December 2006

Committee Chair’s Corner

Marsha Kofman, Committee Chair, rdhetal@yahoo.com, 429-0794

Scoutmaster’s Minute

Mike Marston, Scoutmaster, marstonm@adelphia.net, 424-0017

Troop 401,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! The Turkey Campout at Camp Onaway was a huge success. The weather was good and the food was GREAT.  We has lots of turkey with all the fixin's and the boys created some excellent Dutch oven deserts (yummy).  As a bonus, the scouts got to witness the Civil Air Patrol Cadets in a search and rescue drill.  This was to find a downed pilot with the help of radio beacons and air support. November was a big month for community service. Thank you to all that took part in Scouting for Food, Parsonage Clean-up, Thanksgiving Pie Bake, and the Candlelight Walk. Special thanks to the Becker’s and Dougherty’s who coordinated the SSF collection and sorting activities at the church and to Mrs. Randall for her efforts in pulling off a successful pie bake. Please note that we have more activities to give back to the community coming in December as well.  Be prepared to help! Mark your calendars now.  The Holiday Parade is on December 3rd this year.  I hope to have a good turn out from the Troop.  Mr. Rothenberg is coordinating this event. On December 18th, we will be having a Yankee swap.  This is open to scouts and adults that wish to participate.  The guidelines for this event will be sent home soon.  Again this is optional, but all who take part must follow the guidelines.    Please contact me any time with comments, questions, or concerns.  You can email me at marstonm@adelphia.net or reach me via Cell phone at 603-494-9023.  

YIS Mr. Marston Scoutmaster, Troop 401

Patrol Assignments

The patrol assignments for the month of December are below.   This month’s theme is Wilderness Survival.

12/04      Set Up/Opening                   Invisibles

                Skill/Game                            TBD

                Closing/Clean Up                               SPL

12/11      Set Up/Opening                   SPL

                Skill/Game                            Leaders

                Closing/Clean Up                               TBD

12/18      Set Up/Opening                   TBD

                Yankee Swap Party             SPL

                Closing/Clean Up                               Invisibles

Upcoming Events

December

2              Recharter

3              Holiday Parade

4              Board of Review

13           PLC & Patrol Advisors

14           Committee Meeting

16           Chuncky’s Movie

18           St. Joseph’s Box Wrap

18           Holiday Pie Bake

18           Scoutmaster’s Conferences

20           Roundtable

January

8              Board of Review

10           PLC & Patrol Advisors

11           Committee Meeting

13           Stoneyfield Yogurt Tour

14           Troop Movie for Pack 401

15           Game Night

17           Roundtable

27-29     Snow Tubing/Camping

29           Scoutmaster’s Conferences

Announcements

Committee Meetings

The Troop 401 Committee meets on the second Thursday of each month. The next meeting will be on December 14 at 7 PM, at St. James Church.

Merit Badges

training

Robin Rich, ASM, Training Coordinator

 r-rich@comcast.net, 880-8222.

Advancements

Ed Tucker, Advancement Chair

edthepiper@verizon.net, 429-1012

Service Projects

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Fundraising

Patrol News & letters

TBD Patrol

The Skill Instruction on 11/20/06 had it's ups and downs. It started out very well until where they put their book. They described what they were doing which was good because if they didn't we wouldn't know what requirements we were filling. The problem was that they spoke a little too softly. The demonstrations were very good but short. I think maybe they could add more detail in their demonstrations. For some good reason, some people thought it was interesting but went a little too far. They decided to talk and make comments on what the patrol was saying with out having permission to speak. Toward the end, the Invisibles noticed this. Other people were not so interested and gabbed or talked with their friends about non-relevant stuff. I think the presentation would be much better if they had a working "Fire Bow Set" or a working "Natural Filter". These things might of had those other people interested. Event though, the steel wool with the battery demonstration, I have to say was the coolest way to make a fire! I also liked that this patrol had volunteers from the learning audience come up to help with the demonstration.

The game was so fun. I have to say that maybe they could switch off with the answers like, from Group 1 to Group 2, and back to Group 1, until no more pop up. Overall, I think this was a good/excellent skill instruction and I hope other patrols base their future skill instructions off this one. Again, these are my insights, opinions, and suggestions I have to make.

Submitted By:  Joel Yates, TBD Patrol

Words From Baden-Powell

Passages from

Footsteps of the Founder

As we go into the holiday season, these two quotes from Lord Baden-Powell seemed very appropriate.

"The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others."

"See things from the boy's point of view."

Newsletter Deadline

Patrice Becker, Newsletter Coordinator

pab514@netzero.com, 424-2954

The third Monday of each month is the deadline for all newsletter articles.     Due Date:  December18.