Troop 4 - Grapevine, Texas

CLIMBING CAMP OUT by ASM John Flynn -- On August 19-21, an intrepid group of Scouts and Adults braved the heat and dust at Sid Richardson to use the climbing ropes one last time before they are retired. The group consisted of scouts: Michael B., Jared C., Nicholas C., Kyle C., Gregory G., Jason H., Coleman J., Abi K., Kevin M., Ryan M., Cody M., Nathan S., and Joseph S. The Adults on the outing were: Dan Berry, Jeff Carter, Juan Corona, Gilbert Jordan, Alok Kulshreshtha, and John Flynn. Despite the heat, the scouts completed a total of 39 climbs on two different routes and 14 rappels on 2 different routes. Several scouts used this outing to complete the outdoor requirements for the Climbing Merit Badge. They just need to complete the Merit Badge workbook to earn the badge. In addition to the excellent climbing, the scouts put on an outstanding campfire show organized by Nathan Smith. This helped him to complete a requirement for the Communications Merit Badge. After the show, the troop retired for the customary after dinner cobbler. This camp out gave the troop one last use of the climbing ropes before they are retired per BSA Climbing policy. Troop 4 invested in the outdoor program by purchasing the ropes, helmets, webbing, carabineers, and other equipment over 4 years ago. Per BSA policy ropes must be retired 4 years from date of purchase regardless of use. This investment allowed the troop to take advantage of climbing venues other than Longhorn Council facilities. The outings were coupled with other activities which allowed scouts to complete rank advancement and merit badge requirements outside the council facilities when they were unavailable. It is our goal to continue to expand the opportunities available in an outdoor program while maintaining our current offerings. However in order to do this, we need more trained adults in the following areas Rock/Tower Climbing, First Aid/CPR trained, and Life Guards. These are critical to being to offer the boys a challenging and rewarding program.

EAGLE UPDATE -- Arden S. will have his Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Sunday, October 9 at 1:15 p.m. at CCF. Matt H. is expected to have his Eagle Scout Board of Review October 27 and Bobby U. should have his Life to Eagle service project approved at the October 11 Troop Committee meeting.

POPCORN KERNELS -- Popcorn Kernels Sheryl Gillaspie and Marianne Lippert have distributed popcorn order sales forms to each Troop 4 scout. Order sheets are due back in October 28. The forms can either be turned in at the Oct 24th troop meeting or brought to Mrs. Gillaspie's home at 3511 Fox Meadow in Colleyville phone 817-283-2567. The troop committee has approved a requirement that scouts not selling at least $150 in popcorn must pay $75 to the troop. The popcorn project is the troop's major fund raising project of the year.

NEW COUNCIL PHONE NUMBER -- 817-231-8500. The Longhorn Council office is now located on Cannon Street, just off of Precinct Line Road and Hwy 26.

PHILMONT TREK IN 2006 by John Flynn --The Longhorn Council has awarded Troop 4 a 2006 Philmont trek as part of the Longhorn Council Philmont contingent. Troop 4 was among only two troops from the Lakeview District who received council treks, the other troop was Troop 7. Scouts who meet eligibility requirements have received previous notification. These requirements are: Age 14 by January 1, 2006; or Age 13 and completion of the 8th grade before the trek date. There is more than just meeting the age requirements. The commitment to become a crew member will require all participants to successfully complete Philmont shakedown events including a 4 day backpacking trip this fall and possibly again in the spring. The purpose of these events is to introduce the skills and knowledge needed for the Philmont trek, physical conditioning and most importantly building a crew mentality. Troop 4's crew size is 12.The number of youth participating must be greater than the number of adults. In addition to the crew conditioning events, all participants must pass a Philmont physical. The Philmont fee is $520.00 per person. This does not include other costs such as transportation and travel meal costs. The first payment of $260 was due in September. The trek dates are Monday July 17, 2006 (starts with lunch at Philmont) and ends with breakfast on Saturday July 29, 2006. In planning for the trek you should add an additional day for travel before and after the trek. That is we would leave CCF on Sunday, July 16 and plan to return on Sunday July 30. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact John Flynn at 817-481-7908 or johnlflynn@yahoo.com

SUMMER CAMP 2006 -- Troop 4 will be going to summer camp in 2006 at Camp Hale, east of McAlester, Oklahoma at Talihina, OK, near the Ouachita Mountains. Camp will begin May 29, 2006. Fees and other information will be announced later.

NEW 1st CLASS REQUIREMENT -- Beginning Jan. 1. 2006 the National BSA Office is listing an additional requirement for earning the first class rank. Scouts holding second class rank and working on 1st class will have 6 months to complete 1st class under the present requirements, otherwise they will have to complete the additional requirement. The new requirement states that to earn 1st class a scout must talk to a non-scout about joining your troop, or convincing a former scout to rejoin a troop. The requirement will be published in the new scout handbook. Those talked to about scouting don't have to join a troop in order for a scout to receive credit for the new requirement. The requirement may be met by talking to a visiting Webelos scout at a troop meeting or talking to potential scouts at a scout open house. According to the Longhorn Council Advancement Committee the new requirement tests a scout's communications skills.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING CAMP OUT -- Scout attending the Sept 16-18 Leadership Training Camp out at Hills and Hollows included: Jacob B., Jeff C., Kyle C., Gregory G., Jason H., Joseph K., Abi K., Joseph L., Robert L., Kevin M., Ryan M., Cody M., Richard S., Joseph S., and Cameron T. Adults attending were : Dan Berry, Jeff Carter, John Flynn, Alok Kulshreshtha, and Joe Shafer.

ADVANCEMENTS -- Recent rank advancement include Abi K., Star, and Gregory G., second class.

MERIT BADGE COLLEGE -- The Lakeview District Merit Badge College will be Jan. 7th and 21st, 2006 at Colleyville Middle School. Registration for the 2006 MB College will be entirely paperless as all registrations will be done in advance online and there will be NO walk-in registrations. There will be no lunch. MB Classes will start at 8:30 a.m. and last for an hour and ten minutes each. The district is hoping to have a wider MB offering in 2006 than in past years.

JAMBOREE ON THE AIR -- JOTA is an annual (October 15-16, 2005) event in which about 500,000 Scouts and Guides all over the world make contact with each other by means of amateur radio. It is a real Jamboree during which Scouting experiences are exchanged and ideas are shared, thus contributing to the world brotherhood of Scouting The JOTA is a world-wide event. Units may operate for 48 hours or any part thereof, from Saturday 00.00 h UTC (7 p.m. Friday night in Texas) until Sunday 24.00 h UTC (7 p.m. Sunday night) local time. It is for members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), and also for members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/jota.html for additional information. Also participation in JOTA counts for requirement #9 on the Citizenship in the World Merit Badge. Postcard-size certificates are free and are available to anyone participating in any way. They may be ordered beforehand for presentation during the JOTA, or they may be awarded at Scouting or amateur radio club meetings later. Send requests to Jamboree-on-the-Air Certificate Cards & Patches, S221, 1325 West Walnut Hill Lane, P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079. All orders must be received by December 31 of the year for which certificates are ordered. Patches are $4.00 each, postpaid and are available in a limited quantity.

MERIT BADGES IN PROGRESS by John Flynn -- For those of you working on one or more of the following merit badges please note the following:
Climbing Merit badge: You should be working on the merit badge work book to complete the written requirements. Those requirements requiring a demonstration of competence, for example knot tying will be done in a future meeting.
Personal Fitness: You need to be working on developing your exercise plan. You cannot start your program until I approve and the 12 weeks doesn't start until you have an approved plan. You should also be working on the requirements in the work book.
Reading: Please make sure you select your books from the categories outlined in the merit badge pamphlet. Please let me know the books you are reading and the type of literature for each book (fiction, non-fiction, biography, etc.).
For those who do not have it, this is an excellent time to start working on the Scholarship Merit Badge.
I'll have a sign up at the next meeting.