I hope everyone is well and had a great weekend! Sorry for the very long email, but there is a ton of information this week, so please take the time to read!
Let me start by saying the Court of Honor last Monday was a big success and a huge thank you goes out to Mrs. Farmer for organizing and getting all the patches. In addition, a job well done by all the Scouts who participated in the ceremony. Clearly the Campaign Hat (smokey the bear hat) was a hit and will be a new tradition at the future Court of Honors!
To augment my Scoutmaster minute from the CoH, I just wanted to include a few links to Scouting America videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yREQNjPMDYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWM7OdNM1CU
This week we have our Monthly PLC, so all those in Leadership Positions should arrive at 6:45.
Mr. Farmer asked me to include information for the upcoming Camping/Shooting Trip, please see below!
I am also pleased to welcome 4 new scouts to the troop from Pack 129. Thank you to Theo Ramirez, Jack Norris, and Henry Mills for coming to the Crossing the Bridge Ceremony to welcome these new scouts! We will get them organized into patrols soon enough!
For new and older scouts alike, I just want to announce that last week we received a donation of camping gear from a former Troop 131 family. It included backpacks, tents and sleeping bags. If anyone would like to look through it, please talk to Tadhg Devlin (the quartermaster) and he can open the shed for you. In addition, we have a chest full of lightly used scout uniforms. Most of the sizes are on the smaller size, which is perfect for any new scouts looking to switch out their blue shirts for tan ones!
Be sure to see below for an update to the Summer Camp information, the Merit Badge Schedule was finally posted!
Finally, March 17th will be a very busy meeting with a Sea Base Crew Prep meeting (see below), Board of Review and Order of the Arrow elections (see below)
TROOP MEETING
We will have a Troop meeting at 7:30PM this Monday at Immanuel Church on the Hill!
Your leadership team has a great meeting plan set up, including working on the following requirements for First Class. All scouts in attendance who can demonstrate that they fulfilled these requirements can ask an older scout to sign them off in their book- no matter what your current rank is!
First Class Requirements Covered
5a: Identify 10 kinds of native plants – note, please bring your head lamp!
5b, 5c, 5d: Extreme Weather
9b: Environmental Issues
The other part of the meeting will focus on Camping preparation. That includes meal plans, duty rosters, and pulling equipment from the shed! Please submit your duty rosters to the SPL by the end of the meeting for review! See below on the cooking teams!
Former Pack 135 and Pack 129 Scouts, during the camping trip preparation period, I would like you all to:
- Organize yourself into two patrols (no more than 8 to a patrol)
- Think of a cool patrol name
- You will elect a patrol leader at the next meeting but start talking about who would like the position.
Your Troop Guides will help you with this.
SHOOTING/CAMPING TRIP
See the message below from Mr. Farmer.
For those attending the shooting trip (list is at bottom) please come to the meeting tomorrow night with your blue cards and be prepared to discuss the trip. We will meet at the Church at 0730 on Saturday morning (15 March). We will carpool to the Izak Walton League Bethesda-Chevy Chase chapter. The address to point your google maps towards is: 20601 Izaak Walton Way, Poolesville, MD 20837
We will gather at the shooting range around 0900 (it’s about an hour’s drive from Alexandria) and will conclude our shooting at around 1400 Saturday afternoon. We will then transition to the campsite where we will set up camp and conduct training on fire preparation and fire safety. If any of the scouts attending the camping trip has specific sign off needs they want to accomplish please email Mr Farmer (michael.farmer.usn@gmail.com) and CC your parents. We will take a look at anything specific and determine if we can accomplish that during the trip. We will cook dinner, and if the weather permits (chance of rain) conduct a campfire. If anyone needs Master of Ceremonies time for a sign off, email Mr Farmer.
Sunday morning we will make breakfast, break down camp, and return home. The goal is to have the camp broken down and cleaned up by 0900. On the road by 0930, and back in Alexandria by 1030. We can’t meet at the Church parking lot for drop offs as it will be occupied (Sunday) so each driver will need to work out with their carpool where they need to drop off scouts.
For the Scouts you need to eat breakfast before we leave on Saturday. The assigned cooking groups will need to plan on an easy to assemble lunch (cold cuts, or something not requiring cooking), a dinner, and breakfast the following morning. We will be camping at the Izaak Walton League site, on the other side of the farm. YOU NEED TO BRING YOUR OWN WATER SUPPLIES.
Weather for the weekend is a slight chance of rain on Saturday, and a better than even chance of rain on Sunday. Pack for wet weather, with temperatures ranging between 50 and 70 degrees.
COMMITTEE, ASM, PARENTS MEETING
See note below from Mrs. Devlin concerning our upcoming Committee meeting. Parents, we hope you can attend!
Esteemed parents, ASMs, and committee members,
Mark your calendars for our upcoming parent and committee meeting (at the Devlin house 507 E Alexandria Ave. OR via Zoom) Thursday, March 13 @ 7:30pm.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81557702601?pwd=hJ9BWV8muHXESCJUlIUolXaxvWrdfA.1
Meeting ID: 815 5770 2601
Passcode: T131-2425
This is our semi-annual meeting dedicated to learning about troop processes and plans; you can ask questions, get answers, make suggestions, and find where you can support. All are welcome!
