Trail Talk – 1/20/25

Good Afternoon Troop 244 Scouts, Scouters and Parents!

Does anybody feel like we have moved from Earth to Hoth? I went out to Meijer today and it felt like Han Solo going out to search for Luke Skywalker on the ice planet of Hoth in Star Wars! This is crazy out there! I am glad we were able to get our January campout before this incredibly cold, snowy weather really slammed in! Speaking of which, the January campout to Pioneer Scout Reservation this last weekend was an absolute blast! We had a ton of fun! Scouts cooked up some great food for the weekend! Scouts also worked on a couple of knots and learned or reviewed lashings! After all that, they went out and built actual winter shelters that you would use in a survival situation, and they did an awesome job! See the pictures posted below. We also had several scouts sleep outside in their shelters or in a tent this weekend! See the announcement below about that because these scouts earned their Polar Bear Award! It was a great weekend, and we are all looking forward to the February campout!

Here are our Troop announcements for the week.

SCOUT MEETING CANCELLATIONS – With it being winter and of course, with all of the school cancellations yesterday, and the ones that are already happening for tomorrow, you need to know when we will cancel scouts. Typically, we will cancel scouts depending on the weather during the day of a scout meeting. We DO NOT always cancel scouts just because the schools cancel. Please remember, schools often cancel because of weather that is going on in the morning (cold, snowy, bad roads, etc.) but often that weather will get better as the day goes on. It seems almost silly sometimes to cancel scouts when the roads are clear, and the snow has stopped blowing even though that is how it was in the morning. However, weather conditions will be monitored by Troop Leadership and the best decision possible will be made to keep all scouts safe. If it looks like weather the weather will be bad and will not improve, then we will also cancel scouts. For instance, if we see that the weather is bad tomorrow morning and that it isn’t going to improve as the day goes on, that would be a situation where we might cancel scouts. When the decision to cancel a scout meeting has been made, we will send out messages via email, Discord and Facebook. Please keep an eye out for those.

HIGH ADVENTURE 2026 – I have been playing phone tag with the gentlemen from Swampbase. As I thought more and more about the high adventure for 2026, I wanted to get more feedback from YOU! I want to know what YOU are interested in. The two choices right now are either Louisiana Swampbase OR Florida Seabase. If you haven’t already, please fill out my 1 question survey on this: https://surveymars.com/q/7TuKogbyJ

SCOUT SUNDAY – Sunday, February 9th. Did you know that the birthday of scouting in AMERICA is February 8th? That’s right, this year the Scouting America organization will turn 115 years old. To signify this, it is asked that all scouts set aside a Sunday in February as Scout Sunday. This is a day for scouts all over the country to show the Scout Law of Reverence but also to show the Scout Law of Courteous. Scout Sunday for Troop 244 has been set aside as Sunday, February 9th and we are asking that all scouts try to attend 1 of the 2 church services at Pathfinder Church that day. This is a way for us to show our THANKS to the church for all of the ways they support us. We get so much from the church and we have so much that so many other scout troops do not get. They allow us the full use of the church on Tuesday nights, a shed to store all of our equipment in and use of the sanctuary for Eagle Courts of Honor. We want to make sure that we thank them for that. We ask that all scouts wear their scout uniform on February 9th and come to Pathfinder. Even if you don’t want to come to Pathfinder and attend your own church instead, wear your uniform! If you do not attend a church or are not religious, that is ok! You can still come and help us show our thanks to the church on February 9th. The church has two services, one at 8:45 a.m. and another at 10:30 a.m.

SIGNING UP FOR ACTIVITIES – Please remember that the activity board that you first see when you come in the basement on troop meetings is an “interest” board. It is meant for us to see how many scouts are interested in an activity. It is NOT a SIGNUP board! You are not signing up for activities on this board. To SIGNUP FOR AN ACTIVITY YOU MUST SIGNUP WITH SHERRY!! The official signup is always going to be with Sherry! So, all of the activities below, when I say “signup” for the activity, I mean signup with Sherry.

FEBRUARY CAMPOUT! – February 14 – 16th at Gerber Scout Reservation. We will be in Venturing Cabins. There will be 1 cabin for the boys and 1 cabin for the girls. This campout looks to be a great time! Your PLC already has some plans in the work for this campout as far as activities go and they would love to hear your input as well! Do you have a great idea for an activity on a campout? Share it and we will see what we can do to make it happen! Please make sure that you sign up for the February Campout as soon as possible. We will begin signups for the campout on January 28th. I will send out a permission slip with next week’s Trail Talk. Most likely the cost will be $40 again per scout because of the cabin rental. One unique thing about our February campout is that we usually celebrate with a Thanksgiving feast on this campout. We cook a couple of turkeys and have all of the fixings for dinner on Saturday night! I hope to see many of you there.

CUB SCOUT PACK 235 HELP!! –Right now, we have 1 of our scouts who has volunteered to help as a Den Chief for Pack 235 at Pathfinder Church. The Cub Scout Pack meets on Monday nights at 6:30 for about an hour! I am told they still need MORE HELP! I still am looking for a few more scouts that would be willing to volunteer an hour of your time on Monday nights. We are looking for both BOYS AND GIRLS! I have been told they need a girl den chief! Please step up and volunteer to be a den chief for our pack. We want their scouts to cross over and become Troop 244 scouts.

JANUARY CAMPOUT AWESOMENESS! – This last weekend at the January Campout at Pioneer we had some very brave scouts! All of the scouts went out and built shelters this weekend but some of our scouts stayed in the shelters over night. We also had three scouts that stayed in a tent BOTH nights! Keep in mind that it got down to about 16 degrees on Saturday night!   I dare more people to try to sleep outside in winter weather in a tent on our next campout!

BOUNDARY WATERS –I had one person drop out of the Boundary Waters trip since last week and so I still have 1 spot open for Boundary Waters. This is going to be a great time! To get your spot you need a deposit of $100. For all the rest of you going, payments need to start being made in January of $200/month. Please pay Sherry. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO MAKE PAYMENTS IN A TIMELY MANNER!! This is important folks! I sent out an information packet on Boundary Waters to all the parents going on the trip this weekend. Make sure you look for that email and read that packet over. Details are fluid and could change.

FOR ALL T21 SCOUTS!! –   Couple of quick reminders for you and your families from Mrs. Withers:

*There are a few requirements for the T-2-1 ranks that must be completed at home.  We talk about these regularly during our Tuesday meetings, but I hear a lot of “I forgot”s.  First Aid kits, fitness trackers, family emergency plans, and money saving/spending plans are the most common examples.  These requirements are completed at home, then brought to a meeting to review with one of our leaders and have them sign off in your handbook.  If you are missing one of these, or if you don’t know what they are, please see Abby (boy troop) or Sean/Michelle(girl troop) at the next troop meeting.

• There are also some T21 rank requirements that can only be done on a CAMPOUT.  Campouts are some of the best and most fun times we get to spend together.  We want you to be there!  Weekend campouts, summer camp, mini-high adventure – let’s go!!!!!  I highly encourage you to sign up for these great experiences.  Make sure to let your SPL know if there are requirements you need to complete on a campout – like cooking or fire, blade, and axe safety.  Be sure to take your handbook with you so you can get those requirements signed off.
•  *Keep moving on up!  Speaking of which, if you are a STAR SCOUT working your way to Life Rank – we need your help!  Life Rank requirement #6 asks you to use the EDGE method to teach a skill to a younger Scout.  We are currently looking for help with Tenderfoot and 2nd Class requirements for first aid and tools/knots. Please see Abby or Alex for the boy troop or Sean or Michelle for the girl troop if you would like to help us out.  Thank you!

9. SUMMER CAMP 2025 – It is time to start signing up for Summer Camp 2025!! We will be attending Pioneer Scout Reservation once again the week of June 15 – 21st! I saw a lot of names on the “interest” board last week but signing up for summer camp, means signing up with Sherry!! The cost for Summer Camp this year is $430 per scout and $215 per adult. We are often one of the biggest scout units out at summer camp and I want that tradition to continue! I want as many scouts as possible from Troop 244 to come to summer camp! It is such an amazing and great time! You will work on merit badges, rank advancements, plus do so many other amazing activities like WATERBALL, ROOT BEER CANTINA, POOL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT, OPEN SWIM, OPEN BOAT, OPEN SHOOT and I could go on and on! We do not want to wait until the last minute to sign up for this! We need you to sign up as soon as possible. For us to keep the cost at what it is, we must have all monies paid to the camp by the end of April. If you pay after April, the cost goes up! Please start signing your scout up now and paying for summer camp. We will hold an information meeting on camp in April! You do need to have a completed Scouts Physical Form, Parts A, B1, B2 and C for Summer Camp. No Form, No camp.  All Physical Forms are due to the troop by May 1st.

10. PHYSICAL FORMS! – Every Scout and Leader that goes to summer camp, boundary waters or the mini-high adventure MUST have an up-to-date BSA PHYSICAL FORM with all parts of the form filled out, Part A, B1, B2 and C. You must get a new one for this year. No Form, No Trip. WE NEED ALL PHYSICAL FORMS TURNED IN BY MAY 1ST.

Scoutmaster Minute – BRAVE. This scoutmaster minute has been on my mind for about a week now. I have really been thinking about this one a lot. Typically when we hear the word “Brave” we think about being brave in the face of an emergency or a disaster. We think of superhero brave. Many people don’t realize that being brave has so many different facets to it. I want to share an experience with you. So, in my trail talk last week, I wrote about obedient and about the fact that I was being called to Jury Duty on Tuesday and that part of my civic duty as a citizen is to follow through and do my Jury Duty. I did. I did exactly what was asked of me. However, I suffer from anxiety and depression. As I was at the courthouse building in the morning going through the whole jury selection process, I started to get more and more anxious. I kept thinking about things at home, things with my daughters, my mind was anywhere but where I was and the fact that I was possibly being selected to serve as a juror in a federal criminal case. When they walked all of the potential jurors into the court room for the selection process, they had all of us stand up and take an oath to tell the truth no matter what. They then called 14 people to come up to the jury box as potential jurors. Wouldn’t you know it, my name was the first one called! However, as I was sitting there and listening to the judge’s questions, I was getting more and more anxious and more and more divided between doing my duty and telling the truth about where my mind was at. Eventually I decided that to be brave is to be willing to stand up in front of a judge and in front of a bunch of lawyers and people I don’t know and tell the truth. So, when the judge asked a particular question, I stood up and I told him the truth. I told him that I did not think I could be impartial in the case because my mind would not be on the case, it would be elsewhere. I did not think that I could give the defendant a true verdict because my mind was so divided. I decided at this point in time that I needed to be brave and be truthful with the judge. The judge then gave me some information that had not been shared before and based on that information, I felt better and I felt that I could serve. However, it was the lawyers that decided I would not be fit for jury duty and they dismissed me and about 7 – 8 other people from the jury process. Being brave doesn’t always have to mean brave in the face of danger. It often means standing up for what is right and standing up for our beliefs. It often means standing up for ourselves and standing up for others. Are you brave? Do you stand up for others when they are being bullied at school? Do you make the right decisions even though your friends might be making the wrong ones? Think about what brave means the next time you are faced with a decision that you aren’t too sure of. As a scout, even though it is hard, we are always called to be brave.

 “What Troop Does More!!” – 244