2024-03-31 This Week: Troop Meeting, Email Distribution, Summer Camp Sign-up and T-shirt design, Fishing Trip, District Alignment, Merit Badge Counselors, One Month Look-ahead

Troop 131,

I hope you are well and enjoyed your spring break and easter weekend!

TROOP MEETING

We will have a Troop meeting at 7:30PM this Monday at Immanuel Church on the Hill!

EMAIL DISTRIBUTION

Parents, if your scouts have a personal email address, please make sure they are receiving troop emails.  If not, then let me know and we can add them to the troop distribution list.

SUMMER CAMP T-SHIRT DESIGN

As Mr. Devlin mentioned again at the meeting on Monday, we are in the process of getting the t-shirts for summer camp designed.  All scouts are invited and encouraged to submit a design.  We already have one design, so keep them coming!

SUMMER SIGN UP

You should have all received an email and online Google form from Mrs. Lacayo, to sign up for summer camp.  Early bird registration ends April 12^th, and we will need to have received payment no later than April 9^th to get this into our bank and generate an electronic payment to send to the camp.  The cost for camp is $30 more after these dates.

So please don’t delay; you have less than two weeks to get the early bird pricing!

FISHING TRIP- April 19^th -21st

See message below from Mr. Mulvaney, I especially like the part about throwing a fish!  The fishing trip last year was a huge success, so we decided to do it again.  Please sign up for the trip if you want to go!

Who: All the avid (and junior) fisherman we can find
What: Troop 131 Fishing Trip
When: Fri 19 Apr – Sun 21 April, 2023
Where: Group Camp Site E at Pohick Bay Regional Park
Why: Give a Scout a fish (and he’ll throw it)….Teach a Scout to fish……

Cost: Just $40 for everyone- includes Troop fishing gear if you need it

And there is a FISHING MERIT BADGE if you need it!!!!

Sign up now

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfy-447PvXdLOju-yXrTXnQTp2ruE7hRiY5GAqpDh26QvkUvg/viewform

Brendan Mulvaney

Outings Coordinator

Boy Scout Troop 131

DISTRICT ALIGNMENT

Recently the NCAC has approved  a plan to realign the districts within the council.  As part of this the units within the City of Alexandria will shift from Colonial District to Chain Bridge District (Arlington). This will take effect June 1^st of this year.  While this will be a change, I was gratified to see that Linda Hill (a good friend and sponsor of the troop) will be switching to Chain Bridge District with us.

See message below from Vicent Kiernan- the Colonial District Chair.

With the council’s approval of the district realignment plan this past Saturday, your Scout unit will be served in the future by Chain Bridge District, which also includes Scouting units in Arlington County, rather than by Colonial District as it has been in the past.  Chain Bridge’s leadership, including district chair Rafay Hassan and district commissioner Karl Gerdes, are ready to support you.  In addition, Linda Hill from Colonial and others from our commissioner staff are planning to continue serving you from Chain Bridge, to provide as seamless a transition as possible.  Units technically will transition to Chain Bridge on June 1, but you are welcome to begin engaging with Chain Bridge at any time before then.

As we navigate through this transition, I strongly encourage you and your leaders to start participating in the Chain Bridge District Roundtable. This event takes place on the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 PM, hosted at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Hall, 830 23rd St S, Arlington, VA 22202. Please note that the location may change in the future to better accommodate the units of the updated Chain Bridge district. 

Please also know that you, your Scouters and your youth members will always be welcome at any Colonial meeting or event; we are all members of the one Scouting movement. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or require assistance during this transition period.

All the best,

Vincent Kiernan

Colonial District chair

National Capital Area Council, BSA

MERIT BADGE COUNSELORS

We are always looking for parents’ involvement in the troop and one great way is to become a merit badge counselor.  If you are interested, then see the process below.  Anyone can become a counselor; however, you must be registered with the troop, be YPT certified and complete the online merit badge course.  Keep in mind that some merit badges, such aquatics or shooting sports, require additional training/certifications.

See link below to the google doc with the current list of counselors.  Register for the ones you are interested in/qualified for and don’t worry if there are already multiple counselors, it is great for the scouts to have options.  Counselors for eagle required merit badges (in yellow) tend to see more action, however, it is great when there are opportunities for electives as well.

(Scouts, keep in mind that you must have a conversation and receive a blue card from the Scoutmaster or one of the other Assistant Scoutmasters BEFORE you reach out to a counselor).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19yJTQS1qk7-UBpIjI2fgJBLrB2qMx-48/edit#gid=1739196674

Merit Badge Counselor Registration Process

1. 
   Inform the Scoutmaster and Committee Chair that you intend to register as a merit badge counselor
2. Submit an online application through this link – https://my.scouting.org/VES/OnlineReg/1.0.0/?tu=UF-MB-082c22

 If already on our unit charter, you can register with “Colonial District 22” as a dual registration. If a dual registration, there will be no fee required with the application. 

 If not on the unit charter, you will register with Colonial District and the fee will be $25 

3. Once the application is completed, you can submit directly to Colonial District via e-mail (registrarcolonialmbc@gmail.com) the following:

* The MBC Information sheet (https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34405.pdf)

* Certificate of completion for Youth Protection Training (YPT)

* Certificate of completion for the online MBC training (accessible through My Scouting, same as where they do YPT https://my.scouting.org) 

4. Once complete, theColonial DistrictMerit Badge Registar will contact you and verify that you are registered with the District. You should see the merit badges listed in Scoutbook. 

SCHEDULE: One Month(ish) Look Ahead

Monday, April 1^st – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM (ACPS- No School) – Immanuel Church on the Hill

Friday April 5^th- 7^{th –} OA Spring Fellowship – Camp Snyder

Monday, April 8^th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill

Monday, April 15^th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM (BoR)- Immanuel Church on the Hill

Friday April 19^th – 21^st – Camping- Fishing- Pohick Bay

April 26^th -28^th – OA Spring Ordeal- Camp Snyder

Monday, April 29^th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM (BoR)- Immanuel Church on the Hill

Saturday May 4^th – Scout Skill Saturday

Monday, May 6^th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM (PLC)- Immanuel Church on the Hill

Monday, May 13^th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM (BOR)- Immanuel Church on the Hill