Hey Troop,

This Weekend we have the Bushcraft campout planned and we’ll be meeting up on Rampart Range Road, site 951. The packing list is in the link provided below.

Alex is buying the food for the trip. Here is the menu we decided on:
Saturday
Breakfast: Bacon, oatmeal
Lunch: ramen, fruit
Dinner: hobo meals (carrots, onions, kielbasa, peppers)

This is only a one night campout due to conflicting schedules and all that parent stuff. This is why there are only three meals.

After school and homework, Please leave ASAP so we still have time to set up and not get stuck in the dark. Well stay up there for one night then meet at the church around 5 o’clock Saturday. If your Scout needs a ride up please call or text 228-806-9063 (Mr. McGuire).

-Geren M.
Troop 287 SPL

Troop,

Tomorrow night, 26 Feb, at 6pm the Pack 24 Blue and Gold dinner is being held at West Elementary School (they’ve offered to feed us-dangerous with a bunch of Scouts).

We are receiving three highly motivated Scouts into our Scouting Family. Please come on out and welcome these guys into the fold! They are also invited to our CoH tonight, so you will know who is coming over.

West Elementary School, 6pm (dinner is offered-again, eat up!). 25 N 20th St, Colorado Springs, CO 80904. AOL Crossover starts at 6:30pm and should take about 30 mins to complete. Let’ support these new Scouts!

Dan

Troop,

Here is a fund raising opportunity for you as a Scout. All proceeds benefit you and your Scouting career. This money earned can be used for Scouting activities or equipment directly related to a Scouting requirement (rank or MB).

Camp cards sell for $5 each and you earn $2.50 per card you sell. The troop gets nothing from this effort.

Below is a sign up for a Troop “booth” at Bass Pro Shops on March 7 from 9am -3pm. There are 12 slots available for selling at this booth (one hour slots, two Scouts per hour). Scouts will be provided with Camp Cards to sell to patrons of Bass Pro Shops and the proceeds at the end of the day will be tallied and divided by those who participated (12 slots, total divided by 12). The slots are for everyone’s opportunity. Please do not sign up for more than one slot until given the go-ahead to do so. This allows others to sign up. Once the free for all is given, and there are slots available, go ahead and sign up. If you work three hours, you will get three portions of the 12.

On an individual basis, you can sign for cards from Mrs. Durrenberger and sell them door to door. Just know that whatever cards you sign for, you are financially responsible for them. If you sign for 20 cards, you will have to turn in either the unsold cards, or the face value of each card ($5).

The camp card program is really easy and has no negative bearing on the Troop or the Scout. We simply turn in the unsold cards at the end of the season and don’t have an obligation after that. It’s a win-win situation.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4AADA829A7FE3-camp

As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. A brief will be provided tomorrow at the CoH.

Dan

Troop,

Tomorrow night is the CoH and we have 5 submissions for the Chili cook-off. Come-on Scouts! Show what you’ve got and throw your best work into a pot of chili! Or bring a side dish.

We are looking to feed about 50+ people (about 25 Scouts plus Family members), so be prepared for that!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4aada829a7fe3-court

Also, as a reminder from the Troop Treasurer: Bring your checkbooks, cash, PayPal link, Venmo, CashApp, Zelle, etc. for due dues (see what I did there). $60 for the remainder of the year (pro-rated for new Scouts).

We will also spend about 15 minutes at the end of the CoH to talk about cold weather camping for those who are [bushcraft] camping with us this weekend. Just to make sure we are ready for the high adventure in the cold weather this weekend.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Dan

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4AADA829A7FE3-winter1

Troop, in absence of the AFA Freeze-O-Ree we will be camping national forest land up on our local Rampart Range.

This will be another chance to take advantage of some great winter camping and hiking. Saturday we will be hiking to Rampart Reservoir via the Rainbow Gulch Trail. While snowshoes are not necessary you may bring them or a set of Yak Trax. Along the way and back at camp we can work on rank and merit badge requirements so Be Prepared with items you look to accomplish.

The plan is to camp along the West side of Rampart Range Road South of the Rainbow Gulch Trail Head and North of FR-306. There are some pretty good spots in that area that go primarily unused this time of year.

This will be a car campout in a winter environment so please bring appropriate gear for the task, but as always try to pack as if you were backpacking. If you are new or need assistance, seek your youth leadership and the resources of your Boy Scout Handbook and Troop 287 Webpage Resources.

Let’s get the attendance up for this activity and have ourselves a good ‘ol Patrol Cook-off.

Sign up is at the top of the post. Ray-thanks for putting this together!

Dan

Troop,

This time, we are going to make it happen (silly snow days)! CoH/Chili cook-off is re-scheduled for next week. I updated the Sign-up, so you still have time to break out grand daddy’s “burn yo’ face off” chili recipe and get ‘er done (see image above). Let’s get some competition going. Try out those recipes that can also be cooked in a dutch oven during a campout!

There are a few things that will happen at the CoH as well and I want to provide a little lead time:
1. If you have Pizza cards, or the money for them, please bring it to the meeting and give it to Mrs. Roxann Pharris.
2. Elections will be held for SPL/ASPL and PLs. Think about who you want leading you for the next six months. For the new Scouts, this will be an opportunity to see how we run our (new) election process.
3. New Scouts: Applications and dues (pro-rated to $60 for the rest of the year) to be collected.

I will put another post out, but want to get it into everyone’s mind: Next Wednesday, 26 Feb, we will be welcoming three more new Scouts from Pack 24 at West Elementary School at 6pm, so save the date and we can all be there to welcome these new Scouts. They will also be at our CoH to celebrate with us (and see what they are getting themselves into).

If you are a new Scout, do not forget to bring in your neckerchief that you received at the crossover so we can trade it out for the official Troop 287 neckerchief (see #3 above). One for one swap-no IOUs!

More to follow as we approach Tuesday. As always, give me a call/text/email if you have concerns or questions.

Dan

Troop,

Due to the closure of D-11, we are postponing CoH until next week. If you have already started your chili, please enjoy it with your family tonight. Call this the trial run for next week!

Also, Scouts, this is your opportunity to do a good turn and clear off the driveway and sidewalks!

Anyway, stay safe and warm. We will see you next week!

Dan

Troop,

It was brought to my attention that the time was not listed in the previous post for the cook-off. Here is the schedule for next Tuesday, 18 Feb:

5:30pm – arrive begin set up (tables, chairs, etc.)
6:00pm – serve food
6:30pm – collect votes on best overall chili
6:45pm – begin clean-up
7:00pm – move to sanctuary for COH stuff (goes until complete).

Dan

Troop,

Every year our Charter Organization requests that we participate in ONE of their ceremonies. We usher attendees into the pews, and one Scout reads from the scripture. This is one of the ways we give back to the organization which provides us a home for us to meet and store our stuff (along with using their kitchen and stuff for our activities).

Anyway, sign up and just sit through an hour of the Church’s ceremony on 8 March. 

Sign up here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4AADA829A7FE3-scout

Dan

Troop,

The February Court of Honor is upon us!

Get ready for the burn because it is time to break out the crock pots and mixing spoons for the annual Chili Cook-Off! Oh, yeah, some awards and stuff too.

So, here is the deal: bring your favorite home made chili to the court of honor and we will do a taste test and vote on the best all around chili. The winner will get a prize!

Of course, this is a family event, and the first event our six new Scouts will attend with us! Plus, there is an open invite to our Pack 24 Scouts we will bring into the fold later this month.

Also, sign up for a few condiments to bring.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4AADA829A7FE3-court

Dan

Troop,

It is time for the Troop Ski day! Come on out and hit the slopes on the super fresh powder that Monarch Mountain has to offer.

Meet up in the parking lot of Safeway, 3275 W Colorado Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80904 at 0630 Sunday morning. Please sign up if you intend on going so we don’t leave you behind and we can situate seats and stuff like that.

Friends and family are welcome!

Mr. Warner, Mr. Durrenberger, and Mr. McDowell are all attending and there are a few seats avalable in their vehicles, so please plan accordingly.

Sign up here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4AADA829A7FE3-monarch

Dan

Troop,

I just want to re-emphasize that Pack 166 is crossing over tomorrow night from Cub Scouts to Scouts BSA, to join our troop!

They begin at 6pm. The Crossover Ceremony begins at 6:30pm. I will be there at 6 to kind of get the lay of the land and assess the happenings, meet parents, etc.

There are four troops receiving Scouts tomorrow night, and we are second in the line of events; receiving six Scouts.

meet up no later than 6:15pm: I would appreciate it if as many of our Scouts (and Leaders) can attend to represent the Troop and welcome these guys into our Scouting Family.

Also, I will hand out a voting sheet so we can make a determination on who is going to lead the troop for the next period (maybe-as it is still under development).

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know.

Dan

Troop,

We are welcoming nine Scouts to our troop this month; six of them are coming from Pack 166 this coming week. Their Blue and Gold is at 6pm with the Crossover ceremony begining at 6:30pm Tuesday night, at Eagleview Middle School. We will meet there and represent! I know this month’s meeting(s) plans are a little wonky, but we will endure!

The other Scouts coming over are from Pack 24 and will be joining us later in this month. We will also be present for their ceremony.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know!

Dan

Troop,

District 11 has cancelled school for the day, which means we will not have a meeting tonight. Stay safe, stay warm, and study your rank requirements so we can blast through them next time we have rank ADV.

Next week we will be welcoming six Scouts from Pack 166 at their Blue and Gold dinner. It is being held at Eagleview Middle School. More details on that later.

Dan

Troop,

Pack 24 is having their Blue and Gold on 26 Feb, when two of their AOL Scouts will be crossing over to join us! Good month for recruiting for sure! We are super fortunate that these Scouts are choosing to join our ranks.

As a reminder: Our troop schedule follows the D-11 schedule. If they cancel school for the day, we will not have a meeting, or if they cancel after school activities (like they did today), we will not have a meeting.

Hope to see you all tomorrow night!

Dan

Troop,

It is the first meeting of the month and I was thinking Mr Durrenberger can verify and sign off on some of your guys’ Citizenship in the Nation MB work that you can present to him. Also, Indian Lore MB can get wrapped up for those who are ready to present their work to Mr Petree.

Also, we have to plan for (discuss) our event this month: Ski-day on the 16th and/or camping at the end of the month (28 Feb – 1 Mar).

Not to mention, we have our Chili Cook-off Court of Honor this month too! Lot’s stuff happening!

Next week on the 11th, we will hold our meeting (at least in part) at Eagleview middle school for Pack 166 AOL crossover. We are welcoming in six new Scouts from them. Later in the month, we will be welcoming in two more Scouts from Pack 24. In light of so many new Scouts, I would like a few of you (higher ranking Scouts) to develop a plan on how to teach them (some Tenderfoot – 1st Class) skills as required for Life Scouts (building a knot board, or something similar). Think on that and bring some ideas to implement.

Let’s get the juices flowing and finish out some rank requirements, MB work, and sort all that stuff out for our upcoming COH so you all can reap the awards you earned!

Dan

Troop,

Check out the link below for a way to assist those affected by the fires in Australia. Purchase a patch and the proceeds go directly to help Scouts who have lost their homes. Total cost for a patch shipped from Australia is right around $30. Check it out:

Dan

Troop, as promised here is the update for tonight:

I spoke with CJ over at Battlefield (I finally got a call back) and he said they require a week’s notice for any reservation that is not on their open play nights (Friday-Sunday). This was not on their website, and I told them as much.

So, in light of this information, we need to fall back on the back up plan of doing some jumping at a trampoline place. Trampoline World has open jump until 5pm, so that is out. Springs Trampoline isn’t open until tomorrow. This leaves us with Skyzone. Skyzoen is open 3pm-8pm, so I propose we show up as early as 6, do some jumping and then roll out.

Here is the address and such:

Skyzone
1750 E Woodmen Rd
Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Northwest corner of Woodmen/Academy Plan on 6-8pm.

$17/jumper for 60 minutes or $21 for 90 mins.

I looked on groupon, but did not see any deals.

Anyway, see you guys tonight. We will reschedule Battlefield (again).

Dan

Troop,

Here is the deal with game night: We have enough players for Battlefield. However, I have made a few phone calls to make the reservation for us to play tomorrow night, but have not received any sort of confirmation as of yet (7:45pm, Monday night).

So, please be flexible, we may have to rely on our second choice (springs trampoline) if the Battlefield Staff does not get back to me.

I will make a post as soon as I hear from them, whenever that may be; tomorrow morning I hope.

Have a good night and we will see you tomorrow regardless of the event!

Dan

How do you cook food when you are on five feet of snow? Like this:

Here are a couple more shots of the troop: