Boy Scout Troop 259 Church of St. Therese

August 2007 Volume 2, Issue 3

By Doug Hankins, ASM, Summer Camp Coordinator Our Troop really enjoyed a beautiful time at Camp Shenandoah in the pictur-

esque Shenan- doah Valley of Virginia, near Staunton, the week of July 1st to 7th. This was the largest group of Scouts (37) that we have ever taken to Summer Camp, but was made very man-ageable by excellent youth leadership and a great group of adult leaders. The camp was out-standing and the weather was nearly perfect; it only rained twice and both times were at night. With cool nights and warm days, it couldn’t have been better for camping.

Highlights of the week included a very close competition with an in-council troop (Troop 13) in the camp decath-lon, earning Honor Troop, and being the largest and sharpest, troop in the camp. Our Scouts completed 110 merit badges with 26 more partially completed. The boys worked very hard on these merit badges, many of which are Eagle Scout required ones. The merit badge “king” for this camp was Kevin S. who completed 5 with 1 partial, which is noteworthy because there were only 5 merit badge sessions in the camp day. The merit badges earned at Summer Camp will be presented at the August Court of Honor.

We also had three of our Scouts earn their BSA Lifeguard certificates which required them to spend the entire week at the waterfront and earn their CPR certification. These “water rats” were Dan G., Richard F., and Zachary A.

Continuing our new tradition (started in 2006), the adults worked very hard to carve and paint neckerchief slides for all of the first year campers. Last year we did tomahawk slides for 7 first year campers. This year was much more of a challenge because we had 17. We suc-cessfully carved, and have presented, turtle neckerchief slides to this outstanding group. This is, by far, the largest group of first year campers that we have ever taken to Summer Camp and they all did a tremendous job with handling and enjoying their first long-term campout.

We are already looking for a camp for next year (June 29th – July 5th 2008) and are making plans for an even better week of Summer Camp.

Many thanks go to all the adults who spent part, or all of the week at camp with us and to the special volunteers, Mr. Stuart and Mrs. Gerrek, who aided with transporting our bus driver.

How many knots can you name?

MERIT BADGES EARNED Thirty Six Scouts and Fifteen adults attended Summer Camp this year. Twenty Eight different merit badges were awarded and of those earned, twenty were Eagle Rank required. Merit badges earned outside of camp are also included in this listing (some badges were received at the last Court of Honor but were not recognized in the newsletter).

Zach A.: Camping, Composite Materials, Marc A.: Cooking, Leatherwork, First Aid, Swimming, Rifle Shooting Ben B.: Archaeology, Lifesaving Thomas B.: Citizenship-Nation, Family Life, Citizenship-World, Emergency Preparedness, Rifle Shooting, Fish & Wildlife John B.: Energy, Swimming, First Aid, Indian Lore, Fingerprinting Nate B: Citizenship-World, Citizenship-Nation, Archery, Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Science, Composite Materials, Architecture, Citizenship-Community Adam C.: Art, Swimming, First Aid, Rifle Shooting Francis C. Art, Geology, First Aid, Model Building & Design Blair C.: First Aid, Astronomy, Model Building & Design Jack C.: First Aid, Indian Lore, Rifle Shooting, Fingerprinting Joe E.: Citizenship-World, Citizenship-Nation Richard F.: Lifesaving (BSA Lifeguard), Personal Fitness Daniel G.: Lifesaving (BSA Lifeguard) Joseph G. Swimming, First Aid, Leatherwork, Rifle Shooting, Composite Materials Bryan G.: Nature, Geology, Citizenship-Nation, Art Sheldon G.: Fish & Wildlife, Swimming, Rifle Shooting, First Aid, Composite Materials, Fingerprinting Mitchell H.: Rifle Shooting, Archery, Fingerprinting Joshua I.: Composite Materials Caleb J.: Electricity, Fire Safety, Collections, First Aid, Geology Mark J.: Citizenship-Nation, Rifle Shooting, Personal Fitness, Citizenship-World, Environmental Science, Fingerprinting Thomas K.: Personal Fitness, Canoeing, Citizenship-World Ernest K.: Citizenship-World, Archaeology, Weather, Archery, Citizenship-Community, Tristan K.: Rifle Shooting, First Aid, Swimming, Astronomy Greg L.: Rifle Shooting, Citizenship-Nation, Nature, Geology, Shotgun Shooting Robert M.: First Aid, Fire Safety, Rifle Shooting, Model Building & Design Samuel M.: Citizenship-World, Lifesaving, Rowing, Composite Materials Mueller, W: Fingerprinting Chad O.: Archaeology, Fire Safety, Citizenship-Nation, Electricity, Geology Mathew P.: Citizenship-World, Archery, Camping Tyler P.: Rifle Shooting, First Aid, Indian Lore, Swimming, Fingerprinting Mike P.: Archeology, Art, Leatherwork, Shotgun Shooting, Space Exploration, Composite Materials Colin R.: Environmental Science, Citizenship-Nation Cody S.: Rifle Shooting, First Aid, Swimming Justin S.: Citizenship-Community, Citizenship-Nation, Citizenship-World, Archery, Emergency Preparedness, Composite Materials Jacob W.: First Aid, Swimming, Archery, Composite Materials, Fingerprinting Derek W.: Citizenship-Community, Leatherwork, Citizenship-World, Camping, Shotgun Shooting, Citizenship-Nation Ben W. Weather, Mammal Study, Swimming, First Aid, Fingerprinting Dan W.: Weather, Mammal Study, Citizenship-World Thomas W.: Indian Lore, Canoeing, Composite Materials, Fingerprinting Joseph Z.: Citizenship-Community, Emergency Preparedness, Space Exploration, Fingerprinting, Citizenship-Nation, Leatherwork, Woodcarving

Great Job everyone!

"Could you now answer questions a History teacher might ask you about the Civil War? Can you still hear the pond frogs as you lay down to sleep Saturday night? Did you welcome the breeze that entered the camp before the rain arrived? Can you still taste that Sunday morning breakfast burrito? If you answered

any of these questions "YES" than I believe you enjoyed the June campout to the Chancellorsville Battlefield!

The campsite provided by the Izaak Walton League was great! The setting of a five acre lake surrounded by a high tree ridge line allowed one to imagine no other civilization existed beyond it!

The advancement during the preparation of the Satur-day evening meal was great to see! Park Ranger Janice

Frye, who provided the opportunity for three of you to wear clothing from the time period of the Civil War, told me she was impressed with the enthusiasm of our Troop! Did you know she has two sons who also were Scouts, one of which just graduated the Air Force Academy!

The flag lowering ceremony was wonderful to see! The new Scouts, who were given guidance by the older Scouts before the time to lower the flag, han-dled the ceremony with reverence! I couldn't help think that 143 years ago in the

same area of our camp young men not much older than you were lowering their flag with rev-erence! The Civil War and why we had it are reasons to visit such places and reflect on how we can work to prevent such devastation in our future!"

SM Leonard Rich

COMMITTEE CHALLENGE

I would like to thank all those who attended the Committee Challenge after the last Court of Honor. We had six current lead-ers and two new parents in attendance. I believe all in atten-dance learned something, and I held to my promise, I didn’t ask anyone to take a position in the troop. In addition to learning how the troop runs, we also discussed how advancement works. Doug Hankins did a great job on explaining how the troop oper-ates and the job of the scoutmaster and assistance scoutmaster. I explained what the jobs of the committee volunteers entails.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS MERIT BADGE

The Composite Materials Merit Badge was offered as the merit badge of the month in June. Merit Badge of the month is an opportunity for each Troop in the Merrimac District to offer a program to the other troops. Each troop will pick a different

month and offer a merit badge. Many thanks to Dewitt Roberts, the Scoutmaster of Troop 233, who offered the newest merit badge to the Boy Scouts. Dewitt has over forty years of work ex-perience with fiberglass and resins and I have to admit, I was im-pressed with Dewitt’s experience and his ability to hold over 40 scouts’ attention. Dewitt had the scouts full attention from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. The scouts learned to repair a canoe and made a resin scout item from a mold. The scouts even had the opportunity to repair a part of Mr. Z’s air conditioning unit.

Jim Martin

Jim Martin BASKET DRAWING

It’s that time of year again, when we start put-ting our Gift Basket Draw-ing together again. This event helps with the costs of transportation to and from camping trips and although there are small charges for transportation on many of the campouts, there are other costs that are paid from this fund; such as reg-istration, repairs, and fuel reimburse-ments.

This year, Cheryl G. has agreed to as-sist in getting our baskets together. There will be a sign up sheet at each meeting for your specially themed basket. Last year, we raised a little over $800. Some of the baskets last year were, a Pamper Basket, Romance Basket, Movie Basket, Choco-late Basket, Beanie Baby Basket, A Country Christmas Basket, A Tailgating Basket and many others. Baskets are due by November 1st and the drawing will take place at our November Court of Honor.

Congratulations to

Daniel Gaylord and Daniel Gerrek

on achieving the rank of Eagle on July 12th.

Congratulations also goes to the following boys who made rank since February (I missed quite a few last newsletter):

February through May Scout: Jack C., Cody S., Joseph G., Tris-tan K., John B., Sheldon G., Francis C., Jake W., Adam C., Tyler P., Ben W., Jacob M., Houston P., Mitchell H.

Tenderfoot: Robert M.

Second Class: Thomas K.

Star: Mark J., Thomas W., Justin S.

Life: Joshua P.

May through August

Scout: Austin B., James W. Tenderfoot: Joseph G., Sheldon G., Mitchell H., Tristan K., Jake W. First Class: Bryan G. Life: Thomas B.

Special Awards

Mile Swim Scott G. Mile Swim, BSA Sheldon G.

Trek Safely: Ted M., Michael Q., George B., Ed C., Dana R. Climb on Safely: Michael Q., Dana R.

World Conservation Award: Zach A., Josh I., Mike P., Nate B., Richard F., Dan G., Bryan G.

RANK ADVANCEMENTS

Catholic Retreatoree “LUAU WITH THE LORD”

September 7,8,9, 2007 LOCATION: The Retreatoree will be held at Pipsico Scout Reservation Camp Lions, Spring Grove, Virginia. This event combines Boy Scout and Girl Scout activities - vol-

leyball, boating, disc golf, and other fun outdoor events, as well as time to reflect during the retreat sessions. There will be Saturday morning Mass, Reconciliation and Sunday morning Mass. Boy Scout Religious Emblems Counselor Training will be offered on Saturday.

COST: $22.00 per person registration fee. This covers Friday night’s cracker barrel, three meals on Saturday and Sat. night’s cracker barrel and ends with Sunday breakfast. This also covers activity insurance, patch and unit ribbon.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Early registration is encouraged at a deposit of $5.00 per person. Registration in full at $22.00 per person is due. Final cut-off for youth August 31st. Paid registrations are transferable but not refundable.

“Attendance is limited to the first 350 paid participants.” ARRIVAL TIME: Friday night September 7th, 5PM until 9PM and Saturday, September 8th, before 9AM.

Please bring your own tents for camping This event is open to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts ages 11-21. Girl Scouts must complete a “camping on a non-council site” form.

For additional information call: Tidewater Council - Boy Scouts - Ceil Greene 757-567-0873, Anna Mauch 757-652-0870

The World Conservation Award is worn on the uniform shirt, centered on the right pocket as a TEMPORARY patch. Only ONE Temporary patch may be worn at a time.

TROOP FUNDRAISING One of the products coming out of the recent troop planning meeting was ideas for fundraising. This is always a difficult topic to address as there are lots of opinions on what should and should not be done. The goal is not to put excessive burdens on the boys or the parents, but to try and raise funds that will support the requirements of the troop. A big source of expenses comes from annual chartering, purchasing of awards and badges, equipment upkeep, and other miscellaneous expenses.

To keep the troop viable, we need your support.

This year, we want to recognize the efforts of those that contribute to these fund raising activities by having a certain portion of the proceeds that are generated from your family’s efforts go towards your son’s scout expense ac-count (FOS Account). This can be used for those things that you normally pay out of pocket (scout camp, camping trips, weekly dues, etc). For example, your son may sell sufficient amount of popcorn to pay for summer camp. The portion of the proceeds that goes into your son’s account will be decided by the troop committee. The committee may also elect to provide incentives for adult participation in fundraising activities.

The following fundraising ideas were offered as possible activities for the year. To get an understanding of your desires for fundraising, a survey is included in this newsletter. Please return it to Mark Fiebrandt at troop meetings or email it to him at fiebs2@charter.net. Our intent is to gather all responses before the end of August and present the re-sults to the troop committee at the September committee meeting.

• Spaghetti Dinner: The spaghetti dinner was a great success this year. This event requires adver-tising, selling tickets, generating donations for food, cooking the spaghetti, set up and clean up. It would be planned for spring 2008. Requires scouts to sell tickets as well as a lead adult, a lead scout, a planning committee, and numerous adult/scout volunteers.

• Popcorn sales: The traditional scout fundraiser where scouts sell different types of popcorn and then deliver the products to the buyers. Would be conducted this fall 2007. Requires scouts to sell and deliver popcorn. Requires one adult and one scout to organize and lead the sales. Last year each scout was asked to sell a minimum $50 worth of popcorn to generate $20 profit for each scout. The money was then earmarked for re-chartering. An alternative is to have each scout pay $35 buy-out for re-chartering.

• Fruit sales: Another sales option is selling of Indian River fruit. This has been a very successful fundraiser for other school organizations. The fruits are different types of oranges, grapefruit, apples, pears, and pineapples. They are sold as small cases of fruit or as gift boxes. It is all tree ripened fruit that is guaranteed to be fresh and ripe. This sale would be conducted this fall 2007 with delivery in early December. It makes great Christmas gifts and orders can be shipped directly by the company to anyone in the U.S. at a nominal shipping charge. Requires scouts to sell and collect money for the fruit in October/November. Would need one adult lead, one scout lead, several people to offload the fruit from the truck on a weekday, and then the scouts to collect and deliver the fruit to the customers.

• Angel Pins: The angel pins clip to the visor to your car as a means to watch over you as you drive your car. Each pin is priced at $5 each. Scouts get half for their Friends of Scouting Account and the troop gets the other to reimburse the item outlay expense. Requires an adult lead, a scout lead, and the scouts to sell pins to customers.

• Hotdog stand: The scouts could set up a booth at different community events to sell hotdogs, drinks, and candy. Would require identifying different events to sell at. Needs support by adults and scouts to buy the food and sell at the events. Requires one adult lead and one scout lead as well as event participants.

• Basket raffle: Many of you have seen the basket raffle at previous court of honors. Each patrol comes up with a basket theme and then is required to bring in different items to fill the basket. Tickets are sold by the scouts to friends, family, church members, etc. Winning tickets are then drawn at a selected court of honor. Requires an adult lead, one scout lead, and every scout to participate by bringing in items for the baskets and by selling tickets.

• Yard sale: The yard sale requires donations from scout families to clean out unwanted items. This is then sold at a yard sale to turn the items into cash. Requires one adult lead, one scout lead, dona-tions from scout families, and participants to man the yard sale. Time of year to be determined.

TROOP 259 FUNDRAISING SURVEY Please complete this survey and return to Mark Fiebrandt before the end of August 2007. It may be returned at scout meetings or responses sent by email to fiebs2@charter.net. Please answer the following questions: Parent’s name(s) & phone number: _____________________________________ Scouts name: ____________________________________________________ Which fundraising activities would you be willing to support and have your son participate in? (please checks as many areas as you wish)

1. Spaghetti dinner 2. Popcorn sales 3. Fruit sales 4. Angel Pins 5. Hotdog stand 6. Basket raffle 7. Yard sale

What other ideas do you have for possible fundraising activities? ___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________ Would you want the option of making a donation instead of participating in a fundraising activity? (circle one) Yes No Would having a portion of the proceeds go to your scouts own account help to gain your support? (circle one) Yes No Which fundraising activities would you or your scout be willing to assist with?

(check where appropriate)

Comments: _________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Adult Lead

Adult Assistant

Scout Lead

Scout Assistant

A. Spaghetti dinner B. Popcorn sales C. Fruit sales D. Angel Pins

E. Hotdog stand F. Basket raffle G.

Yard sale

More Pictures of Summer Camp Fun

Troop 259 held their annual planning meeting on Sunday, August 5. It was well attended by Scouts, Parents and Leaders. There were a lot of great ideas presented. Unfortunately, the year is only so long. As it is, we have scheduled several months with more than one activity. Next year will be a very busy time indeed. We will need lots of parent and leader involvement to make it a success. Take a look at the events that the boys have chosen and then ask—How can I help? We will have a signup sheet at the August Court of Honor.

Catholic Retreat-o-ree 9/7-9/9

Fun and Food Fest 9/14-9/15

Jamestown Bike Trip 10/12-10/14

Methodist Encampment 11/2-11/4

Backpacking Trip-Old Rag (Small group-senior scouts) 11/2-11/4

Scout Day-Naval Academy (Naval Academy Football) 11/16-11/18

Citrus Sale TBD

Cooking Merit Badge 12/7-12/9

Lock In Event (Air &Space) 1/12-1/13/08

Feed the Homeless 1/31

Ski Weekend (Timberline) 1/25-1/27

Johnsons Farm (Back to Basics) 2/15-2/17

Wilderness Survival Merit Badge-Beaver Dam 3/14-3/16

Dismal Swamp 4/4-4/6

Washington DC 4/25-4/27

Spaghetti Dinner TBD

Leadership Training 5/10

Canoe Trip Father Son Trip 5/16-5/18

Save the Bay Day 5/7

Hatteras 5/20-5/22

Summer Camp (TBD) 6/29—7/5

New Planning Session for 2008-2009 8/3

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