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).

Weekly meetings

We have our regularily scheduled meeting this week, which is not normal.  We usually don't because it's summer camp week, but there are plenty of boys that didn't make the trip that we felt having a meeting was worthwhile.  Sadly, only a handful of boys showed up.  We couldn't work as patrols because of it, so we gave them an easy evening and watched a movie.

Summer Campers are there

9 youth and 3 adults ended up making the trip to Camp Fleischmann.  They got camp set up really quickly.  Temperature was nice, not too hot.  I guess it's been a little cooler this year when compared to the recent past.  Hopefully it will stay that way.

We are occupying a new campsite this year.  It's lakeside and looks to be well shaded in the afternoons.  That will be a nice respite from any heat that may come up.

I hope the week goes well for all attending and can't wait to hear the stories.

Weekly Meeting

We didn't have a regular meeting, but those boys attending summer camp had a get together.  Only a few of them showed up, but hopefully therir questions were answered.  They leave Sunday morning at 8:30.  If you would like to come by and wish them well, I know they would be excited to see you!

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.

Summer camp fees

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

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...

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!

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?

Summer Camp paperwork has arrived

The leader guide and all the merit badge paperwork has been posted to the Camp Fleischmann web site.  I have downlaoded it and will be reading it over soon.  We'll put together a session to go over summer camp for everyone to answer any questions you may have.

Finally, an update

At Monday's meeting the two new patrols took a small hike to a shopping center to work as patrols.  Successful outing I was told.

Our two older patrols had a fun evening after selecting youth leadership for the remaining outings and projects for this year.

Our next meeting is the deadline for turning in summer camp fees to receive the lower price.

Been absent awhile

Haven't updated the blog recently, don't know why. So lets get us up to date.

Since I wrote last, the big event was summer camp. Other than that, we have had our normal weekly meetings. So lets talk about summer camp.

Six of our boys and five adults went with us to Camp Fleischmann in Chester. This is our seventh or eighth year of attending this camp and the boys still love it and want to come back. While there, each of the boys earned at least 4 merit badges each. Only a couple of partials were brought back, so that's a good thing.

Best of all was that each of them took and earned the Citizenship in the World badge. This is an Eagle required badge. And when I say 'earned', I mean it. The counselor for this badge tested each boy at the end of the session before signing off the blue card. A couple of Troop 22's adults were recruited to help with the teaching of this badge and I was asked to help out with the testing at the end of the session. There were 4 or 5 out of 52 that signed up for the class that he wouldn't sign off on. This is a good thing because those boys that he didn't sign off weren't ready for this badge. They were too young to understand what it meant.

We didn't earn any special awards while at camp, but we did get many compliments on the cleanliness of our campsite. We also got many comments of one of our camp gadgets that one of our boys put together. One of the pet peeves I and other adults have while at camp is having day packs left wherever they get put down. So Steven built a day pack hanging station. It is the second one he has built for us and I think it needs to become a Troop 22 camp site fixture from here on out. Job well done!!

This years summer camp was different than years past because we left a day early. We broke for camp on Saturday so we could get our site up and running and not have to worry about it on Sunday, the actual start of the session. It worked out great and we plan on doing this in future years.

During the week we had some guests visit us as well. Mr. David and his son Andrew stopped by as well as Mr. Fox and his daughter Katie. That was a nice surprise to have some visitors. Remember, just because you may not be able to join us for the week, it doesn't mean that you can't come up and join us for a day or two. You are always welcome! Just make sure you bring snacks!!!

I'll end this entry here. Others will follow concerning specific topics. So keep a look out for more frequent updates.