Scoutmaster’s Corner

Our campout to St. Andrews went well, except for sunburn. We had 28 scouts and 7 adults attend, and the scouts got most of the work done on the Athletics merit badge. The scouts must write a 500-word essay on how to train for sports; until they turn this in (and only 8 have) they will not get the badge. However, we evidently failed, despite repeated reminders, to convince all the scouts to wear sunscreen, as several got sunburned (as did a couple of the adults). While this was a “teachable moment”, it should not have happened. Rest assured that scouts will apply and regularly re-apply sunscreen next time we go to a beach.

We still have a bag of clothes (shirts, towel) that scouts left behind from the Ochlocknee River campout in April. If we don’t find the owners in the next couple of weeks we will donate the clothes to Goodwill.

Scouts who are under First Class rank should bring their scout handbooks to EVERY meeting and campout in order to get skills checked off. Scouts also need to remember that they must schedule Scoutmaster Conferences and Boards of Review (with 3 adults) when they are ready for advancement, and must tell Ms. McGarrah when they have been passed for advancements.

Most of our new scouts are doing a great job on advancement. I encourage all scouts to have the goal of achieving First Class rank within one year. Our program will give them the instruction and opportunities they need to reach this goal, and most should be able to do so by this fall. However, scouts also need their parents’ support (and occasionally a shove) to make this happen. I recommend that scouts work on one skill each week at home (such as first aid or knots) by reading their book and practicing the skills with their parents. They should then get these skills checked off at the following meetings. In this way, scouts will find that rank advancement happens quickly and easily.

Our flock of Troop 23 Eagles has grown. Congratulations to Alan Johnson, who had his Eagle ceremonies on May 29^th.

Troop 23 was well represented at the Cub Scout Day Camp, which was held May 30 – June 4^th. Four of our scouts worked at the Camp. Chris Rivers led water sports, while Casey Lillibridge, Todd Hatcher, and Reynolds Griner worked as den chiefs.

Scorpion Patrol had a patrol outing on June 7 – bowling at Capital Lanes. Reynolds Griner, Todd Hatcher, Casey Lillibridge, Robert McGarrah, and Marc Webb competed for top score, and met one of the requirements for the Sports merit badge.

We will not be able to go caving as a troop activity in August, as the local caving group can’t accommodate that many people on a trip. We are exploring alternative activities, and will have this settled in the next couple of weeks. We don’t go camping in August due to vacations and school restarting, but will have a troop activity on at least one Saturday that month. One likely event will be to have a troop launch of model rockets that we will build for the Space Exploration merit badge.

Summer Camps

We will not have a troop camping trip for the next three months due to summer camp. Wallwood starts on June 17, and all scouts should have already filled out their merit badge schedules and turned them in for this camp. We will have a full camp as around 28 scouts had signed up at last count. Parents are welcome to visit the camp on Wednesday night and bring dinners and “resupplies” to the scouts. A campfire and Order of the Arrow tap out will be held that night that parents are invited to attend.

On June 30, our trip to Camp Daniel Boone in North Carolina will start. We have 14 scouts going on this trip. We will leave the church at 8 AM and drive up to the Ocoee River in Tennessee on Saturday, raft that river on Sunday (the younger scouts will have an alternate activity), and then get into Camp Sunday afternoon. We will have a full week in camp, raft the Natahala River on Friday, and get back to Tallahassee about 6 PM on Saturday July 7^th. With luck, we will get less rain than last year (it would be real hard to have it rain more than last year). Parents will need to sign permission forms for the whitewater rafting.

Note - If your scout comes home with a merit badge “partial”, meaning that they have to complete some assignments to get the badge, it is vital that they complete these tasks before school starts. History shows that the success rate of completing partials after the glow of camp wears off is very close to zero.

Merit Badges

Over the next six months, we are planning to offer an Eagle-required merit badge, as well as one or more fun other badges. We plan to teach the Eagle-required Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Personal Fitness, Family Life, Personal Management, and Communications during this period, plus Space Exploration, Atomic Energy, Computers, Energy, Electricity, Law, Reading, Scholarship, and Orienteering.

Troop Investment Strategy

As you know, Troop 23 is very fortunate to have a highly successful fundraiser with our Christmas tree sale. This funds our troop operations and equipment purchases, and allows us to offer scholarships that scouts can earn from their participation and advancement. It also allows us invest funds to secure the troop’s future. The Troop Committee has adopted an investment strategy that establishes three priorities for use of funds

1) Maintaining sufficient funds to enable the Troop to continue to have an active and successful scouting program;

2) Providing scholarships that will enable all scouts, regardless of family financial circumstances, to have the opportunity to participate in summer camps and High Adventure trips; and

3) Investing sufficient funds to protect the Troop from financial hardship should the Christmas tree fundraiser either require up-front funding or become no longer viable.

Please read the investment strategy over and let me know if you have any questions.

Troop Schedule

June 4 – regular meeting

June 7 – Troop Committee Meeting

June 11 – Honor Court

June 17 – 23 Wallwood Summer Camp (no meeting)

June 25 – regular meeting

June 30 – July 7 Daniel Boone Summer Camp

July 9 – PLC

July 12 – Troop Committee Meeting

July 16 - regular meeting

July 23 – regular meeting

July 30 – regular meeting

The Trooper

June/July 2001

Scoutmaster’s Corner