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 begins Dec. 25); 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); Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto (Japanese), Meán Geimhridh, Alban Arthuan or Winter Solstice (Reformed Druids). Sources in case you need other translations:
http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/links.htm or http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0877712.html

SUCCESSION COMMITTEE -- A succession committee to consider filling any troop adult appointments that come up has been named. Members include: Troop Committee Co-chair Greg C., Alok Kulshreshtha, Treasurer Linda Mitchell, Jeff Booth, and Jim Logue as members.

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.

TWIN ARROWS -- Troop 4 scouts selected for Twin Arrows leadership camp include: J. Sumcizk, J. Lippert, and R. Twin Arrows provides scouts with the leadership skills to assume such positions as senior or assistant senior patrol leader.

COPE by Dan Berry and John Flynn --Eight scouts spent a weekend on the COPE (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience) course on the weekend of November 11 13. The scouts that attended were J. Bell, J. Carter, J. Lippert, R. Logue, K. Mitchell, R. Mitchell, N. Smith and J. Sumcizk. The scouts along with the adults leaders traveled to Camp Cherokee Friday night and met Mike, the COPE Director. We setup camp and had a late cracker barrel. At 8 am the scouts met the COPE staff at the COPE course and didn't return until lunch. By 1 pm they were off again to complete the day. Just before 5:00, the scouts returned with sharing stories about the afternoon. A short time later, the scouts, adults and COPE staff enjoyed a brisket dinner prepared by John Flynn. In true Troop 4 fashion, a cobbler (or two) were consumed that evening. The scouts got up the next day and finished the COPE course by noon. For those that may not be familiar with COPE, it is a program that is designed to build team work in a group and allow individuals to take leadership roles even if it is for just a challenge or two. The scouts are presented with challenges and must find ways by working together to complete them. By now you have noticed a complete lack of examples and stories and that is intentional. If everyone knows what the challenges are before they get there, it takes away from part of the program. It definitely is best experienced first hand. To participate, a scout must be at least 13 years old and the team needs a minimum of 8 scouts. We try to give the scouts an opportunity each year to participate in COPE. It has been several years since Troop 4 has traveled to Camp Cherokee which is near Athens. It is a Circle 10 Council camp. I had forgotten how nice it was to be in thicker woods, have pine needles on the ground and camp on soft, sandy ground. The weather was great; a few sprinkles but not enough to get rain gear out. The temperatures were pleasant and the camp itself brought back some good memories. The scouts came back to camp each time sharing stories of their most recent challenges. This was a weekend that was enjoyed and allowed the boys to participate in a truly worth while program.

CAMPING AND BACKPACKING AT LAKE TEXOMA by Dan Berry and John Flynn -- The weekend after COPE, (Nov. 19-21) the troop went camping at Lake Texoma. The Campout was on Saturday, Sunday and Monday since the scouts were off of school. Actually, there were two events. First, there was a campout for the scouts to work on advancements. The second event was backpacking on the Cross Timbers Trail. The Cross Timbers Trail is a 14 mile trail that travels between Juniper Point and Rock Creek Resort. Juniper Point is on Rt 377 at the south edge of Lake Texoma. Rock Creek Resort is several miles west and is now run by Marine Quest. Since we wanted to hike the entire trail and since the campsite at Juniper Point was closed for the season, the base camp was at Rock Creek Resort. Nine scouts were at the base camp. They included A. Beeman, B. Booth, J. A. Carter, G. Gillaspie, E. Gollhofer, E. Heidelman, C. Jordan, I. Mashburn and R. Shafer. Six scouts went backpacking. They were J. Bell, M. Berry, J. M. Carter, J. Hart, J. Lippert and R. Logue. Some scouts needed to arrive late and others needed to leave early (Sunday). All but 3 scouts met at the scout hut Saturday morning and loaded the trailer. We then took the 1.5 hour drive to the site of the base camp. After checking in and selecting a site for the weekend, the scouts staying at base camp began setting up camp. Marine Quest was very generous and let us spread out and occupy as many sites as we wanted. This was in addition to charging the scouts a very reasonable price to begin with. Meanwhile, the backpackers went through a shake down process where gear was reviewed to make sure we had what we needed and that we did not take unneeded duplicate items. Crew gear and food were divided among the backpackers and each person was weighed with and without their pack to make sure that they were not carrying too much weight for their body size. When all was ready, the backpackers were shuttled to the trail head at Juniper Point. The first day of backpacking was spent getting to Lost Loop where camp was setup. Dinner was prepared using a backpacking stove and dehydrated food was re-hydrated. A short time after this, we experienced a good learning. Even when the weather forecast predicts a 0% chance of rain, it can still rain. There was a light steady shower for about 30 minutes and everyone put their packs under the dinning fly and we went into our tents. The people at base camp experienced the same shower during their camp fire. They had just finished telling what scouting had taught them and were about to do skits when the shower started. They too did a little picking up, put out the fire and headed for their tents. The next day the backpackers broke camp, had breakfast and headed out to the next campsite. The original plan called for camping 2 miles from the base camp but upon arriving and seeing the state of the site, it was decided to camp at a different portion of Rock Creek Resort. Specifically, we camped in an open area with no facilities across an inlet from base camp. Again, camp was setup and dinner prepared. As a treat, the base camp group prepared cobbler and invited the backpackers over to enjoy it which most did. In the morning, both groups broke camp and the backpackers hiked into base camp. Luckily for a couple of the backpacking adults, there was still coffee in the pot. We swapped some more stories and everyone helped load the trailer for the trip home. Everyone did a great job. G. Gillaspie was the Acting SPL. He put together a great campfire program and kept the scouts organized at base camp. J. Lippert planned the meals for the back packers and bought all the food and acted as their cook as part of a merit badge requirement. To have a program like this with two activities and a number of people arriving late and leaving early took 9 adults. Our thanks go out to Rick Bell, Jeff Carter, Jim Lippert, Jeff Booth, Pat Heidelman, Gilbert Jordan and Joe Schafer for making this weekend possible.

UPCOMING CAMPOUTS by Dan Berry -- The January day trip to go shooting is reserved at Worth Ranch. Worth was selected as the ranges are very close to each other allowing the scouts better opportunity to shoot both rifles and shotguns. The Lexington is reserved for Saturday, February 18th. The non-refundable deposit of $50 has been paid. We have 13 scouts signed up. We will travel part way on Friday and spend the night, probably near San Antonio. We will finish the drive to the Lexington in the morning and participate in the program Saturday and spend the night on the ship. Return on Sunday. April is the Camporee on one weekend and the District Canoe Race/Rank Advancement campout on another weekend. We sign up for both of these with the council. They typically provide the required information 1-2 months prior to the event.

OCTOBER TWENTY MILE HIKE by Dan Berry -- On Saturday, October 29th 5 scouts (K. Cureton, J. Lippert, R. Logue, K. Mitchell, and R. Mitchell) and 4 adults (Dan Berry, Jeff Carter, Jim Lippert, and Jim Logue) completed a 20 mile hike. The purpose of the hike was two fold. First, a 20 mile hike is a requirement of the hiking merit badge. For a couple of the scouts, this was the only hiking requirement remaining. The second purpose was preparation for the Philmont trek next year. We hiked the Knob Hill Trail which has a trail head on RT 377 just south of FM 1179. This trail is open to mountain bikes and hikers. The trail is moderate and includes both wooded as well as open areas. We left the church parking lot a little after 7:00 am and arrived at the trail head at about 7:30. The sun was just coming up and the air was still pretty cool. After tying boots and checking water, the group headed out. We hiked about 5 miles to the end of Knob Hill Trail and took a break by what should have been the shore of Grapevine Lake. What we found was dried, cracked lake bed with water being seen in the distance.
We then continued hiking on Cross Timbers trail which conveniently starts where Knob Hill trail ends. This trail is open to equestrian use as well as hikers but not to mountain bikes. We completed a total of 7 miles total before turning around and heading back to eat lunch. After lunch, we hiked 3 miles back over the same trail and then returned to the trail head. Jim Lippert has his GPS so we were sure we completed the full 20 miles. While hiking a section of the trail twice is not ideal, the location of the trail made up for it. Overall the hike was great. We had good weather, a short drive and a good start time. We did share the trail with mountain bikers but there were not many out so we didn't need to step aside often. We even got an extra hour of sleep that night (which I must admit, I needed).

MERIT BADGE COLLEGE Jan 7 and 21st -- Don't forget to sign up now for the Lakeview District Merit Badge College on the Troop 4 website Jan. 7 and 21st.at Colleyville Middle School. Deadline is Jan. 2, 2006. Registration for the 2006 MB College will be entirely paper less 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 According to the preliminary MB instructor list released recently, Troop 4 adult leaders Steve Brewton, Linda Mitchell, Marianne Lippert, and Tom Anderson will be instructors during the MB College. To volunteer to teach or help, contact MB College Dean Steve Salin at SSALIN@aol.com . The MB College website is http://www.lakeviewdistrict.org/MBCollege.htm .

RADIO MERIT BADGE -- The Radio Merit Badge will again be offered at Ham Com 2006 June 9-10, 2006 at the Plano Center in Plano (note this is a location change from the Arlington Convention Center). For information go to http://www.hamcom.org/ and click on youth programs.

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, johnlflynn@yahoo.com or phone (817) 481-7908 Deadline is the Monday BEFORE the Court of Honor.. The next Court of Honor will be Feb. 6, 2006.