Troop News

We had a well attended meeting last night in the hut with the focus on the up and coming back packing trip to the Walls of Jericho, vic Jericho, AL, north on 79 north out of Scottsboro. SPL J Elmore and JASM E Kidd led discussion on trip/backpacking requirements.




The trip will be light back packing for the older Scouts covering less than a total of four miles (to and from) and the same for the Sea Serpents who will day hike from their campsite at the top of the ridge down and return to their camp without gear except for fluids and lunch.



Each Sea Serpent should have a day pack to carry his lunch, with a minimum of two quarts of water in Nalgene type bottles or a camel back. Heavy duty hiking shoes/boots are not required but the Scout should wear sock liners and wool socks to assure no blisters or hot spots. If rain is predicted, he will carry his rain suit on the hike.



All attending leaders and Scouts, will meet Thursday night, September 19, at 6:30 PM, uniform not required, to gather/pack Troop gear, open and check tents and tarps, load Troop gear in back packs, then load in the Frank Tank. Sea Serpents are not required to have a back pack, but should have a gear bag for carrying their personal gear and camping gear to a camp site a short distance away from the bus and Tank parking area. It looks like good weather, with possible showers, so assure he has a rain suit, water resistant hat and dressed for cool evenings and early mornings.



We want to leave as close to 5:00 PM as possible on Friday, September 20th. He should bring a bagged meal for dinner on the bus if he does not eat beforehand. We will stop for fuel and snack at Ft. Payne or Scottsboro on the way up and at a McDonalds and fuel on the way back on Sunday....we should return before 1:00PM on Sunday. Uniform on the bus is the Troop red T shirt, Scout long trousers/shorts, BSA belt and socks. The uniform should not be worn on the trail in place of comfortable hiking clothing/rain gear.



We want to to welcome J Greer and his family as an new Sea Serpent in the Troop. His first meeting in uniform was last night.



Coming Troop events/activities:



September 23rd PLC ( 6:30 PM) and Troop Committee Meeting (8:00PM) after gear is taken down and stored.



September 28th Cast Iron Chef Challenge with Mr. Fox, E Fox, (B Stocks?)and Jack Lewis attending.



September 30th Regular meeting with Troop Elections and Scheduling for the annual Bluff Park Art Show.



October 5 Bluff Park Art Show (Troop 21 is the Service Troop for the event) Uniform is Class A w/o Troop neckerchief and sash



October 4-6 Order of the Arrow Fall Fellowship at Camp Comer



October 7 Regular Meeting



October 14 Regular Meeting/planning for the Ft. Benning, GA trip



October 18-20 FT Benning Trip



October 28 Troop Court of Honor



November 1-3 Outdoor Leadership Program (OLS) at Camp Sequoyah..companion course of the Scoutmasters Fundamentals (SMLT) given at the Scout Service Center on September 21. The next set will be given by the District in the Spring of 2014.



November 4 Preparation meeting for Shiloh



November 8-10 Shiloh



November 11 Veterans Day parade in downtown Birmingham and equipment take down/storage from Shiloh followed by PLC and Committee meeting.

Troop News

....The adult training SMLT will be held on September 21 at the Scout Service Center...the companion course OLS will be held at Camp Sequoyah during Nov 1-3....if you have not attended  these courses..this will be good opportunity to get them behind you.

There will be an opportunity for Scout service on September 22 at the Birmingham Railroad Park with more information to be announced on the GAC Digital Eagle ...The program is oriented on world poverty awareness. The program is be sponsored by the AGA Khan Foundation.

The Vulcan District "Dutch oven Cook Off" being offered on September 28th is detailed on the Vulcan District newsletter located on the 1BSA.org information sheet.  There is a cost per Scout, not including purchasing meal ingredients for two dutch ovens.  We will discuss the details at the next meeting for those interested.

Mr. Crabtree presented the results of his Wood Badge project to the group in his effort to increase the positive effect of a strong Trp 21 alumni organization in terms of legacy continuity and fund raising. It was discussed by all the Troops in their effort to utilize the same in their own areas.

There is an Order of Arrow Ordeal this weekend (9/6-8) with about ten in the Troop heading out to Camp Sequoyah  Friday evening and returning Sunday.  The Troop provides a  pre-ordeal team for the Council/Lodge. Two of our Scouts will participate in the ordeal and several will complete their brotherhood requirements.

There will be a regular meeting Monday (September 9)  with two guest speakers, both careerists and Eagle Scouts, who will discuss the career fields in Engineering..the presentations will  correlate with two additional Sunday afternoons to complete the Engineering merit badge.

Have your Scout go to meritbadge.org and look at the requirements for the cooking merit badge.This badge will be required for the Eagle rank starting January 1, 2014. If he is a member of the Venture patrol,  he needs to start picking up the requirements as soon as possible if he has not taken a look at the requirements yet...all of the requirements  are necessary for completion on camping weekends.   Younger Scouts need to start thinking about it now as to avoid a rush for it's completion down the line.

We also keep touching on backpacking requirements....if we have time..in planning for the up and coming walls of Jericho tip in Northern Alabama coming up this fall (Troop Calendar/Activities on the Troop Web Site).  If your son is a first year scout or older and more than a first year scout, and working on his next  rank,  back packing experiences with the Troop are part of the advancement process..he should plan on attending.  As w know..backpacking, canoeing, hiking, biking and all other outdoor forms of  physical fitness and challenge are part of  the adventure in Scouting.

In the last news letter,  Star Scout B Chaney spoke to refurbishing the Troop's  merit badge library...he is asking that Scouts and leaders return, and donate if purchased, all merit badge books for re-shelving so that others may use them...age (date of publication)  makes no difference....just bring them in tonight or any meeting  so we can make use of them if they are just collecting dust or in a pile not being used somewhere.