Hi Troop 136!
I am sorry the email did not go out earlier this week with the link for the meeting this past week. I thought it was sent, but it was still in draft mode on the computer and I could not send it using my phone. Google does not allow you to send a group email using a cell phone. I apologize that we needed to use the Band app to get the meeting code to you, but it seemed to work out ok. I have included the link for our meeting on Tuesday below so that you have it now in case you cannot make it to the Court of Honor on Tuesday night.
Band App :
We just passed our one year mark of using the Band app as adults. In October and November last year we started sharing with the troop about the app. Now that we are in a place that we need to create some additional groups so that they can organize better without interruption to the others in the Troop. There might be some Patrol conversations that do not include the rest of the troop and that is exciting! The invites below will be good until Monday at 7 pm. I would recommend Scouts remain part of the Troop 136 Main group and add their Patrol as well. They can easily switch back and forth and still receive notifications for both groups. The PLC will change every six months, but this would provide them a way to effectively communicate as a group. I will ask that the Scouts text me or email me and their parents if they have specific questions to avoid too much traffic and notifications in the Main group. I will go back and review the names to be sure everyone is in the right group on Monday night. Be sure that your son and you are able to join the Main group and the Patrol they are assigned. I want for them to be able to communicate by sending messages and this allows them the ability to communicate with their fellow patrol members. Scouts will use the Band app to ask and answer questions in their Patrols. They will also use this as a tool to help plan outings, Patrol Meetings, post pictures as well as keeping track of agenda items from meetings. It may also include their Start, Stop Continue logs after every activity. If you want your Scout to use this app, please include at least their first name and the initial of their last name or their full name. I will delete anyone that I do not know from the groups, so be sure that you add yourself using names. If I delete you on accident, please send me an email and I will send you a new code. I will apologize in advance in case there are issues, but so far this Band App has been great for increasing the communication in our Troop.
Band App groups and invite codes are in the email.
Cycling this weekend
In preparation for the Cycling event this weekend, Mr. Guay will be at the church on Tuesday night at 6 pm with a bike stand to be sure that you are ready to take the bicycle on the trip next weekend. Bring your bike to get it checked out and "Be Prepared" to have fun cycling next weekend on the bike path. This is a great time to get one of the items signed off for your Camping Merit Badge #9b, Take a bike trip of at least 15 miles or at least four hours. Your participation in a cycling event for four hours or 15 miles this weekend would count as a completed requirement for the merit badge.
Court of Honor 9/22:
We will have a socially distanced Court of Honor on Tuesday at the fire pit area. Please plan to bring a lawn chair and we will allow the families to sit as groups. It looks like an amazing fall night. It might be a great night to take some pictures of your Scout against the green shrubs after they receive their awards. We will ask that everyone wears a mask including family members. We will use the flag pole as a backdrop near the firepit area and will broadcast using a Google Meet on Tuesday night to families that are not comfortable with attending. They will be able to see and hear the Court of Honor, but since it is a live stream, they will not be able to interact with us during this event. Families can sit to the north of the firepit area in the grass and continue into the parking lot area in front of where the trailers are parked. I will start the live feed at 6:55 pm.
We are still looking for a Scout who might be able to help as the MC for the Court of Honor. This is normally a Scout working on their Communications Merit Badge. Is there a Scout that might want to volunteer to help? If so, please let me know. This is a great opportunity to learn about public speaking and complete the requirement for the merit badge. You only have to do this once, so this is a great time to do it since this is outside. You would simply follow the script and introduce the next guest.
Since the SPL determines which patrol or individuals will help with the flags for the meetings and the Court of Honor, he will be reading out to a Patrol or individuals to help with the Court of Honor. Since we had some Scouts learned about how to properly raise up a fag, fold a flag and how to respect a flag and you are willing to help Shane with our Court of Honor, please let him know. Especially if you earned your Honor Guard cords at summer camp. I am sure Shane would appreciate it if you contacted him.
Wear your full Class A uniform beginning this Tuesday and for all meetings until Memorial Day weekend.
7:00 pm Join with Google Meet Live Stream. You will not be able to interact with the ceremony, but can view the live event and hear us announce the names of the Scouts. This is available for you and your families if they choose to watch. I will make it live at 6:55 pm. I will try to also record the Court of Honor and post the link to our website so that you can view later if you wanted as well.
The the live stream is in the email.
Miami Valley Canoe Livery Campout 9/25-9/27:
On Friday, September 25th, we will leave the church at 6 pm. We will be camping at the Miami Valley Canoe Livery. The cost for your Scout will be $12. It costs $6 per night for every person to camp. We will not provide meals, only hot water if needed for their meals. We will not have access to electricity in our campsites. They do have some nice facilities: "Our riverside tent camping is near the Little Miami Bike Trail and has family style camping, picnic benches, grills, restroom and hot showers. Camping is primitive. No electricity at the camp sites." Bring your bicycle to the church on Friday night to put in our second trailer. We will do our best to keep the bikes from scratching against each other using packing pads. If you have some packing pads to wrap around your bike or a blanket to protect your bike, put your name on the packing pad or blanket so that we can use them to wrap your son's bicycle in the trailer. If you wish to travel to and from the event with your son's bicycle on your vehicle you may do so. If you pack your son's bicycle on your vehicle, you would not have to stop back at the church to get your bicycle and could travel straight home.
Following the guidelines from council, it is recommended that you drive your son to and from this event. However, you may arrange with another family going on the trip to carpool if needed. The adult leaders will not be responsible for travel to and from this event. We will require facemasks unless we are bicycling on Saturday. We will be using hand sanitizer as well several times a day.
Campout details are in the email
Three Eagles Shootout on October 3:
This will be a day activity instead of a campout since we had just spent a weekend camping at the Miami Valley Canoe Livery. Last year, we had some Scouts attend the day and had a great time. They will be able to shoot a shotgun, rifle and spend some time fishing in the pond. Plan to bring lunch for this event. I have not had any other details yet with a start time. Last year we had to be at the rifle range at 8:30 and we were done around 4:30 pm. You will not be required to meet at the church for this event. You will be able to drop off your Scout at the location and come back and pick them up. Once I have more details regarding a start time for the event, I will share a permission form with you. I was waiting to hear back about the time for the Three Eagles Shootout to begin on October 3 and I heard back this morning. You can drop off your son anytime between 8:00 and 8:30 at the Pickaway County Gun Club. I put 8:30 on the permission slip, but I will be at the front gate about 8:00 that morning. If you come after 8:30, you will need to sign in at the shed and find us. You may drop off your Scout at the shelter house before you leave. The safety briefing is at 9:00 in the shelter house. All of the Scouts will be present at this safety briefing so they can shoot at the event. This is an outdoor event and will continue rain or shine because the shooting points are covered and the shelter house is covered. Pickup for this event will be about 4:30. I think this was about the time we ended last year, but it depends on the number of participants. They give everyone a lot of time to shoot and have a great time during the day.
Camping on October 9-11:
The PLC is discussing some ideas about a campout option for the 10/9-10/11 weekend. We will share more at the Court of Honor. I will be sharing some of the ideas from the survey the Scouts that we as a Troop completed in July in preparation for the yearly planning meeting through December 2021. So that you may know how we plan our events, I removed the names of the scouts, but here is the link that I will be sharing with them to help them choose what they want to do:
Information is in the email
Selling T-shirts this weekend
We will be selling the Troop T-Shirts on Tuesday night. They are $7 per shirt and I will have all of the various colors and sizes at that time. You may purchase the shirts before or after the Court of Honor, but not during the Court of Honor. I will close the table about five minutes before we begin to start the live stream for our Court of Honor.
October 9-11 weekend trip
The PLC has been tasked to come up with an idea for the October 9-11 weekend trip. Here are the documents that were created this past summer during the surveys Scouts took to help plan the yearly calendar. If you have a Scout who is on the PLC, I would ask that they reach out to Shane and provide suggestions to what you might want to do. If you are not in the PLC, I would contact your Patrol Leader and advocate for an event that you think is fun so that the Patrol Leader can share with the PLC your idea.
Future Events
9/22 Troop Court of Honor at 7 pm socially distanced at the firepit area of church (Scoutmaster Conference night)
9/25-9/27 Campout to be determined at the 9/15 Troop Meeting
9/29 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Knights of Mandalore Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Board of Review night)
9/25-9/27 Campout to be determined at the 9/15 Troop Meeting
9/29 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Knights of Mandalore Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Board of Review night)
10/3 Three Eagles Shooting Event and Campout at Mount Oval
10/6 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Alpha Dogs Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Scoutmaster Conference night)
10/9-11 Camping trip as organized by the PLC, this information will be shared at the Court of Honor
10/13 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Dragons Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Board of Review night)
10/17 Creek Sweep 9 am to noon
10/20 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Knights of Mandalore Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Scoutmaster Conference night)
10/27 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Alpha Dogs Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Board of Review night)
11/3 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Dragons Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Scoutmaster Conference night)
11/10 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Knights of Mandalore Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Board of Review night)
11/17 Virtual Troop Meeting at 7 PM and Alpha Dogs Patrol Meeting at 7:30 PM (Scoutmaster Conference night)
11/20-11/22 Hiking Campout
11/24 No Meeting Future meetings will be determined and shared at a later date. I know the weather might be colder at this point, but we may not have access to the church building until January at the earliest. The Troop Committee has been talking about some ideas. Once a plan of action for our meetings is determined, I will share where and when we might be able to meet in person. I am trying to avoid the virtual meetings as much as possible, but know that we may need to do this in the short term during the winter months. With this in mind, I could easily see a meeting occasionally be more activity based. I could see us doing some really cool activities to help the Scouts know what to do in cold weather. It might be as simple as setting up tents in the snow and taking them down or getting our bobsled out and doing some activities if it snows. Using the tent idea, a tent is much warmer with snow packed around the edges of the tent. I speak from experience waking up to almost six inches of fresh snow one morning and loving it when I was a Scout. So much fun! I think we just may need to be flexible and continue with the mantra that Scouting Continues! "How do you eat an elephant, one bite at a time!"
Phillip Freeman
Scoutmaster, Troop 136 in Grove City, OH
