Thanks to all who attended our
monthly Troop Committee Meeting last evening during Gym Night. In an effort to improve our communication we've prepared notes from this meeting, and will continue to share updates with the group.
A look back at March and April,
and our May events.
In March and April our primary
focus during the weekly meetings was on
two Eagle required merit badges – Personal Management and Cooking – scouts have
largely completed both. Thanks to Mr. Nowiski, Mr. Cato, Mr. Nardo, Mr. Aieta
and Mr. Reichardt for their help with Cooking, and Mr. Chase for his work on
Personal Management.
Focus over the next two months will
be in two areas – increasing our scouts exposure to new badges, several of
which are easily achievable at home with a little guidance – Reading, Art,
Scholarship, etc – and in June/July, preparation for our Summer Camp badge
work. Our goal is always to introduce scouts to new ideas, concepts, and
learning, without resorting to lecturing and excessive homework (it’s supposed
to be fun, not schoolwork) – and we’ve noted our scouts are not earning the “extra”
badges that serve as introductions to interests and hobbies. Look for more
information on this over the coming weeks.
We distributed the new Council Shoulder Patches
in March, and hope to see them on your sons uniform by the end of May for the
Flagging and Parade. If your son did not receive one, please let us know.
If
anyone needs scout pants, please let us know, as we have some in the uniform
box, as well as a few shirts. In addition, we have a small number of the large
Troop 2 100th Anniversary patches – if you do not have one, please let us know.
Scouts working toward Eagle are
urged to complete their Project Proposals and make forward progress as the
spring arrives. As a reminder, we meet on Thursday nights at 7 PM to offer guidance
and review, and can meet other times by arrangement. 4 scouts have received council approval to
proceed, and 6 have project ideas under discussion, so we’re expecting a lively
Spring/Summer/Fall program of Eagle Scout projects and follow ups. Please note,
if your son is a Life scout, he has to complete his work on Eagle before his 18th
birthday, and we strongly encourage work to begin no later than his 17th
birthday. If your son falls in this bracket and is not making progress, please
give him a nudge. Also please note your son cannot start his project until it’s
approved by Mayflower Council. Please see Mr. Chase if you have any questions.
We met with the Mayors Office in
mid April in an effort to communicate the
process toward Eagle, and to discuss priorities for scouting, which went well.
We are hoping to streamline the towns review and approval process for Eagle
projects and community service, and to improve the experience and communication
of all troops in Weymouth. We’re hopeful this will pay dividends in the longer
term by increasing cooperation between the troops in town, and look forward to
more meetings with both the troops and the town leadership. Follow up is planned for later in the Spring, and we're in regular communication with the leadership of all the scout troops in the area at the monthly district round tables.
In April we held an Eagle Scout
Court of Honor, where we recognized the achievements of 4 Eagle Scouts. We
camped at Valley Pines overnight, clearing brush from the winter storms. And we
welcomed 5 new scouts, and are awaiting arrival of one other scout, and we welcome Mr. Cato, who's joining his oldest son at the Troop side while serving as Cub Master at the Pack side.
Looking out a month, cost for our
trip and overnight stay at Fort
Ticonderoga has been set at $150, which includes bus, food and lodging for the
weekend, Class A shirts are required, and we have a limit of thirty participants,
with a few seats available, so please
RSVP no later than our first May meeting.
Our primary organizational focus
in May will be on this event, with Summer Camp planning, scheduling and prework
the focus of June and July.
Note, our weekday schedule at camp will be shifting
slightly to encourage a more fluid, Merit Badge University style of classwork
and field work, while outside that structured time we continue to stress and
encourage free time activities (canoeing, waterfront, etc). We will share more
of that in June, but if you’re an adult member or scout planning to attend, and have an interest in
teaching specific badges, please let us know and we’ll do our best to build that time
into the week and pre/post camp work.
We are reviewing the cost of Summer Camp, which is expected
to rise this year - we’ll share the expected
rate soon, which is influenced by three factors
–the cost of fuel and gasoline, food, and declining enrollment all are
drivers.
Our May events are below, and
will include a campout, flagging at two cemeteries, and the Memorial Day
Parade. Drummers, please note our meetings on Monday evenings - we all need to practice for the parade, and we
urge all to attend so we can work on pieces and prepare to march
May 7 – clubhouse, drumming at 7
May 12 – 9 AM Civil
War/rededication of memorial
May 14 – clubhouse, drumming at 7
May 19 - VP Campout
May 21 – clubhouse, drumming at 7
May 26 - Flagging (8 AM Village,
9 AM Old North)
May 28 – No Meeting (Memorial Day
holiday) - Parade
As always, if you have any
questions, concerns, or feedback, please let us know, either by emailing at troop2weymouth@gmail.com or in
person on Monday evenings or Thursday evenings. We can also be reached by
phone.