National Jamboree, Northern Tier

The Greater Alabama Council is still trying to recruit Scouts and leader to attend the Jamboree in 2010. the cost is about $2000.
If you are interersted..please read the following information. Don't forget that the Troop is planning a Northern Tier Trip to Canada the same summer . so far we have about 20 leaders and Scouts raising hands to go...we are going to start recruiting from other Troops if we don't get our own numbers up to about 35-40 so please look at the calendar and try to get him on the trip....the cost right now is about $1000 for seven days on the water in a canoe, three days travel each way, a plane trip to the canoe base, and meals.....there are some other options to make it a little less for fees and maybe travel time (Ely instead of Bissett)......Be at the meeting this Monday to discuss with Mr. Young and the Scouts. Minimum age is 14, good physical fitness, and BSA guidelines.

Troop News: We have two guest speakers arranged for Monday. Encourage attendance. Please start planning for Northern Tier with us around the 4th of July weekend, 2010. This year we will again sell popcorn..with all the sales profits staying with the Scouts so he can work toward supporting his trips. The Court of Honor was very well attended and coverd a great deal of ground. Thanks to Mr. Frost and his daughter Rachel...all the merit badges earned, including summer camp, were awarded along with rank and special recognition to Scouts and Leaders.

Remember, the labor day holiday is not a Scout meeting at the hut. The following two meeting will focus on our September Backpacking trip to the Sipsi Wilderness, Bankhead National Forest.


YiS Dan s

Court of Honor next Monday 6:30pm@BPUMC

Nearly thirty Scouts and leaders were able to make the meeting and visit Papa John's Pizza Monday night, thanks to Mr. Oliver's effort in coordinating the trip...there were some excellent teaching points and a lot of fun.

Attached is the Agenda for the Court of Honor this coming Monday at the Bluff Park United Methodist Church Reid Crotty Fellowship Hall starting at 6:30 PM...Host patrol Penquians should arrive at 6:00 PM for setting up the Court. Please refer to an earlier Troop Blog on what the Pot Luck format(troop provides condiments) entails (food)...the Court is a family affair in recognizing the Scout and all his work since Summer camp..plus more recognition for all the Scout and leadership has accomplished since then. Uniform is BSA Khaki shirt, Scout shorts, Scout belt, Scout socks, Troop Neckerchief or BSA bolo, and BSA merit badge sash.....

Please make yourself a copy of the attached Court of Honor Agenda...bring it with you to the Court...give your son a copy..and if his name is listed as a presentor...make sure he sees that and brings a note card to remind himself what to say when he gets up front...rather than " it was just fun." Basic leadership comes in many forms....sometimes in just making a stand up presentation ...."Be Prepared."

Several Scouts still owe the fees for the Water Skiing weekend ($37.00) ....please give Mr. Oliver a check for that during the Court of Honor....

OA recap, visit Papa John's @6:45pm, OA in Sept

Thanks to Mr. Simon, Mr. Turner, and Mr. Gunn for providing Transportation, we had a successful Ordeal weekend for those who attended at Camp Comer. Pictures to follow soon on the Web Site.

S and S Hardy, A Turner, and M Gunn earned their OA Flap and Sash by passing the Ordeal; thanks to K Berry, P Kidd, J Kunka, and J Ng, who made up Pre Ordeal Ceremonial Team and performed the pre ordeal ceremony for more than 100 candidates out of the 200 total attending, the 300 membes or so in attendance had the best of weekends. There were over 50 members who earned their Brotherhood rank also.

The next Ordeal is September 11-13 at Camp Jackson, west of Fort Payne. Members in the Troop who have not earned their Brotherhood should plan on attending and support the remaining three members/candidates,Jordan Taylor, B Debalsi and N Madison if they attend.

The Schedule for other Coosa Lodge actvities is posted and updated at Coosa50.org. Our local Chapter, Nunne-Hi, will meet at 6:30 PM, August 27 at the Scout Hut of Troop 254 of the Briarwood Presbyterian Church for about an hour or so, with snacks and drinks provided.

Also...the Coosa 50 Lodge will be having its Fall Fellowship during the weekend of September 25-27 at Camp Comer. This a fun filled weekend with about 300 in attendance inclusive of Native American dancing, competitive games, and various classes and demonstrations. Information is on the Coosa50.org site.

Please reply to me and J Kunka and P Kidd if you will be attending any of these activies so we can start arranging transportation.

Inactive members are reminded that you are not permitted to wear the OA flap on your khaki shirt unless you are paying your annual dues to Coosa 50 ($8.00).....

For those who will be coming for the meeting tonight.....we will still meet tonight for a regular meeting at 6:45 PM (not 7:00PM) to load the bus for a field trip and a contiued meeting once returned.

There is great deal going on...This is a busy time for the Troop.....A Byrd is almost completed his Eagle Project, J Kunka and N Madison are just about ready to start theirs..watch for more announcements and please encourage attendance. The Scout earns serevice hours by attending all of these events, including the OA if he is a member, and they are important in starting to visualize the requirements of his own Eagle Project one day.....

Finally, the Bluff Park Art Show is coming up the first weekend in October... at the Bluff Park Community Center surrounding the Hut.....this is the Troop's annual service project and all Scouts and as many leaders as possible are expected to attend for service during the day..more information to follow regarding the schedule for the Troop...

Thanks for all your support....

YiS Dan S "Delivering the Promise"

Upcoming events

We had good attendance at the quartermaster equipment take down, the PLC, and the Troop Committee meeting. Thanks to all who attended.

Once again thanks to Major and Cathy Kidd for the use of their lake property in making the water sports trip possible..thanks to Mr. Copelan, Mr. Brimer, Mr. Stubblefield, the Kidds, and Mr. Hardy for making their boats and equipment availble for all our activities.

Those Scouts who met the water skiing requirements on the trip should get the "Water Sports" merit badge book and complete the requirements with a leader who was on the trip in their boat in the next six months and earn the water skiing merit badge.

August 14-16 Order of the Arrow Ordeal. Candidates meet at Hut at 5:00 PM with gear von Friday August 14. Will stop for supper on the road. Return Sunday before Noon on the 16th.

17th of August will we meet at 6:45 PM ( and leave at 6:45 PM) for a bus ride to Papa John's Pizza to see the store in operation, pick up some pizza, and return the Hut for the rest of the program taught by Patrick Kidd, Britton Garrett and Venture.

24th of August is the Court of Honor beginning at 6:30 PM in the Reid Crotty Fellowship Hall of the Bluff Park United Methodist Church.

The Host patrol is the Penquians who will arrive at 6:00 PM for the set up.

As usual we will have a Pot Luck dinner with each family bringing an entre along with the following:

Venture I Entre plus a salad dish
Venutre II Entre plus buns or bread
Penquians Entre plus a desert
Fox Entre plus a salad dish
Sharks Entre plus a bread or desert

Troop provides drinks and condiments.

Remember.... this is a family affair with the presentation of all summer camp merit badges and rank awards since the last Court in April. Guests are invited. This has been a busy four months and there will be a great deal of recognition for the Scouts and Leaders who have taken the special effort in leadership and personal effort to bring us to the level we are at. Please plan on being there.

August 31 is a regular meeting concentrating on backacking fundamentals with Patrick Kidd, Britton Garrett. and other Venture serving as instructors.

September 7: There will be no meeting owing to the day being a National Holiday.

September 12: Back packing continued

September 17 Quartermaster night: All packs must be brought in for loading Troop gear then storing the packs on the Troop Trailer or Frank Tank.

September 18-20 Backpacking in Sipsey Wilderness

September 21 Equipment take down and storage, PLC, Committee Meeting

September 28 Special Guest Speaker: Captain Jay Skinner

Thanks for all the support making all our activities possible...thanks especially for encouraging attendance to make it work.

YiS Dan s "Delivering the Promise"

Troop News, NOAC, Water Ski, Ordeal

We had a good turn out for out quartermaster prep last night....for loading the Frank Tank....

We got back from the National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) at about 6:30 last night after departing for Bloomington (University of Indiana) last Friday...There were about 7,200 Scouts and leaders there and as you would expect, like athe larger National Jamboree's, the University was alive with Scouting Spirit. All fifty states were represented by the various lodges, with Coosa being one of the biggest in size. It was ahuge campus and the shuttle buses came in handy if the distancew were too great for walking. Everyday was action packed with activity ranging from leadership, how to, sports competition, classes on the native American cultures inclusive of danicing, drumming, and culture/community customs and all sorts of different informational activitities...each evening had a four hour show in the IU large arena, and usually dismissed at about 9:30-10:00 PM.

Our "Pre-Ordeal" team consisting of J Kunka, P Kidd, K Berry, and J Ng did outstandingly thanks to the months of the last two years of practice and coaching with Mr. Don Russell.There were more than 40 teams in Pre Ordeal status, as many in Ordeal status, not to include the individual, group competitive dancing and drum competition..quite a spectacle if you haven't experience it before. The Lodge also did well with all the sporting competions through out the week..... Pictures will be on the Troop Web Site.

The over-all theme of the conference was "the Power of One," or a regular reiteration of how one person can make the difference in all aspects of his community, his school, his work, his family, and anything else he is envolved with.

We meet tonight at 5:00 PM for our water skii trip. The cost is $37.00 per person. Thanks to former active leaders with the Troop and our own active families as we speak, for using their boats. and thanks to the Kidd's for using their Logan Martin Property in making this trip possible, there will be five boats available for water skiing, a ski-doo, troop fishing gear (thanks to Mr. Smith), and swimming. Please make sure his BSA consent form is filled out, that we have copy of his updated BSA physical in our medical forms book, that all, including active leaders, are BSA registered on the trip for BSA insurance purposes. We will return before noon on Sunday. He will call if earlier or later.

The Order of the Arrow Ordeal is coming up next weekend at Camp Comer...transportation is being looked at this time.