Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Meetings tonight, Mulch sale, and Summer Camp

Duty to God Meeting:
We have a Duty to God meeting tonight at 6 pm.  

Link for the meeting is in email

Virtual Troop Meeting:
We have our virtual troop meeting at 7 pm.
Link for the meeting is in email.

Mulch Sale:
We will have our mulch sale next weekend, May 8th and 9th.  If you were not able to sign up using the Signup Genius link the first time, here is the link again.  I have also attached some rules that were developed by Todd Miller with input from Jeff Colburn, John Fuller and myself.  We think we are able to do this successfully and safely using some of the protocols that we have implemented.  Please see the attachment and let us know about your concerns.  Participation is voluntary, but is a great fundraiser for the Scouts in preparation for payment of summer camp and other future trips.

If you have not signed up to help, please use the link below:

I sent out an update this morning to those that have signed up so that you can get a link to your registration for the event.

Here are the items that are important to know about the mulch sale:
Troop 136 
First Presbyterian Church, Grove City, Ohio 
2020 Mulch Plan April 26, 2020 
1. Due to the social distancing requirements caused by COVID-19, the following restrictions will be instituted by Troop 136 for participants in the 2020 mulch fundraiser: 
     a. All participants must wear a face covering (bandanna, mask, etc.). No exceptions. 
     b. Each youth participant will need to be transported by a parent or guardian from the base of operation (corner of Snowy Creek Drive and 
         Autumn Wind Drive) to each work site. Those who share a residence (such as siblings) may share a vehicle. 
     c. It is recommended that each participant bring a personal size bottle of hand sanitizer. 
     d. Participants will need to maintain separation from others a minimum of 6’-0” except when in vehicles. 
2. As in past years, participants should: 
     a. Wear sunscreen, hat, sun glasses. 
     b. Bring rain gear (keep in car until needed). 
     c. Bring a full water bottle. 
     d. Wear old clothes. Absolute Black mulch will stain. 
     e. Bring old gloves to protect your hands (again, black mulch stains). 
     f. Bring a rake and/or broom with your name on it. 
3. Unlike in past years, COVID-19 has forced the following changes: 
     a. We will not be eating Saturday lunch on site. Do not bring food unless it is a medical necessity, and then keep it in your vehicle. 
     b. A port-a-potty will NOT be provided on site. 
     c. Mulch activities will be scheduled for multiple days and times. Finish times are approximate and will depend on how much progress is made. If we 
         can avoid having to come back another time, we may extend the hours slightly. 
4. OVERVIEW: 
     a. Mulch activities will take place as follows: 
     i. Friday May 8, 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. 
     ii. Saturday May 9, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 
     iii. Friday May 15, 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (if needed) 
     iv. Saturday May 16, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (if needed) 
     b. The plan is to complete all deliveries first. Then we will complete all spread jobs. Finally we will wrap up with spreading of commons areas. The overall plan is highly dependent on the number of volunteers with trucks or trailers at any given time. Given enough trucks, we believe we may not need to work all scheduled shifts. We especially need trucks on Friday May 8 and Saturday May 9. c. Since this plan is dependent on the number of trucks and trailers we have, the sequence of work may need to be adjusted. 
5. A hand washing station will be provided on site. 
6. Please use caution at the site. This is NOT a 4-way stop. Traffic on Snowy Creek Drive does not have a stop sign so you must be aware of traffic before you attempt to cross the street. 
7. Participation in this event indicates you are aware of and agree to abide by the above rules.  

Summer Camp:
I will find out about summer camp at a meeting on Wednesday night.  If we need to collect money, I will let you know where you can meet me to submit payment for summer camp.

Here is the information that I sent out previously on February 25th about summer camp.  The dates for money collection are up in the air, but all of the other information is still correct at this point:

Can you believe it?  We are already talking about summer camp?  I will give a brief overview of summer camp options next week on March 3rd(We had our meeting, but may have another virtual meeting if there are other changes). The annual presentation on summer camp will on May 5th(To be determined).    
 
MVSR (Normal week of summer camp): The $25 fee for the early bird at MVSR is also due March 3rd.  The balance or total is $270 to attend camp due on May 5th.
Chief Logan (I am going and Scouts may go with me): There is no deposit, but the final amount of $280 is due on April 14th (This has changed).  This camp is more expensive so the focus would be for the Scouts to attend MVSR with the troop.  The committee thinks that everyone going the same week is a good idea, but since I am also going to Chief Logan,Scouts may choose to attend this camp as well.
Permission Slips:MVSR Summer Camp #$25 due next Tuesday March 3rd for the early bird price, the total amount of $270 is due on May 5th:
Chief Logan Summer Camp due April 14th(This has changed):

Yours in Scouting,

Phil 

--
Phillip Freeman
Scoutmaster, Troop 136 in Grove City, OH 
 

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Duty to God and Troop Meeting tonight


Duty to God meeting at 6 pm.

Troop Meeting will again be meeting virtually tonight at 6:45 pm.  You can come to the room beginning 6:45 and we will begin with the flag ceremony at 7 pm.  

Link for the meetings is in your email

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Challenge to the Scouts

Hi!

I wanted to take this time to challenge the Scouts of Troop 136 to continue to work on their rank advancements.  There are merit badges also to work on as well, but we have a lot of Scouts that are still needing to complete requirements to achieve First Class by the end of the year.

I want to highlight one of our Scouts, Elias.  He has been steadily working on his rank advancements by completing one or two items each week.  I would encourage each of you to find one item that you can work at home during the time for your rank advancement.  When you are done, send me an email.  Depending on the requirement, we can have a quick conversation about the requirement if needed.  

My challenge for you during the month of April is to complete two requirements towards your next rank advancement.  This is one per week.  Are you going to accept the challenge?  

All Scouts who accept the challenge and are able to complete two requirements before the end of April will receive special recognition at the beginning of the month in May.  Will you be on the list?  It is something that will be worth your time.  Do you want to receive the recognition award that I am preparing for you?  It is pretty cool!

Yours in Scouting,
Phil

--
Phillip Freeman
Scoutmaster, Troop 136 in Grove City, OH 

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Duty to God Meeting @ 6p, Troop Meeting @ 7p

Hi Troop 136!

Duty to God Meeting at 6 pm:
Below is the meeting code for the Duty to God that we started in February but was delaying the start when school was closed.  Jim Rose will lead the event tomorrow at 6 pm.  
It is not too late.  This meeting will start at 6 pm tomorrow night. 
Here is a link for more information in case you want to join us:  
Join Hangouts Meet
Join by phone (501) 943-5673 (PIN: 162166910)

Troop Meeting at 7 pm:
Here is the link for our normal troop meeting tomorrow night:
Join Hangouts Meet
Join by phone (417) 719-9449 (PIN: 247184485)

Here is the meeting plan:

Advancement:
A few of the Scouts have been very studious during their time away from our normal daily school activities.  I want to be sure that you know the proper way to start a merit badge in our troop.  When we had our normal meetings, you would see me for a blue card and after the Scout completed the blue card, I would sign the card and send the Scout to see Jason Wright, our Advancement Chair.  Mr. Wright would give you a few names of the merit badge counselors that you may contact and start the merit badge.  He would also record who you were working with so that we would know who to contact regarding your advancement in the merit badge.  With the recent change of us not meeting weekly, we are changing the process until we start to meet again in person.  You may send me an email requesting to start a merit badge.  I will forward your request to Jason Wright who will respond to you with a list of merit badge counselors for you to work with by email.  

What about rank advancement and prerequisites for summer camp?
In another email that I will be sending the updated guidelines for advancement from the national office.  There are some changes to rank advancement and merit badges.  I will also include both of the lists of merit badge prerequisites for the summer camps so that you can think about starting on the prerequisites for the merit badges.  

Merit Badge College for Troop 136:
I am excited to share with you that I am starting our very own merit badge college for our Scouts.  I will offer an opportunity for Scouts to begin working with Merit Badge Counselors using Google Classroom learning platform.  This will be within our troop so that you could be completing the requirements for the merit badge on your own and submitting for the merit badge counselor to review and schedule a time to discuss the items with you along the way.  I will be sharing with the troop tonight. I am sending an email to the other leaders in the troop who might be willing to lead an online merit badge college for the merit badge.  I will be setting those up over the next few weeks.  This will not be a short term goal for you to use.  We will be using this going forward as a way to help you obtain merit badges and for you, your parents, the Advancement Chair and Scoutmaster to know your progress toward completion of the merit badge.  If you have questions, you will be able to ask tonight. I will begin Public Health and Emergency Preparedness Merit Badges tonight.

Adults - if there is a merit badge that you have offered in the past for Scouts in our troop in the past and are willing to use this platform, please let me know and I will start to create a merit badge classroom for you.  I will add Jason Wright and myself in the classroom as well.

Look very soon to a second email about the advancement changes from national and the prerequisites for summer camp.

--
Phillip Freeman
Scoutmaster, Troop 136 in Grove City, OH