Troop News

We had the Nunne-Hi Chapter, Coosa Lodge meeting last night at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall with about twenty members in attendance. It was election night for the Chapter for 2010 - 2011. The following Scouts in attendance were elected to the listed seven offices:

P Kidd (Troop 21) Chapter Chief
S Hardy (Troop 21) Vice Chief of Service
J Kunka (Troop 21)Vice Chief of Inductions
B Debalsi (Troop 21)Vice Chief of American Indian Affairs
R Spell (Troop 93) Vice Chief of Fellowship
T Richardson (Troop 320) Vice Chief of Communications

Congratulations to each for stepping forward, getting elected, and anticipating one of our best years. Running for the offices speaks highly of their individual and team leadership potential in the Chapter, our Lodge, and our Region. The Nunne-Hi Chapter is made up of all thirty troops of the Vulcan District of the Greater Alabama Council. Holding the majority of offices in one year is a first for the Troop since any time in the past.

P Kidd has held the Office of Vice Chief of Service last year, while J Kunka served as Chapter Chair last year. J Kunka is also running for a Vice Chief Position in the Lodges's Leadership Executive (LEC) Council at the Fall Fellowship during the first week of October.

J Ng, K and J Berry, P Kidd, and J Kunka remain as the Pre-Ordeal Ceremonies Team for the Coosa Lodge as the have for the past four years...competing nationally at the NOAC (National Order of the Arrow Conference) last year in Indianapolis in ceremony team competition and spending the week in classes and activities.

S Hardy and M Gunn are now stepping up to also being a member of the Chapter's Pre Ordeal Ceremony team for the coming year with to members of Troop 312. Both S Hardy and M Gunn earned their Brotherhood rank at the last Ordeal last week at Camp Sequoyah.

September 11 will be be a Service Day at Camp Jack Wright for the Order of the Arrow members who wish to participate. We will talk more to it at the coming Monday meeting.

Our guest Speaker this coming Monday (Aug 30) will be Dr. Susan. Nelms, a veterinarian, who will make a presentation to the Veternarian Sciences merit badge as well as the career. The following Monday after Labor Day (Sep 13) she will complete the merit badge by the Troop visiting her clinic instead of a meeting at the Hut (to be announced at the next meeting).

At this time, with Dr. Nelson's recovery, we will be planning on the Shooting Sports activities at Camp Sequoyah , including rifle, shotgun, and archery. Depending on who is interested, we will also work on and complete the canoeing and rowing merit badges if enough leader and Scout participation. A head count will be made at the August 30th meeting.

Thanks for all your support and encouraging attendance.

YiS Dan s "Delivering the Promise"

Troop News

We had an excellent weekend with about thirty in attendance. Thanks especially to the Colonel and Cathy Kidd's for using their lake property and their boat, as well as to Mr Copelan and his son Michael, Mr. Stubblefield, Mr. Nelms, and Mr, Turner for bring their boats in order to have all the boys the opportunity to ski and get pulled in tubes the entire day of sun on the river.

The weather stayed excellent the entire day and the boys prepared some excellent meals for the duration. Thanks again to all the leaders who attended making the trip possible. We left for Hoover at about 9:00 AM following Mr. Lepianka's religious service. Thanks to Mr. Simon, the campout's pictures are on the web site.

We will take down and store all the gear tonight (August 23) at 6:30 PM and all who attended the campout should assist with this so we can leave within the hour (this includes all the Troop and patrol quartermasters whether they were on the trip or not..

Following the gear take down, we will have the Patrol Leader's Conference (7:00 PM) for the Senior Patrol leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders, the Patrol Leaders and the Assistant Patrol leaders to plan next months activities.

Then finally, starting a 8:00 PM we will have the Troop Committee Meeting to approve the activities, discuss Troop business. If you haven't attended in the past, please plan on it tonight and enjoy our camaraderie and esprit.

Two weeks ago, J Hamilton completed his Eagle requirements.certainly a congratulations from the Troop while we are looking forward to his Eagle Court along with the other who succeeded this year in gaining theirs.

Let's keep Mr. Nelson in our prayers for his complete recovery and recent hospital stay. His progress is good and he should be home in the next day or so.

Thanks for all your support and encouraging attendance

YiS Dan s "Delivering the Promise"

Troop Scribe

Troop News

Despite the weather, rain, and humidity, we had a good Order of the Arrow Ordeal weekend at Camp Sequoyah this last weekend (August 13-15).

Congratulations to Mr. Turner, Mr. Gunn, J Elmore, Z Gandy, N Bolding, E Kidd,and D Yarbrough for earning their membership and sashes, and to S Hardy and M Gunn for earning their Brotherhood. A Turner, who earned his membership last year, also attended for the weekend.

Wanted to thank Mr. Simon for transporting the Coosa Chapter's Pre Ordeal Team consisting of J and K Berry, J Ng, P Kidd, and J Kunka to the Ordeal also in order for the Team to perform Friday night.

There were about 250 Scouts and leaders in attendance and a great deal of work was taken care of at the Camp, not to mention the initiation or more than 200 new members and Brotherhoods.

If you or your son is a member of the Order of the Arrow, the Lodge's web site has been up dated with the current schedule of events listed on the Web Site under Coosa50.org

As stated an earlier Troop blog/memo , there is a regular meeting tonight with a guest speaker. Everyone should attend who is going on the Troop Water Skiing Trip this coming weekend in order to get a good head count, listen to required water safety briefings, and to plan for the weekend's meals. We will camping at Lake Logan Martin and have as many as five boats lined up for Saturday. Thanks to all who are making the skiing possible..We will also decide whether to bring the Troop canoes on the trip for some fishing or short excursions for those who care to.

Thanks for all your support and encouraging attendance.

YiS Dans s "Delivering the Promise"

Troop News

Thanks to Mr. Chris Morrow, we had an exceptional guest speaker last night to one of our best attendance turnouts over the summer.

Thanks to Mrs Kidd and the family for her taking the time to cut an trim the grass around the Hut as she has for several years now.

Thanks to Mr. Simon and N Ng, C Thompson and his Dad were recruited and introduced to the Troop last night as new members.

There is a great deal going on in the Troop starting this weekend with the Order of the Arrow Ordeal at Camp Sequoyah We will have seven new candidates attending: Mr. Turner, Mr. Gunn, J Elmore, N Bolding, Z Gandy, E Kidd, and D Yarbrough....M Gunn and S Hardy are new members of the Pre-Ordeal Team and will be earning their Brotherhood this weekend..Also attending as regular Pre Ordeal Team will be P Kidd, J Kunka, K and J Berry, and J Ng. J Ng and A Turner will also be working on their Brotherhood. I can't recall greater numbers in attendance from the Troop for the OA which speaks highly for the Scouts and the importance of being a member. Go to Coosa50.org for more information about the OA.

On the 16th we will have a special guest speaker regarding high profile careers and the Scouts will begin preparations for the water sports trip that weekend.

Thanks to the Kidd family, the Troop will be water skiing off their Lake Logan Martin Property the weekend of August 20-22. We have, thanks to the Turners, the Stubblefields, the Kidds, the Copelans, and the Nelms nearly five boats lined up, not to mention access to canoes for fishing and some canoing in the local area. Based on about 30 attending, the fee is $26 per person for food and fuel for the vehicles and boats. Please encourage attendance, for as the more who attend, the less the trip costs.

If your son took the Archery Merit Badge or earned the Rifle Merit Badge this summer and scored high, he was invited to the Council's annual Top Gun competition at Camp Sequoyah on August 28th where the top shooters in rifle, shot gun, and archery will be awarded a distinquished hat and place trophy.

September will be Troop's shooting sports weekend at Camp Sequoyah where thanks to Dr. Frank Nelson, Mr. Eggers, and Mr. Bill Benefield the boys will have all day to shoot the .22 rifle, earn the Archery merit badge, shoot skeet with the shot gun, and get an introduction to and shoot some black powder.

October will be be our Troop camp out at Oak Mountain State Park, where thanks to Dr. Frank Nelson, the Scouts can earn the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge, with the Venture riding the 25 mile Oak Mountain mountain bike trail, if not having the opportunity for trail service with Mr. Camp.

November, as reminder, is our annual trip to Shiloh, and in December, we support our annual Christmas tree, wreath, and finalize popcorn sales.

A note on pop corn sales: all the Scout earns in selling pop corn is his to use for any Scouting activity, so it is a good way for him to practice sale techniques and earn money to support his Scouting activities as well as to began thinking about his budget for the financial planning merit badge and some rank advancement requirements for First Class.

September 25 is a Saturday the Council has marked off as a "Scout Exhibition Day" for the Vulcan District..The Troop will be setting up in the Brookwood Mall From 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM with any type of Scouting exhibit the boys would care to set up to attract new recuits. It will be widely advertised and well attended. The Scouts will be thinking about this now and will come up some ideas in the next meeting and finalize them at the PLC on the Monday we return from water sports. We are looking at the Troop rope bridge as an option if the location would permit it (asphalt vs. trees and stakeable ground}.

Thanks for all your support and encouraging attendance in making us as strong as we are.

Read over the Council's News letter, the" Digital Eagle": There are a great number of leader as well as Scout training opportunities going on which would greatly enhance the Troop's potential.

YiS Dan s
"Delivering the Promise"
S

SMLT

If you are active with us and are serving as as Assistant Scoutmaster with the Scouts on Trips, Merit Badge Counseling, or serving on the Committee, or plan to to share the experience with your son, and you haven't attended the below attached training (Scoutmaster Leader Specific Training-SMLST) or the companion course Outdoor Leadership Training -OLS), you need to consider taking the time to do it. It adds a great deal of depth to understanding the Boy Led Troop concept, adds depth to our leadership corps in the Troop, and satisfies BSA requirements that active leaders complete the same withing 90 days of joining.

It has been proven by the BSA that the Troop with trained leaders has higher retention rates among the leaders and Scouts, as well as , causing a better working Boy Led relationship among all it's members. Besides that, its an eye opening , relationship building, high learning course (s) that makes you wish you hadn't taken it sooner. The staff is better than they have ever been, the curriculum is stronger, and the results are always good.

The Troop will provide all the required gear you may need for the outdoor portion of the courses.

The SMLST is usually given one day on a Saturday, and as it turns out, the Troop will be at Camp Sequoyah the same weekend for Shooting Sports so you can not only attend the OLS but can visit with Troop also.

If it isn't possible to attend this Fall, the courses will also be offered in the Spring.

For those of you who have attended SMLST and OLS, but have not attended Wood Badge for two weekends, it is being offered by he Council April 1-3 and April 29-May 1. There are several members of the Troop who are graduates and can speak to its strengths.

Finally, the University of Scouting is being offered on March 5, where a not only hundreds of leaders congregate for brief training sessions, but also offer answers to all you've wanted to know.

YOUTH PROTECTION TRAINING: Is required of all our leaders active in any capacity in the Troop. Please go to: myscouting.org and take the course, making sure Mrs. Kidd has a copy of your completion certificate. This is a requirement by the BSA with no exceptions..even for newly entering WEBELOS Leaders who plan on being active and should have it a WEBELOS Leaders at this time. In the past, a leader would serve as an instructor for a group of leaders in the Troop each year. Currently, group certifications are are not counted in place of the course on:myscouting.org Leaders do not need to be registered with the troop or the Council to take the course on line.

Interested in being a Leave no Trace instructor for the Troop? Scouts -mature 14 and over and all leaders can attend a 16 hour course on Oct 1-3 in Birmingham or October 29-31 in Huntsville.

The National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) which is normally given in the spring and summer will be taught this winter at Camp Comer January 14-17 and February 18-21. We have several Scout graduates of this course who will speak to it more in the coming weeks.

All of the above courses can be registered for on the Greater Alabama Council Web Site or at the Scout Service Center at Liberty Park.

see attachment below for SMLST and OLS