Merit Badge Midway & Troop Campout

We will be camping at the Scout Hut this Friday night and then going over to the Merit Badge Midway at Western Carolina University. All Scouts attending the Midway will need to review the available merit badge classes being offered at this event, select the merit badges that interest them, and print up the merit badge worksheets. We will pick up breakfast from a restaurant on our way to Cullowhee and have lunch there as well. Bring your own food for dinner Friday night and money for Saturday. Twenty dollars should cover the admission to the Midway and leave six dollars a piece for the two meals on Saturday.

The available Merit Badge Classes are:

Architecture 9:00-12:00
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/2/28/Architecture.pdf)
Astronomy 9:00-12:00
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/f/f9/Astronomy.pdf)
Bird Study 11:00-12:30 & 2:00-3:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/2/29/Bird_Study.pdf)
Citizenship in the Nation 12:30-2:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/2/20/Citizenship_in_the_Nation.pdf)
Citizenship in the World 10:00-12:00 & 1:00-3:00
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/0/09/Citizenship_in_the_World.pdf)
Climbing 9:00-12:00
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/e/e3/Climbing.pdf)
Coin Collecting 9:00-10:30 & 10:30-12:00 & 1:00-2:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/0/04/Coin_Collecting.pdf)
Computers 1:00-2:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/3/34/Computers.pdf)
Crime Prevention TBA
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/0/07/Crime_Prevention.pdf)
Electricity 10:30-12:30 & 1:30-3:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/0/07/Crime_Prevention.pdf)
Emergency Preparedness 10:30-1200 & 1:30-3:00 (http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/2/26/Emergency_Preparedness.pdf)
Environmental Science 9:00-3:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/3/3a/Environmental_Science.pdf)
Fingerprinting 9:00-10:30 & 10:30-12:00 & 1:00-2:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/6/61/Fingerprinting.pdf)
First Aid 9:00-4:00 (Bring homemade 1st aid kit.)
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/9/98/First_Aid.pdf)
Fishing 1:00-2:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/2/2e/Fishing.pdf)
Geology 9:00-12:00
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/e/ea/Geology.pdf)
Horsemanship 12:00-2:00 & 2:00-4:00
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/d/d5/Horsemanship.pdf)
Indian Lore 9:30-12:00 & 1:00-3:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/c/c1/Indian_Lore.pdf)
Photography 10:30-12:30
( http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/b/bf/Photography.pdf)
Pioneering 9:30-4:00
( http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/3/3c/Pioneering.pdf)
Reading and Scholarship 11:00-11:30 & 11:30-12:00
( http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/5/56/Reading.pdf) & (http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/b/bf/Scholarship.pdf)
Scout Heritage 1:00-3:00
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/2/20/Scouting_Heritage.pdf)
Soil & Water Conservation 9:00-11:00 & 12:30-2:30
( http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/4/49/Soil_and_Water_Conservation.pdf)
Stamp Collecting 10:00-12:00 & 1:00-3:00
( http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/8/80/Stamp_Collecting.pdf)
Surveying 1:00-4:00
( http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/3/39/Surveying.pdf)
Swim Test 8:30-9:30 *required for Swimming merit badge
( http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/BSA_Swim_Test)
Swimming 9:30-12:00
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/d/db/Swimming.pdf)
Traffic Safety TBA
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/d/da/Traffic_Safety.pdf)
Wilderness Survival 10:00-12:00 & 12:30-2:30
(http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/0/0a/Wilderness_Survival.pdf)

Our first Arrowmen!

This past weekend our first troop members completed their ordeal and were inducted into the Order of the Arrow. This was a huge honor for those who were elected and it was an honor for me to participate in the workday with them and to attend the induction ceremony. While these were the first three from our troop to be inducted into the OA, I look forward to seeing additional scouts and adults elected to be a part of this organization. If you are not aware of the goals of the OA, it is a brotherhood of cheerful service. In order to be elected a scout must be at least first class and is required to complete 15 nights camping, one of which must be a long term camping trip under the auspices of the BSA.

Congratulations to Nick Abbott, Chris Skinner and Rob Hawk!

Unexpected guest!

Last year we had Baden Powell visit us during the 100th year birthday of scouting. This year we had another “guest from the past”. Our assistant scoutmaster, Rob Hawk, did a monologue in character as Ernest Thompson Seton. Seton (August 14, 1860 – October 23, 1946) was a Scots-Canadian (and naturalized U.S. citizen) who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Seton also heavily influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. His notable books related to Scouting include The Birch Bark Roll and The Boy Scout Handbook. He is responsible for the strong influence of American Indian culture in the BSA.
We appreciate Rob’s interest in history and I especially enjoy him sharing that love of history with the boys. I wonder who will show up next year?
Just goes to prove that you never know who is going to show up.

Upcoming Events!!!

We have a busy couple of months ahead of us.
Here is what we have going on in March.
AS A REMINDER.... If you need a board of review to advance to the next rank, please notify your Scoutmaster in advance so that we may schedule accordingly. We have two days set aside on the calendar, but if nobody requests a Board of Review then we will not have the neccessary adults on hand to perform them.

MARCH 4th & 5th - Order of the Arrow Ordeal at Camp Daniel Boone (OA candidates only)

MARCH 6th - Scout Sunday at Pinnacle Church (Cub Scouts & Boy Scouts in full uniform)

MARCH 7th - Board of Review (if needed)

MARCH 11th, 12th, & 13th - Woodbadge 1st Weekend (for registered Adult Leaders)

MARCH 14th - Board of Review

MARCH 19th - Merit Badge Midway at Western Carolina University

MARCH 21st - Court of Honor

In April we will be mountain biking on the Virginia Creeper Trail.
In May we will be at Camp Daniel Boone for The Castaway Odyssey.

DON'T FORGET THAT SUMMER CAMP IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!! WE ARE ON TRACK TO HAVE A REALLY GREAT TURNOUT OF SCOUTS! HOWEVER, WE NEED TO BE SURE THAT WE ARE MAKING OUR MONTHLY CAMP PAYMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE KEEP OUR SPOT AT CAMP. If you should need assistance, please contact Steve Skinner about getting a camp scholarship form (or campership as they call it).

Results from Operation Cold Spot

FIRST PLACE in the Winter Shelter Event!

SECOND PLACE in the First Aid Event!

Cold Spot Reminders!

This weekend we will be participating in Operation Cold Spot. This is a fun event and I look forward to having two patrols competing this year. We will be meeting at the church at 4:00 on Friday to prepare to leave. I know that some of you don’t even get off the bus till around 4:30pm, so be sure to have your gear packed up and ready to go on Thursday night. We will be pulling out of the parking lot no later than 5pm. If you can NOT be there by then, let me know. You will need to have a parent bring you to camp separately if you can’t get to the church in time to ride with the troop.
Many of you have asked what you need to bring. Don’t forget to look in your scout book for a list of personal gear for a short term camping trip. This can be found on page 292-293. Since Brent will be cooking for us throughout the weekend, you will only need to bring your eating utensils (fork, spoon, plate, bowl and cup) and any snacks and extra drinks that you may want – and remember, we will need to reimburse Brent for the food he buys. We will try to keep it to a minimum.
The weather forecast looks great but it WILL be cold at night. Be sure to bring warm clothing for when the sun goes down. Also, remember to bring your Class A uniform for Church on Sunday morning.
The campsite we are staying in has cabins so we shouldn’t need tents but if you would like to sleep in your tent, feel free to bring it along. I may even set up my tent this trip. And for those of you who are working on tenderfoot, you need to sleep in a tent that you help pitch. This would be a great time to get this requirement completed.
I look forward to the events because I believe that you will do well as a troop and patrols. I would encourage you to look over your first aid requirements for tenderfoot through first class. This event will be based on those requirements. I don’t know much about how the event will be conducted but we just need to “BE PREPARED”
We forgot to mention it on Monday night but there is an $8 fee for each scout for this event. This will get you a patch!

If I have forgotten anything just give me a call. I'll be available all week.

Update on Operation Cold Spot

This past week we received more information on the upcoming Cold Spot event at Camp Daniel Boone. I would like to see us take enough scouts to operate as two patrols. I'm sure that at least 12 of you can make it. There will be 8 events that patrols will compete in throughout the day on Saturday.
Those events are:



Rifle Range - Best 10 shots from a .22 will be scored
Shotgun - Best 5 shots will be scored.
Service Project - Everyone should participate in order to get a good score.
String Burn - Same as last year. (we should do better!)
Emergency Winter Shelter - I'll give you the details at next meeting.
Log Hoist - This is a new event. You must know your lashing and knots.
Blind Tent - This one sounds like fun and our troop will run this stop.
First Aid - Do not have the details yet.

The purpose of these events is to test your scout skills and to see how you function as a patrol. We don't have a lot of time to work on these events at our troop meeting so each scout should practice these skills at home during the week.