May 2008 News
Committee Chair’s Corner
Marsha Kofman, Committee Chair, rdhetal@yahoo.com, 429-0794
Spring is
here! Not much mud or rain this season, but the leaves still needed to be raked
and clean up from a long
An important part of Scouting is Community Service. It is part of the Scout Motto to Do a Good Turn Daily. Troop 401 provides many opportunities for everyone to participate in these events so you do not need to find these opportunities on your own. It is our way of giving back to the community and in many cases St. James Church, our Charter organization. Without their willingness to allow our Troop to meet at St. James, we would not have a Troop. Please, be sure to attend these events. They are important to the Troop, the organization, and to the development of the Scouts character and learn teamwork. Please make sure you make these events an important part of your family calendar as well.
There are
still many events yet to happen that we could use some help with to ensure they
are successful. The annual Frank Daley Campout at
The success of a Troop event is not dependant on just one or two people. It takes everyone to help make them successful. Thank you to those that have helped. For those who have not helped, come join in the fun.
If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to contact me.
Marsha Kofman, Committee Chair, rdhetal@yahoo.com, 429-0794
Scoutmaster’s Minute
There has been a lot of change in the troop over that last year or so and things are starting to settle
back in. Many of our older boys have moved on to the next stage of their life. Whether they have earned their Eagle or not, Scouting has helped prepare them for adult life and the many challenges they will face. Some have gone off to college, joined the service, taken on a job, or have chosen to get involved it other activities. I am proud to have known them all and I wish them the best.
As you know we have made a lot of changes to leadership recently and it is time for the next generation to take over. I have been very pleased with the enthusiasm I have seen in our current group of scouts and adult leaders over the last year and am excited about the next year to come. Working together we can make Troop 401 a quality program and THE place to be.
With that said, next month’s PLC on June 4th is an important one for all of you. We will be planning out our events for next year. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate. So start thinking about activities you would like to have in the program and if you can not attend, pass them on to your Patrol Leader.
I am having a lot of fun and hope you are too,
Mr. Sanborn
Training Opportunities
· Troop Committee Challenge – May 28th, 7-9:30 pm at
· Scoutmaster/Assistant Scoutmaster Outdoor training:
Weekend training June 7th – 8th
· Powderhorn training – July 11 -13th and 18-20th at
· Wood Badge training – September 12-14th, 26-28th (leadership skills course recommended for all Scout positions)
You can obtain applications and more information from Troop Training Chair, Robin Rich or from the DWC web page (www.nhscouting.org).
Upcoming Events
May
30 - June 1 – Frank Daley Campout – Wasserman Park
June
5 – Library
Book
4 – PLC – 2008-09 Activity Planning Meeting
7 –
Hiking/Backpacking Club –
8 – Library
Book
11 – Roundtable
12 – Committee Meeting 7pm
14 – Backpacking Club – Father’s Day 1 night trip
22 – Reverand Gage’s last service
23 – Court of Honor & Eagle Court of Honor
July
6 – 12 – Hidden Valley Summer Camp
18 – 20 – Backpacking Club - Howl at the Moon Backpacking Trip
26 – Hiking
Club - Little Monadnock & Rhododendren
27 – August
2 –
August
2 – Hiking Club – Waterfall Hike - TBD
8 -10 – Rolling Rapids Canoe Trip
16 – Hiking Club - Full Moon Hike – Pack Monadnock
TBD – Welcome Back Family Picnic/Troop Mtg
September
9/13 – Hiking Club - West Rattlesnake
TBD –
Return to
Advancements
Mike Volante, Advancement Chair, jwvamv@aol.com, 424-0709
The following advancements and merit badges will be presented at the Court of Honor on Monday, June 23rd:
Advancing
to the rank of Star Scout:
Joel Yates
Holden Lambert
Advancing to the rank of Scout:
Nicholas Berube
Ethan Brodell
Bailey Goodwin
Jacob Johnson
Drew Lesmerises
Connor Meighan
Nathan Narducci
Casey Nevers
George Tessier
Austen Thomson
Merit badges to be awarded:
Swimming-
Brendan Adams
Jackson Volante
Ethan Brodell
Connor Meighan
Austen Thomson
Nick Berube
Bailey Goodwin
Personal Fitness-
Holden Lambert
Announcements
Moving on
After many
years here in
The Troop would like to wish her well with her new adventure. To show our appreciation, we would like to encourage all of the Scouts and their families attend her last service at St. James on Sunday June 22. Please attend in full scout uniform.
Please contact Lisa Sanborn, Charter Representative or Marsha Kofman, Troop Committee Chair if you have any questions.
Next Court of Honor
On June 23rd the troop will present all rank advancements and merit badges earned since the last Court of Honor. In addition there will be an Eagle Court of Honor where Jake Therrien will officially receive his rank of Eagle. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend.
2008-09 Activity Planning Meeting
The June 4th PLC will be the annual planning session for the troop’s 2008-09 activities. This is an important meeting for all scouts to attend….this is where you, as a scout, have a voice as to what activities the troop plans for the next scouting year. Parents are encouraged to attend as well to hear what the troop is planning. Parent comments can then be made at the next committee meeting on June 12th. The PLC will meet at St. James Church at 7pm on June 4th.
May and June Patrol Assignments
May 19th
Opening: Badgers
Skill: Dragons – Patrol Boxes
Closing: Chieftans
May 26th – Memorial Day, No Troop Meeting
June 2nd
Opening: Chieftans
Skill: Eagles – Orienteering
Closing: Dragons
June 9th
Opening: Dragons
Skill: – Badgers – Lashings
Closing: Eagles
June 16th
Opening: Eagles
Skill: First Aid – Chieftans
Closing: Badgers
June 23rd – Court of Honor
Opening – Badgers
Refreshments – Dragons
Closing: Chieftans
Frank Daley Campout –
Last year’s Tenderfoot Challenge has evolved into an all scout challenge. This year the first year scouts have made such rapid progress on their camping skills that the patrols – not just the newest scouts - will be competing on a variety of scout skills.
The Senior Patrol will finalize the plans soon and some of the possible events include:
Ø Creation of Patrol flags
Ø Fishing
Ø Toten and Fireman’s chit
Ø Cooking meals on fires without stoves
Ø Find your way without a compass
Ø One-pot dinner competition over an open fire
Ø Knot tying competition
Ø Short hike and possible backpack practice with native plants identification)
Rolling Rapids Canoe Trip
Plans for
the annual troop canoe trip are shaping up. This year’s trip will be August 8th-10th
on the
If you have
any family members that would like to go and not participate in the canoe trip,
there are camping spots currently available near the scout’s group camp site at
Hiking Club & Backpacking Club
Mark your calendar with the following hiking/backpacking dates. Please forward any hiking trail suggestions to Mr. Seeley at kseeley2005@yahoo.com.
Hiking Club
6/7 –
7/26 – Little Monadnock & Rhododendren St. Park
8/2 – Waterfall Hike – TBD
8/16 – Full Moon Hike – Pack Monadnock
9/13 – West Rattlesnake
Sept – Nov Fall Hikes TBD
Backpacking Club
6/7 –
6/14 – 15 - Father’s Day 1 night trip
Wapack Trail – Barrett Mtn.
7/18 – 20 – Howl-to-the Moon 2 night trip –
Full Moon! – Monadnock/Sunapee Trail
Troop Committee Meetings
Meetings are scheduled on the second Thursday of each month. We meet at St. James Church, at 7 PM in one of the classrooms. All adults are welcome to participate in the meetings.
When the Scouts plan an outing, parents are always needed to call and make the reservations, to provide transportation to the event, or even to suggest a new activity. So become an active participant in your son’s scouting adventure.
Hope to see you there.
District Roundtable
Scheduled for
the second Wednesday of each month, the meetings take place at the
All adult leaders are encouraged to attend this valuable training. Parents are also welcome to attend these meetings to learn more about the scouting program.
Next Roundtable:
June 11th
Community Service
Library Book
Mark your calendar!
- June 5th, Thursday – Merrimack Public Library set-up for Book Sale @ 6 PM
- June 8th, Sunday- Merrimack
Public Library Breakdown from Book
Fundraising
Grocery Receipts
Because of
the troop’s hard work, we have brought in over $400 with the Shaw’s receipt
program!
Please continue to save and bring in your Shaw's receipts to Mrs. Prive. It DOES make a difference!
Past Events
Hike-a-thon - Freedom Trail
A HUGE turnout
of scouts and families were greeted by fair weather and a very nice stroll
through the little town of
Pond Parish Hike and Backpack Practice
Another
nice spring day greeted 16 hikers and 2 dogs as they hiked 2.5 miles through
the
Joe English Hike and Backpack Practice
The weather
cleared to a perfect spring morning allowing scouts and families to hike the
hills over
Backpacking Update
Ø Five Scouts have already completed the required practice needed to qualify for taking the first backpacking trip in June: Matthew, Jackson, Max, Logan and Robert are qualified now and Brendan only needs one more hike in full gear.
Ø Our next chance to complete backpack
practice will be on June 7th at the
Ø The ALICE Packs are in and will be distributed on Monday the 19th.
Ø Our first backpacking campout this year will be in New Ipswich and will feature a stay at the top of Mount Barrett in and around a lean-to shelter with a fire pit. It will start early on Saturday the 14th and end early on the 15th (Father’s Day).
The Howl-to-the Moon backpacking two-night trip will be in July along the Monadnock-Mount Sunapee trail. We will depart on July 13th and return on the 15th with MOON-BURN.
Mr. Milton’s Recipe Roundup
Roasted Rabbit
Cut up the rabbit and place into a large pan with grease and some water. Add
salt, carrots, onions, and potatoes. Cook for about an hour until the rabbit is
tender. Mix a little flour, water, salt, and pepper to make a thin mixture.
Pour this over the rabbit and cook a little longer until the flour is cooked
and some of the water has evaporated to make a thick
gravy.
Rabbit Starvation
A diet of
lean meat with no other fatty food, can lead to starvation. Too much lean meat
causes diarrhea. Rabbit meat is very, very lean. Having continuous diarrhea
will cause you to be very hungry, and you will eat more and even more rabbit.
This will cause starvation in a few days if you do not add fatty food to your
diet. The fat and minerals needed to digest rabbit are greater than you receive
from eating rabbit.
Don't get me wrong rabbit is very good to eat. I have eaten it many times in
the bush. You just need a well rounded diet when camping and hiking. When you
are active, you need the fat and carbohydrates to fuel your activity
There are a few meat shops in the area that sell rabbit, elk, bison, and other
game meat. If you have never tried it, it's worth a try.
Mr. Milton
Hey!
Great news! The Troop will be putting together its very own Troop Cookbook.
Please submit any and all of your favorite camping recipes. These can be using
Dutch ovens or not. We will
include at least one recipe in each newsletter and then combine all we have for
the cookbook. Please submit them to troop401news@yahoo.com!
Troop Birthdays
Troop Birthdays for June are:
Max 6/2
Robert 6/21
Andrew 6/23
On Being a Scout….
Fire and how to Survive with it
Fire has a very strong physiological effect, on a person, in a survival situation. Fire is the most important survival tool after personal wilderness knowledge and training; it helps you to maintain a calm and positive attitude. A fire will always bring joy.
- Fire provides warmth which helps your mind have a positive attitude.
- Fire makes you feel protected from the wild animals out there in the shadows.
- Fire lets you cook meals and use many edible plants that would otherwise be hard to prepare.
- Wet clothes can be dried by a good fire, to help avoid hypothermia.
- Water can be boiled to purify it, drank to keep you warm inside.
- Fire can be used to send smoke signals.
- Fire can be used to make a point at the end of a stick to make a spear.
- Fire and smoke will help in repelling insects.
- Smoke can be used to calm bees, so you can borrow some honey.
- A fire torch can be used at night, to blind fish in shallow streams to make them easier to catch.
Building a fire will increase your ability to survive in the wilderness. Make a fire as soon as you have shelter. You can continue to work on your shelter in the dark by the fire light. To make fire you need to make sure you understand the various methods of building and starting a fire. Always when camping or going out into the bush, carry waterproof matches or a flint and steal. I always carry a small fire kit, some tinder and dryer lint to make a fire quick and easy to start.
Submitted by Mr. Milton
Words of Wisdom
In developing young men to be leaders, it is important to remember that the best leaders were and are good followers. In Scouting we call it Servant leadership….leading a group of individuals working as a team to
accomplish something…even if that something is just plain fun and
games.
We tend to focus on leadership
a lot in Scouting and the Scouts are always looking
for that opportunity to lead, whether it is for the next rank, or to show the other Scouts that they are capable of leading.
But sometimes you need to ask: Who's
pulling the wagon? We all want to be in the leadership wagon, taking the
leadership ride, but if we are all leading, who is following?
Sometimes it is ok to take the back seat, or get out front and pull the wagon
and let someone else lead for a while. We see it in our Patrols…a whole lot of
chiefs, and no Indians, as we used to put it.
Being a good follower makes one a good leader. You can learn a lot from
watching in the follower role. Watch success and learn from mistakes. Take it
all in and try to do something different when it’s your turn to lead.
Pull the wagon once in a while. It is a refreshing view.
Submitted by Mr. Seeley
Newsletter Contact
Kelly Seeley, Newsletter Coord., 424-0734, troop401news@yahoo.com