Trail Talk – 1/27/25

Here are our Troop announcements for the week!

HIGH ADVENTURE 2026 –Ok, after talking with the gentlemen from SwampBase, I have found out right now that the most important thing for us to do is to reserve a trek date and pay a deposit fee. There is only one issue we have right now and that is interest. They do crews of 8 – 9 people or 10 – 11 people. So, to reserve even 1 crew, I would need a minimum of 8 people that are committed to going on this trek. So, far, I have had 5 people put their names on the interest list and 7 altogether indicate that they are interested. Here is what I need NOW so that we can make this reservation. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN DOING SWAMPBASE FOR 2026, EMAIL ME BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! LET ME KNOW! I would like to act on this now so that we can get a reservation, if this is what the troop wants to do.

SCOUT SUNDAY – Sunday, February 9th. Please plan to attend 1 of the 2 church services at Pathfinder Church on Sunday, February 9th, which is Scout Sunday. This is one of our ways to thank the church for all of the ways that they support us in scouting. We have things that many other troops do not have and we are so grateful for it. Please wear your uniform shirt and come to either the 8:45 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. service. Please be there about 15 minutes early. If you do not plan to come to Pathfinder but would rather go to your own church that is fine. Wear your scout uniform to church!

SIGNING UP FOR ACTIVITIES –The activity board is not a signup board. It is an “interest” board. When I say “signup” for something, that means signing up with Sherry in the office! Just because you put your name on the activity board, does not mean you are signed up for something! It means you are showing interest! Make sure to sign up for all activities with Sherry!

FEBRUARY CAMPOUT! – February 14 – 16th at Gerber Scout Reservation. I sent a separate email out about this yesterday but am including it here as a reminder. I will need 1 female leader, someone to pull the yellow trailer and I will need someone to take charge at the church on Friday night/Sunday morning. We will be in Venturing Cabins. There will be 1 cabin for the boys and 1 cabin for the girls/adults. 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. The cost will be $45 per scout and $20 per adult 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!! –I am still looking for some of our scouts to step up and help with Cub Scout Pack 235 at Pathfinder. One of you has already decided to become a Den Chief. This means helping out a Den on Monday night meetings with their advancement requirements and any other activities they do. They meet on Mondays at 6:30 for about an hour. They are still in need of some more Den Chiefs! This can either earn you leadership requirements or service hours. Please see me or Christy if this is something you can do! Let’s show Pack 235 that they should join Troop 244 when done with cub scouts! In addition, Pack 235 will be holding their Pinewood Derby on March 22nd. Setup will be Friday night, March 21st and then the actual derby on Saturday, March 22nd. This is the same day as our museum trip but if you don’t think you can go on the museum trip, the Pack is asking for scouts from 244 to help out at the Pinewood Derby! I did this when I was a scout and it was a blast! Please let Christy or I know if this is something you would be willing to do!

FEBRUARY COURT OF HONOR AND DINNER – February 25 – AT 6:00 p.m. We will be having our annual winter court of honor and dinner coming up in February. It is scheduled for Tuesday, February 25th. This is a time of fellowship but also of awards!! Scouts and Counselors, any rank advancements and/or merit badge completions need to be submitted by Tuesday, February 18th in order to be awarded at the court of honor on February 25th. That is coming up soon so please keep it in mind!

BOUNDARY WATERS –I still have 1 opening for Boundary Waters! To get your spot you need a deposit of $100. Please sign up with Sherry if you are interested in taking that last spot! Please remember that we are collecting payments for this trip as well. By this next Tuesday, January 28th, you should have paid the next $200 towards your trip. Please pay Sherry. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO MAKE PAYMENTS IN A TIMELY MANNER!! This is important folks!

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

SUMMER CAMP 2025 – It is time to start signing up with SHERRY for Summer Camp 2025!! We will be attending Pioneer Scout Reservation once again the week of June 15 – 21st! The cost for Summer Camp this year is $430 per scout and $215 per adult. This is considered the “early” bird fee. If we don’t have all of the fees for summer camp turned in by the end of April, the fee that Pioneer charges actually goes up. Please start signing your scout up now and paying for summer camp. 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!

Scoutmaster Minute – COURTEOUS – When we do an Eagle Scout Court of Honor, we go through the 12 scout laws and their meaning. For Courteous, here is what we say, “A SCOUT IS POLITE TO EVERYONE REGARDLESS OF AGE OR POSITION AND KNOWS THAT GOOD MANNERS MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO GET ALONG TOGETHER.” Basically, we are saying that an Eagle Scout is one who is polite, respectful and considerate in their manners. They have “good manners”. But what are some everyday ways that we can put this into action. This law has a lot in common with the scout law of “Kind”. However, what’s the difference? I tend to think of it like this. Courteous is something we are, that we do with all of those around us. Kind is an action we take, not because we should, but because we want to! Maybe I am right, maybe I am wrong. So, then, what does it mean to be courteous vs. kind. Courteous involves actions that are polite to others, ways of acting that are a part of who we should be, and it involves thinking about other people’s needs. One of the biggest ways that I think about being courteous is when I think about punctuality. I have a friend who says that “early is on time, on time is late and late is early for tomorrow”. I tend to be early to everything. It is just how I have always been. I try to put myself in the shoes of the people I am meeting with or doing something with and think about how they would feel if I was late. Some people would be ok with it but other people would feel that it is rude. That is how I view it as well. Punctuality pervades our society; you need to be on time for school and then once in school, you need to be on time for your classes. We need to be on time for our jobs and remain focused on our jobs until it is time to leave. We need to be on time for meetings and so on. So, one way we can be courteous is through punctuality. Now, I must admit, I have a secondary reason for using this law today. In the troop, we try to plan out events well ahead of time. We always have. For instance, we plan for Philmont 2 years in advance. We try to plan for campouts weeks in advance and for summer camp months in advance. We do this as a way of being courteous so that once these events come around, we aren’t scrambling at the last minute to figure things out. We want YOU to have the best experience possible. To do that though, we need YOU to be courteous as well. When we ask for signups for campouts, high adventures, mini-high adventures, and other things, please do not wait until the last minute to do so. Plan ahead. Let us know as early as possible! Ok, enough of that subject. Courteous is much more than punctuality as you hopefully know. We are courteous when we hold the door open for someone, when we say “please” and “thank you”, when we listen to someone without interrupting, when we respect personal space, when we wait our turn to speak, when we express gratitude to other and so on!! Being courteous should pervade our EVERYDAY life. We don’t just say courteous when we say the scout law. We promise to live by it!

Ask yourself, how have you been courteous today and if you haven’t, then how can you be courteous in the day and days to come?