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