Summer Camp

Last night during a meeting of the adult leadership, it was decided that we would leave on Sunday rather than Saturday as previously talked about.  This will make it easier for those driving due to conflicts with other things.  Those attending summer camp will meet briefly next Monday, July 5th at the VFW hall to finalize the trip.  Look in your email inbox for more info.

Monthly PLC

After not having one of these for a couple of months we're going to start them up again.  Tomorrow night (June 30th) everything changes (I hope).  If you have a position of leadership in the troop (or if you don't but would like to learn about this process), please be at the Antelope-North Highlands Library (Antelope Rd. & Walerga Rd.) no later than 6:20.  Meeting starts at 6:30 and will be over no later than 8:00 (that's when the library closes).  A map link to the library is in the Useful Links section of this blog at the bottom right of the page.

Weekly meeting & meeting changes

I heard that the meeting went extremely well.  The boys were working together nicely and getting things accomplished.  Nice to hear.

--- ALERT ---

The Troop & Committee meeting scheduled for next Monday (July 5th) have been canceled.  We will meet again on July 12th.

Summer camp fees

If you signed up to attend summer camp, the remainder of fees is due this coming Monday.

Weekly meeting

Very good meeting last night.  All of our newest scouts worked on their Fireman Chit while the older scouts worked on flag ceremonies.  Even though they have done many of these in the past, we want to give them a refresher and come up with a troop standard that they will then teach to our younger boys.

Future meetings will take us back to some basics of not just scouting, but comfort and survival in the outdoors.  We're planning some patrol competitions as well.  I'm hoping to get them to be creative in these competitions and use their imaginations.

I'm really excited about what is happening in the troop right now.  Things feel different.  Things feel good.

Twilight Camp redux

Twilight Camp was a success.  The Friday Webelos overnighter was also a huge success.  Ryan did a fantastic job and received quite a few compliments (we even received our very first comment to the blog concerning his handling of the campfire program).  There were around 40 Webelos scouts and their guardians that camped overnight.  We were able to have the BB gun range open on Saturday morning so these boys were able to have it all to themselves.  If you were there, thanks.

To meet or not to meet???

In the past we have not had a troop meeting the week of summer camp.  Of course we only had 12 boys and 10 of them went to camp, so it was pointless.  Now we have 32, but only 8 are attending camp.  Should we hold the meeting or give everyone a week off?  Hmmm...

District Twilight Camp

I have been working(?) at Twilight Camp all week.  Working is really a stretch.  I've handled the MC chores and smiled alot as I tell various adults you can't park there, or park like that, or you need to wear this to prove you're supposed to be here.  Tonight is the Webelos overnighter and Ryan is in charge of the campfire.  He's been working on skits with the dens and also compiling a list of filler skits/songs so we have a good campfire program.  We'll be retiring a flag at the close of the program, so that will hopefully prove to be a special moment for the Webelos in attendance.

Roundtable cancelled!!

In case you weren't aware, Roundtable has been canceled this month due to Twilight Camp.  It will resume at the same time/location next month.  Don't forget that at the August Roundtable is when the adults Pinewood Derby cars are to be collected.  We'll race them at the September Roundtable.

Court of Honor

What a turnout!!!  The room was filled to (almost) capacity!  We added a fourth row of tables for the anticipated crowd and it's a good thing we did.  For a simple, basic meal of hot dogs and picnic sides, that was a fabulous meal.  Maybe I was just in need of a chili dog.

Lots of rank advancement, a few merit badges and some special awards were handed out.  A couple of nice presentations were shown.  The first one was to help a scout finish up the Citizenship in the Community merit badge and the second was from the troop historian.  It covered our participation in the VFW Memorial Day Parade.  Good job to both of you!

Lots of talk concerning summer camp also.  We're under a month until we leave.  Hopefully you'll be able to attend.  Too much fun to miss.  Trust me on that one!

June 12 Day Hike

Really pretty trail.  The first really hot day of the summer had to hit this day???  We had 13 total attend.  4 adults, 8 boys and 1 sibling.  Didn't make the entire loop.  Took too much out of my respirtory system.  The boys... no big deal.  Even with the elevation gain of around 1500 feet in about 2 miles.  We're going to plan many more hikes in the future but they'll be a little less challenging.  We'll (and by we I really mean me) work our way up to those.

The part that pleased me the most was listening to the boys singing as we were heading back down the trail to our cars.  That and the one scout that had a questionable view of another scout at the beginning of the hike and by the middle had changed his view 180deg.

Summer Camp

For the last 8 years or so we have camped at Camp Fleischmann for our long term summer camping.  Should we be visiting other camps periodically?  I worry that the boys may be missing out on different experiences.  Each camp offers their own brand of lunacy along with different merit badges and opportunities.  I love Camp Fleischmann and would be very happy to go back there each and every year, but I have very fond memories of camping at Camp Winton as a boy.  Your thoughts?

UPDATED 6/10!! Start thinking about next year

August will bring us two additional meetings that are necessary to plan for 2011.  The first one will be August 7th.  This will be the PLC's annual planning meeting.  The PLC will come together to plan their outings and goals for 2011.

The second one will be August 14th.  This one will be to plan the finances for 2011.  We need to know how much we anticipate spending on things like badges, replacement gear, outings and how much fundraising we need to help the boys accomplish their goals and attend all the outings being planned.

Both of these meetings are scheduled to begin at 2pm and take as long as they take to complete.  I will let you know the location when I solidify it.

**UPDATED 6/10**
We are confirmed to meet for the finances meeting (Aug. 14th) at the North Highlands-Antelope Library beginning at 2pm.  This library is located on Antelope Road just west of Walerga Road.

The library was booked for the 7th so I am still looking for a meeting location.  I will try to get Mountain Mikes at Walerga and Elverta.

UPDATED 6/10!! Change to our PLC meetings

We've held our PLC's at a couple of different times, with varying success.  Let's try it again.  PLC's will now be held on the last Wednesday of each month.  I will notify as to location and times when I solidify it.

**UPDATE 6/10**
We are confirmed to meet from 6:30 to 8:00pm at the North Highlands-Antelope Library.  This library is on Antelope Road just west of Walerga Road.

Court of Honor

Our meeting this coming Monday is our Court of Honor.  If you didn't sign up to bring something, expect a phone call from our COH organizer.  Make sure you're in attendance to cheer on our boys (and adults).

Weekly meetings

Good meeting this past Monday.  The boys learned how to make their own Gatorade and held Patrol elections.  Afterward they played some baseball.  Is there a better game to watch boys play?

Memorial Weekend - a look back

Placing crosses went very well.  Troop 22 was well represented.  Other scout units were present, along with various military units and individuals.  A very large crowd (the largest I have seen) showed up.  Thank you to all that showed up and helped to honor the fallen.

Later in the day we worked on our float for the parade that took place on Memorial Day.  Lots of boys showed up to help.  The parade was fun (I think the boys would agree).  They took turns riding in the push car we built last year.  Lots of hoots and hollars for the Boy Scouts from the crowd.  Nice to hear the encouragement.