February

 NYLT Completion: 

Congratulations goes to Alex, Shane and Zach on the completion of their NYLT and for receiving their Bolos on Sunday.  These Scouts attended the NYLT training during the pandemic last fall and completed three goals to help the Troop become a better Troop.  They completed their ceremony on Sunday, but only family members could attend.  I am sure they have pictures they will want to share on the Band app with everyone to encourage other Scouts to set this as a goal for themselves.

Are you interested in attending NYLT?

If you are First Class and are looking for a way to improve your leadership skills, think about attending NYLT this year, or make plans for 2022 if you might earn First Class this year.  If you are interested in attending NYLT, there are still a few spots left for the training in June:

NYLT Simon Kenton Course: April 16-18 and April 30- May 2  (0 spaces available)  

NYLT Nagatamen course: June 6-12, 2021 (0 spaces available)  

NYLT Trailblazer Course: June 14-19, 2021  (21 Remaining spaces available on February 8)

NYLT True North Course: June 20-26, 2021 (15 Remaining spaces available on February 8)

Please let me know if you have any questions.  If you are interested, a $100 deposit is required for the Troop to pay for your spot.  The Troop will pay the $200 for your son to attend.  You will receive your $100 deposit back after your son completes the course and earns the Bolo like these three Scouts did on Sunday.  The Troop will invest in your son to attend the training because we feel this training benefits the Troop.  We ask that you make the deposit money to encourage him to attend and complete his Bolo requirements. The completion of the Bolo is not just the course completion, but also the additional work needed to complete the Bolo recognition.  The skills they learn in NYLT benefit the Troop. Their three goals they create during the NYLT training help the Troop and achieve success in various ways.   Thanks again for your effort Alex, Shane and Zach.   

Summer Camp Presentation:

Noah Boksansky from Beaumont Scout Reservation will be at our meeting tomorrow night.  He is excited to share with you some information about their camp.  Below is what he sent to me to share with you before his presentation tomorrow night:

 

The main link that your Scouts can check out is https://lecbsa.org/scouts-bsa-resident-camp, which includes our Leader’s Guide, Merit Badge offerings, weekly schedule, and some photos/videos. There are also some great photos available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/153319528@N02/albums/72157709384619291. (note that these are from 2019)

 

For your fellow unit leaders, I am also including a link to our 2020 Field Guide for Operations, which is our health department-approved plan for operations in 2020 and beyond under COVID guidelines. We were one of 60 Scout camps in the country to hold resident camp this past year, and we did so with zero active COVID cases or contacts traced back to our program. It is definitely not an ‘exciting’ read, but many leaders have found it valuable to read through our action plan.

Cold Weather Camping Discussion and Decision:

I am planning to discuss the backpacking trip after the summer camp presentation tomorrow night.  It looks like it will be very cold next weekend with highs in the 20s and 30s and lows in the 10s and 20s.  Maybe it might be too cold for a backpacking trip with some of the newer Scouts.  We will need to talk as a Troop about what the Scouts want to do.  Scouts, be prepared to ask questions about the trip and to help the PLC make a decision.  The PLC members will be looking for some feedback from the Scouts in the Troop to help make a decision about the camping trip. 

Camping in the cold weather:

Here are some items that I wanted to share regarding cold weather camping.  This link is about cold-weather hiking trips sent to me by Roland.  It has great advice and it a lengthy email with a lot of information related to the cold weather.  Here is another link for how to dress in layers for the cold weather.  This is great information whether we plan to go backpacking next weekend or not.  Information like this is something you might want to keep for future reference.

Secret Trip in May Meeting:

This meeting will occur after the Troop meeting tomorrow night.  We will be discussing the logistics and event planning for the trip.  We ask that you not be in a location where the Scouts will hear about the trip.  I will refer to the Secret location during the trip, but will let you know before I share the location with you so that you may go to another location of the house or room where they may not hear.  Many of you already know of the location because we talked about it last year about this same time and had to delay the trip until this year.  I am sure you will have many questions.  Please do not share or allow your Scout the location of the trip.  We plan to share this with them as we meet in the parking lot right before we leave to go on the trip.  It will be an amazing experience that everyone will enjoy!  See you tomorrow night!