Scoutmaster Moment

Winter Break has wound down and tomorrow is the return to normal routines in the new year with school (and work for the rest of us). Over the holidays I was able to spend time with family see a play, caught the flu (things don’t always go according to plan), caught up on some TV and played some new games. I hope you also had time with loved ones, down time to relax and some fun.  This is the start of a new year, a new decade, a new chance to work on our progress as scouts, as students, and as people.  Remember back to our September ILST and we discussed goals and vision?  How is that progressing?  Now is a good time to revisit this, work on meeting those goals and adjusting for new ones for the year.

The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals. 
-Melody Beattie

Photos – Work was done on the sled, and it is now ready for competition!

TROOP MEETING OUTLOOK

This Week – 1/7 – Troop Meeting
Uniform: Class A
Location: CUMC Chapel

  • Preparation for Klondike
  • shakedown – grubmaster selection (remember this grubmaster duties are part of some rank advancement requirements)

Next Week – 1/14 – Troop Meeting
Uniform: Class B (dress for weather)
Location: CUMC Activity Field

  • Fire Building challenge and final preparation for Klondike

Year End (close of 2019, start of 2020):

  • Jan 7 – Klondike Prep and Shakedown
  • Jan 14 – Klondike Prep / Fire building (on Activity Field)
  • Jan 17-19 – Sully District Klondike
  • Jan 21 – Patrol Night (no troop meeting)

 

Meeting Outlook from Fall Planning

  • December – January Theme – Klondike Skills
  • February – Scouting Through Time
  • March – Fun with Fire
  • April – Back 2 Basics

 

OTHER NEWS & INFO

Merit Badge Opportunities

Anyone interested in beginning on the Personal Fitness MB should speak with Ms. Kathy and Ms. Staton.  We are discussing an opportunity to gather needed metrics starting after Winter Break, this would be outside our normal meeting time.  This is an Eagle Required MB that requires keeping a log of your activities for 3 months.  Knocking it out early is a great idea, having encouragement from others is even better.
More info on the badge: http://usscouts.org/usscouts/mb/mb010.asp 

Upcoming Service Opportunities 

Providing service is a key part of Scouting, to do our daily good turn. Helping others often in turn helps ourselves with new experiences and opportunities for growth. This is built into requirements for most ranks. This section is to list any upcoming service opportunities that may help the Community, and progress in your trail to Eagle, this list is not inclusive and there are many other activities in the area that are also worthwhile.  Activities listed here are Scoutmaster approved, if you have other activities you would like to do be sure to check with me if you would like them to count towards scout service requirements.

  • CUMC Grace Ministries is a monthly program through our charter organization held on the 2nd Saturday of each month, with prep the Friday night before hand, help is needed at both the Friday set up and on Saturday morning to bring goods to cars
    • More info can be found under Grace Ministries on the CUMC Food Ministries page: http://centreville-umc.org/serve-outreach/food-ministries/
  • Camp Snyder Work Days – Camp Snyder is located in Haymarket and has two work crew days each month where volunteers can help with camp maintenance doing carpentry, painting, trail maintenance…  This can be done as an individual or as small groups.  Let me know if you are interested  in providing service (or if a group wants to go together) and I can provide recent announcements.

  

Key Dates (mark your calendar)
also available from Troopmaster subscription calendar

  • Jan 17-19 – Klondike Derby
  • Apr 24-26 – New Scout Campout (possible conflict may require date change)
  • May 22-24 – 893 Annual Family Canoe Trip
  • Jul 5-11 – Summer Camp (Summit Bechtel)
  • TBD – Astronomy MB stargazing will be rescheduled