Annual Planning PLC this Saturday

Saturday at 2pm at the Antelope Library is our planning meeting for 2011.  Come with your ideas.

Many updates

Wow. Didn't realize it had been a couple of weeks since my last post. Lots going on. Summer camp has come and gone. A small group attended but much fun was had. There were some issues as well, but when aren't there? It was good that a few of our newest scouts attneded and earned a couple of merit badges. I'm especially pleased with the performance of our older scouts. They stepped up when needed and made sure stuff was taken care of.

The PLC annual planning meeting is this coming Saturday. Be there to give us your ideas of what you want to do next year.

We've had a couple of regular troop meetings since my last post as well. Seems like things are progressing. It's difficult to see sometimes. Growth takes such little steps and it's much easier to see a stumble. We're getting better, I really believe that we are. It's taking a heck of a lot longer than I thought it would.

We have a new committee chairman now. Thanks so much to Dennis Ledbetter for his years of service to the troop. Dennis will remain active in scouting, but with the Eagle board. Much success to you in the future.

Also congratulations to Mike Donlon for being selected as the new committee chairman.

Our next outing is fast approaching. Scotts Flat Reservior and water sports. This is gonna be fun! Deadline to sign up and get your payment in is this coming Monday's meeting. You're not gonna want to miss this one, I promise! We are hoping to hold one of our next couple of meetings at a pool to get the swimming requirements out of the way. Wish us luck!!!

Lastly, we have had three boys advance in the last month. Greg O. is now a Life Scout while Steven W. and Jaughn F. are now Star Scouts. Great work guys (and about time to a couple of you).

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.

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.

Weekly meeting notes

The Vikings and Flaming Monkeys worked on some Citizenship items last night.  I have a DVD that was created as an Eagle project a few years back and we watched this last night.  It covers flag etiquette and ceremonies.  Afterward the boys folded some flags that are ready to be retired.  We also started an Honor Guard and will rotate all the boys through it so they can learn proper methods for a flag ceremony.

The older boys held a PLC and made some decisions for the Troop while the younger boys were watching the DVD.  We have a new SPL in Trevor and his ASPL will be Brandon M.  Good luck to both of you.  We will seat these and other boys into their positions at the next Court of Honor in June.

Updates and info

I have added a link in the "Useful Scout Links" section to view a promotional video for Camp Fleischmann.  Pretty nice actually.

Remember those historic merit badges I mentioned a month or so ago?  They're on hold for now.  It seems that national couldn't determine the requirements in time.  I mean, it's not like they knew this year was coming, right?

For those that may be wondering, we will be having our normally scheduled troop meetings during the weeks that school districts take off for spring break.  Each school district seems to take off a different week so if you will be traveling and can't make it to a meeting, that happens sometimes.  We understand.

PLC's have been held on the Sunday prior to our monthly committee meeting.  This meeting has been moved and will now be held on the same Monday as the committee meeting (the first Monday of each month) from 5:30 to 6:30.  The troop and committee meetings will then begin at their normal time of 7:00.

There are other changes to the structure to our troop that will be coming and those will be announced when appropriate.

PLC this Sunday

Just like the title says... We'll be meeting at the VFW hall from 4 to 5 pm.

Monthly PLC & Annual planning meeting

This coming Sunday, August 2nd, will be the next PLC. This will be immediately followed by our annual planning meeting. We will meet at our normal weekly meeting place, the VFW hall. The PLC is from 4 to 5pm and the annual planning meeting will go from 5 to appoximately 7 pm. For the annual planning session, have your ideas for outings that you would like to see the Troop do for the upcoming year. All ideas are welcome. This is when we pick what and when we want to those fun things we enjoy doing during the year. See you Sunday!!!

Some upcoming events

Sunday, May 31

Orienteering. Not an official troop event, but a few of the boys did sign up to work on the Orienteering Merit Badge and this would be another item to check off for its completion. Of course, even if you didn't sign up for the badge, you could. Or show up any way and learn how to do it. I think it's a fun event. See the link for Gold Country Orienteers below right to learn more.

Sunday, May 31 (again)

Patrol Leaders Council. R will be making calls to those that need to be in attendance.

Monday, June 1

Troop Meeting and Committee Meeting. We will be visited by Pack 22 tonight. A joint activity is planned while the committee meeting is going on. If you haven't attended a committe meeting recently, or maybe at all, we could use your help. We have positions of our committee that need to be filled.

Friday, June 5

Scotts Flat canoeing/fishing outing. The plan is to have all of the boys that attend earn their canoeing and fishing merit badges. Lets hope that's possible.

Monday, June 8

Court of Honor. Need I say more? Seriously, come and see what's been going on with our boys. This will be totally(?) planned by the boys. At least as much as they can. Come and give them your support.

April 4 to 5 campout

We had our second pre-camporee outing this past weekend. While the camping was fun, the progress of the boys toward even wanting to compete was disappointing. We may have a less than stellar camporee again this year.

We were joined on our outing by Pack 22's Webelos Den 10. Four of their members came and camped with us. They worked on their Outdoorsman and Citizenship Activity Badges. I believe they even earned a belt loop. They helped with preparing meals and cleaning up afterward. They learned how to work a compass and tie some lashings. I think they all had a good time.

We also had our latest PLC while at camp. It was decided that we need to follow the themes more closely if only for the games and activities listed for each meeting during the month. It was felt that this would get us out of the doldrums our meetings seem to be turning into.

Camporee is next. Wish us well.

PLC meeting

An easy meeting this time. The meetings were very easy to plan as we will be working on those skills that we will need to perform at the upcoming Camporee. We spent a majority of the time conversing about the troop and what is going right or wrong. We also talked about the upcoming Court of Honor and what the boys would like to see happen at that.

PLC meeting date changed

The upcoming PLC meeting currently scheduled for February 1st is being rescheduled for February 8th. What was I thinking having a PLC on the same day as the Superbowl?

Jan. 18 PLC meeting

A couple of our leaders didn't make it to this one. But, that's okay. We were still able to get all of our February troop meetings planned. That gets us to where we need to be so that we are planning a month out and giving the boys enough time to research, plan and organize the events/activities they want to do and see. Our next major item for the PLC is to get them the proper training for their positions. I'll keep you informed of course.

Jan. 4 PLC meeting

We had, I thought, a very good meeting yesterday. All of the boys in leadership positions were in attendance. We were able to plan all of the meetings for the month of January. We discussed our outings throught the month of February. This was a great way to begin this new year.

Thanks guys!