BSA Troop 951

Welcome to Bryan Hurlman, Matthew Russell and our new team of Troop Officers. I look forward to a very successful Winter and Spring term with our new leadership team. I hope everyone will help them learn their jobs and share with them their best ideas as we move from cold weather camping to the end of school.

I often talk about taking turns in leading. Canadian geese know how to do this as they take turns leading the V-formations we see in the sky. The lead goose uses far more energy than the succeeding birds. Bicycle racers quickly learn to draft each other from behind, switching off leaders as each tires of breaking the wind for the others. Before becoming your Scoutmaster, I worked as membership co-chair of our church in Rochester, NY (with Dorothy), served on the board and for a bit, as president of the Chatham Education Foundation, was Cubmaster of Pack 93 and a number of other volunteer jobs outside of my profession. As with my many different professional assignments at Wyeth, in each volunteer assignment I came to a point when I knew it was time to turn it over to the next person.

So it is in our troop each 6 months, when our SPL & ASPL and others take off their badges and move on to other duties and another team takes over. I always look forward to many new ideas. We all notice a sudden change as the new team takes time to learn how to run things smoothly. We often long for the old guys who ran it so well. And then, the new guys become the next old guys&ldots;

What is great is that you all are willing to take on the extra work of leadership. Without your stepping forward, the Troop would fold. This is, of course, true of every organization of which we are a part. And sometimes, we have to say “No.” But it is important that we each take our turn saying “Yes”. For some, this term, “Yes” is simply showing up on a trip. For others, it is leading the trip. Whatever you are each doing this term, THANK YOU! And think about what YOU want to do NEXT.

Patrols are responsible for their assignments for the entire month. Please be responsible to your duty at each of the troop meetings.

A group of hearty souls attended our annual cold weather camping activities which were held this year at Camp Evergreen. Though most slept in the church (except Steve & Brad and Fred Riggsbee), we were out in the weather all day Saturday and the next morning which was clearly the most rigorous part of the camping trip. Our new leadership team led a first aid advancement class and Steven Kosiba inducted a number of new Totin’ Chippers and Firem’n Chitters. The hatchets were swinging (out of blood range!) as our troop attacked the fallen debris all over the Camp Evergreen area. David Applegate brought his chainsaw to dispatch the big trees which had fallen across the fire circle. All of the hard work paid off that evening with a roaring big fire to warm our skits and tales (and tails!). A good time was had by all. Next year, how about Siberia?

Many members of the new PLC (Patrol Leaders Council) gathered at the church before the campout to talk about programming for the next term and to tie the group together. We decided to work on scheduling:

The teambuilding exercise was to tie knots as human rope, blindfolded; but details will have to wait for your own experience as we are sure Bryan will share it with you as a game at one of the Wednesday meetings. All in all, it was a productive time and we look forward to a productive term!

Registration for the Troop is going very well. As of February 1, we have 28 scouts who have re-registered for another year of exciting activities in scouting. If you have not registered yet, please see Bob or Kathryn Royster TONIGHT! This is the final night for registration. DON’T WAIT TOO LATE! The fees for re-registration are as follows:

Thank you so very much for your promptness in getting this task accomplished and ready to go to Council. Looking forward to a wonderful year of exciting activities!!!

If you are member of the Order of the Arrow, your annual dues are due at this time. Annual Order of the Arrow dues are $10. Please see Bob or Kathryn Royster to pay your dues NOW!!! You can pay these along with re-registration. Should you decide to write a check, make it payable to Troop 951.

Order of the Arrow elections were held last week and hopefully some of you will soon become members of the OA. It is an exciting organization of which each member should be honored to be a part.

The web site is a wonderful resource for information. Use it often!!! If you have information to be posted on the web site, please contact Jeff Harrison in one of the following ways:

We would like to thank the 23 scouts in our troop who participated in the Trail’s End Popcorn Campaign in the fall. The top three salesmen are as follows:

Summer Camp 2003 will be at Camp Raven Knob, just west of Mount Airy, NC. Camp Raven Knob is one of the favorite camps (if not, the favorite) of Troop 951 scouts. The name of our campsite is KIT CARSON. This is an adirondak site. The Troop has never stayed in an adirondak site before and we are looking forward to making this one of the best (if not, the best) summer camps ever. The following statistics are current as of February 1:

Please see Bob or Kathryn Royster to get your name on the list for this exciting, fun-filled week. We will have futher information concerning summer camp once we receive the Leader’s Guide from Camp Raven Knob in late February or early March.

For the present time, our weekly meetings will continue on Wednesday evenings. After a lengthy discussion at the January parent meeting and the Troop Committee meeting, the committee decided to continue meeting on Wednesday evenings at 7 pm. As was expressed at the parent meeting, we must consider schedules of our leadership. That is indeed the reasoning behind the present decision. There was discussion at the Troop Committee Meeting about the consideration of changing the meetings to Tuesday in the fall of 2003. Again, we will have to consider schedules (scouts and leaders) when making this decision or change. Thank you so much for your input in this matter.

The Troop Committee decided at the January meeting to hold a parent meeting on the first Wednesday of each month. It is an excellent opportunity to get together as a group (while the scouts are having their regular meeting) and discuss the upcoming events, etc. It is an information sharing meeting and the Troop Committee welcomes your input and ideas. In order for parents to stay informed, the newsletter, The Troop Scoop, will be distributed at that time Please come and participate to help us make Troop 951 all that it can possibly be!!!

Sunday, February 16 will be Scout Sunday at Evergreen United Methodist Church. EUMC is our sponsoring organization and each of our scouts should plan to attend and help with the worship service. This is an excellent way that we can show the church how much we appreciate their involvement in our organization. David Applegate will be contacting scouts to help with the service. Volunteer your services TODAY!!!

February, 2003