August/September
2004
Summer is
the best time for family outings and fun.
Hope you have made time for plenty of both.
With the
memories of summer camp still vivid in our minds, we are starting to gear up
for the upcoming scouting year. The
calendar of events has been planned and it looks to be an exciting year with
some new events and destinations.
Although the
scouting program is lead by the Scouts, it does require the active support of
the adults. Many thanks go to Sandi Glover for organizing and managing the
Fourth of July Midway Food Concession and Dunk Booth Event. It was supported by
numerous adults and scouts. Thank you to all.
I would also like thank Mike Marston and Louis Rothenberg for spending
the full week at summer camp. Thanks
also to Robin Rich, Margie Petrovic, Dan Resendez, & Kevin Comstock for
their generous donation of their vacation time to be at camp. Without them, the troop, our scouts, would
not have been able to attend Hidden Valley Summer Camp. I also would like to
thank the “Transportation Crew” of David Milton for driving the Troop trailer
to camp with all of the trunks and gear, and Chris Petrovic for driving it back
home to Merrimack. Many
thanks to all.
The District
sponsored Popcorn sale will begin in September. More information and order
forms will be passed out at the Troop meeting. This fundraiser provides the
scouts with great earning potential for their scout accounts to help them pay
for scouting events, dues, summer camp and scout gear. I would like to thank Mrs. Shelia Demers for
volunteering to manage the Popcorn Sale this year. Many thanks.
The Troop
Committee has decided to run a Troop Fundraiser this fall. Each scout will be
asked to sell a box of candy. The proceeds will go directly to the Troops
operating expenses. More information
will follow as to the start of this fundraiser.
I encourage
each and every adult to become involved in the Scouting program to support your
son and the other scouts. As much as we
try to get to know each of you and your areas of specialties, we ask you to
come forward if you can provide some assistance with the operation of the
troop, a Merit Badge, or have resources that the scouts could benefit
from. What you will get back in return
will be amazing.
Enjoy the
rest of your summer and see you at the
Family Ice Cream Social on Monday, August 30th at St. James Church at 7 PM. Bring a friend who might be
interested in joining Scouts.
Marsha Kofman, 429-0794, rdhetal@yahoo.com
Bill
Courtemanche, Scoutmaster, 424-5968, a76eagle@aol.com
August
8/30 Ice Cream Social
September
9/8 PLC Meeting
9/9 School Begins
9/9 Committee Meeting
9/13 Troop Meetings Begin
9/15 District Roundtable
9/27 Scoutmaster Conference
October
10/1-3 Fall Camporee
10/4 Board of Review
10/9 Leader Training
10/13 PLC Meeting
10/14 Committee Meeting
10/16 Corn Maze Trip
10/18 Court of Honor
10/20 District Roundtable
10/22-24 Conway Area Trip
10/25 Scoutmaster Conference
November
11/1 Board of Review
11/6 Den Chief Training
11/10 PLC Meeting
11/11 Committee Meeting
11/13 Scouting for Food Distribution
11/17 District Roundtable
11/19-21 Turkey Campout
11/19 Scouting for Food Pickup
11/29 Scoutmaster Conference
Patrol Assignments are not available at this time.
Scout Store
The new
Scout Shop is now open at Camp Carpenter on Blondin Road in Manchester.
It is now a national store and offers many more items than the old
store.
Mon-Thurs
8:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Friday 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM
to 2:00 PM
Committee Meetings
The Troop
401 Committee meets on the second Thursday of each month. The next meeting will
be on September 9th at 7 PM, at St. James Church. All parents are encouraged to attend and
participate. Thank you
to those who attended the August 5th meeting. See you at the next meeting.
A few
reminders as we start a new year of scouting.
● Ask for a blue card prior to starting requirements.
● Blue cards need to be signed by your
counselor and scoutmaster before its given to the
Advancement Chairperson.
● Merit badges, such as camping and cooking
take time to complete. Ask for the blue
cards early so you can take full advantage of trips the troop has planned in
order to fulfill the requirements.
● Keep the portion of the blue card that is
given to you with the patch in a safe place.
You will need this card when you apply for your Eagle Badge.
Citizenship in the Nation
Anyone
interested in working on Citizenship in the Nation, please let me know. There’ll be a sign up on the bulletin
board. Depending on schedules, we will
meet one night a week for five weeks starting in late September and finishing
up by November.
Hiking Merit Badge
Fall is a
great time to be walking outdoors, especially with some good company! Last year we had a wonderfully large group
complete this merit badge. If there is
enough interest this year, we can do it again. This is an invitation, not only
to the scouts, but also to the parents who may wish to join us.
“Interest”
is the key word. If we have a “group”
that wish to work on this badge, we’ll do it.
If it turns out to be just a few individuals, we’ll try again in the
spring. The hikes have to be done on the
weekends, so you need to be able to commit to at least 6 weekend days to
complete it. There’ll be a sign up sheet
on the bulletin board if you’re interested.
Woodbadge - Advanced leadership training for all scout leaders who have completed basic leader training will be held Sept 17-19 and Oct 15-17.
Den Chief Training – This is for Boy Scouts who wish to be a den chief with a Cub Scout Pack. This training is required for the Den Chief Award. You will learn practical games, songs, and tricks to use with cub scouts. Sat. Nov 6, 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Place to be announced.
New Leader Essentials - Initial basic leader training for all adult scout positions - Sat. Oct 9, 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM.
New Leader Essentials and Leader Specific training for troop committee or Scoutmaster (and Assistant SM) is Jan 8 or March 5, beginning at 7:30 AM for New Leader Essentials, 10:00 AM for specific training sessions. To be fully trained as a SM or assistant you need to attend the outdoor skills portion to be held May 14 and 15, 2005.
Venturing training will be held in Nashua, March 5 with the training listed above.
Other available trainings include:
Trainer Development Conference - learn to be a trainer or presenter on Jan 22.
University of Scouting - Take 5 mini courses of your choice at Alverne High School in Hudson March 19, 2005.
For more
information or questions on training, please see Mrs. Rich, r-rich@comcast.net, 880-8222.
Life Scouts
who need help with Eagle projects should give the appropriate information to
Mrs. Becker so that it can be listed in this area of the newsletter.
The Vermont Long Trail
North Adams MA to Stratton Mountain, VT
53.0 Miles
The word,
agonizing, comes to mind when I think our 6 day expedition. It was a trek worthy of remembrance--
blistered feet, aching muscles, freeze-dried food, but worst of all no
showers. The Hiking Merit Badge crew,
which consisted of Robby Frost, Scott and Steven Shidlovsky, William Comstock,
Derek Trippett, Shawn and Ryan Collette, Mr. and Mrs. Trippett, Jezabel, the dog,
and Mr. and Mrs. Collette, completed a 53 mile hike in just less than
one week. 8.8 miles a day for nearly one
week, with weights of 35-45 pounds, and mostly uphill, or so it seemed--- that
is something to remember. We were all so
tired after each day that as soon as we found a place to sleep, we would pitch
our tents, cook dinner, and go to bed as soon as the sun slipped away behind
the western mountains. Even the Trippett’s dog was tired after each trip; they even fed her
Advil to prevent pain.
By far the
most memorable day was when we had to cross a notch. This means hiking down to a highway where our
bear bag was previously hidden, and then regaining our elevation. A bear bag is simply a large bag full of food
and supplies you would hang this in a tree so that animals could not get to the
food before you did! We hid one before the hike to reduce the weight that we
all would have to carry. I thought to
my self, how great it would be to go down hill, how easy it would be, and how
much faster we would be done. I was
wrong. Rugged and awkward stone steps
slowed our route. The hardest part about
going downhill is your muscles wear out quickly, and you begin to get the
feeling like you are not in control, but gravity is. After a few hours of this, we finally reached
the bear bag! Food and
rest and we repacking. I had a
snack and then we realized that there was a river across the highway. We crossed the highway and eagerly put our
feet in the river. After a few minutes
of this I decided to get in. It was
refreshing to say the least.
When I was
told that we had to go, my spirit died.
Now we had to go uphill. I
strapped my 35 lb.bag on my back and then got
up. Uphill was worst than downhill, now
there were stone steps leading up! After
awhile the stone steps dissipated and a winding dirt foot path appeared. Finally we reached the campsite after a long
day’s work. I slept well that night.
After 6 long
days, we finally were in the car ready to go home. A quick stop at McDonalds, and we were on our
way to a shower, a real bed, and TV.
When I awoke the next day, I saw my father going though the Hiking Merit
Badge book. It turns out that our 53
mile hike only had to be a 30 mile hike…
Bond Cliffs, White Mountains
20
miles—July 23-25
A much
easier hike on July 23-25 than the first one over the July 4th
weekend, but then again it was more mileage over a two-day stretch. It was originally going to be a 2 day, 1
night hike of twenty miles, but rain and thunderstorms prevented our
advancement. Instead of night hiking, we
stayed at a motel on the first night due to torrential downpours on the way up.
We went swimming, watched a movie and discovered a steam bath in the
shower. It is hard to breathe in one of
them. After a short night of rest we got
up at 4:00am to get ready for the hike.
We were on the trail at 5:00am, and we were basically the same crew
of Frost, Comstock, Shidlovsky’s, Trippett’s
and Collette’s. After an all upward
climb of better than 4000 feet, we reached the summit of the Bond Cliffs that
same day. They were not joking about the
“Cliffs.” On one side of the mountain was a drop off that you would never
forget. I spent a good amount of time
just looking over the side. We were way
above tree line and the view of the many mountain peaks around us was spectacular.
We could
have done the 20 miles in one day, but we decided to pitch camp about 5 miles
away from the parking lot. It was to my
surprise that my father had carried along frozen hot dogs in his backpack,
which we boiled and devoured in addition to our freeze-dried meals. We had a
second surprise when Mrs. Trippett produced homemade brownies from her bag! We
all enjoyed the special treats, and all went to bed by 7:30 pm—even the dog crawled in early.
When we woke
up the next morning, I noticed that I had developed a couple of blisters. On each pinky toe I had a blister the size of
a blueberry. I wasn’t the only one
either! The final few miles out hurt because walking on blisters is not the
most enjoyable thing on a hike. When we
reached the cars we all crawled in, I am not sure of the others, but all I
wanted to do is sleep, and that is what I did.
Submitted by: Shawn
Collette, Viper Patrol
Here is something for each of us to ponder as
we start a new scouting year. The
author of this tale is unknown.
Someone Else
With great
regret we announce the loss of one of the troop’s most valuable families. Mr. & Mrs. Someone Else have moved away,
and the vacancy they have left will be hard to fill. The Else’s have been with us for many years. They have done far more than their share of
the work about the troop. When there was
a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, their name was on
everybody’s lips: “Let Someone Else do it.” Whenever a
committee was mentioned, this wonderful family was looked to for inspiration as
well as results: “Someone Else will set
up the event.” And when there was a trip
to take, Mr. & Mrs. Someone Else were thought to be the best transportation: “Let Someone Else take them.”
The Someone
Else’s are wonderful people, but they are only human. They could spread themselves only so
thin. Many a night I have sat up and
talked with Someone and heard him wish aloud for more
help in the troop. He and his wife did
the best they could, but people expected too much from them. We have to face the fact that there were just
not enough Someone Else’s to go around.
And now the Someone Else’s are gone and we’re wondering what we are
going to do without them. They have left
us a great example to follow, but who will follow it? Who is going to do the things that Someone
Else did?
The deadline
for articles to be included in the next newsletter is September 20. You may
submit articles at Troop meetings or by contacting Mrs. Becker
at 424-2954 or pab514@netzero.com
.
Welcome
back, let’s have a great year of scouting!