Current Events

TROOP 9 NEWS June 2010 www.troop9weymouth.com

Current Calendar June 17    Final Board of Reviews June 19    Bottle Drive June 24                       Court of Honor   POPCORN FUNDRAISNG It’s time to start thinking about our Popcorn Fundraiser in the Fall.  This is your chance to earn money to cover the expense of scouting.  All profits from the Popcorn you sell goes into your scout account.  This money can be used for Summer camp, high adventure trips, monthly camp outs and other scout related activities.   We also need scouts and parents to sign up to help sell popcorn at various store locations on Saturday mornings in October.  I will have interest sheets at the meetings on Thursday night.  I am also looking for a few people who would like to assist me in organizing this.  I assure you that it is painless. If you have any questions or want to offer assistance you can see me Thursday nights or e-mail me at: borninconn@comcast.net REMEMBER THIS IS YOUR FUNDRAISER, IT BENEFITS YOU AND THE TROOP. REMEMBER ALL THE FUN THE SCOUTS HAD THROWING PIES, DON’T MISS OUT ON THE FUN…SELL POPCORN (In addition to the pies, don’t forget about the prizes)   Happy Birthday to the following: Izaiah Zooleck           6/3 Malcolm Gurner III      6/10 Ian MacLean              6/11 Tyler Mallon               6/22 Happy Summer Birthdays to the following: Tim MacDonald             July 9 Kevin Kelley                    July 18 Jason Gurney                   July 26 James Callahan                July 30 Brian Mingolelli                   August 10 Nick MacLean                   August 17 Tom Palmer                        August 17 Michael Jaklitsch                August 27 WELCOME We would like to welcome Michael Dwyer who has officially joined Troop 9, and Tony Vrolyk who will be joining us for a few weeks and summer camp while he is visiting from Eagle River, Alaska. Troop 9 Visits Gunstock Ski Resort Troop 9 Boy Scouts spent a recent weekend at Gunstock Ski Resort enjoying many of the activities the mountain has to offer.  Among them were mountain biking, skate boarding in the skate park, kayaking, rock wall climbing and swimming in the pool.  Wooded camp sites provided a quiet retreat in the shadow of the famous ski slope. 26 scouts along with 7 adult leaders left Pond Plain Friday evening for the 2 hour drive to Gilford, NH amid threats of thunderstorms.  After an initial rainy period early Saturday morning, the troop was able to enjoy all the activities the resort had to offer with no weather events; even with a tornado watch in effect!  Everyone returned to Pond Plain mid-morning on Sunday. Rick Dumont			End-of-Year Court of Honor Troop 9’s Court of Honor will take place on Thursday, June 24th starting at 7:30.  We will be having cold cut platters, salads and desserts.  Troop 9 will be supplying the cold cuts, rolls and beverages, and we ask that each family contribute a salad and/or dessert.             The Court of Honor will recognize the scouts for the merit badges and rank advancements that they have completed since last June’s Court of Honor.  In addition, we have several scout spirit and special awards to pass out.  There will also be a Friends of Scouting presentation and the Court of Honor will conclude with last announcements for Summer Camp. Notes from the Committee Chairman I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents who have helped make this scouting year a success. Without your help and support, Troop 9 would not be able to function. With this in mind, I would like to ask your help once again on Saturday, June 19, for our last Bottle Drive. The Bottle Drives and Popcorn Sales are our only fundraisers. We use them to pay for troop supplies, activity fees, site fees, uniforms, patches and badges, just to name a few things. Many times during bottle drives, we have volunteers who arrive late, leave early, and adult leaders are left with a few scouts to wrap up. For our last bottle drive, I would ask that all volunteers who sign up arrive on time and stay until the job is done. WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!  We need adults – you parents – to sign up for this last bottle drive. If you have not attended a bottle drive yet, now is your opportunity to give back. Parents who attend the full bottle drive can also receive a one time $50.00 refund for this year’s scout dues. Yours in Scouting, Tim Barry   Scoutmaster Minute             In a few short weeks, Summer Camp will be over and Troop 9 will be in summertime mode.  No regular troop meetings will take place, but we will have a series of activities and nights for those scouts interested in participating.  The summer is a good time to relax and recharge your batteries.  If you want to participate in an activity, great, we look forward to seeing you.  If not, that’s okay and we hope to see you in September.  As of now, the only mandatory activity will be a few training nights for those scouts interested in leadership positions for the upcoming year.  Summer is also a time to reflect on the scout year just past and ask what was good about the year, and what wasn’t so good.  The assistant scoutmasters and myself will be meeting over the summer to try and answer these questions, as will the scouts who were members of the PLC.  Patrol leaders will be leading a discussion along these lines at the last patrol corners of the year on June 17th. While we look back over the summer, we also need to look ahead to the upcoming scout year and make some decisions.  Where we go and what we are going to be doing will be discussed at Idea Night.  Scouts will need to decide whether they want to run for a leadership position (or who do they want to convince to run) as the Senior Patrol Leader and Patrol Leader elections will take place on September 9th, the first troop meeting.  Some scouts and adults will need to decide over the summer if they want to continue to be members of Troop 9 as other obligations or interests may take on more of a priority.  Summer, a time for relaxation, reflection, decisions and a trip (or several dozen) to the ice cream store.  Have a safe and enjoyable summer. Phil Barthel, Scoutmaster Summer Activities             Troop 9 returns from Summer Camp on July 3rd and we will have no meeting or activity the week of July 4th.  As of now, there will be no regular Thursday night troop meetings during the summer.  Instead, we will have the following for those interested: 2010-11 Idea Night will be either Thursday, July 15th or 22nd depending on when the majority of scouts can attend.  Scouts should start thinking about what activities and where they want to go for next year’s trips.  The Idea Night date and activity will be decided at Summer Camp. Advancement Nights will be held in July and August for those scouts who would like to work on merit badges or rank advancement.  There will probably be one in July and two in August on Thursday nights to be determined.  Participation will be through a sign-up process. Boston Harbor Islands Campout August 13-15 tent campout. Training Nights will be held in August for those First Class scouts and above interested in leadership positions.  There will be one training night for scouts who did not go through the training last summer and will last about 3 hours.  In addition, there will be position specific training nights lasting about 1 hour.  More information will be available at Summer Camp. August Activity Night if there is interest and the scouts come up with an idea. First Troop Meeting of the 2010-11 Season will be on Thursday, September 9th and will feature the Senior Patrol Leader election and possibly the Patrol Leader elections. Pond Plain Concession Stand a theater group will be putting on a play at Pond Plain this summer Thursday, Friday and Saturday (either July 15-17 or July 22-24) and a concession stand will be run for the benefit of Pond Plain.  Play times will be posted and any scouts volunteering to help with the concession stand can earn service time for rank advancement (or possibly Citizenship in the Community merit badge).  This will also count for those scouts who need to make up bottle drive time. As the dates and activities will be finalized at Summer Camp, a calendar of the summer activities will be available at the end of Summer Camp.  To schedule Idea Night and the Training Nights, it would be helpful to know when the scouts interested will be unavailable due to family vacations or other camps.