Scribe's Notes- December 2nd, 2008

Tonight, we worked on finishing up rank advancement and merit badges. We're making comfort kits for the Red Cross, so please bring in any items you think they would need. Dont forget to sign up for Bell ringing on Saturday, Dec. 13. The shifts are at Cabela's for an hour. The Love feast will be at the 1st United Methodist Church on Jan. 8th, 2009. We will have more details later.

Scribe's Notes: November 25th, 2008

Welcome to our troop blog! Here's what happened at our meeting tonight.
- Handed out newsletters to anyone who did not get one when they picked up wreaths
-If you haven't picked up your wreaths, please contact Sheri
Parade
-We won 1st place for youth entry!!!
-Thanks to all of the volunteers who helped on their own time to make the float
-Tonight, we took the float apart.

- PLC on Monday- 7:00pm in troop room
- Saturday, December 13th-Salvation Army bell ringing
- We need one adult per two scouts for each hour long shift.
- At Cabela's
Red Cross needs a group to collect supplies for their comfort kits. This would make a good Eagle project.

Fall Camporee Has Been Postponed

The Fall Camporee has been either postponed or canceled due to the weather. More info coming later.

Committee Mtg Tonight 11/6/08

There is a committee meeting tonight at 7:00 PM at FUMC. All committee members and concerned parents please attend.

PLC Meeting! 11/3/08

All boy scouts in leadership positions need to be at the PLC meeting Monday night. If you're on this list then you are expected to be there, 7:00 PM FUMC troop room.

Troop Mtg - Tracking Pt. 2

Last night we cleaned up the animal footprint casts that we made last week, then we watched more of the tracking video. Popcorn order sheets were also due. We have over $5,000 in orders! If you have a sheet to turn in, contact Brandon or Kristin right away!

We also had a Mini Court of Honor. Jaryd was awarded his Life rank, and Jordan was awarded Tenderfoot. We also had a variety of Merit Badges awarded.


Here are some pictures.





Sasquatch tracks!


Kristin and Nicole tally popcorn orders.



Picture credits: Alan P.

REMINDER: The next full Court of Honor will be Dec. 23. This will also be our Christmas party. Make sure you are finishing up your rank advancement requirements and merit badges so that you can get them then.

Scribe's Notes: Scouting for Food.

Saturday was a good day. First, we stopped at the Salvation Army with a lot of food. We donated more then 4000 items of food to the Food Pantry. We stood there and helped them sort it out. Afterwards, we drove to the Outdoor campus, where we played several games of hide-and-go-seek. We also went geo-caching. It was right about then we got the call. The Corn Maze had closed for the day, on account of all the mud. Well, like any good Scouters, we had a backup plan. We headed for Falls Park. We climbed in the rocks and had a great time. We headed home soon afterwords. It was very fun.

Outdoor Campus + Falls Park

On Saturday, after Scouting for Food, we went to Sioux Falls to the Outdoor Campus, and Falls Park. As you know, we had intended to go to the corn maze, but they announced at 4:00 PM on Sat., after we were already in Sioux Falls, that they were closed due to muddy conditions from all of the rain that we got last week. Well, we still had fun, though!

Here are some pictures.

Outdoor Campus

Lunch at McDonalds's before we left.


Learning about nature.


Hiking and geocaching.


Playing hide-and-seek.


Hanging out.


Exploring.



Falls Park

Fun on the rocks!














We finished up the evening with dinner at Valentino's for pizza and pasta buffet. Thanks to all who came!

Picture credits: Alan P.

Scouting for Food 10/25/08

Troop 75 participated in the Scouting for Food food drive Mitchell. All of the cub scout and boy scout units in Mitchell participated and we collected 770 food items. Altogether in Mitchell, the scouts collected 3200 items. The food bank said this may last until Christmas. Thanks to all of the scouts that helped out. Remember that the time you spent putting out bags, collecting the bags, and sorting food at the Salvation Army all counts toward your community service hours.

Here are some pictures.










Picture credits: Alan P.

Troop Mtg 10/21/08

At last Tuesday's troop meeting we started the topic of animal tracking, led by Sherri.

Here are some pictures.

Sherri explains how we will make animal track casts.


Making casts.




Watching a video on tracking.



Picture credits: Alan P.

Distributing S4F Bags

Reminder to all of those that signed up for Scouting for Food (S4F) routes: Make sure you get those bags put out tonight or tomorrow.

You need to pick up the bags starting at 9:00 AM Sat. morning, then take them to the Salvation Army.

Remember that we will be meeting up after S4F to go to Sioux Falls to the Outdoor Campus and the Corn Maze. Details here.

There is an admission charge to the maze, plus we will be eating fastfood lunch and supper together, so you will need to bring $15-$20, depending on how much food and goodies you want to eat!

Committee Mtg 11/6/08 @ 7:00 PM

Troop Committee members - Please note that there is a Troop Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. The meeting will be in the basement conference room at First United Methodist Church.

Please plan to be there. Other interested parents may attend in a non-voting capacity. Thanks!

Scout Spirit

Question Rank advancement requires a Scout to demonstrate Scout spirit. How is Scout spirit defined and determined?

Answer Scout spirit applies to how a Scout lives and conducts his daily life. He shows Scout spirit by being a role model to his peers, living by the Scout Oath and Law. The concept of Scout spirit is not based on how many Scouting events or outings a Scout attends, but rather by how he helps bring out the best in others as a reflection of his own character and attitude in his daily life.



From National BSA Rank Advancement.

Scribe's Notes: Tuesday, October 14th

Tuesday was the Troop's Annual Open House. We invited all of the packs in Mitchell to come and see what Boy Scouts was all about. We had 3 station: wildlife identification, knots, and rescue carries. At the end, we made ice cream. It was pretty fun

Announcements

We are doing a troopwide update of all Ranks records for council. Start getting together all of your cards from ranks and merit badges. Adults, get records for your training.

We got some new merit badge books. The books are over the Electronics, Pets, Dog Care, Engineering, and Computers.

Two weeks from now is a mini Court of Honor

Wreath Sales- We handed out wreath sales sheets. Remember, profit goes to The Scouts bank acount. Take money when you sell. We deliver around Thanksgiving. Make out checks to Troop 75.

S4F + Outdoor Campus + Corn Maze 10/25/08

October Outdoor Activity

Sat. 10/25/08 is the day we pick up the bags for Scouting for Food (S4F). At the last PLC meeting, the troop decided to make it an all-day activity. After picking up the bags and dropping them off at the drop site, we will have lunch together, then go to Sioux Falls to the Outdoor Campus and spend the afternoon there. Then we will get a bite to eat somewhere and go to the Heartland Country Corn Maze after dark (about 6:30 PM). Bring some spending money for eating, admission, and snacks at the maze. The admission cost will be $5.00 if we have a group of at least 20. Also bring a headlamp or flashlight, warm clothes, and shoes appropriate for tramping through a cornfield.

Everyone really enjoyed the Area 81 maze last year. This one should be a lot of fun, too, so please sign up on the signup sheet at the troop meetings. We also need drivers as well, so adults please help out. Thanks!

PS: Someone asked at the troop meeting last night that if they couldn't participate in S4F could they still go to Sioux Falls, the answer is yes, just get signed up so that we can be sure we have enough seats for everyone.

Mini Court of Honor - Tue 10/28/08

We will hold a mini CoH at the troop meeting on Tuesday night 10/28/08. Jaryd G. has earned his Life rank and Jordan H. has earned Tenderfoot. We also have some merit badges to award.

Trunk or Treat 10/24/08

We are looking for boy scouts to help at the city's Trunk or Treat event held at the Mitchell Middle School on Friday night 10/24/08 from 4:00-6:00 PM. Jack, our District Executive, wants to use this as a cub scout outreach. We need about 6 boy scouts to hand out candy and stickers. Please sign up on the signup sheet at the troop meetings.

The time spent on this will count toward your community service hours.

Adult Training Records

Deb mentioned at the troop meeting last night that we would like to get the adult training records up-to-date at Sioux Council. To say that their records of the adult training are incomplete would be an understatement. Scouters please start rounding up your training cards so that we can get the records updated. We will be contacting you individually to get this straightened out. Thanks!

Boy Scout Youth Records

I mentioned at the troop meeting last night that in some cases the records at Sioux Council for our boys' rank advancements and merit badges may have inaccuracies. I am making a new push within the troop to verify the records. I have received the latest advancement report from our Advancement Chair, Bill, and wish to review the records with each family. So please round up your cards and be expecting a call by me. I intend to start with the oldest patrols and make my way down to the youngest ones. Thanks.

Troop Open House

Last night we had Open House for the Mitchell cub scout packs. 2nd-year Webelos from Packs 75 and 77 and their families joined us for fun activities put on just for them. Thanks to all of the boy scouts from the troop who did an awesome job making our guests feel welcome.

Did you know that 97% of all boy scouts were cub scouts? It is very important to reach out to cub scouts to keep them in the scouting program.

The activities included knot tying, wildlife identification, rescue carries, and baggie ice cream making.

Here are a few pictures from last night.







Picture credits: Alan P.