Summer Camp briefing at troop meeting tonight

Monday May 24: A regular meeting and the last meeting before summer camp. We will review what to bring and what the agenda/schedule will be for Camp. A list of "What to Bring" information is found in the Troop Guide and on the Troop Web site. Uniform for the meeting is Class C (Red Scout T Shirt or any BSA T shirt with Scout shorts, Scout socks, and Scout belt.) If he is coming to camp for the first time, this is a good time to make sure he knows what is going to happen during the week and what he will need while he is there as older Scouts describe it.

May 30th: Veterans Memorial Day service at the Birmingham Veterans Memorial Park opposite of Liberty Park on 459 starting at 3:00 PM for about an hour in Class A plus (neckerchief and merit badge sash) for those who have an assigned role or who wish to observe. Counts as service/activity for rank advancement.

May 31st: Observance of Veteran's Memorial Day. No meeting at Hut

June 3rd: Senior Patrol Leader. Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders, Patrol leaders, Assistant Patrol Leaders, Troop Quartermaster, Patrol Quartermasters meet at Hut to prepare and load Troop and Patrol gear for Summer camp in the Frank Tank. Arrive at Hut at 6:30 for about an hour or so. Uniform not required. Personal gear for camp not required.

June 6: Meet at hut in Class A uniform (Tan shirt, red "T" shirt, Scout shorts, and Scout socks with his personal gear for camp at 11:30 AM ready to go. He should eat lunch before he gets to the Hut as we will not have time to stop for lunch enroute. Please complete a copy of the BSA Parental Consent form found on the Troop Web Site and have him bring it when he arrives at the Hut. If he hasn't turned in his BSA physical his arrival to Mr. Simon, then he will need it in order to load the bus for camp.

June 9: Wednesday night at camp is parents visitation and the Order of the Arrow Tap out/Camp campfire night. Parents and family are welcome to visit starting any time after 3:00 PM and usually ending at 9:00-9:30 PM. Make sure you bring him a favorite meal to eat, and be prepared for the weather. If not able to be attend, make sure another family brings him his meal. There are maps in the Troop Guide and in the Summer Camp Guide on our Troop Web Site to Camp Sequoyah. The roads in camp are not paved and cars cannot be driven to the Camp site during the visit. We will be eating his meal at the Troop camp site or anywhere chosen. The Troop will be staying at " Boone's Place" this year (same as last year) up behind the Camp Store. A map of the camp is located in the Troop Guide and in the Summer Camp Guide in our Troop Web Site. Walking distance from the parking lot to the camp site is about 3/4 of a mile or less and the Scout will meet you at the Parking Lot at the time you settle on with him to guide you in.

June 12: Return to the Hut at about Noon

This is one our most exciting times of the year as summer camp is the single time when we are together as a Troop for the entire week. We always look forward to all it represents in fun, adventure, and just being there. There will be more than 300 Scouts and leader in attendance during the week and we will have more than 40 of our own Scouts and leaders in our camp.

Thanks for all your support and for encouraging attendance.

YiS Dan s "Delivering the Promise"

Troop news, Summer Camp

We had a good PLC and a well attended Committee meeting. Wanted to thank Mr. Morrow for joining us tonight.

The Troop is welcoming C Schock and his parents Joe and Angela to the Troop as a Phoenix Patrol member since last Monday.

The Troop meeting on the 24th is required if the Scout is coming to summer camp. We will be covering requirements and "need to know information." The Scoutmaster's minute will be presented by Mr. Morrow.

After the Quartermaster's meeting at the Hut on June 3 at 6:30 PM to pack and load the Frank Tank, we will meet at the Hut at 11:30 PM on Sunday June 6, in the Class B uniform to depart for summer camp at Camp Sequoyah.

We will be in Boone's Place for the week, with directions found to the camp and campsite in the Troop guide as well as the Troop web site. Parents and family are welcome to visit Wednesday, June 9, any time after 3:00 PM and should remember to bring his favorite meal for eating in the camp area, Normally the Campfire is completed by 8:30 -9:00 PM.

Have room for kitten? A and B Yarbrough have two kittens to give away from a recent litter and can be reached at their home and parent's cell numbers.

There is going to be an annual memorial service at the Birmingham Veterans Memorial Park on I-459 across from Liberty Park starting at 3:00 PM on May 30th. Scouts can attend this as an activity or service and participate in the ceremony in the Class A Plus uniform. The ceremony is normally completed in about an hour. Several members of the Troop have already committed to assisting.

We won't have a Troop meeting on the 31st due to the Holiday weekend.

Thanks for all you support and encouraging attendance.

YiS dan s "Delivering the Promise"

Tents take down, PLC, Committee Mtg tonight

This trip to Bucks Pocket was one of best with a group of 23 Scouts and 9 leaders. Each patrol outdid themselves with selecting a menu and preparing the meals. Everyone had th opportunity to take the challenge of the sixty and one-hundred -twenty foot rock facing in the morning and the afternoon rappelling. Thanks to Mr. Simon, all of the pictures are posted on the Troop Web Site at this time.

The weather held out with sun and some overcast on Friday and Saturday and only as we were driving out toward home, did we get some rain.

Thanks to all the leaders who attended to make the trip possible and thanks to all the parents for encouraging good attendance to keep the costs reasonable for all.

Tonight, May 17th, is a quartermaster night starting at 6:30 PM. If your son is a quartermaster (see 5/3/10 Court of Honor/scout responsibilities attachment for six months), he needs to be there for less than an hour to take down and store our gear.

If not a quartermaster, and he went on the trip, he should come in for the less than an hour and help out also. The Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol leaders and Assistant Patrol Leaders need to be there also, then remain until about 7:00-8:00 PM to participate in the Patrol leader Conference (PLC) for discussing the trip and for planning out June's activities. Uniforms are not required for quartermaster work or the PLC.

Following the PLC, the Troop Committee will meet for an hour or so to approve the PLC plans for June and to discuss Troop business. If you are not part of the Committee and new to the Troop, feel free to come by and participate and meet everyone. Uniform is not required for the Committee meeting.

Remember that BSA Health forms and summer camp fees are overdue if not complete at this time. Mr. Simon will be present at the PLC and Committee meeting tonight to collect any remaining that are due.

Thanks for all your support and encouraging attendance at Troop activities to assure he and all the boys are getting the most out of the Program...

YiS Dan s "Delivering the Promise"

Rappelling Trip this weekend

According to a show of hands on Monday, we will have about forty Scouts and leaders the trip this weekend. The weather is forecast as a good weekend..but he should dress for cool weather and sleeping gear for North Alabama.

If he is a quartermaster, he needs to be at the Hut at 6:30 PM Thursday, May 13, for about an hour to prepare our gear and load the Frank Tank. Uniform is not required.

He needs to be at the Hut at 5:00 PM Friday on May 14 with $30.00 (checks preferred) for the Trip fee, all his gear, and the completed BSA Consent Form found on our Troop Web site, made out with Bucks Pocket AL as the destination. Uniform is the Red Troop T shirt, Scout trousers/shorts, Scout belt, and scout socks. Except for the Phoenix Patrol still working on their uniforms, he needs to be in uniform on the bus.

He will need long pants or genes when he is rappelling. A short sleeve shirt is fine..The Troop will provide all rappelling equipment including gloves and helmets. He may want to bring his own leather work gloves if he wants to.

Medical forms: All Scouts have to have the new BSA medical form found on our Web Site for Summer camp this year..complete with a copy of the insurance cards attached. For this trip....for older scouts from the Sharks on up...all need the medical form as required.

Phoenix Patrol Scouts and parents who have not had the time to complete the medical form, through a physician, but will need it for summer camp, should fill the form out as much as possible for this trip to include the copies of the insurance card in case there is an emergency or required consent as indicated on the form. This is especially true if you are not going to be accompanying the Scout this time.

B Preston was in a pretty bad dirt bike accident the other day..he was hurt, but is doing ok and is progressing on track with his Eagle.

We plan on returning to Birmingham between 1:00 and 2:00 PM on Sunday.

Thanks for all your support and for encouraging attendance.

YiS Dan s "Delivering the Promise"

Troop News

So far the only Scout signed up for the National Youth Leader Training ( NYLT) is J Berry. If others are interested in sending your son, please advise me so that we can start arranging transportation and other details. Details of the course are on the GAC web site at 1BSA.org under "training." We will scholarship fifty percent if he meets the earlier describe prerequisites as approved by the Scoutmaster and Troop Committee.

The Ordeal this weekend went excellently with over 200 in attendance at Camp Comer. Thanks to P Kidd, J and K Berry, and J Kunka who all formed the "pre-ordeal" ceremony it went even better. Thanks also to S and S Hardy, as well as M Gunn for going also and were able to practice their roles also as future "pre-ordeal" team members for the Coosa Lodge, Order of the Arrow. Pictures will be posted on the Troop Web Site. Thanks to Mr. Berry for the transportation to and from.

The previous Troop news talked to the importance of tonight's (May 10) meeting. Not only is there a guest speaker, but please read the recent Troop Blog and assure the Scout is present if going on the Trip to Buck's Pocket State Park for rappelling. This is a confidence building weekend with associated skills and fun that he should plan on being there for unless he has an excuse not to be. We need our numbers to defray the costs also. All of which will be discussed and announced tonight.

For those of you who were absent from the Court of Honor, we have the Troop Group photo taken in January for you to pick up tonight.

Congratulations were in order at the Court of Honor for service as active Assistant Scoutmasters and Troop Committee members in the Troop by Mr. Branin (over 20 years), Dr. Nelson (over 15), Mr. Smith (over 10), and Mr. Madison, Mr. Berry, Mrs. Kidd and Mr. Simon for over 5. Highlighted at the Court also, was P Kidd's being awarded the Eagle Silver Palm as well as the new and earned title of "Junior Assistant Scoutmaster." Jim Ellis was awarded the title of "Assistant Scoutmaster" and will remain active until entering the university this Fall. All of the Penquians were awarded the conversion and shirt patch to " Venture ," and the Scouts completing the Junior Leader Training Course (JLTC) this last February received their certification cards.

Attendance at J Kunka's and R Blackburn's Eagle Court, the Day before, was also good. It is important for the younger Scouts and their families to attend these occasions to understand the meaning of the rank but also the purpose of the program. It is also important to stress attendance to assure the numbers are effective in rounding out the praise for the amount of time, service, and hard work taken by these young men in earning the coveted Eagle rank. Thanks especially to Mr. Berry and Lieutenant Colonel Charles Kidd for serving as Guest Speakers. Finally a special thanks to Mr. Frost for the hard work in assuring the advancement records were as they needed to be and for Mr. Harbin for the personal work he undertook for each Scout to make sure the final stages of the earned rank were complete and Court itself was prepared for and choreographed as well and effectively as they always are.

Recognition Awards will be made at tonight's meeting to Mr. Harbin and Mr. Clark for over 10 active years service, along with Mr. Young, Dr. Hamilton and Mr. Frost for over 5 since they were not present at the Court last Monday.

Thanks for all your support and particularly for encouraging his attendance to all our activities..

Yis Dan s "Delivering the Promise"

Troop News

The Troop's Order of the Arrow Ceremony Team consisting of J Kunka, P Kidd, J and K Berry, S Hardy, and M Gunn will be attending the Order of the Arrow Ordeal at Camp Comer this weekend. Activities start Friday evening and we will return Sunday morning.

Monday,(May 10) is a regular Troop meeting and attendance is required for all Scouts and Leaders coming on the Rappelling Trip to Buck's Pocket the following weekend. We will determine the costs for the instructors, meals, camping fees, and fuel based on the numbers attending. If the Scout or leader will not be at the meeting, but will be on trip, the patrol leader should be advised for the count. We will talk to the trip, the quartermaster night, and departure and return times. As usual, the more that attend, the less cost for all so please encourage attendance.

This rappelling trip is one of our most popular and most fun with well known certified instructors.

We will also have a special guest speaker who will talk to the Insect Study merit badge. The speaker is Johnny Fargason, a recent Eagle from the Troop, a graduate of Uof A majoring in marketing, and sixth in sales in the State.

Current leadership positions for Scouts and Leader mentor roles for the next six months was listed on the Court of Honor agenda attachment of a recent news letter to each family (attached to this newsletter) ...please make sure the Scout has his copy to be aware of his job. If not assigned and he needs an assignment for advancement, he needs to see the Senior Patrol leader and the Scoutmaster.

Remember, the BSA National Board of Directors has stated that active leaders in the Troop must be trained within 90 days of joining. Please monitor published Council and District news letters for available training (SMLT and OLS) and begin some certifications by opening: myscouting.org on the internet,then reporting your completions to Mrs. Kidd for ours and the Council's records.

We have a great six months ahead of us..let's start it with high numbers at meetings and trips by encouraging attendance. Thanks for you support in assuring we are the potential we can be



YiS Dan s "Delivering the Promise"

COH tonight

We had a well attended Eagle Court yesterday for R Blackburn and J Kunka.

Congratulations again to them for earning their Eagles and to their families, friends, and all the members of Troop 21 who made it possible during their journies. Thanks for encouraging Scout attendance at these once in a life time events in the Troop and the spirit everyone demonstrated in demonstrating that the program is strong and viable.

Don't forget that tonight is a Troop Court of Honor starting at 6:30 PM in the Reid Crotty Fellowship Hall of the Bluff Park United Methodist Church, 733 Valley Street , Hoover, 35226 where we usually meet for our Courts.

The Shark Patrol (Host Patrol) should arrive at 6:00 PM to assist in the set up.

Uniform is Class A, with neckerchief and merit badge sash.

Other Details for the pot luck dinner are on the April 27 newsletter posted on the Troop Web Site. The Troop will provide Kool Aid and all condiments for the meal.

Remember..Scouting is a family affair..especially at Courts of Honor when we recognize the Scout for his work toward rank advancement through requirements, merit badges and service.

Please don't forget to bring a copy of the Court of Honor Agenda for yourself and the Scout containing as well as the list of Scout/leader responsibilities for the next six months also posted in an recent April Troop Blog.

Thanks for all your support..

YiS Dan S "Delivering the Promise"