Troop News

Monday night was well attended by the Quartermasters and assisting Scouts and our gear was dried, packed, and stored except for the ground cloths we had to continue to air.

Welcome again to the Lewis, Blackstone, and Miller families.

The PLC and Committee meetings were also well attended heading us to some active times in the coming weeks.

September 30-October 2

Fall Fellowship for Order of the Arrow members: there are about ten of us leaving from the Hut at 6:00 PM on Sept 30 Friday and will return Sunday. The Scouts are all on the Nunne-Hi Drum team and will be playing this weekend in the Arena at the Powwow/dancing arena at Camp Comer.

Bluff Park Art Show, Saturday 1 October

This is our annual service project for the Community and all Scouts and Leaders who can attend form 6:00 AM to 4:30-5:00 PM should help out.

The uniform is the Class A with Scout Socks, shorts, belt,and Tan Shirt...the Troop neckerchief is optional....

The Set up will start at 6:00 AM with Mr. Madison and crew setting up the two tarps for the BPUMC bake sales w/tables and chairs brought from the Church, hanging our water sales banner, putting up our tables and setting up the coffee/Geezer box.....Scouts can set up a tent along side the chuck box for a recruiting demo as the Hut will be open to visitors.

Scouts will sell the water brought over by Mr. Simon and iced by Mr. Morrow. If available, ice cream will also be sold by the Scouts at the same table or the designated vehicle, if present.

The Scouts and leaders set up cardboard trash boxes and pick up trash bags as they fill and take them to the dumpsters for disposal on a periodic basis throughout the day with the heavies from lunch onward (need the most Scouts from 11:00 AN to 3:00PM for this reason).

This year we will also be picking up designated glass/plastic/paper disposal bags as the fill in the park and taking them to designated drop-off points.

The more uniforms we have present and assisting with litter and present in the art building, the higher our visibility will be in terms of the image of Scouting and the environment/service. Thanks in advance for encouraging attendance. It's normally a fun day and a good projection of Scouting at work. The Show usually ends at 4:30-5:00PM. There is no parking except for service vehicles...there are, as advertised, bus pick up points from several sites throughout the city with buses that run on a regular basis. If you are dropping the Scout off, let the street officer know that by pointing out his uniform and assuring him you are just dropping or picking up.....

October 3 Regular meeting with Mr. Paul Mancel as a guest speaker...he is a local, successful bee keeper whose wares are sold at the Bluff Park Hardware store among other locations. Scoutmaster's Minutes in Mr. David Gunn.

October 10 Regular Meeting with Mr. Butler from the Cahaba River Society as we begin prepping for the Cahaba River Trip Scoutmaster's Minute is Mr. Simon Ng.

October 13 Quartermasters pack and load at the Hut at 6:30 PM Uniform not required

October 14-16 Cahaba River Canoe Trip (details and fees TBA)

October 17 PLC and Committee Meeting Uniform not required.

October 24 Troop Court of Honor at the Reid Crotty Fellowship Hall in the
BPUMC (same location as always).

Host Patrol: Phoenix: Arrive at 6:00 PM to assist with set up
Pot Luck dinner
Venture Family Entre/w/extra bread
Shark Family Entre/w/extra desert
Phoenix Family Entre/w/extra salad or bread or vegetable
Crocodiles Family Entre/w/extra bread or desert
Eagles Family Entre/w/ extra vegetable

October 31 Troop is deciding whether to have a meeting on Halloween night or not at this time.

Other Activities:

We are going to need two leaders and three or more Scouts to attend the annual flag ceremony at the Hoover Library on November 8. They should arrive in uniform at 4:00 PM for the 4:45 PM ceremony where they will lower the American Flag and fold it in honor or our veterans. Please call/reply to the Scoutmaster to work with this and Mr. Scott.

The Troop will be marching in the Annual Veteran's Day Parade on November 11 in downtown Birmingham as we do every year. WEBELOS are welcome to join us. We will leave from the Hut at 10:30 AM in the bus to have lunch at the Golden Corral in Hoover and from there go to the parade, returning around 3-4PM. Uniform will be Class A with Troop Neckerchief and merit badge sash. More details as announced.

Leaders: if you are active or inactive and assist w/merit badge counseling you need to attend the training at the Hut that Mrs Kidd has arranged for about an hour. (this Thursday, Sept 29th at 7:00 PM) Bring your folding chair. This is for merit badge counseling and is required annually if you assist with MB counseling at any level....they are tracking us at the Council level for compliance, so like the mandatory Youth Protection which is required each two years and before you can register as a leader, please plan on helping us out with this requirement also. Please pre register with Cathy as to have handouts prepared as required.

Youth Protection: As stated above, this is required in order to register as an adult and it is required as a class/Internet certification each two years in order to stay registered. We normally conduct this class each January at the Troop's Annal Planning Conference.

Scoutmaster Leadership Training (SMLT) and Outdoor Leadership Training (OLS) If your are an active Assistant Scoutmaster, you should have or plan on taking this training. It is available each Fall and Spring locally. It is an eye opener for understanding what the program is all about and where we are heading. Any camping gear for the OLS portion is supplied by the Troop. Email Mrs. Kidd for details (czkidii@aol.com). You receive and wear a patch for this one.

We will have one crew going to Sea Base (just north of Key West in Islamoralda) in June, 2012. Call Cathy Kidd for more details if you and/or you son(14 and older) hasn't signed yet.

YELLOWSTONE! Mr. Hardy is proposing a 15 day high adventure trip to Yellowstone National Park with sites before and after during July 2012 (or so). There will be no age restriction for Scouts. We will need a hauler for the Troop Trailer and one follow on car. We will be in the bus and anticipate a reasonable cost per person if we fill it. We will announce this to the Scouts at the next meeting and will start looking at numbers and commitment shortly after that as the details become known.

NOAC National Order of the Arrow Convention in Michigan will be held in the late July early August, 2012 time frame and the Troop will be sending our ceremony and drum team to compete.

Summer Camp 2012: the dates we are attending are June 10-16...at Camp Sequoyah.....All Scouts are recommended to go particularly incoming WEBELOS and Scouts who have not earned the First Class rank. There will be about 70 or more of us there for the week. It serves as one of the highlights of the year for spirit, camaraderie and esprit.

The USS Yorktown Trip (Charlestown, SC) is coming in January. As we have to make a down Payment for this in advance..we will be asking for the fee during the next few weeks from families as our numbers will be too great for the operations budget to carry.

LIFE SCOUTS: If your son is a life Scout, he needs to be thinking about an Eagle Project and not wait until his 17th year or more to consider it. If he is not as active as he should be with us, now, and missing the program, he should know it won't be less busy in the immediate future:

Go to Woodbadgeman.com and make a copy of the Eagle Rank requirements booklet that is available there that he will be held for at the time of his own project to serve as a guide for him now. This booklet is what the Eagle Board will use as the guidelines for the Eagle project he will work on.

Attendance: and uniform: Troop 21 is fully uniformed troop, except as announced, and all the parts are required as expected. Please make sure he is dressed on the way out of the house and has the parts he will need while on the trip..Some boys are only bring one pair of Scout Socks and one red shirt....It's hard when they have to put them on wet and dirty on the way home because he forgot his extras for that purpose.

Attendance: We recognize that time is more valuable than ever, especially today, and even more in the near future...The Troop requires that he attend a minimum of 50% of activities during the year in order to meet the purpose of the program and to satisfy the requirement of "demonstrating Scouting Spirit." Thanks in advance with your assisting with this to assure he gains the most out of the program.

Thanks for all your support and for encouraging attendance.

YiS Dan s

"Delivering the Promise"