Troop, tomorrow night is game night and it was voted that Battlefield Colorado is the place to be. However, they are on limited ours of operation during this time of year. We will need at least 10 players to make a reservation, and see if they will open the facility for us. So, please sign up if you are planning on going. Once we get the 10 rsvps, I will call and make the reservation. If not, we will have to make a quick decision on what we are going to do.

Here is the sign up:

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

Here is the weather forecast, dress accordingly.

Lastly, there have been many inquiries about visiting our troop as Webelos. This particular game night we do once a year and have a great deal of fun doing it, so if you are a Webelos and are viewing this post, please feel free to sign up and have a great time with your future troop!

Dan

Troop, Last night some decisions were made. Here is the outcome of those decisions:

1. Who is attending (see the sign-up genius in a previous post to sign up)

There are about eight Scouts currently signed up for the lock-in. Maybe more to follow.

1. What is being brought? (Games, game consoles, etc.)

Xbox 1, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Atari, Laptop for Party Games. If you want to bring something else, then go ahead and do so, or if you think you want to bring a game for one of these systems, that is totally acceptable as well.

1. Who is going to earn the Fingerprinting MB?

Pretty much everyone who participates. It is a really easy MB and should only take us about 45-60 minutes to complete if there are minimal distractions. There will be several extra packets for those who want to accomplish this MB.

1. What are we going to eat?

Doritos, Mountain Dew, Pizza, and for breakfast: donuts. Noah volunteered to buy the stuff on the list (he has a picture of the menu). His budget is about $6/Scout, so be sure to sign up so he knows how much to buy. We will order the Pizza Friday night, so he doesn’t have to worry about doing that part.

1. Will we invite Webelos? If we do, there are restrictions on them (they need to have their own adult leadership and supervision). Unless we give them a timeframe like 8-midnight or something like that.

Webelos have been invited. So long as they provide their own Adult leadership. They can stay as long as their Adults stay (part or all of the night).

1. What are we doing for Game night next week?

It was decided that Battlefield Colorado would be Game night next week. We will have to coordinate with them to see if we can get a group price or something like that, otherwise I believe it is about $25/person.

So, the schedule for Friday night is as follows:

1900 Lock-in Operations begin.

At some point before I go to sleep – Fingerprinting MB.

0930 Saturday: Lock-in operations cease and cleanup operations begin.

1000: end of operation. Everyone go home, and get some rest.

Anyway, Those are the details. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please give me a call.

Dan

Good morning everyone,

It is the time of year in which the troop needs to collect scout registration fees and annual dues. As Lisa has mentioned, Pikes Peak Council has raised the registration fees for scouts to $65 and adult leaders to $36. We do not charge our Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters the $36. Additionally, the annual troop dues is $80. This covers awards, supplies, and other items as needed.

Please reach out to me at bayouboyx@comcast.net should you wish to take the fees out of your son’s scout account. Also reach out if you are unsure of your son’s scout balance and I will provide. We will be writing a check to council shortly and the troop funds are tight at this time of the year. Carrie and I will be available to accept checks at troop meetings.

Reach out if you have any questions.

Regards,
Danny R.

Troop,

Tomorrow night’s meeting will cover several items for the lock-in:

1. Who is attending (see the sign-up genius in a previous post to sign up)
2. What is being brought? (Games, game consoles, etc.)
3. Who is going to earn the Fingerprinting MB?
4. What are we going to eat? we had pizza last year, maybe too much?
5. Will we invite Webelos? If we do, there are restrictions on them (they need to have their own adult leadership and supervision). Unless we give them a timeframe like 8-midnight or something like that.
6. What are we doing for Game night next week?

All that being said, we will go through the church and assign what consoles go in what rooms and stuff like that.

A schedule of events will also be decided upon.

Dan

Troop,

There was a scheduling conflict with our lock-in on the 14th. We have had to adjust our date one day to the 13th.

Here is the adjusted timeline:

Friday, 13 Dec, 7pm: show up at the church and begin lock-in operations.

8pm: doors officially lock us in for the evening (parents/adult leaders are free to come and go so long as YPT is maintained).

7pm-midnight: games, fun, food, Fingerprinting MB (for those who want it-sign up below).

Midnight-9:30am: more fun, games, eating what is left over, trivia, etc.

9:30-1000am: clean-up and re-organizing the church to the way it was when we arrived.

Saturday, 14 Dec, 10am: end of operations, go home and get some rest!

Apologies for any inconvenience this adjustment may have caused.

Dan

Fingerprinting MB sign-up:

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

Here is the sign-up for the Mountain Shadows tree lighting. We will be in Class A uniform and will assist in handing out hot cocoa for those who attend.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4aada829a7fe3-mountain1

Here is the sign-up for the Lock-in. Bring games, video game consoles, TVs, movies, and whatever you guys want to do during the night.

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

Here is the Soup Kitchen sign-up. This is one of three Soup Kitchens we are asked to participate in during the year. A very easy couple of hours of service for your records.

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

Troop,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving break and are ready to launch full force into the Christmas season! Decorations, selfless service, Christmas music on the radio that you can’t get away from, and happy times for all!

We have only three meetings this month, plus the Mountain Shadows Holiday Tree Lighting on the 5^th (service hours opportunity), the lock-in on the 14^th (yay, video games, food and movies all night long) and our holiday Soup Kitchen on the 22^nd (more service hours opportunity) .

I will post sign-ups for those events in the next day or so.

Pack 166 has asked that I bring a couple of Scouts to visit their Pack meeting tomorrow night, so I will be late arriving to our meeting, so go ahead and get started without me.

Talk to you guys soon,

Dan

From the parking lot, the Cashe was only .6 miles away. Yes, the boys planned the route.

All kidding aside. The Scouts had a great time and we saw some great scenery. Four Scouts completed the Geocaching MB by guiding us to a cache with the use of GPS devices, found the cache, and exemplifying Leave No Trace by ensuring the area was free of litter (Cashe In Trash Out (CITO) in Geocache world). To top it all off, we got Ignacio’s BOR for Life completed at the end of the event.

Scouts should remember to update their books with today’s hike of 3.99 miles in the Red Rocks Open Space.

See you all on Tuesday for the COH-remember to sign up at the link below in Sean’s post.

Dan

Troop,

The next COH is a Thanksgiving/Christmas/Holiday COH. We will give thanks and also dine in the Christmas spirit with a great potluck dinner prior to awards and advancements.  We truly have a lot to be thankful for….living in Colorado, our happiness, health and most importantly our wonderful scouts that bring us all together and allow us to have such great scouting adventures! Please sign up for what you are able to bring to the dinner. 

Set Up for the COH is at 530pm, Grace and Dinner will begin at 6pm. 

2 Ham’s

1 Turkey’s – (keep your receipt for reimbursement by the Troop)

3 Salad’s

6 – 8 Sides 

4 – 5 Desserts

Please sign up here!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F054BACA929A4FC1-thanksgiving2

Troop,

Above is a link to sign up for the Mountain Shadows Tree Lighting. Get a couple of service hours by serving hot cocoa at this annual event! Or just swing by and have a cup with neighbors!

Dan

Troop,

I’ve updated the sign up to reflect the decision to trek around Red Rocks Open Space. I do not think it will take us the entire time, I think maybe an hour to 90 minutes will be sufficient to complete what we aim to do.

Anyway, if you sign up you’ll see the location. Or, here is a map of where we should link up at 0900. The green guy is a good place.

Dan

Troop,

This weekend from 9-12 is our Geocaching Trek. Please sign up at the link below. Location is still to be determined (tonight). It will either be at Ute Valley Park or Red Rocks Open Space.

Dan

Troop,

Tonight can be a rather short night of planning for the Geocaching MB this Saturday 9-12. Scouts will finalize the plan and location for the trek, learn how to use a couple different GPS devices (if anyone can bring a GPS you might have, that would be great!).

Indian Lore MB: there is opportunity to present your research on your assigned topic, so do that Scout thing and “Be Prepared”.

Also, there is a committee meeting tonight where our Summer Camp options will be discussed and hopefully finalized (287 camp vs. regular camp).

Class A’s tonight for uniform inspection. Due to the COH next week, which means we wont have a normal uniform inspection on the third week.

See you tonight!

Dan

Troop, this coming Sunday is our last Flags day for the year!

Last year we put out flags the morning of Veteran’s Day flags and the weather was nice and all that. By the time we were picking flags up, it was a blizzard of snow and ice. Fun times were had by all! We saw over turned motorcycles in the middle of the road, 12 inches of snow on parts of our route and one awesome Crosstrek conquering all of it.

Let’s make some more awesome memories this year by placing flags, making our customers happy, showing support for our Community, our Nation, and our Veterans!

If you have not filled a slot, please do so at the link below:

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

Dan

Troop 287!

Mr Warner Here: Only THREE Scouts are signed up to be in the Veteran’s day parade tomorrow!! I know we can do better than this. Let’s get some more participation and represent tomorrow. I’m going to be there but will be a little embarrassed that there is only 3 of us because I know other Troops will show in force. The United States of America has Special Forces soldiers fighting in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq right now. They just killed the leader of ISIS!!! I think we can walk for 30 minutes down the road with our Retired Special Forces Chapter. . What say you?? Are you up for the challenge? If so, sign up at the link below and I will see you there tomorrow morning. There WILL BE DONUTS! We should have at least 10 scouts!

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

Here are the details:

Date: 2 Nov 2019

Link Up Time: 0730 Hrs

Link Up Location: Parking Lot at North West Corner of South Tejon and East Rio Grande Street

Address is 702 S Tejon St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903

(Due East from VFW 101)

Activities at Staging Area: 

Prep Truck (Driver: Tom Wisdom)

SFA Members Onsite

SFMC Onsite

Boy Scouts Troop 287 Onsite

Note: Coffee/Juice & Donuts will be provided by SFA QM

Depart for Parade Area: 0830 Hrs

Parade Area Line Up: #42 for SFA 4-24 (NE Corner of Dale/Tejon)

Troop,

Due to the weather and the fact we follow D-11’s schedule, we are cancelling tonight’s meeting. D-11 called off all after school activities a little while ago.

If you had scheduled for a SMC, we will get you done first thing next week so you can get your BOR done as scheduled. I think there were only two.

Anyway, enjoy the night off and stay warm.

Dan

Troop,

Please be advised that our Troop follows the closing schedule for District 11 schools. We will keep an eye on the weather and make appropriate decisions based on the conditions. If D-11 cancels their afternoon activities, or if the schools close early, we will not have a meeting tonight.

You can follow the District’s closings at the link below.

https://www.d11.org/Weather

Dan

Troop,

We have been invited to walk (or ride in the big trucks) in the Colorado Springs Veteran’s Day Parade by the Special Forces Association.

Check out the parade details at the link below.

https://www.cosvetsparade.org/

Meet up location will be provided later by Mr. Warner. The parade starts at 10am on 2 November, so make sure you get signed up quickly. We will meet up at 9:30am so we are all situated properly for the route.

Class A uniform with MB sash and headgear (if you have them).

Dan

Sign up here:

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

Troop,

I am going to schedule Scoutmaster Conferences (SMC) using signup lists and RSVPs in an effort to eliminate the last minute requests we have had in the past. I want to establish a routine in our meeting schedule so you guys are supported and we have some predictability on this type of event.

As a reminder, you as the Scout, are the master of your Scouting destiny and rank advancement! Take charge of it and try and schedule our your advancement according to your desires and plans. Make sure you are on top of all of your advancement requirements and have those items signed off in your books (by Scout Leadership and then Adult Leaders) prior to your SMC. You should be well versed in your knowledge and skills required for the rank you are trying to attain: you will be asked to recite, demonstrate, and explain things you should know during your SMC.

In turn, Boards of Review (BOR) will be completed this way as well, since the Committee Members need as much, if not more scheduling notification than we as Scoutmasters do. BOR will be scheduled out as well. In the past the committee has accommodated last minute boards and endured late nights because at the end of a meeting, a Scout as asked for a board. Understanding there are circumstances when this may occur, it is entirely preventable. I would like to put the responsibility in the hands of you, the Scout, to schedule these things out and have an outlook to the future of your advancement instead of waiting to the last minute before a Court of Honor to get your SMC or BOR completed. Just because it is the “day” you are eligible for the next rank, does not mean you need a board of review that day. Plan accordingly.

We will hold SM Conferences the on the Rank Advancement nights, which generally will follow Game Night.

We will hold Boards of Review on nights that the committee members are most available. I would like to see these happen on the week prior to the Committee Meeting. So, our first one will be on 5 Nov. Future BORs will be placed on the schedule/calendar and posted to the website after the monthly committee meeting decides on the best day for the following month.

As previously discussed, I would like to follow a schedule of meetings as follows:

Week 1: MB work (BOR)

Week 2: Camp prep

Week 2.5: campout

Week 3: Game Night

Week 4: Rank Advancement (SMC)

When we have a 5th meeting in a month, we can adjust and make other things happen. Maybe an extra game night (non-cost type), field trip, continue MB work, Rank ADV, or required presentations (many of you have those requirements where you need to give a speech or presentation, this would be a good opportunity for that).

Anyway, sorry for the long post, below you will find the sign up for the next SM Conference and BOR dates.

SM Conferences:

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

Board of Review:

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

Dan

Troop,

The church is hosting their Harvest Festival on 26 Oct (this Saturday) from 2-4pm. They adjusted hours and events, so we can support even better now!

Just a couple of hours of your time will give back greatly to the organization which allows us a meeting location and a storage location for all our stuff. If it were not for them, we would not have the barn and fire pit for our meetings!

So, please, sign up and spend a couple hours helping out. You’ll get service hours to boot.

Assistance from friends and Family is always appreciated! Bring your siblings to show support!

Here is the link to sign up:

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

Dan