture Crews, Boy Scout Troops, and Cub Scout Packs from all over Western North Carolina were in attendence. There was a recreated Silver Bay campsite for a hands on approach to Scout history. Shooting at the rifle range, canoeing on the lake, tug-o-war, historic merit badge classes and a special campfire presentation were some of the things offered. Our troop set up camp in the Catawba site. Scouts K-Bob, Bryce, Chris, Blake, Nick, Timmy, Justin, Aaron, and Caleb and leaders Tim Mathews (Scoutmaster) , Rob Hawk, Steve Skinner, and Brent "Cookie" Burgess.

TLT (Troop Leadership Training)

"Train Scouts to do a job,
then let them do it." - Baden-Powell

Leadership is vital. Scouts in positions of leadership run their patrols and the troop. They take care of the many tasks necessary for troop meetings and activities to run smoothly. By accepting the responsibilities of troop and patrol leadership, a Scout prepares himself to be a leader throughout his life.

To this end we are conducting our Troop Leadership Training or TLT. The TLT is divided across three, one hour modules. We have decided to split this over a three week period, covering a different module each Monday. Upon completing the TLT the boys in attendence will be issued a Trained patch to wear on their uniform.

Canoeing on the Santeetlah

This past weekend our troop went on an overnight campout on lake Santeetlah in Western North Carolina. We had six scouts and four adult leaders participate. This was just an overnight trip and all involved would like to repeat the trip but make it a two night event. I believe that I agree. The weather was beautiful and everyone who participated made the trip a pleasure.

Summer Camp

Well, we just survived a week at Camp Daniel Boone. Five scouts and two adults attended camp this year and we had a blast. The scouts worked on a couple of merit badges each and then spent the afternoons in Goin' Great. They got a lot accomplished on their Tenderfoot through 1st Class requirements. I would have liked to have the entire troop attend because we had so much fun and accomplished so much. We'll try to get more to attend next year. We adults had a lot of fun too!

Scout Hutt

Our new "scout hut" has arrived. It was a challenge to get it into place but the delivery person went out of his way to get our building in place. Seeing the large building make it's way down the long, narrow service road to it's final destination was interesting to say the least. There is still quite a bit of work to be done before we are able to make full use of the building but it is great to have a place that we can call our own. Plans are to add a deck to the front of the building where we can have our meetings during fair weather. I'll have more pictures after we have everything all set up and ready to go.