troop 12 news

1/5/09 - We began the year with an adult leader meeting at my house. We planned events for the upcoming year.

1/12/09 - Was our first troop meeting of the year. We reviewed the planned events. For the areas where we had several ideas to choose from the scouts voted on which activities we would do. leaders were selected to chair the activities (Carter Cave Cave Crawl - Mr. Jackson, Ski trip - Mr. Mays, CABWAYLINGO Camporee - Mr. Jackson, April fishing trip to be helpd in May - Mr. Washington, June Canoe trip - Mr. Dougherty, July Summer Camp - Mr. Mays, August Aquatics Camp - Mr. Blake and Mr. Mays, September - open, October fall camp and hike - open, Thanksgiving in the Woods - open. We discussed our plan to work on TLT - troop leader training. We encouraged high school juniors to pick an eagle project. 15 scouts attended.

1/22/09 - The new scouts and the adult leaders attended night court as part of their preparation for the Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge to be taken at merit Badge College. 9 scouts attended.

1/24-25/09 - Sadly, because of the "white nose" bat disease, the CC cave Crawl was cancelled.

2/2/09 - Scouts from T12 attended "Scout Sunday" at Our Lady of Fatima Church and participated in the Mass.

2/14/09 - The troop attended Merit badge College at MU - I think that we had about 15 scouts in attendance. Jeff Jackson taught C Nation, Robert Mays taught Computers, Tom Daugherty taught Medicine, I assisted Tom in the AM and Jeff in the PM.

2/15/09 - Max Wilson and Adam Smith (our 2008 eagles) were honored at the Council Eagle ceremony at the Art museum.

2/23/09 - Jeff Jackson and I worked with the older scouts on parts 3 and 4 (of 12) of the TLT program (see 1/12/09). the younger scouts (reportedly) worked on rank advancements. In TLT we studied potatoes to practice learning that people and potatoes may seen the same but are different. We talked about how different people have different needs and may learn in different ways. We also did some team building games.

2/28-3/1/09 - 6th annual ski trip - It was a small group - 12 youth and 5 adults. This year we went to Timberline Ski resort north of Elkins, WV. The trip was planned and a detailed itinerary provided by Robert Mays. We left the church and stopped at what is probably the nicest church that I have been in WV, VA or MD to celebrate mass (it is after all Lent). We then went to a buffet and ate like kings. Then we drove the last bit into the Canaan valley and stayed in a "bunkhouse" at the "Wind wood Resort". They had a game room and Wi-Fi. We had a nice buffet breakfast at 6:30 Am and headed off to Timberline. We were through the rental line by 8:10 AM (of course we were the first in line). The scouts skied until 4 PM having a nice mid day repast. Mark Enders and Tom Daugherty were the lodge sitters - their presence proved invaluable. I spent my time either trying to teach scouts to ski or skiing with the scouts. Joe Enders won the award for most improved Skier. Matt Peyton got an honorable mention. Curiously, these were the only two who took lessons - could there be a correlation. Voted most likely to benefit from lessons in the future were: Vincent Mays and Zach Dougherty - they ski well for beginners, but I feel that lessons will help them move to the next level. We stopped in Elkins for a fast food dinner and the trailer pulled into the church lot at 9:03 PM making this the earliest arrival back from a ski trip yet. I think that everyone felt that this was a great trip. And Timberline, unlike Snowshoe under its current owners, is very scout friendly.

3/2/09 - meeting at FPC - the older scouts met with Adam Franks, Danita Green and I to work on the TLT module (see above for 1/12). We focused on using the EDGE (educate, demonstrate, guide, enable) to teach a person how to learn a new skill. Then we thought about things that we could start doing, stop doing, or continue to do to make our troop better. the we talked about learning things about the new scouts who have joined the troop as a way of getting to know them. The other leaders led by Jeff Jackson and assisted by the tender foot scouts worked with the new boys on early rank requirements. We planned to use the EDGE method to teach the new scouts: how to put up a troop tent and how to pack for a camp out in March (say at CABWAYLINGO state park on 3/20-21/09 for example). We also talked about pairing the older scouts with the new one in a "big brother" mode. those scouts would ride herd on their new scout to make sure that the new scout is learning the basic scout requirement things.

03/09/09 - we met at the church. Patrick Washington, my self and few other scouts brought back packs packed with thing that we would take with us on a weekend camp out. We showed the new scouts what to bring and talked about things like how cotton does not keep you warm when it gets wet. A few scouts brought bags showing you how not to pack. We talked about not bringing unnecessary things on a back packing trip. We talked about packing light. Older scouts showed the new scouts how to build tents. Adults and older scouts did some meal planning.

03/16/09 - we met at camp arrowhead - the older scouts showed the younger scouts how to start a fire. It had rained. Our tinder was dry but the wood was wet. All groups got a fire started. Patrick showed us how to use a battery, wire, electrical tape and steel wool to start a fire. I had not seen that before. Then Jeff Jackson fed us a feast of dogs and brats with sauce and sides and chips. Mmm Mmm tasty. Then Adam Franks led a lesson on trail signs. Then Robert Mays led a secession on distress signals to be used to signal rescuers on the ground and in the air if you need aid. Then I think it was Gabe and Patrick left to hide up by the dining hall. I sent the older scouts out to practice "stalking". They had to try to sneak up on the other two - who were expecting them. While this went on, our adult leaders reviewed the packs that the new scouts had brought with them - packed as they would be for the up coming camp out. This allowed the scouts to meet a Tender Foot requirement and allowed the adults who would camp with these boys for the first time in one week to see if the boys knew what to bring. This was our last chance to instruct them before the actual camping trip. Common sense in action. Then I divided these scouts into two groups and assigned one to each of our two most senior scouts and sent them off stalking. They were very excited about this. though Patrick noted that they were the easiest to spot of all of the groups primarily because of the talking and laughing.

03/20/09 - CABWAYLINGO CAMPOREE - "survivor man" competition - this report from Jeff Jackson

03/30/09 - meeting at church - troop gear was cleaned and stories were told. older scouts did TLT and younger scouts worked on requirements

04/06/09 - meeting at church - rain cancelled out planned 1.3 mile long orienteering course in Ritter Park - so we met at the church and worked on learning compass skills. The older scouts divided up into groups with younger scouts and tried to teach them compass basics. John Cornell tried to teach us the meaning of declination and why it is important.

04/20/09 - Meeting at Ritter Park - FC orienteering requirements - This report is from Jeff Jackson:

The OA completed another very successful fellowship this weekend. Around 70 members of the lodge attended and another 10+ members of the APO pitched in. Work projects included building tent frames, cleaning up the sailboat area on the lower lake, clearing fallen tree branches, and cleaning up various other areas of camp. As always, the food and fellowship were excellent!

04/25/09 - P 43 Blue and Gold Dinner and Belt Loop lock in This report is from Jeff Jackson:

5/17/09 - We met on a Sunday at the shelter to the left of the marina at Beech Fork. First we held a Court of Honor to hand out awards earned from November onwards, including MB from Merit badge College. Then we had a fine lunch of hot dogs and 'burgers, fixins, and things that others brought as sides and desserts. This was followed by Canoe training. We discussed the canoe strokes and spent about 2 hours practicing and paddling on the lake, Canoes were swamped and "T boned". Boys got wet. We learned the importance of a buddy boat. Adults learned the importance of the safety boater. We also practiced some water rescue stuff.

5/18/09 - Since we had the canoe trailer Monday's meeting was like deja vu all over again. We went to the lake, cooked some dogs, ate and then canoed. Boys who did not make Sunday showed up for Monday. My goal was for all to practice paddling before the June Canoe trip.

5/30-31/09 was Matt Peyton's Eagle project - We met at Beech Fork Lake on the SP side by the cabins. We had about 15 the first day and 9-13 (depending on the time) on the second. We got there in the AM. This was a soil erosion project. And for once this summer - it was not raining! Using fire rakes, metal rakes, shovels, and mattocks (?sp) we pulled dirt in from the sides to fill in the erosion riles and tries to smooth out the hill. Then we walked on it to "pat it down". We had a wonderful lunch as Matt's Grandmother had rented a 5th wheel camper for a week at the park and she cooked up quite the spread to feed us. It was nice to sit in the shade of the pop up tent and eat after a hard morning of work. We went back to the hill and donned our work gloves. It was hot and as the day wore on we were glad to have cold water to drink. we had brough 5 gallons with us but this was supplemented by cold bottled water brought up by Matt's Mother and grandmother. As the day wore on we carried heavy sacks of lime up the hill and then spread lime all over the area that we had worked to alter the pH of the soil. Then we sowed grass seed on the hill. Mark Buchanan of the WV conservation agency was a big help with all of this. We ended the first work day by rolling out mats of straw bound together by dissolving plastic down the hill. We pinned this in place and were thankful for the rain which made it easier to drive the pins into the ground. We ran out of pins so we had to return the next day. On that day we rolled out more mats, trimmed mats to size, pinned down mats, spread lime and grass seed on top of matts and then were ready to dig a trench along the top of the hill and install the erosion fence. We had another fine lunch provided by Matt's grandmother. We sweated like pigs and drank a lot of water. But in the end the hill looked much better - a job well done. matt will monitor the project over the summer to ensure that the grass grows and that the repair holds. Matt are you listening ... Matt ...

6/5-7/09 The troop went to Canoe the Little Miami River. I was sick and did not get to go. Scouts canoed and kayaked.

6/15/09

We will be meeting at the church at 7pm tomorrow night. This will be a prep meeting for summer camp. The following is a list of what we hope to accomplish. Dr. Blake is working and will not be there - I may be a few minutes late coming back from Charleston.

1. Board of Reviews - If you have completed a rank advancement, wear your Class A shirt and bring your Scout book.

2. Work on finishing up rank advancements. Several scouts need only a couple of items to finish up Tenderfoot, 2nd Class or 1st Class and I want the older scouts to help them finish up.

3. If you have not paid for Summer Camp, you need to pay Mr. Maniskas at this meeting - we have to get the money into the council office to make sure that you have a spot.

4. Everyone needs to check with Mr. Mays to make sure that their medical form is updated.

5. Everyone needs to give me their merit badge choices so that we can make sure everyone gets to take the classes they want. If you need advice on which merit badges to take, talk to Mr. Mays or myself

6/22/09 We held a Toten chit and fireman chit secession at Camp Arrowhead.

6/29/09

We will be meeting at the Riverbend campsite at Camp Arrowhead tomorrow night at 6pm. Our goals for the meeting are:

1) Work on completion of Wilderness Survival MB reqs
2) Work on completion of Emergency Prep MB reqs
3) Construct an axe yard for Steve Berry up at the chapel area (camp service project)

Any older scout who has completed the Wilderness Survival and/or E Prep MBs, please show up to help scouts with remaining reqs. I will also need a few scouts at the axe yard area to assist with post placement, etc.

My understanding from last weeks meeting is that we will fix silver turtles for dinner. Jeff - I assume that you're covering the foodstuffs?

7/6/09 We met at the church to hold a SPL meeting and to prep troop gear for summer camp

7/13/09 We met at Ritter Park over by the play ground and had a pizza party picnic. Then we held some E prep exercises and discussed triage and first aid. Finally se sent Spencer and Danny out to hide and play the role of lost boys. The rest of the troop participated in a "find the lost child" drill. Danny and Spencer kept moving and it took a very long time to find them. The scouts eventually found Spencer, Danny returned to the camp area as he had tired of the chase (and not being found!). This involved hiking all over the hilly and wooded parts of Riter Park. I was concerned that we would never find them. Next time the Fox needs a cell phone or radio to call the scoutmasters with.

Summer camp was 7/19-25/09. We arrived with 25 scouts (24 of ours, a new record) and most finished camp. The boys took merit badges and lived in camp. We had several first year campers. We replaced the benches in the Riverbend site and also worked on the road leading into Riverbend. With a younger troop, the focus shifted from the volleyball court to the axe yard - go figure (Mom doesn't let me play with the axe at home). Several leaders helped with or taught merit badges. Others helped by camp sitting. Thanks to all of you who made this years camp such a big success.

8/10/09 The main accomplishment at this meeting was the creation of 4 patrols. There will be a Senior level patrol of all boys in Troop 12 who have achieved the rank of First Class and have reached their 13th birthday. These boys will also serve as patrol leaders/advisors for the 3 patrols of upcoming (younger) scouts. The following is a list of the members of the three patrols are as follows:

8/28/9 - 12 scouts and 3 adults went to camp at Babcok SP. They camped and hike. They also left the stoves at the church, so all cooking was done over an open fire. All learned something. The new scouts have met their "cook with fire" requirement. Hikin' in the rain?

9/5/9 - 9 adults and 8 scouts (not all present at the same time) parked cars at two lots. Game turn out was good, making this a successful fund raising event! Thanks for all of those who helped.

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