Troop,

Last week, you all touched on prepping for this weekend’s Quartermaster/Lazy Camp at the barn.

Here is the Scoop: COVID is a bunch of disruptive business. It pushed us back into the digital meetings, but still allows us to camp together as a Troop (under 25 attendees), which means we are good to move forward and have our Lazy Camp this weekend (13-15 Nov). Here is the sign up genius:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4AADA829A7FE3-lazy2

Here is the deal for this campout: We need a couple of adults to sign up and be there for the weeknd. I have a client coming in from out of town, so I will be out of the net for most of Saturday. Need some help on this one! Otherwise, we will have to cancel it.

Leading from the campout which is scheduled from Friday night until Sunday morning aroudn 10, we will roll directly into our Court Of Honor.

Details on the COH:

This is our first one since February. We will have quite a few Rank Advancements and Merit Badges that have been earned. We need to get these Scouts recognized for their efforts. Don’t worry boys, your rank is recorded as the day of your SMC (Scout rank) or your BOR (TF-Life).

We will have some light refreshments, ranks, awards, and new leadership which will be voted on by the Scouts. I will have voting sheets available for every Scout in the troop to cast a vote. I will collect the sheets and make count the votes. If there needs to be a run-off, we will cross that bridge when it comes to that.

Details on Voting:

Here is the deal on voting and postitions: If you are running for SPL or ASPL you need to be 1CL or higher. For PL or any other postion, I prefer TF or higher. It takes a bit of experience to lead, but you can’t gain experience without trying, and with the size and makeup of our troop, you get experience by leading your peers. So, the kids with the most direct leadership contact (PL) should be younger and can be in the First Four Ranks.

I like the Soft Leadership (Scribe, Histroian, Quartermaster, etc.) to be anyone who wants to volunteer for that position.

Anyway, too much rambling for one night. I will send another message as the week progresses.

Dan

Troop,

We need another Driver/Navigator team to pony up for flags this Sunday. I think we have the Scouts covered.

Please if you have the opportunity to help us out, throw your name on there! The Scouts do all the work, so all you would really have to do is donate your time and gasoline for the route you are given. It takes about 90 minutes in the am and pm.

The Scout’s get about $60 each to do this in their Scout accounts, which can be used for dues, gear, classes, etc. (pretty much anything Scout-related).

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0849aaa623a13-flag

Talk to you soon,

Dan

Here you go!

BoyScouts Troop287 is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: BoyScouts Troop287’s Zoom Meeting
Time: Nov 3, 2020 07:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9618585239?pwd=TEEybTA4c1F5TWNYbW1sbG4xMyszQT09

Meeting ID: 961 858 5239
Passcode: 8EKJzf
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,9618585239#,,,,,,0#,,345220# US (Houston)
+16699006833,,9618585239#,,,,,,0#,,345220# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
Meeting ID: 961 858 5239
Passcode: 345220
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbpqoiIeSS

Troop, a few weeks ago, we were offered the opportunity to fill some slots at Northern Tier. This opportunity is for Scouts who are 13years old and have completed the 8th grade, or are already 14 years old by the time of attendance (Jun next year). If you are interested, the sign up link is below.

Here is the catch: We have to pay our deposit by Thursday this week!! This means, if we get enough for a crew to do this, you’ve got to be able to put your money where your mouth is and drop off a check for the amount of $700+/attendee by Thursday so the Troop can drop the money on-line to reserve our spot. Right now there are three people signed up (Geren, me, and Jack D.). So, if you are (or will be) of age, and are interested, and have the cash to cover it (final price to be detailed in the next day or so), sign up.

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

I gotta know quickly!!

Dan

Troop, last week seemed to be pretty productive in regards to what the PLC (Patrol Leader’s Council) did. Their guidance will continue this week/month, and they reaffirmed the following rotation of meeting subject matter:

Week 1: Rank ADV
Week 2: MB Work
Week 3: Camp/Activity prep
Week 4: Game night
Week 5: (if available) then we will fill in with Rank ADV or MB work

The (in person) meeting breakdown will continue with the 30/30/30 loosely adhered to guidance. 30 for admin and Rank/MB/Planning, 30 for buffer work/SMC or whatever, and 30 for IPA.

Tomorrow night we will meet again on Zoom for the first 30 minutes or so, for Rank ADV. We will try and do some breakout groups or something like that. I have to figure that part out. The Scouts will likely peel off into Discord or whatever afterwards.

See you tomorrow night.

Dan

Troop parents:

Here is a little info on how to motivate your Scout to be self reliant and able to check his progress through Scouting (ahem, remind us adult leaders to check stuff off in Scoutbook, etc.) If you feel comfortable allowing them access, please do so. As a parent, you are the only one who can grant this access. Here is how to do it:

How Do I Give My Scout Access to Their Account?

A parent is the only one who can give a Scout access to their records online.

The Scout needs to be registered in a unit.

Make sure the parent is connected to the Scout account / record in the Scout’s Connections page. Also make sure the parent has the Parent/Guardian connection role with either Full Control or Edit Profile permissions.

The parent can then login to Scoutbook and edit the profile of their Scout and click the option at the bottom of the page to allow their Scout to connect to their own account. The Scout will need their own email account. A temporary password will be sent to them.

NOTE: If a parent does not see the Invite Scout to Connect button at the bottom of the Scout’s Edit Profile Screen, then the Scout has already been invited and an account has already been setup for them with their email address as his User Name.  Go to the Messaging Center and click on the Scout’s name, unclick the BCC option and send the Scout an email to log into Scoutbook. They can use the Forgot Password? option on the login window to reset their password if they forgot it.

If you want to join the Discord conversation, follow this link:

https://discord.gg/jVZ9ZEY

Dan

Scout Leaders (SPL, ASPL, PLs, Scribe),

Here is the Zoom link for tonight’s meeting.

BoyScouts Troop287 is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Troop 287 Patrol Leaders Council meeting
Time: Oct 27, 2020 07:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9618585239?pwd=TEEybTA4c1F5TWNYbW1sbG4xMyszQT09

Meeting ID: 961 858 5239
Passcode: 8EKJzf
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,9618585239#,,,,,,0#,,345220# US (Houston)
+16699006833,,9618585239#,,,,,,0#,,345220# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
Meeting ID: 961 858 5239
Passcode: 345220
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbpqoiIeSS

Yup, you read that right! If you ordered a troop shirt or sweatshirt, I have them at my house. We can link up to give you your goods. Just give me a call 228-806-9063 or shoot me a text.

There was an issue with the Red Sweatshirt, they did not have the red with white accents. They are red with black accents. They look cool. So if you do not want it, let me know. I think there were only a couple of those ordered.

Dan

Troop,

If you read my last post, you will know that we are back to virtual meetings. I know, it is not ideal, but this is the order we are required to follow.

Here is our plan as we move forward:

Tonight’s meeting (7-7:45pm) will be on-line, and only for the Scout Leadership (SPL/ASPL, PLs, Scribe).

At about 7:45pm, after they make some decisions, they are going to get on Discord and do stuff there, which is open to everyone else.

Saturday at 1100 am: we will meet at the Barn for Josh Johnston’s Eagle COH. This is a voluntary event, so not a mandatory thing, nor is it an official meeting. We are doing to proceed with it because it is very, very important to recognize this accomplishment. Masks and Class A unifrom required.

Next Tuesday and meetings moving forward, we will have to play it by ear and see what the State and BSA are going to allow us to do. Based on what your leadership decides, we may revert back to the every other week meetings with an unofficial activity in between. We shall see.

Camping: we can still go camping! So, we will still hold our planning meetings and such for our campouts (only one left this year, and the lock-in). But we will still maintain that sort of activity to get us outside and closer to Mama nature.

See you (leadership) tonight at 7, the rest of you on discord at 7:45pm.

If you were scheduled for a BoR, that is still on because it was virtual anyway, just remember to coordinate with whomever your Board rep was.

Anyway, talk to you soon!

Dan

Here is new information the Pikes Peak BSA Website. All registered users should have received this email. Note that camping activities are not effected by this order-just saying.

Troop,

Just bumping a message for Josh Johnson’s Court of Honor for his Eagle Rank.

Josh earned his Eagle late last year, and due to COVID, we postponed his celebration. Well, now we are going to get it done!

Please take a moment and sign up so we can plan for cake and stuff like that. It is next Saturday, 31 Oct at the barn, at 11am.

Scouts should be in full Class A uniform whether they are in the ceremony as Flag Bearers/Color Guard, or just members of the audience. (shameless plug for rank requirement: Scouts need to participate in a flag ceremony).

Anyway, here is the link:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090549AEAB28A64-josh

Dan

Troop,

This one is for the parents:
This is the first of a few messages I will be sending out on behalf of the Troop Committee.

There are several members of the Committee who are coming to the end of their term of office (there are no limits, just they’ve been doing their jobs for at least two years).

This is a plea to all those parents who are new to the troop and want to get [more] involved, but not necessarily as active as being an SM/ASM.

A few of the positions coming open this coming year are as follows (the name behind the position is the person currently in it:
Committee Chair – Lisa Durrenberger
Flag Coordinator – Renee Hames
Secretary – Vacant
Fund Raising Chair – Andrea Levia
New Membership/Recruiter – Vacant

There will be more!

Dan

Troop,

***Update: we need to know if you are interested and are willing to put your money where your mouth is by Nov 3rd***

A while back we applied for a spot on the Northern Tier High Adventure Camp (https://www.ntier.org/summer-adventures/), which was denied due to over booking.

I got a call earlier this week informing me that the week we wanted (19-27 June 2021) is now available for us.

We have under three weeks to make a final decision if we want to go on this canoe trek or not next summer. Basic restrictions are the Scout must be 14 years old, or 13 and have completed 8th grade. We have 17 registered Scouts that fit this criteria.

We need two adults (21 or older, and have completed specific required training).

Below is the sign up for that. Need to know basic interest in going. It will be about $700/participant. Crews are limited to a max of 8, and the total for a “full” crew is $5680.

The OTHER fork:

Summer Camp at Camp Cris Dobbins:

The Troop voted to attend Camp Cris Dobbins next year. This is available to all of us, no matter age or grade. As long as you are registered with us, you can go with us!

The dates are not set in stone, as long as we get on this in the next couple of weeks and get the ball rolling on registration and all that. The cost of summer camp for each Scout is $450. We will set up a payment plan within the Troop so we ensure we hit all the required markers and are all good to go in the end.

The rub: in years past, we have gone to summer camp the third week in June, which is the same timeframe Northern Tier is available for us. So, if you think you may want to push to NT, and also have an interest in attending summer camp, we may be able to move the dates (for CCD) around some. That will be determined by the amount of interest. More to follow on that. First, lets see if there is interest in NT so we can either commit to that or not. (apologies to the younger Scouts, since you all can not attend NT yet).

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

Dan

Troop,

***Update: we need to know if you are interested and are willing to put your money where your mouth is by Nov 3rd***

A while back we applied for a spot on the Northern Tier High Adventure Camp (https://www.ntier.org/summer-adventures/), which was denied due to over booking.

I got a call earlier this week informing me that the week we wanted (19-27 June 2021) is now available for us.

We have under three weeks to make a final decision if we want to go on this canoe trek or not next summer. Basic restrictions are the Scout must be 14 years old, or 13 and have completed 8th grade. We have 17 registered Scouts that fit this criteria.

We need two adults (21 or older, and have completed specific required training).

Below is the sign up for that. Need to know basic interest in going. It will be about $700/participant. Crews are limited to a max of 8, and the total for a “full” crew is $5680.

The OTHER fork:

Summer Camp at Camp Cris Dobbins:

The Troop voted to attend Camp Cris Dobbins next year. This is available to all of us, no matter age or grade. As long as you are registered with us, you can go with us!

The dates are not set in stone, as long as we get on this in the next couple of weeks and get the ball rolling on registration and all that. The cost of summer camp for each Scout is $450. We will set up a payment plan within the Troop so we ensure we hit all the required markers and are all good to go in the end.

The rub: in years past, we have gone to summer camp the third week in June, which is the same timeframe Northern Tier is available for us. So, if you think you may want to push to NT, and also have an interest in attending summer camp, we may be able to move the dates (for CCD) around some. That will be determined by the amount of interest. More to follow on that. First, lets see if there is interest in NT so we can either commit to that or not. (apologies to the younger Scouts, since you all can not attend NT yet).

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

Dan

Troop,

Due to Adult leader availability, we have postponed our camping trip this weekend for three weeks. That would be the weekend of Nov 13-15 November.

There are fewer options for that timeframe, but we will figure it out and do some colder weather prep.

I wanted to touch a little on rank advancement like I did last night; more for the parents since you boys were there and heard my ramblings.

Here is our Troop’s process: Each Scout for the First Four (Scout, TF, 2C, 1C) will demonstrate his knowledge or skills to two levels of Scout leadership prior to coming to an adult for the final sign off. Each level of Scout leadership will initial in the left margin of the Scout’s handbook for each requirement completed. Scoutmasters (or Assistant SM) will sign off in the right margin once they are satisfied with the demonstration of skill, knowledge, or otherwise completed requirement.

Here is where I think the Scouts are getting confused: Over the past couple of weeks, I have done SM conferences where I have spent a lot of time with the Scout going over every requirement since they didn’t have any adult leader signatures. Then we rolled into the SM Conference portion.

Scouts do NOT have to wait until they have all the Scout leader initials before coming to Scoutmaster for initials. If the Scout is confident in one skill, demonstrates it though the two levels of Scout leaders, then he can go to an SM for final signature. I guess my point is not to wait until the end and rely on the SM conference to roll all that stuff into one night. The idea is to piece it together as you go along.

I hope this clears up any confusion. If you have any questions, give me a call, or shoot me a text. I know it has been weird due to “the Rona”, but now that we are back to in person meetings, we need to get back to our normal Rank AVD processes.

Talk to you soon,

Dan

Troop,

Tonight’s meeting is/was supposed to be for campout prep. As of right now, there is only one Scout signed up for camping. No need to go into all that stuff about camping if we can’t get out there and do it.

So, we will focus on SM conferences for those who need it maybe review some MB work, and lastly, refine your merit badge and other planning for the year.

Talk to you soon.

Dan