September 2008 News
Committee Chair’s Corner
Marsha Kofman, Committee Chair, rdhetal@yahoo.com, 429-0794
The
Scouting year is off to a busy start! We started our year with the Annual District
Popcorn sale. This is an excellent opportunity for the scouts to earn money for
the entire scouting year, but it is also an opportunity for the Troop to earn
money to help with our operation. A BIG thank you goes to Erica Beck for
volunteering her time again this year to oversee this very important
fundraiser. We are trying to shorten the time until the customers can actually
get the popcorn. Please watch your
I would
like to thank Mr. & Mrs. Seeley for organizing the Troop Picnic at
Over the
summer, the rain has taken its toll on the Undercroft (the room where we meet
for scout meetings.) The dampness has caused damage to the walls. The Troop is
working with the Trustee’s of St. James to correct the problem. Until a
solution is found, the church is allowing us to use the Fellowship Hall, (hall
upstairs) for most of our Troop meetings. There may be a few conflicts but we
are trying to work out the conflicts. Be sure to check your
I would like to thank those parents and adults that have assisted the troop by signing up to oversee an activity that the Scouts have planned to do for this upcoming year. If you have not yet had an opportunity to sign up, please see me at the next meeting. I would like to see every adult sign up for one event. In the event that we do not have people signing up for events, we will need to cancel them. Then, we will not be able to provide a complete and rounded program for the scouts. Please, do not let this happen. Please sign up for one event.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. rdhetal@yahoo.com or 429-0794.
Scoutmaster’s Minute
Hello everyone,
I can’t believe the summer is gone and fall is upon us. The good news is the 2008-2009 Scout year is off and running. I know we have not started off as smoothly as I had hoped. The issues at the church and our Senior Patrol leader recovering from surgery has contributed to regular troop meetings being a little disorganized. Matt is doing well and I will be consulting with him on the PLC meeting agendas and plans for this year so stay tune for our first official PLC of the year.
As most of you are aware of at this time, we have some issues with black mold in the undercroft where we meet at the church. Due to this our meetings this year until further notice will be held upstairs in fellowship hall. Unfortunately, we can not use the room on the 3rd Monday each month and will be planning other events accordingly. I would like to Thank Mr. Beck for the rescheduling of Adopt-a-Road and Mr. Golemo for setting up an orienteering coarse for Monday 9/22.
This is not all we are doing to correct this situation though. Mr. Seeley took some samples of the mold and did some research on how to address it. He presented his report and recommendations to me, Mrs. Kaufman and the Church Board. The Church approved the plan and the troop began cleanup this past weekend with removal and treatment of contaminated areas. I would like to thank Mr. Seeley and his volunteers for this very important task. Not only does it address an important health issue but builds an even stronger bond with the church.
This past weekend we held the Webelos’ Wigwam camping trip with Webelos 1s and 2s from Pack 401. The goal was to build a relationship with them and their parents. It gave them a good chance to see how we work as a troop and the fun we have on our outdoor events. The boy scouts that attended spent some time teaching skills but also just had a good time hanging out with them. I was very please with all that attended this event and their interaction with the Webelos. I ran into one boy and his grandmother in the grocery store late Sunday. She thanked us for a good time and Joey wanted to know when he could come back. Nice job guys!
Mr. Sanborn
Training Opportunities
· New Leader Essentials – October 11th
You can obtain applications and more information from Troop Training Chair, Robin Rich or from the DWC web page (www.nhscouting.org).
Upcoming Events
September
9/27-28 –
Hiking Club:
October
10/4 –
American
10/10-12 –
10/18 – Hiking Club: Purgatory Falls
10/20 – Court of Honor
10/24-26 – District Fall Camporee
November
11/1 – Scouting for Food: Bag drop off
11/1 – Parsonage Cleanup
11/8 – Scouting for Food: Bag pick up
11/22 – Hiking Club: B&M or Sheldrick trail
11/24 – Thanksgiving Pie Bake
Announcements
Eagle Project Thank You
Nathan D. wishes to thank all the people that helped him with his Eagle Scout project:
Mr. Milton
Mr. Courtemanche
Mrs. Koffman
Mr. Sanborn
Mr. Seeley
Mr. Golemo
Mr. Brodell
Mrs. Rich
Mrs. Beck
Brendan
Kyle
Ryan
Ethan
Matthew
Thank you very much!!!
Nathan
Troop Paperwork
Thank you to those that turned in your “paperwork” passed out at the beginning of September. The annual review of the Troop Code of Conduct and your permission to photograph the scouts for publicity is a reminder for all, of the Troops visibility in the community and the expectations of appropriate scouting behavior at all times.
Serveral scouts still need to turn their paperwork in. Please turn everything into Mrs. Kofman as soon as possible.
Merit Badges
For all those scouts that have been working on merit badges with Mrs. Kofman and need to update or finalize them, please contact her to schedule a meeting time. Mrs. Kofman can be reached at 429-0794.
Arrowhead 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:
October 8th - Discussion of youth chaplains aid and quartermaster roles.
November 12th
Committee Meetings
The Troop is always looking for new ideas and input to help make the program more exciting for the boys and simplified for the adults. Bring any input you would like to share to the monthly Committee Meetings, held on the second Thursday of each month at 7 PM at St. James Church. Occasionally the date or location needs to change due to a church or school event. Please consult the Troop Web Calendar on a regular basis for any schedule changes. Please contact Marsha Kofman, Committee Chair, with any questions 429-0794, rdhetal@yahoo.com.
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
10/18 –
11/22 – B&M or Sheldrick Forest Trail
Backpacking Club
9/27-28 –
Pictures Needed
Nathan D. is working on updating the Troop’s pictoral history album. If anyone has any pictures that they’d like to contribute to the album, please contact Nathan at hmcnate@comcast.net.
Community Service
Adopt-a-Road
Fifteen scouts and several adults from the Troop put on dirty gloves and knocked out the cleaning of Pearson road in record time. Thanks to Brendan, Connor, Robert, Tom, Nick, Max, Holden, Jackson, Jacob, Matthew, Logan, Austin, Andrew, Tyler and Paul.
Fundraising
Troop Fundraising Requirements
Just a reminder that the Troop requires that all boys participate in at least two troop fundraisers per year. The Silent Auction and Dessert Buffet is one of them with at least a two-hour commitment needed by each scout. Scouts can then choose between either popcorn sales or gift wrapping to fulfill the required two. Scouts should sell one page worth of popcorn or commit to two hours of gift wrapping in December.
Grocery Receipts
Please continue to bring in all the receipts that you have collected during the summer. Look for the new collection box located at the church next time the troop meets there.
Popcorn Sales
Scouts can continue to sell popcorn until late October. This is an excellent way to earn money for your Scout Accounts and the troop and fulfills one of your two required fundraising events. Scout accounts can be used to pay for your own Scout activities, equipment and summer camp.
Thank you to Mrs. Beck for, once again, organizing the Troop’s popcorn sales. If you have any questions, please contact her at ingaa@msn.com or call her at 759-6784.
Wreath Sales
The wreath sales for this year will begin at the end of September. The kissing balls and various sizes of wreaths will, again this year, be supplied from Wilson Farms.
New this year, all scout profits will go 100% to scout accounts. This is a great way for the scouts to earn money to pay for camp, events, uniforms and food for campouts. Please contact Mrs. Kofman or Mrs. Meighan with any questions you might have.
Also new this year will be sales during the November Presidential Election on November 4, at the JMUES location. We will be looking for Scouts and adults to oversee this station during the day and evening. There is no school that day. Look for a sign up sheet within the next few weeks.
Thank you in advance for you help and support.
Past Events
Troop Picnic
Baboosic Lake Four-Season’s Beach was the site of our first annual Troop Picnic. Many of the Troop’s family’s were on hand during a peaceful day to witness Scout Leaders bragging about recreational injuries while enduring vicious insect attacks, to observing scouts drunk with joy falling into the lake, to seeing the horror of Joel wildly staggering in the grass and to be exposed to Matthew’s obvious drinking problem. The Four Season’s neighborhood insists that the scouts come back next year for another round!
Camp DePlant Cleanup
Scouts and
parents from Troop 401 completed a set of conservation and community service projects
at
The Troop returned
to New Ipswich for our first camping trip of the fall and got to experience
first hand the varialbe weather of
soup while a dutch-oven breakfast greeted the group in the morning. An inch and a half of rain overnight accelerated the Sunday morning departure effectively washing many pairs of shoes left out of the tents overnight.
Troop 401 together
with the Town of
Mold Removal Team
Mr. Retelle, Mr. KillKelley and The Seeley’s gowned up in their finest smocks to remove the heavy mold contamination in the church basement. Many thanks for the help with the first step of dealing with this very serious problem. Future steps will safely clean the room which will greatly help the church and get our meeting place in a safe and useable condition.
Mr. Milton’s Receipe Roundup
Donuts /fried dough
Donuts, who doesn’t like a warm donut in the morning, when the air is chilled, and the mist is rising over the campsite, everyone. There is nothing like a warm donut. It’s very easy to do. Plan on having it on the first breakfast camping.
Start with pre-planning. Buy a frozen pizza dough, and place it in a zip-lock bag with a little olive oil (vegetable works fine as well) seal the bag with lots of air in it to allow the dough to rise overnight. Place the dough-bag in your cooler, as far away from the ice as possible.
In the morning, your dough should have thawed and risen. Place about 1 inch to an inch and a half of vegetable oil in the bottom of your pan, and heat to 325 degrees. Remember this is very hot oil, and you do not want it to splash on your fire. Bad things will happen if you do. With tongs ready take golf ball size piece and flatten it out to about ¼ to 3/8 of an inch thick. Slowly slide the dough into the oil. Not too many at a time. When it starts to brown on the bottom, with your tongs flip the dough over ant let that side brown.
It will puff up and be golden brown. Take the dough out of the oil and place on a paper towel to drain. Next comes the good stuff. In a paper bag, put some sugar and cinnamon, and put the donut in the bag and shake. Remove and eat. Another favorite is to take a pastry bag (see your mother on this one-she has one) and put apple jelly inside. Then poke the tip into the donut and inject the apple jelly.
Then enjoy!
When the oil has cooled put it back in the bottle. A funnel comes in handy here, even a paper one.
Troop Birthdays
Troop Birthdays for September are:
Ryan 10/24
Newsletter Contact
Kelly Seeley, Newsletter Coord., 424-0734, kellyseeley2002@yahoo.com