Dear Scouts and adults going to MassJam, and Scout parents/guardians,
The following people have signed up to go to MassJam next week, October 5 to 8. Please let us know NOW if you are not going.

• Venturers/Scouts/Webelos
  • Dante (trip leader)
  • Carmen
  • Bennett
  • Bianca
  • Emily
  • Enzo
  • Henry
  • Kavita
  • Jeffrey
  • Korbinian
  • Kevin
  • Neelu
  • Meredith
  • Manny (Webelos)
  • David (Webelos)
• Adults
  • Jeni
  • Erin
  • Richard

Preparation

We have a lot to do to get ready for this trip and a short time to do it. At next Tuesday’s meeting we will:

1. Pick the Alpha and Bravo patrol leaders for the trip.
2. Do meal planning. We will bring bag dinners for Friday night, and food to make breakfast, lunch and dinner Saturday and Sunday and breakfast on Monday. Each patrol will do its own meal planning. The two trip patrol leaders will lead this effort.
3. Do a pack check. A packing list is attached here. Bring your pack and everything on the list to the meeting. If there is something you do not have and would like us to try and get it from the AMC you must email me no later than this weekend.
4. Get together the Troop gear we need for the trip – tents, dining canopy, tarp, rope, stoves and fuel, matches, fire extinguisher, coolers, cooking gear, water jugs, basins for washing up, soap, bleach, paper towels, garbage bags. You should consider whether there is anything else we need. If we have the gear ready to go, we will leave much more quickly on Friday afternoon. The two trip patrol leaders will lead this effort.

Permission slips

Each Scout must have a permission slip signed by his or her parent or guardian. If you do not have a signed permission slop, you will not go on the trip. Download the permission slip here. It is also available on the Troop website. If possible, please bring it to the meeting on Tuesday.

Duty rosters

Each trip patrol leader should draw up a duty roster listing which Scouts will prepare each meal and clean up afterwards. I suggest that you assign two Scouts to each task, but that is up to you. Please do this BEFORE the trip and bring it with you.

Hello all,

This is just to remind everyone that all advancement materials (blue cards, rank advancement…etc.) must be turned in by end of mtg on October 2nd. anything not turned in at that time will have to wait until our next Court of Honor (most likely in February). I am willing to arrange material drop-offs on non-meeting nights, between now and OCT 2nd, for those of you that cannot attend the next couple of Tuesdays. Please contact me if that is the case

YiS/V,
Scott Donaldson
Advancement Chair
Troop/Crew 56
Cambridge

Greetings everyone,

First, I want to quickly start off with important upcoming announcements. Mrs. Jeni Pereira will be the adult leader for the upcoming MASS JAM trip during Columbus Weekend. This trip will have multiple troops from all over the state. A Court of Honor (COH) is scheduled on October 9th. Those who do not know what a COH is, it is where scouts get all kinds of badges, certificates, and most importantly, ranks.

For the upcoming meeting plans, the troop will participate in advancements. To operate such activity, there will be scouts grouped according to rank as older scouts help sign off their requirements as they learn. This is the perfect opportunity to blast through a rank and finish some requirements for the planned COH so you can get your rank. You can either talk to me or Mr. Donaldson (Advancement Chair) if you have any questions.

The troop will then listen to Henry’s speech. This is for a requirement on his communication merit badge (Eagle required and every scout will have to do this for Eagle 1 day).

This will lead into a quick lecture about the “extra curricular” parts of Boy Scouts. It will mostly include merit badges and how they work. But it will also have a little about other certificates and badges like the 50 Miler Award.

If you have anything to share with me (questions,comments,concerns,etc.), I will to reply with an answer.

Yours in Scouting,

Jeffrey Gomez

As you know we have a Cape Cod (North Falmouth) canoe trip coming up on June 22nd to the 24th. To go on the trip you must have completed a swim test and have your medical form turned in (this is true for both scouts and any parents/guardians). The swim test form can be found on the website’s “Forms and Policies” page; after downloading and printing, you can complete the test by calling the local Y and making arrangements.

I have linked a Cape Cod Canoe Pack List. We will have a pack check on Tuesday the 19th.

So far I have the following (updated) list of participants. Please let David and I know at your earliest convenience of any changes (additions, subtractions, etc.)

This year has seen the wonderful influx of many new families. Many of you have already stepped up to the plate to assume roles and duties from the older guard. You and your youth are adding to the rich history of Troop, Crew, and Post 56, with even brighter days ahead as with girls will soon be eligible to work toward Eagle rank.

Many of you have expressed a desire for a session to more quickly and fully understand the aims and methods of Scouting and gain the tools to be on the same page in serving Scouts. A key tool is Scoutmaster Specific Position Training.

We will offer this training Sunday, June 10 from 3-6 PM at our house. Please RSVP so we know how many people to prepare for. We gave this course years ago when we had a similar influx and it truly boosted the collective competency and camaraderie of the adults.

Scoutmaster Specific Position Training
Sunday June 10, 3-6 PM
Home of Derrick Jackson and Michelle Holmes
12 William St.
Cambridge (Central Square)

Dear Scouts,

This coming Tuesday, May, 1 <x-apple-data-detectors://0> we are continue to do schedule planning for 2018-2019 school year with Sally. Then do flag raise and lower at the firehouse with Mr. English and game if time.

Please bring your scout books and wear uniform.

Thanks,

YiS/V

Gwei

Hello Scouts,

Order form

Order form is attached at right, in case you need more. I will collect Order form, money, and distribute the trash bags on Tuesday April 24, 7pm to 8,30 PM.

To recap about WasteZero Trash Bags:

1. Are proudly Made in America
2. Contain a minimum of 50% recycled material
3. Are custom-printed in green and/or tan Scouting colors
4. Priced reasonably for consumers, and much closer to the normal market price than other fundraising products
5. Return more than 70 cents of every dollar sold to local Councils
6. Are mission-aligned with the Scouts’ “Leave No Trace” philosophy

If you have any question please e-mail me, make sure you cc your parents.

I wish you all the best!

Thank you, yours in S/V
Melaku Zewde

Here is the Draft Activities list. Please review and give input this week. Scouts will start selecting/voting on trips in a couple weeks

Last night we discussed the following:
please chime in!
Sept, April, May: how can we challenge more experienced scouts for the Cape Cod back packing trip. Or do we take it out of the running.
November: best month for conservation trip so other options are out.
Weather extremely unpredictable last few years for Jan, Feb, March sooo…
Jan, Feb: Base Camp in Milton and Noble View out since risk having no snow.
March: Cape Cod nasty in March so remove conservation trip option. REMOVE orienteering. ADD Red Gate Farm

Thanks everyone!
Sally

Scout Activities 2018-19

Hello Friends, I have a couple of favors to ask of you:

1. Teaching Subs. I am looking for adults to supervise the following merit badge classes. This is NOT heavy lifting and mainly consists of keeping attendance and order. Please see below:

–Tuesday March 27th 6:30-7:00 PM. Some of you know that Derrick lost a close friend yesterday; the funeral is tentatively set for next Tuesday in New York and we need to attend. Two Scouts are scheduled to teach topics from the merit badge booklet (relevant pages are attached). Kevin is teaching about canoe camping gear, and Jeffrey is teaching about knots. Each is to prepare a ~10 minute presentation for their peers.

–Tuesday April 24th, 6:30-7:00 PM. I have had a long scheduled trip this day. Plan is to show the BSA Safety Afloat Training video. You will need to have a laptop, and given the church’s shaky WiFi connection, a MiFi connection would be ideal. You will need a login for my.scouting.org (same as you used for Youth Protection) and launch and show the videos. You may wish to do this on your own ahead of time to prepare

2. We need 2 canoes (+ paddles and life jackets) for teaching rescue skills! Kudos to Robin who has located an indoor pool which will allow us to do this. Do you have one?

Please email me back to let me know if you can help!
Thank you so much for considering it!

Michelle

I am so excited for summer camp! I just got the program guide and have been reading through it. Melon chucking, edible hikes, chalk ball (using archery-like chalk guns), climbing and tomahawks, ziplines and extreme shelter competitions. Plus swimming and hiking and ice-cream glacier building. Fires and axes and cooking outdoors. Archery and shotguns and rifles. And tons of chances for advancement. It is going to be the best week of the year.

I am in the process of registering our group for a week of summer camp at T.L. Storer. We have reserved a campground for July 22- 28.

Harrison, Dante, and Roberto all went last year and are happy to share their stories.

So far the names I have are:

Kevin S
Mark K
Jeffrey G
Dante P
Bianca P
Simon R M
Roberto R
Gabriel P
Nathaniel M

If there is anyone else interested, I need to know asap. This is not a commitment but helps me plan. I won’t do final registration until mid-April, so you have some time to work out schedules. While we can add kids later, programs get filled up and may not be available later in the summer.

Just a reminder that this week of camp is covered by the trust. We are the only troop I know that does this and it is no small gift. We only ask that parents pay a $50 deposit at the time of registration. If your child attends camp this will be returned to you after camp.

So excited!

I will forward more information as I get it.

123 days till camp!!

Yours in S/V,
Jeni