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.

December 2007 Newsletter

Camp outs:

We had a very successful outdoor experience this month. We traveled 60 miles to Promontory Summit where the Golden Spike Monument is located. We camped out, tested our new fire barrel, and had an enjoyable time eating great food! We participated in a 1 1/2 service project chopping wood which will be used to run the steam engines in the spring. We received a personal tour of the engine house which has two replicas of the original engines which met at Promontory in 1869. We want to thank Mike Hodson who volunteered his truck, time and talent (and treats) and helped make a successful outing.

Troop Meetings:

Wow parents, how great it must be to be a boy scout in our ward. This is a great group of young men. This past month we have seen a real high activity level. At our last troop meeting, we had 12 boys. What's great is they seem to get along and have fun. They are fairly respectful of each other and hopefully have a safe environment to build camaraderie. For your information, a typical troop meeting during the cold winter months is as follows:

7:00 - mutual opening exercises
7:05 - Troop meeting begins - Open ceremony - pledge, recite scout oath and law
7:10 - Business - discuss camp outs, service projects, special activities, treats for scout shirts, binders
7:14 - Troop uniform inspection. Treats for scout shirt tucked in and merit badge binder
7:15 - Required merit badge instruction - 30 minutes of required merit badge instruction
7:45 - Game - 15 minutes of games in the scout room
8:00 - Optional merit badge instruction - this month it has been coin collecting 8:20 - Closing; Scout Master minute - Story or thought with the lights turned down
8:25 - Prayer
8:30 - Troop meeting over for sure!

Scouts should wear their scout shirt.Scouts should bring their blue merit badge binder.Scouts could bring their scout book if they need to pass things off.

Merit Badges:

We've been working on the Personal Management merit badge this month, which is a required for Eagle. Some scouts are somewhat engaged in doing this merit badge while others are less interested. Hopefully you know where your scout is and will assist or motivate him to grasp this opportunity to grow and learn about managing his life. We've gone over the basics of money and time management. However, the boys will need to keep track of their expenses, income and donations for 3 months. This is the hard part of this merit badge. PARENTS, you can help here. Make it a goal to sit down once a week, minimum, and have your son write down what he as been given as money and what he has spent. He has a personal management merit badge worksheet which has pages to keep these records. When he has completed his 3 months, he will be able to pass off this merit badge. Don't let him be one of the boys who doesn't achieve this merit badge.

Christmas gifts: May I suggest some scouting gifts for your scout this Christmas:

Scout pants - Boys will need scout pants for court of honors, summer camp, scout master conferences and board of reviews. Check this web site: http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsasupply/
Scout Requirements handbook - shows all requirements for merit badges as well as rank advancements.
Boy Scout Field book - This is a great book which shows in detail outdoor skills, a real complement to the basic Boy Scout Handbook.
Merit Badge chart - This is a chart showing all of the merit badges, a full color chart which can be displayed in a bedroom.
Coin Collecting book - A place to store your son's coin collections.
Boy Scout Knife - A pocket knife. (I see boys with large knives which seem a little more dangerous than a nice pocket knife.)
Merit Badge books - Choose a few merit badge books you think your son has interest in. Great stocking stuffers.
Camelback canteen pack - great for hiking.
Anything to do with the 121 merit badges - Telescope, bicycle, helmet, hiking boots, water pump, backpack stove, water pump, camera, swimming suit, cooking kit, survival kit, backpack.
Lots of books from scout office - Knots, stars, first aid, hiking, cooking, etc.Savings Account - open a savings account and put $25 in it. A great stocking stuffer. This will help with the personal management merit badge as well.
United States Proof Set - This is a great gift to get each one of your children. Proof sets contain all the coins produced by the United States government the year they were born. They can be purchased from local coin shops as well as over the Internet.
Check these web sites: http://www.usacoinshop.com/?p=products&req=dept&id=51&gclid=CP-rqbDh_48CFRvrYAoduDN3rw http://www.letcoin.com/ProofSets.htmhttp://www.numismaster.com/ta/inside_numis.jsp?page=Glossaryhttp://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&identifier=2000

Parent's Help:

1. We would like to build a Klondike sled for the troop. If you are interested in helping out with this project, like acquiring the plans, materials and coordinating the building of the sled with the scouts, let me know.

2. If you have a coin collection or any kind of collection, we would like to have you share it with the scouts at a troop meeting.

3. If you would like to help the scouts/deacons with baptisms for the dead this Saturday, please let Craig Ecton know. You will need a temple recommend to participate in this service.

Future Events:

Swimming and Life Saving merit badges - We are planning a troop event at the Clearfield Aquatic Center pool to earn two Eagle required merit badges this winter. The cost is around $33 for 4 weeks, 2 times a week. The classes will be held on Monday and Wednesday nights from 6:05 - 6:55. We will need parents to carpool to this event and I will coordinate this. This is an optional activity but I would highly encourage your son to participate and learn these life-long skills.

To schedule this activity, I will need to know if your scouts will have special activities this winter, such as Jr. Jazz basketball. Please let me know if, what and when you scout will be involved in other activities one week nights starting in January.

Scout Master Minute:

There's a popular country song right now called Don't Blink. It talks about how fast life goes by and that if we blink, we may come to realize time has moved on. I tell the scouts that the ages 12 & 13 come and go really fast and they should take this opportunity to excel in scouting by earning merit badges and progressing through the ranks. Parents, having been in the paths that you are going through now, I would suggest the same is true. These scouting years are a chance to see your sons grow in a wide variety of areas through the merit badge program. Scouting was originally started because boys of the early 1900's were becoming soft and wimpy. They lacked the 'outdoor' skills. I wonder how our boys are today? Are they soft with T.V. and video games. Would they just as soon text message as do something like achieving knowledge through the merit badge program? Your opportunity as a parent will come and go for these boys and the foundation you create now will last a lifetime. Take time to be involved with these scouting interests and don't blink or you may miss this opportunity that you may regret for the rest of your lives.

If you don't feel what I'm trying to say, check this web site out (maybe not at work):

http://www.180countrymusiccd.com/2007/October/DontBlinkCountryMusicLyricandVideo.htm

Our first Winter Campout! Promontory Point was our destination. It turned out with nice weather. We toured the engine house and participated in a service project, splitting logs for the wood burning engine.

November 2007 Newsletter

November 2007 Newsletter - Troop 933

Dear Parents,Camping:

Thanks to Daren Felix and Norm Young for their help at our Brownsea Island Fall Camporee. Boy, did we build men out of the scouts who came. A cold front was approaching and the state had seriously southerly winds that day and night! The boys had fun trying to fly with a blue tarp, along with sleeping in a wind storm. These guys are tougher because they braved the great outdoors of Antelope Island. We saw bison and antelope, as well as enjoyed good food and friends. Unfortunately, we missed a great bike ride on Antelope Island too. The wind had worn us out and we didn't feel like pedaling during a snow storm. We'll try some bike rides next spring and hopefully by summers end, we'll have passed off the cycling merit badge. However, don't forget dads and moms, you could always take you son out on a Saturday this fall. What a great experience that would be for your son.

We look forward to camping out at Promontory Point on November 16/17. We'll be visiting the museum and hopefully we'll get a look at the steam engines which are tucked away in the garages for winter. We'll also do a service project while there. We hope to have some dads who haven't had the opportunity to come with us in the past. This will be a chance to transition your sons into scout camping.

We got snowed out for our hike to Lewis Peak in October. We'll look forward to hiking next Summer. Our follow up car washes have been rained out as well. Parents have asked me to stop scheduling things for weekends so the weather would be better. (Nothing was scheduled for October 26th and look how nice it was!)

Service:

We're making plans on stocking the shelves at the 17th Street Welfare store in Ogden in January. Scouting is service and we hope to be able to get an hour or two on our trail to Eagle.

For your information, each scout should have a blue binder for merit badge and scouting information to be placed in. This month we'll be adding some really neat sheets for keeping track of things:

1 - General tracking sheet of service hours, camping nights, leadership positions, etc.
2 - How to get a merit badge sheet showing the steps each scout should take to earn a merit badge.
3 - Trail to Eagle sheet, showing on a single page all key tasks required for rank advancement.
4 - Duty To God check list, supplemental to the book each boy should have.

Merit Badge Focus:

We'll be working on Personal Management during the monthd of November and December. This is a required merit badge. For new parents, we'll be working on 15 required merit badges during the 2 years your son is in scouts. A multi-page worksheet will provided for each merit badge, which he should place in his blue binder. As parents you are invited to work with your son on these required merit badges. Our troop meetings will focus on each requirement, many of which will need to be completed at home or elsewhere. You're supervision will be required if you want you son to attain the merit badge. Also, many scouts partially earned their Emergency Preparedness merit badge at scout camp. We'll be finishing this merit badge up also.

November activities:

November 13 - Pre-trip planning, blue books - insert new sheets discussed above.Promontory Point Winter Camp -
November 16-17. See attached permission slip.
November 20 - Troop meeting; Personal Management merit badge.
November 27 - Troop meeting; Personal Management merit badge.
December 1 - Baptisms for the dead; 10:30 at the Ogden Temple.
December 4 - Mutual combined activity.