Troop meeting activities for 11/27/06

Monday night we will be having a guest speaker.  After that, we will break into patrols.

Thanks, & see you Monday

Brandon M.

2006 Tree Sales Info

Greetings!

I’ve received the Official Tree Sale Schedule for 2006, which for us (Troops 37 & 7) is as follows [day shifts are in italics and weekend shifts are in bold]:

SAT 11/25: Albemarle Square AND Pantops Shopping Center: Get frames and set up lots (if not already done), get trees and stock lots (and sell in time left) 10AM to 3PM
SAT 11/25: Albemarle Square AND Pantops Shopping Center: sell 3PM to 9PM
SUN 11/26: Barracks Road: sell 3PM to 9PM
TUE 11/28: Pantops Shopping Center: sell 5PM to 9PM
FRI 12/01: Albemarle Square: sell 10AM to 5PM
TUE 12/05: Pantops Shopping Center: sell 5PM to 9PM
WED 12/06: Pantops Shopping Center: sell 5PM to 9PM
SUN 12/10: Albemarle Square: sell 9AM to 3PM
TUE 12/12: Pantops Shopping Center: sell 5PM to 9PM
WED 12/13: Pantops Shopping Center: sell 5PM to 9PM
SUN 12/17 (unless closed): Pantops Shopping Center: sell 9AM to 3PM

Please look the schedule over, talk with your parents, and identify which shifts you will be able to sign up for. Scouts who are under 16 will need an adult to accompany them.

Remember that the key to a successful tree sale is to get people to buy trees from us!! This means you need to ask as many people as possible –everybody you know: your family, your friends, your teachers, your bus driver, your neighbors, your neighbor’s bus driver, your pediatrician, your dentist, your probation officer, your dentist’s probation officer, etc– to come and buy a tree from you! Let them know exactly what days you will be working where. You should also let them know that we have sold out of trees a few weeks before Christmas for the past several years, so they should come buy a tree from you as early as possible.

Other ideas for getting people to buy from us include having parents inform co-workers when you and they will be selling and putting out signs in your neighborhood.

PARENTS/GUARDIANS:
Note that there is one weekday day shift (Friday 12/01, 10am-5pm) that we need one or more adults to volunteer to cover. So, if you know someone who would like to spend a day helping our scouts by hanging out in front of Albemarle Square, please let me know! (And YES, the time WILL count for hours towards your son’s portion of the profits.)

We also have the opportunity to earn even more money for the boys (Darleen McLaughlin says SIGNIFICANTLY more!) by having adults covering more weekday day shifts, so again, please let me know if you are interested. Perhaps there are a few folks who can complete their week’s worth of work on Thursday, allowing them to volunteer for a Friday shift?

Right now the following day shifts (10AM to 5PM) are open:
Barracks Road: MON 11/27, TUE 11/28, WED 11/29, THU 11/30, MON 12/18, TUE 12/19
Albemarle Square: MON 11/27, TUE 11/28, WED 11/29, THU 11/30, MON 12/04, TUE 12/12, WED 12/13, THU 12/14, FRI 12/15
Pantops Shopping Center: MON 11/27, TUE 11/28, WED 11/29, THU 11/30, MON 12/04, TUE 12/05, WED 12/06, THU 12/07, FRI 12/08, MON 12/11, TUE 12/12, WED 12/13, THU 12/14, FRI 12/15

The Tree Sale will be a topic on the agenda of the next Troop Committee meeting, which is this coming Monday. If you have any other agenda items to offer, please let me know.

See you Monday!

Yours in Scouting,
Peter M.
Troop 37 Committee Chair

November 2006 Cold Mountain Trip Pix and Notes

The November weather was great — cold but not bitter (45F to 28F) — no wind. Everyone gathered at the church, checked gear, food etc and received some initial words of wisdom. The road trip was only about 1hr 20 min down. Started hiking around 10:00am. The first stop was a meadow about 1/2 mile up and a great place for a snack for everyone. After a group picture and getting our bearings, we set off for our campsite some 4 miles further along the trail. After some heavy lifting we made camp around 3:30pm.

We had a great fire ring and open spaces for our tents nearby. Tents went up and meals were made before the darkness fell around 5:20pm. The stars were a bit intermittent. The meteor (I mean asteroid!) viewing was ok but only a few of us stayed up and tried to watch.

Rise and shine around 7:30am and on the trail for 9:30am for a quick 45 minute hike.

My key/buzz words (thorns and roses and buds in scouting terms):

• tin cans — not
• how many tarps does it take to shelter a person, patrol or troop?
• ox is to oxen, as moose is to ??
• campfire keeps us warm
• this troop is a strong team and does its best all the time
• can’t wait to get out again

Send me your pictures, thoughts, thorns, roses and buds to share with the troop and to remember for the next time! More pictures on-line.

Signed,

“Biker”

November hike notes for 11/10/06

Dear Troop 37,

I’m keeping information updated on-line at: http://garybanks.wordpress.com/

Happy Friday. If we were camping today with 75F weather then it would not be cold weather camping!

Please remember to pay attention to “Items that the patrol leaders need to do before Monday’s meeting…” mention in the PLC meeting notes. Also, I know Chris W. could drive if needed but I have no other adult volunteer drivers at this point as a backup in case Chuck does not receive his license.

Finally, I liked this 3D picture of our hike. Note that we may hike in the opposite direction of the arrows. Click on picture to enlarge.

PLC Meeting – November 2006

At the PLC meeting last night we had representation from the Bulls, Cobras and Ducks but no Road Runners. We discussed the camping trip coming up on the 18th of November pretty completely. Items that the patrol leaders need to do before Monday’s meeting are:

• Make sure someone in your patrol has a backpacking stove that they can take.
• If you don’t, let me know and we will find one for you.
• Make sure there are two people per tent – same patrol unless odd number of boys and we will decide on Saturday.
• Make sure grub master has the menu made up completely including quantities – do not buy food yet.
• Make a list of what Patrol equipment you will need….large pot, small pot, spatula and other equipment.
• Make sure that you make up a patrol duty roster.
• If you have a water-purifier then bring one.
• If you need equipment, let me know and we will find it for you to borrow. This goes for tents, stoves, backpacks, sleeping bags and other items you may not have yet.

I have included a camping checklist that I use to get ready for a trip. It is quite long but I print a copy out and then I cross off items that I know I will not use on the current trip. Then I gather items that I need and start packing. This is something that you may or may not want to use but if you do, use it as a guide and modify it to your own liking.

I have also included the Schedule for the rest of November and for December. The PLC discussed merit badges and trips that they would like to try and do or at least to explore doing when they can get more information on them for January and February.

Thanks to all the boys who were able to make it. If you did not make it and have more questions, please contact your Patrol Leaders.

Thanks,

Chuck

November Trip — update for 11/8/06

I’m keeping information updated on-line at: http://garybanks.wordpress.com/

We have approximately 14 scouts and 4 adults going on our trip to Cold Mountain.

I have two questions for today.

FIRST QUESTION: Chuck is trying very hard to get a license for the bus. However, I’d like to be prepared to get there without the bus. We need adult volunteer drivers. We leave Saturday at 7:00am. We would need pickup at Cold Mountain late morning on Sunday. Please have your friendly adult drop me a line if they can assist w/transportation. Sports cars and low riding vehicles won’t do well on the last few miles! I need your 1) the vehicle’s make, model and year, 2) how many people the vehicle can carry, 3) how much gear the vehicle can carry, 4) driver’s license number and state, 5) insurance liability amount for each person, each accident and property.

I am going and can drive, however, I have a Honda Civic that won’t do us much good!

Hopefully the bus will work out. But I’d like to have a pool of drivers available.

SECOND QUESTION: I sent some email addresses to the troop that have bounced for me. If you happen to know the correct email addresses for these people then have them contact Chuck (Chuck@martinhorn.com) and me (GBanks@virginia.edu).

———–
You’ve been figuring out meal plans (lots of burritos), clothing, and cold weather packing tips. It is a lot for anyone to remember so please review your scout handbook, talk to your fellow scouts and patrol leaders. It is a lot for anyone to remember. I was especially glad to see Scoutmaster Chuck reinforce that the Patrol Leaders need to submit their meal plan to their ASM. I’d like the patrol leaders and respective ASM to review their equipment list for tents, stoves, fuel, cooking materials etc as well.

We are leaving at 7:00am on Saturday. So rise early and eat a great breakfast. Pack the night before. If things go perfectly (which is unlikely in my world fellas) then we should have plenty of time to assemble at the church, check critical gear one last time, drive down, pack in, set up camp, and have a good time.

I’ll stop by the PLC tonight (Wednesday). I have 14 or so printed booklets for the patrol leaders to handout or use as desired. Between the scout handbook and the booklets, scouts should have plenty of chances to ‘be prepared’.

Yours in scouting,

November Winter Backpacking Trip

I put information for the November 2006 winter backpacking trip on my personal web site. The direct link for detailed information about the November 2006 winter backpacking trip is http://www.people.virginia.edu/~gfb7c/Troop37/Nov2006trip.htm.

Please take a look at the information on the web page. As more information becomes available (i.e. attendance, camping tips, meals) I will update the trip web page and notify the troop by email and this blog. I’ll call folks when needed as well.

This is my first outing with Troop 37. Please do not hesitate to contact me. I have great access to email (gbanks@virginia.edu) 7 days a week. I have pretty good access on my cell phone (434.981.9530) too. Thank you all in advance for your friendly assistance getting me up to speed.

The scouts have been working on what to pack for winter camping. I gave Brandon a 12 page(!) booklet with outdoor camping tips last week (see the “winter camping essentials” on the trip web page). I have printed copies of the booklet for the individual scouts actually going on the trip. The Word version is online.

We’ll practice ‘leave no trace‘ during our outings.

So please review the information. The patrol leaders have probably been gathering the information about who is going on the trip for patrol planning purposes. Since this is my first trip, please let me know directly if you are going along with your current rank, a statement about your backpacking experience and what you are hoping to get from this winter backpacking trip.