Troop 874 Meeting Notes, March 19, 2009

Weekend Camping. It looks like a great weekend (cool, sunny, dry) for the new Pioneers’ first trip with Troop 874. The troop will travel to BSA Camp Mack in Newmanstown, PA (near Brickerville Lancaster County, PA.). Pioneers should meet at Glen Mar UMC at 5:45 p.m. Friday with the remainder of the troop meeting at 6:15 p.m. Directions to Camp Mack will be provided. Travel time is approximately 2 hours.

Quotable quotes:

“There is no bad weather only bad equipment.” Stan Freedman

Mulch Sales. Sunday, March 22 is the final opportunity to order mulch from Troop 874!!! Orders must be placed on the troop web site or with Phil Conant by March 22nd. Scouts will deliver 2.0 cu. ft. bags (minimum order 5 bags for delivery) to your home for a cost of $3.75 per bag. You can order through the troop web site (http://www.troop874.com/Events/MulchSaleOrderForm.htm) or use the attached form. Delivery will occur on Saturday, March 28. See Mr. Phil Conant for more information (e-mail: Troop874.mulch@gmail.com). We also need adults to help Phil plan the delivery. Proceeds go directly to the troop. See attached ordering form.

Scouts are expected to support the mulch drive by assisting in the unloading, loading and distribution of mulch on Saturday, March 28. This is especially true for those older scouts looking to develop or exercise some muscle.

Eagle Project. Jonathan P. will hold his Eagle Project on Saturday, March 21, 9:00 am at Rockburn Branch Park, Landing Road entrance, Elkridge. Jonathan will oversee the building of benches and a shed and will perform trail maintenance. If scouts are not attending the troop camping trip they are strongly encouraged to assist Jonathan. Contact Jonathan

Eagle Project. David B. will be directing the production of 200 care packages for US soldiers. This will occur during the month of April. David will keep us posted on the details.

Service to Glen Mar United Methodist Church. Our troop sponsor is looking for help conducting a cleanup of church grounds on Saturday morning, March 21st. The cleanup will take place between 8:00 am and 12:00.

Meeting on Troop Program Interaction. Hal Clay will sponsor a meeting of registered adults in Troop 874 to explore opportunities for interaction and cooperation between Troop 874 programs. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 24 at Glen Mar UMC, room 123. Starting time is 7:30 p.m. This is a ticket item for Hal’s Wood Badge so please join Hal in this valuable forum. For more information contact Hal.

Summer activity payments due. The following payments are due at the March 26 meeting:

· Outer Banks Adventure - $75

· High Knoll - $150

Checks should be made payable to Troop 874 with a note on the check with the scouts name and which event the funds are for.

Friends of Scouting. Troop 874 continues its annual Friends of Scouting Campaign. This is the only BSA financial campaign to benefit the entire nation-wide scouting program. Troop 874 has long been a strong contributor to the Friends of Scouting Campaign. Bud Hunt is heading the campaign as in past years and he will make the FOS contribution form available at meetings. Families can contribute by check, credit card, pledge for future payment, or cash. See the attached form to make a contribution. The One Scout pledge of $140 entitles the contributor to the commemorative patch (A Scout is Clean) which is quickly becoming a collector’s item. To date 15 families from Troop 874 have contributed over $3800. What a significant contribution the FOS from those families! We hope other families will follow in their example and make a contribution to FOS. For more information contact Bud Hunt.

Scouting Fundamental for Adults: a.k.a Wagon Wheel. The National Pike District is sponsoring adults training for adult scouting leaders and parents new to boy scouting. The training covers major components of the scouting program including information for committee members, patrol coaches, and scoutmasters. It will take place over two days (April 18 and May 2) and one weekend (camping on May 8-10). Check out the brochure on the troop web site.

Adult Nametag Buttons. The troop provides name tag button to adults and scouts. It is important that new parents (and current scouts and adults) have nametags in place to ease the transition into the troop. You can e-mail Bud Hunt with your preferred name and position in the troop (committee member, patrol coach, president-for-life) or see me at the next meeting.