Scout Service - Baptisms for the dead

For our scout activity this week, we participated with the young women of the ward on a combined activity to do baptisms for the dead at the Ogden Temple. We had 8 deacon/scouts participate. They had a spiritual experience of service. The temple workers thanked us leaders for such well behaved young men. Each young man did over 10 baptisms each. After, a trip to Farr's Ice Cream was a treat for all. For those parents and young men working toward rank advancements in scouting, put down 3 hours toward service hours. The following scouts participated: Moab, Noah, Tyler A., Tyler S., Rhett, Tyson, Derek and Connor. Thanks to our leaders; Erik, Rick and John.

Winter Campout - November 7-8, 2008

Wow! We had 12 scouts and 3 leaders participate in a fun camp out at Bott's Camp ground in the South Fork Canyon about Huntsville. The two patrols provided their own suppers of hamburgers, chips and drinks. The early winter camp out had little snow, but the air was crisp and clean. The South Fork River was slow and low, providing a beautiful backdrop for a great camp out. Scouts camped in tents, 2-3 boys for each tent. Temperatures dipped down to 20 degrees by morning. The troop provide breakfast of Freedom Toast, bacon and hot chocolate. Scouts had whipped cream topping for the hot chocolate. Various games were played a little adventure was had by the scouts. The sun finally hit the camp ground around 11:00 a.m., just in time to pack up and head home. Thanks to our new leadership, Eric Tuttle, YM 2nd Counselor and Assistant Scout Master, along with Rick Wright, our new Assistant Scout Master.

Noveber 4, 2008 1st Black President elected

Well, we'd like to welcome Rick Wright as our new Assistant Scout Master. We appreciate Rick's willingness to serve in the troop and look forward to his leadership and ideas for our troop.

Troop reorganization - October 14, 2008

Well, we divided the troop into two patrols. Each patrol elected a patrol leader. The two patrols elected a senior patrol leader.

Oldies:
Patrik Drean - Patrol Leader
Landon Young
Tyson Banner
Moab Schiers
Noah Schiers
Brendan Coombes

Newbies:
Connor Wright - Patrol Leader
Derek Wright
Tyler Stout
Tyler Adams
Stockton King
Quinn McClune

The senior patrol leader will be Rhett Harris, who was elected to position by scouts in attendance.

Patrol Leader Counsel will be held the 2nd Sunday of each month at John Sorensen's home.

Calendar

Why and how Scouting

Scouting is the official activity arm of the Aaronic Priesthood. You may have heard it called Aaronic Priesthood Scouting or APS. If you're into the gospel, you're into scouting! They are complementary. Scouting is needed today more than it's ever been needed.

Scouting has specific aims or goals:

THE AIMS OF SCOUTING

• Aim I--To build character
• Aim II--To foster citizenship
• Aim III--To develop fitness

To achieve these aims, various methods have been developed over the years:

THE METHODS OF SCOUTING

• Ideals - Scout Oath, Scout Law, motto, slogan
  
• Patrols - where boys are in a gang, where they compete and become a team
  
• Outdoors - where boys need to be away from computers, TVs and experience this world
  
• Advancement - Gain self-confidence and learn new skills and are rewarded
  
• Personal Growth - Learn how to interact, accomplish and learn
  
• Adult Association - Have examples of men they can be like
  
• Leadership Development - Experience leadership
  
• The Uniform - Identify with an International group
  

Court of Honor - September 30, 2008

The troop conducted our post-summer court of honor with over 60 merit badges and 8 rank advancements. Several scouts have the scouting spirit and excelled in attaining many merit badges, which have increases skills and awareness of many areas of interest. Here's a summary of awards:

Landon Young - Personal Fitness, Camping, Communication, Wood Carving, Basketry, Canoeing, Rowing
Patrik Drean - Rowing, Canoeing, Wood Carving
Tyson Banner - 1ST CLASS, Rowing, Canoeing, Wood Carving
Connor Wright - STAR, Rowing, Canoeing, Leatherwork, Wood Carving, Sports, Medicine, Nuclear Science, Cycling, Citizenship in the World, Fire Safety, Golf, Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Science, Nature
Moab Schiers - LIFE, Rowing, Wood Carving, Leatherwork, Rowing, Reading
Noah Schiers - LIFE, Rowing, Wood Carving, Leatherwork, Rowing, Reading
Rhett Harris - LIFE, Wood Carving, Medicine, Nuclear Science, Canoeing, Cycling, Fire Safety, Emergency Preparedness, Leatherwork, Nature, Rowing
Derek Williams - Wood Carving, Basketry, Canoeing, Leatherwork, Crime Prevention, Swimming, Fingerprinting, Geology, First Aid, Lifesaving,
Tyler Stout - TENDERFOOT, 2ND CLASS, Wood Carving, Crime Prevention, Swimming, Basketry, Fingerprinting, Leatherwork, Nature, Orienteering, Lifesaving
Quinn McClune - TENDERFOOT
Stockton King - New Scout welcomed

Merit Badge Contest Winners

We had 3 winners for our first 6 month's of the year merit badge contest:

1st - Rhett Harris (Scout knife)
2nd - Connor Wright (Compass)
3rd - Landon Young (Knife Sharpener)

Congratulations to these scouts for their hard work!

Camp Loll

What a great Summer Camp at Camp Loll. Our troop had a great time together. We were successful in many things, such as merit badges, inspections, attendance at flag ceremonies and campfires and participation in events to earn beads. But the best thing we did was be best friends and lived the scout law and oath. We made great memories hiking to Union Falls and Scout Pool, where everyone made it the 20 miles. Most of us froze in Polar Bear Springs, while 2nd year campers went repelling off a 70 foot rock. This was the 49th anniversary of Camp Loll and next year will be the 50th! We made our scout master sign up for next year so we could be a part of the Camp Loll tradition.

Friday, June 27, 2008 Lewis Peak camp out and hike

We camped at the trail head to Lewis Peak at North Ogden Divide. Each scout brought their own supper while our scout master made cinnamon rolls in his two dutch ovens. We camped under the power lines and was hiking by 7:20 Saturday morning. Most of us made it to the peak by 10:30. It was 5 1/2 miles in. The wind was blowing lightly to keep things cool. The catipillers were all over the place and the spring wild flowers were beautiful. We took a couple snap shots of the beautiful view of the Ogden area, ate some snacks, then headed back. We had a quick lunch of submarine sandwiches and were home by 2:00 p.m. The scouts had fun and did something most people in the valley never do - hike to a beautiful peak above Ogden valley.

Spring Campout To Anderson Cove

Well, we finally got camping this spring
with a overnight campout to Anderson Cove.




We camped on the east side, which is fairly primitive. It rained a little and the scouts spent the evening playing by the lake. We made our own suppers, if you call Subway making your own supper.



Our scoutmaster brought up some extra steaks and shared them with us. For some, it was a first steak in this life! He also made dutch oven cinnamon rolls with white frosting. What a guy! Norm Young and Ryan Harris were nice enough to spend the evening camping, while Julie Young secured the campground with the Webelos Scouts soaking in the rain most of the day.




The sunset was beautiful, along with the morning sunrise. Several scouts spent the morning swimming in the lake.

Court of Honor - May 13, 2008

June 2008 Newsletter

We had a court of honor at our scout master's home in May. Many rank advancement and merit badges were awarded. Congratulations to all!!!!

Life Saving and Swimming Merit Badges - Tyson Banner, Patrik Drean, Corey Felix, Rhett Harris, Moab Schiers, Noah Schiers, Connor Wright, Landon Young.

Also, the following received additional merit badges:

Rhett Harris - Bird Study, Energy, Fingerprinting, Genealogy, Landscape Architecture, Photography, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World - 10 in all!!!!

Connor Wright - Bird Study, Energy, Landscape Architecture

Moab Schiers - Reading

Noah Schiers - Reading

Landon Young - Personal Management, Family Life, Snow Sports, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Music, Reading - 9 in all!!!!


Rank Advancements:

Landon Young - Life
Rhett Harris - Star
Patrik Drean - Star
Moab Schiers - Star
Noah Schiers - Star

11-year-old rank advancements:
Derek Williams - Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class

Troop Activities:

In may we began work as a troop on the Personal Fitness merit badge. Much of the instruction for this merit badge will take place as part of troop meetings. However, to earn this merit badge, scouts will have to maintain a log of physical fitness activities for 3 months. The scouts received a merit badge worksheet and will be responsible to keep their own records. We will meet every two weeks to do the required measurements of running a mile, sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, etc. Understanding the various areas of physical fitness can be reviewed between the parent and the scout. Pretty basic stuff, so parents, take time to discuss items of instruction you feel are important for your son.

Summer Camp meeting

Wow! Eric Tuttle and myself attended the meeting for summer camp. Delose Connors is the camp director and this is going to be a great wilderness adventure for our scouts and leaders. Delose reviewed the leader packet, told some jokes and got us excited for summer camp. We'll be putting together some information packets for the scouts and the parents. Camp will cost $90 for camp fees and $65 for food if we do commissary. There's also the opportunity for us to buy Camp Loll troop t-shirts for $8. We can order them ahead of schedule or the boys can buy whatever up at camp. We'll have to have money for lunch going up and lunch coming back. That's not included in the 90/65. Gasoline for transportation is also a big cost this year. The bottom line is that it may cost $155 minimum, less the $45 ward contribution, plus any other fees (lunch and gas). We'll have to figure out the details soon. As a young boy, I went to Camp Loll two times. As a previous scout master, I went three times. This is going to be a camp your sons will remember their entire life. Especially Lake of the Woods.

Full house!!!!

Well, last night was far different than the week before. We had 10 scouts. Wow! I thought how great this was. Until I started in on the photography merit badge. Everyone of those scouts couldn't sit still, couldn't be quite, couldn't listen to me talk. It was a little frustrating and brought back memories what a pain in the butt I use to be. I guess turn-about is fair play. I decided to repeat some of the things I discussed the previous week and one of the scouts asked if he could leave because he had learned this last week. This is the challenge I get with scouts earning the required merit badges ahead of the troop's schedule. It's all a challenge!

As part of the merit badge, I gave two groups cameras to take pictures. I thought they would go about the church and take some pictures. One group took 8 pictures while the other group took 4. Far less than I had hoped for. I wish I'd had some beautiful pictures I'd taken over the years to get them interested. Maybe next time.

Then, a great opportunity for a scout master minute and I didn't have one. Dang!

PS. The boys had the most fun of the night playing steal-the-bacon. Merit badges are a pain to these young carpet-rats!

April troop meeting - small group

Well, last week at our troop meeting, only 3 scouts showed up. We discussed the photography merit badge. I brought several cameras and we went over the various parts of a camera and how the parts all work. It was really great. Eric did a stretcher with two sticks and a blanket. That was really great learning experience too. We concluded with a scout master minute. What a great time to sit down Indian style, around a fake campfire, and listen to a thought from the Scout Master. This one was particularly good, in that a roll of film was used to describe what happens in our lives. We can be exposed to the right things properly and we'll turn out good. Otherwise, we may be overexposed and ruined. To my frustration, someone barged in during the best part of this minute and took away from the moment. Nonetheless, I'll keep trying.

April Newsletter

Well, spring is here and summer around the corner. We look forward to getting scOUT and doing some activities. We've tried to do some indoor troop merit badges and hopefully some of the scouts will finish up those requirements and receive those merit badges.

We'll be camping in the future and would like each campout to include at least one father of a scout. If you haven't taken the opportunity to join us on a campout, please watch for an opportunity this year. The following fathers have participated so far: Norm Young, Daren Felix and Mike Hodson.

Activities:

Thanks to the five scouts who were able to pick up food for Scouting For Food. Our ward had over 35 bags of groceries contributed to this cause. It also taught our sons that people will give to those in need and this is another way for them to learn this valuable trait.

Calendar:

Scouting For Food - March 29, 2008, 9:00 a.m. (5 scouts participated for 30 minutes of service.)
April - Bi-monthly campout being planned.
Scout-O-Rama - May 15, 16.
Summer Camp - July 28 - August 2

Summer Camp:

We will be registering scouts for summer camp this coming week. For those of you new to scouting, Camp Loll is a premier summer camp with a fantastic primitive setting and a camp staff unequaled. Camp will cost $155 for each scout. This includes the camp fee and food for the week. The ward will be paying $40 toward this cost. Scouts and parents will need to pay for the remainder $115. We are required to pay $45 this coming week for each Scout desiring to attend camp. This fee is non-refundable. Please make checks payable to the Cedar Bench Ward. Please have your sons bring a personal check to our scout meeting on Tuesday night.

Scouting Spirit Merit Badge Contest:

Some scouts are really taking the merit badge method of scouting seriously the last couple months. The current status is as follows:

Landon Young: Swimming, Life Saving, Personal Management, Family Life, Citizenship In The World, Citizenship In The Nation
Connor Wright: Swimming, Life Saving, Energy
Moab Shiers: Swimming, Life Saving, Reading
Noah Shiers: Swimming, Life Saving, Reading
Cory Felix: Swimming, Life Saving
Austin Hodson: Swimming, Life Saving
Tyson Banner: Swimming, Life Saving
Todd Ecton:
Brendan Coombs:
Rhett Harris: Swimming, Life Saving, Energy

There are several ways to earn a merit badge:

• Enroll scout in a class conducted by an expert in the area.
  
• Enroll scout in summer camp and provide a structured program.
• Attend weekly scout meetings and participate in merit badge classes conducted by scout leaders and merit badge counselors.
• Scout and parents work together as a team in learning and achieving merit badge skills.
• Scout show personal interest and determination to earn merit badge.
  

We have recently participated in a swimming/life-saving class, which achieved 100% success in earning merit badges. We have seen success in private merit badges classes parents have enrolled scouts in. Both of these methods required additional costs. We have not been nearly as successful in achieving merit badges in weekly scout meetings. We'll keep trying, but without the help of parents, scouts will not automatically 'earn' troop merit badges. It will take personal interest and initiative to earn a troop merit badge. May we encourage the parents to know what skills we discuss each week and take the opportunity to be personally involved with your sons. The bonding and experiences a boy has with his parents in achieving merit badge skills will be a reward in your lives.

Current Merit Badges we'll be working on in April:

Emergency Preparedness
Photography
Personal Fitness

Past Troop Merit Badges:

Cycling
Hiking
Personal Management
Coin Collecting

Recent Advancements:

Moab Shiers - Star
Noah Shiers - Star
Rhett Harris - Star

http://cbtroop933.blogspot.com

Recently I sent out an e-mail wondering why the scouts haven't seen the troop blog. A parent reminded me that her son wasn't allowed to access the Internet. Having not had a son during the formative years and the Internet being available, I was awakened to the fact that the troop blog may not be available to our young sons. This is absolutely fine. The troop blog will be for parents to be informed primarily. This makes perfect sense and I appreciate all of the parents and their support and especially their feedback. Keep viewing the blog and we'll keep it updated with the latest news and achievements.

March 2008 Newsletter

Wow! We made it through the deep dark winter of January and February, with snow like some of us have never seen. Finally, a normal winter. The month ended with 9 scouts participating and earning their Swimming and Life Saving merit badges. Thanks to the many parents who carpooled the scouts to this event at the Clearfield Aquatic Center. I know the scouts made some great memories and learned many swimming techniques that will last a life time. Thanks to all of the parents who saw the value in this skill and for helping your sons achieve these skills.

We also survived the District Klondike Derby. As I reflect back on the experience, I know the scouts will have great memories of camping in the deep snow, cooking around our troop fire barrel, Klondiking on the ice of Causey and having fun with snowball fights! Thanks to all of the scouts who participated in this camp out.

Camp outs:

The troop's goal is to have 6 camp outs a year, along with summer camp. With the 3 camp outs the 11-year-old scouts should get during their first year, and the 12 camp outs during their 12/13 years and the 5 day summer camp out, they should have 20 official scouting camps by the time they turn 14. This will qualify them for the camping merit badge, which is required for Eagle. Because of this, scouts need to understand the importance of participating in every camp out. That's a big demand and that's why the rank of Eagle Scout is tough to get by the time you turn 14!

Troop Web Page (Blog): http://cbtroop933.blogspot.com

The Cedar Bench Blog continues to grow with information. Hopefully, you've bookmarked the link and visit it occasionally. If scouts or parents are interested in receiving digital pictures of camp outs, please let me know so we can e-mail you them.

Upcoming events:

March will see us continue to work on various scouting activities. We'll be finishing up the Emergency Preparedness merit badge, a carryover from summer camp. We'll be introducing the Photography merit badge this month also. Hopefully scouts have access to digital cameras, which are a really inexpensive way to learn photo taking skills compared to the old days when you had to develop your pictures for money to see the results!

Also, hopefully, some of the scouts have been inspired to do a coin collection or some other kind of collection. We've had a lot of discussion on the coin collecting merit badge and it would be sad not to have had or started this kind of activity while in their youth.

Merit Badges:

There are 12 required merit badges, with 3 alternates (cycling, hiking, emergency preparedness). The troop will provide opportunities through instruction and activities for the required merit badges. These 12/3 badges will be spread over 2 years, thus 6 badges a year. Here's the schedule:

2007/2008 - Personal Management, Swimming, Life Saving
2008 first half - Emergency Preparedness, Personal Fitness, Family Life
2008/2009 - Communication, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Country
2009 first half - Citizenship in the World, First Aid, Environmental Science
Ongoing - Camping, Cycling, Hiking
Start over in the winter/spring of 2008/2009

Merit Badge Update

Well, in the last month, we've had two merit badge counselors come and introduce themselves to the scouts so they can move forward with earning two merit badges; Personal Management and Coin Collecting. Bob Shaffer and Todd Banner, both residence of our Ward's troop boundaries spoke to the scouts and invited them to make appointments to pass off these merit badges.

Klondike Derby

Our troop participated in the district Klondike Derby for the first time in several years. There was plenty of snow at Camp Kiesel, where the Snowhorse District has been Klondiking for several year
s. Eric Tuttle and John Sorensen headed up the troop, while Patrik, Cory, Moab, Noah, Connor, Landon and Tyson enjoyed increasing their winter survival skills. We met at the church at 3:30 and were off by 4:00. We were setting up camp immediately. The challenge was that one of the scouts had a tent which wouldn't stand on its own. Therefore, we had the 7 scouts bunk in 2 tents. The leaders dug snow trenches, which were covered with boards and tarps and snow. Scouts had fun that evening eating chili and hotdogs, along with lots of hot chocolate. Morning brought pancakes, scrambled eggs, hot chocolate (again) and bacon. Nobody went hungry! We packed up some of our gear before we headed out for the Klondike Games. We headed down the road with our new sled, which was built by our scout master :) . Then, down to the lake, which frozen with 14" of ice. The problem was that we've had so much snow that there was a slush and snow on top of the ice. We would be walking and we would sink 10" into the slush. Thank goodness everyone had waterproof boots. In the sled race, it looked like our sled took second place. The 1st place sled had mush dogs with snow shoes!

We participated in a compass course, first aid, fire building, cooking and ice rescue.

Back at camp we had great submarine sandwiches, soda and chips. When it was time to leave, none of the scouts were ready to go! The leaders had to threaten the boys to pack up and go, but they were having too much fun throwing snowballs and having fun. To the amazement of all, our troop was one of the last troops to leave Camp Kiesel.

Next year, maybe some of the scouts will build snow caves so they can be as warm as the leaders were!

February 2008 Newsletter

Cedar Bench Troop 933 Blog - We have created a Troop 933 web page using Google Blogger. This is a web badge where scouts, parents and leaders can view different things going on in the troop. We're starting simple with past newsletters, a few pictures and web links to fun scout pages. You are welcome to visit the site and leave comments regarding different items posted. See http://cbtroop933.blogspot.com

Swimming and Life Saving Merit badges - Almost all of the scouts in our troop are ready to earn the swimming and life saving merit badges. Good luck to all the scouts in their desire to sharpen their skills, especially these life-long skills that we all need. Lauri Drean has coordinated the car-pooling to this activity. Please coordinate issues with driving conflicts with the parents of the scouts participating in this event.

Troop Meetings - We'll continue to have troop meetings during February from 7:00 until 8:30. Parents, please bring and pickup your scouts at this time. Opening exercises for Mutual begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. Your help in getting the scouts to troop meetings on time would be appreciated. This Tuesday we'll be discussing the Klondike.

Merit Badges - reminder for scouts working on Personal Management; It's been 13 weeks since we started discussing this merit badge, which is also the required amount of time to keep track of income and expenses. We'll be having a counselor from the ward come in to talk to our troop next week. We'll hand out blue cards to the boys who would like to move forward with this merit badge.

Winter Klondike Derby – Camp Kiesel - Snowhorse District Klondike Derby
February 8 - 9, 2008

The second winter camp out will be Friday, February 8th. We'll be meeting at the church at 3:30 p.m. and final packing there. We'll be eating supper and setting up camp Friday night. Saturday, we'll be participating in various Klondike events, eating breakfast and lunch and coming home in the early afternoon. Fathers are welcome to come with us. Please let us know if you are interested in coming. If you have some lumber or wood you can donate to keep the boys warm, please let me know.

Staying warm - Boys should have multiple layers when dressing. A coat, sweatshirt, heavy shirt and t-shirt should be worn on top. Long thermal underwear, sweatpants, pants and snow-pants may be worn below. Boys may be building snow caves to sleep in. If so, extra clothes, gloves and socks may be required. Snow bennie caps or various head gear must be worn too. Check your scout books for winter camping ideas. Also, check the scout field book in preparation for this event.

Pre-pack – We'll pre-pack Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at John Sorensen's home.

Camp Out - Meet at church at on Friday at 3:30 for final packing and travel.

Packing List:

Heavy duty winter sleeping bag
Extra blanket for inside of sleeping bag – It's winter. Temperatures could be in the single digits.
Bed pad
Small pillow
Flash light
Fold up chair
Bennie cap
Winter Coat
Sweatshirt
Winter snow gloves
Extra work gloves for building snow cave
Long pants
Snow pants, long underwear
Tent for 2 scouts, ground tarp
Waterproof tarp to wrap sleeping bag in (Burrito)
Snow shovel
Snow cave building supplies: water proof tarp, 10' x 10', etc.
Extra gloves
Extra socks
Extra pants
Hand warmers

Troop will provide food for supper, breakfast and lunch.

January 2008 Newsletter

Court of Honor - Troop 933 will be conducting a court of honor on Tuesday, January 8, at 7:00 p.m. Please support the scouts as we will have several rank advancements. Scouts should be in full uniform, minimum shirt, neckerchief, belt and pants.

Summer camp - Camp Loll is July 28 through August 1, 2008. Please mark you calendars so planning other events can be taken into account.

Winter Klondike - Our annual winter Klondike Derby will be held toward the end of February. We'll be working on a Klondike slede in our troop meetings in preparation for this activity during January and February.

Troop Merit Badge Award - A new troop award has been developed to help motivate our boys to achieve. The award will be a Uncle Henry pocket knife and will be awarded to the scout who earns the most merit badges from January 1, through June 30. It seems we always focus on earning merit badges at summer camp and that certainly can keep scouts busy at summer camp, but it can also detract from the adventure of summer camp too. Therefore, the goal is to get boys to earn merit badges throughout the year. If a scout graduates into the Varsity program during the 6 month period, they are still eligible for the award. If one of these recent graduates earns the most merit badges, then we will give two knives away, one for the Varsity scout and one for the Boy Scout.

Personal Management - This merit badge requires boys to keep track of their expenses. Well, when I've asked the boys how they have been doing, they say they haven't had any money come in, etc. I suggested that they talk to their parents about earning money around the house so they can do this merit badge. This would be a great opportunity for you to development some jobs and purchases that will help them learn the value of saving, earning and record keeping. Again, the boys will need to keep track of expenses for 13 weeks. Please help the boys fill out the worksheet in their blue books. We've been talking about finances but not a lot of note-taking. Hopefully, parents can discuss these important things the boys should learn. (Have you noticed that scouting is a lot more than outdoor activities?)

Swimming and Life Saving merit badges - Most boys have expressed an interest in participating in the Clearfield Aquatic merit badge offering for February. Not only will this help the boys become better swimmers, but will pass off the swim check for summer camp. For those who have been to Camp Loll, where the water termperature is in the 40's, this will be a welcome event come summer. Baden Powell, many years ago thought that boys were becoming 'soft' and weren't experiencing those things that boys should experience. Swimming is a life-long skill that all boys should know and I would suggest everyone consider participating in this activity. The cost will be $33. Please make checks payable to Clearfield Aquatic Center. Please turn them in by January 8th, at our next court of honor.

Change requirements of merit badges and rank advancements - See this web site for a discussion on how to handle changes in requirements: http://usscouts.org/usscouts/advance/changes/advchanges08.asp

Camping Merit Badge requirements - All boys turning 11 years old by January 1, 2007, will require 20 nights/days camping. This means boys can use any campout in a tent as part of the 20 night/days of camping. So, family camping, father and son campouts, etc., count toward the 20 nights/days. Boys turning 11 after January 1, 2007, will be required to get their nights/days at scout sanctioned campouts. This is a big change for newer scouts.

Friends Of Scouting - As January comes around, our thoughts turn to the Friends Of Scouting fund raiser. Once a year, the chartered organization seeks contributions for the scouting program in our area. Your support with contributions as well as assisting with this event would be appreciated.