Troop 4 - Grapevine, Texas

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE IN TROOP 4 -- No matter how it is said around the world, the adult leaders and scouts of Troop 4 wish everyone a Happy Holiday season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (Christian), Happy Hanukkah or Happy Chanukah (Jewish celebration began Dec. 7 and ends Dec. 15); Gozhqq Késhmish (Apache); I'TAAMOMAHKATOYIIKSISTSIKOMI [Merry big holy day] (Blackfoot Indian); Yá'át'ééh Késhmish (Apache); Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hauloi Makahiki hou (Hawiian); Kasmish Bihozhi Hozhi Naghai (Navajo); U kenei Christmas mu teicie kesa-u sie teicie kesa-u sie niepete keluo shuzaie we.(Agami dialect of India); kull 'aam wa-antum bikhayr (Arabic); Rongaali Bihur xubhessaa lobo (Assamese dialect of India); Natal ni shub kaamnao Saal Mubarak (Gujarat dialect of India); Naya Saal Mubarak Ho (Urdu dialect of Pakistan); Joyeux Noël Bonne Année (French); Frohe Weihnachten! Ein glückliches neues Jahr! (German); Feliz Navidad Feliz Año Nuevo (Spanish); Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova (Hebrew); SINIFISELA UKHISIMUSI OMUHLE NO NYAKA OMUSHA (Zulu dialect of South Africa); Sung Tan Chuk Ha (Korean); Gesëende Kersfees (Afrikaans); Nadolig Llawen (Welsh); Nollaig Shona Dhuit (Irish); and Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto (Japanese). Sources in case you need other translations: http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/links.htm or http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0877712.html

EAGLE SCOUT UPDATE -- Troop 4 Eagle Scout candidate Drew S. will have his Eagle Scout Board of Review at 9 a.m. on Dec. 18 at Crown of Life Church on Pleasant Run Road. His service project was the building of a nature pond at Faith Christian School.
Joey K. held the final phase of his Eagle Scout service project on Nov. 20. His service project was the construction of podiums for the middle school at Holy Trinity. His Eagle Scout BOR should be in January.
Also, Troop 4 Eagle Scout Michael L. has been named a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist. He is a senior at Covenant Christian Academy and an AP Scholar with distinction.

EAGLE SERVICE PROJECT SATURDAY -- Kevin M. will be having his Eagle Scout Service Project this Saturday (December 11th) at 9 a.m. in the youth building (where Troop 4 has it's meetings) at Colleyville Christian Fellowship. His project will be the assembly of 200 Personal Care Kits for U. S. military service members on layover at the USO Lounge in D/FW Airport. We will assemble the kits and make posters to welcome soldiers home and then we will take the kits and posters to the airport, greet the flight and tour the USO Lounge (we will tour the lounge only if it is not full from the soldiers that are there to enjoy it... we don't want to take anything away from them). After we return to CCF, we will have pizza and soft drinks. Kevin already has all of the supplies, but if any scout wishes to bring patriotic stickers or things of that nature to stick on the posters, they are more than welcome to do so. Scouts wishing to attend should be in FULL CLASS A UNIFORM and bring some form of picture ID. We will be representing BSA and we need to look nice, not to mention the fact that a lot of the soldiers were once Boy Scouts and they can relate to a brother scout. If you don't have Scout pants, green pants will do, or just make sure you at least have the Class A Shirt. We will be going past security check points in order to get to the USO Lounge and it helps the security guards if you have some form of picture identification. Also, no knives, steel toed boots or metal objects because you will be traveling through the metal detectors. If you plan on wearing your hiking boots, they will probably make you take those off too and put them through security checks.

TROOP 4 TEAM TAKES 2ND PLACE AT SCORE-O by ASM Ken Schiller -- "The Perfect Score" team of Matt H., William O'G., Robert L., Joseph L., and Jason H. found 39 of the 75 position markers scattered over Sid Richardson Scout Ranch during the recently completed Score-O Orienteering Competition. Their score of 490 points matched the first place team from Troop 132 who also scored 490, but came in fourteen minutes and twelve seconds faster at 4 hours, 9 minutes, and 37 seconds. Congratulations to 'The Perfect Score'. Their Blue Ribbons will look great on patrol flags !
"What's A Compass?" team of Kevin M., Morgan S., Ryan M., and Ben S. came in at 126th place in 4 hours, 52 minutes, and 31seconds with 175 points. [290 total minus 115
deduction][26 markers found]. The "Raiders" team of Abi K., Gregory G., Jacob B., and T.J. N. came in at 198th place in 4 hours, 48 minutes, and 32 seconds with 35 points. [130 total minus
95 deduction][16 markers found]. The "Old Waypoints" team of Scoutmaster Jeff Carter, John Flynn, Ken Schiller, and Webelos dad Tim Settles came in at 63rd place in the adult category in 5 hours, 3 minutes, and 54 seconds with 165 points. [465 total minus 300 deduction][38 markers found]. The visiting Webelos team " Cobras" with Nick C., Zachery S., Trevor S., Drew F., Michael M., Ivan C., Patti Seeker, and Diane Settles came in at 3 hours, 54 minutes, and 2 seconds with 175 points.[eighteen markers found]. We had the best Score-O weather conditions in recent memory, and the event was well organized. Let's make plans to finish at the top again in 2005!

WEBELOS RECRUITING CAMPOUT by Ken Schiller -- Troop 4 had an outstanding opportunity to showcase our unit at the Webelos Woods recruiting campout this past weekend at Hills and Hollows.
In addition to the seven Webelos cub scouts attending the following Troop 4 scouts and adults attended:
Jacob B., Justin B., Michael B., Jeffrey C., Ken C., Kyle C., Tim G., Eric H., Abi K., Joseph L., Kevin M., Ryan M., Michael P., Nathan S., Ben S., Cameron T., and Cameron W. Adults were Ken Schiller, Greg C., John Flynn, Roger Hallstein, Julie Carter, Jeff Carter, Alok Kulshreshtha, Marianne Lippert, Dirk Strickland, and Sean Flynn.

POPCORN SALES by Nancy Logue -- Troop 4 sold more than $6,887 in popcorn with the troop clearing $2,237.55. There is still $706 in sales to be turned in by scouts. In 2003 the troop sold $4,954, netting $1,733.90. Top sellers were Jacob B., $779, T.J. N., $337, Matt H., $328, and Jason H., $311. Scouts who DID NOT participate owe the troop $75. Mrs. Logue extends a big thank you to all scouts who participated. If you have any additional issues or concerns about the popcorn sale, please contact Mrs.Logue at (817) 637-7584 or jlogue@comcast.net or Mrs. Joyce Hegeman at jeh61@earthlink.net or (817) 281-5149. Also, the Lakeview District sold more than $165,000 in popcorn, a three-year record. The top selling scout sold more than $4,000.

BOWLATHON FEB. 26 --The troop is in need of an adult coordinator for the Bowlathon fund raiser on Feb. 26. Adults interested should contact Scoutmaster Jeff Carter.

OA and TROOP ELECTIONS -- Troop 4 will hold its Order of the Arrow elections on January 24, 2005. Also that night candidates for senior patrol leader will give their campaign speeches. SPL Nominations will be Jan. 17th. SPL election will be during the February 7 court of honor and Friends of Scouting presentation.

TROOP 4 GOING TO FLORIDA SEA BASE by Dan Berry --In July 2005, a crew of older scouts will be traveling to the National Council High Adventure Sea Base in the Florida Keys. We will be sailing a 40 foot sail boat from Islamorada to Key West and back again. While the boat is a bit small, it does have a galley on board so we should be eating well. One or two of the crew already know how to sail but most of the crew will be learning how. No worries mate - Sea Base sends a captain with each boat to make sure we have a safe, fun time. Along the way we will be fishing, snorkeling and swimming. There is also a day set aside to explore Key West while we are in port. Currently the crew size is 6. The maximum crew size is 8 so if you want to go and meet the requirements, you may still be able to sign up. This is a one week adventure and represents Troop 4’s first visit to this scout camp. And yes, there will be pictures.

RIFLE MERIT BADGE by Roger Hallstein --The theme for the November campout at Worth Ranch was the Rifle Merit Badge. The campout allowed the boys to work on the shooting requirements for the merit badge in addition to completing requirements 2g, 2h and 2i that involve safety rules and rifle cleaning. Despite the rain that started at noon on Saturday, all the Scouts and adults enjoyed the weekend activities. Scouts attending the event were Jacob B., Michael B., Ryan B., Kyle C., Michael C., Jason H., Eric H., Joseph L., Robert L., Kevin M., Ryan M., Michael P., and Cameron T. Accompanying adults were NRA Instructor Dan Berry, Scoutmaster Jeff Carter, Dick Cureton, NRA Instructor Roger Hallstein and Pat Heidelman.

MISSING IN ACTION -- A large red and white Igloo cooler belonging to ASM Ken Schiller was apparently misplaced or taken by mistake during unpacking after the last campout. Please check your equipment and see if it might have been misplaced. Also, there are several “lost and found” items in the troop trailer including shorts, shirts and a cot. If you are missing anything from summer camp or another camp out, see Dan Berry to check if there is anything of yours floating around inside the trailer.

RECHARTERING -- Troop 4 rechartered this month with 39 scouts.

UPCOMING EVENTS --
Jan 8 & 22, 2005 -- Lakeview District Merit Badge College (MB College still needs MB counselors and adult helpers).
Jan. 14-16 shotgun shooting campout at Worth Ranch west of Mineral Wells.
Scouting for Food January 29 and Feb. 5.
COPE April 9th or 23rd
Jan. 27 Eagle Scout Boards of Review at Crown of Life Lutheran Church
April 15-17 Lakeview District Camporee,

TROOP 4 BOR's -- Troop 4 boards of review are held the first and third Monday meetings. Scouts are required to fill out a BOR request form available from the troop scribe. Also all scouts are requested to bring their scout handbooks to each meeting so rank advancement requirements can be checked off. Scouts should report merit badge completions and rank advancements to Advancement Chairperson Advancement Chairperson John Flynn in person, e-mail--johnlflynn@yahoo.com or phone (817) 481-7908. Deadline is the Monday BEFORE the Court of Honor. NOTE: Mr.
Flynn has replaced retiring Advancement Chairperson Joyce Hegeman. We thank Mrs. Hegeman for her years of service.

http://www.longhorncouncil.org Longhorn Council web page.
http://www.troop4grapevine.com Troop 4 web page

FYI: The Longhorn Council office at 4917 Briarhaven Road in Fort Worth will be closed ONLY on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 and New Year's Eve, Dec. 31. In the past the office has been closed a full week.