Trail Talk – 1/6/25

Lots of announcements! There are quite a few. Please look through and read them all. Even if you think they look the “same” as the last trail talk, there are new updates in them:

MEETING!! MEETING!! MEETING!! – We ARE starting meetings up again this week Tuesday, January 7th!! This week we will meet just like normal. We will do our opening, split up into merit badge classes and T21 classes, get some intro information on all those things, have game time and close!

SCOUTMASTER SITUATION – You may or may not be aware that each troop has to have it’s own scoutmaster. Scouting America does not allow for 1 person to be a Scoutmaster for multiple troops. This is how we have done it since the formation of the girl troop. My dad was the Scoutmaster of the Boy Troop, and I was the Scoutmaster of the Girl Troop. Since our troops are so closely linked together, my dad sort of took the “lead” role and I provided support to him. Now that my dad is not with us anymore, we need to make sure these positions are filled. I am going to be staying as the Scoutmaster of the Girl Troop, for the time being, because of my daughters in the troop. Christy Szekely will be the Scoutmaster of the Boy Troop. Yay!! We all feel that this is an awesome thing for both troops! Christy and I will work together, like my dad and I did to make sure BOTH TROOPS and all of you scouts have the greatest scouting experience possible!

CUB SCOUT PACK 235 HELP!! – I need some help! The cub scouts in Pack 235, which is the pack that meets at the church and is in the same Charter organization as our troops, need to start seeing more of 244 if their Arrow of Light scouts are going to cross over into our troop! We have scouts from the pack that are deciding to go over to other troops because they don’t really see the influence of 244 that much! We are losing possible members of 244! When I was a scout, we helped the pack out all the time. I remember, very vividly, helping the Pack with their Pinewood Derby! The Pack needs Den Chiefs! These are older scouts from the troop who meet with the dens in the Pack, typically on Monday nights, to help teach, train and give an influence on the cub scouts in the Pack! The side effect of this is that they get to know our troop and want to come into our troop! I need scouts from our troop to step up to help with this! You do get SERVICE HOURS for doing this which can go towards your rank advancement!

MACKINAC SCOUT SERVICE CAMP CONTINGENT – August 9 – 16, 2025. The Southwest Michigan contingent is hosted by Troop 623 this year. At our troop meeting on January 14th, Mr. Carr will be giving our troop a 15-minute presentation on this wonderful opportunity, right after opening flags!

JANUARY CAMPOUT PIONEER SCOUT RESERVATION JANUARY 17 – 19TH. We are looking to have a great time at one of our favorite camps, but we need scouts to be there! We need you to sign up for our January campout THIS Tuesday night!! We need to know the numbers of adults and scouts going on the campout as soon as possible! I have never liked waiting until the Tuesday before the campout or even the Friday of the campout for people to sign up. That doesn’t allow proper preparation on the part of your leaders! The cost will be $40 per person.

CALENDAR CHANGE!! FEBRUARY CAMPOUT! – Our February campout was originally scheduled for the weekend of February 21st. Due to some issues with booking a place for us to go, I had to move that campout up 1 weekend. Our February Campout will now be the weekend of February 14 – 16th! We will be camping at Camp Gerber in Muskegon.

BOUNDARY WATERS – I miscounted everyone!! I still have 1 spot open for Boundary Waters and it will go to the first person to contact me about it and put down the deposit fee of $100. For all the rest of you going, payments need to start being made in January of $200/month. Please pay Sherry. I put together an information packet while we were on break that I will be emailing out soon. I want to hold an information meeting as well, but I am waiting on a few things before I can schedule that. Mostly I am waiting to know my daughter’s basketball schedule.

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! 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.

Scoutmaster Minute – THRIFTY. I had a whole other scout law in mind for this week but decided to write about that one at a different time, when my mind was in the right place for it. For this week, let’s talk about Thrifty. What does it mean to be Thrifty? Did you know that Meijer, Inc. used to be called or referred to as “Meijer Thrifty Acres”. Do you know why? It was because Meijer was trying to promote that they had the best and lowest prices so you should shop there in order to save your money. Many people associate being thrifty with using money wisely and it is. In fact, if you look up definitions of thrifty, the word money is there over and over again. Part of the reason we have you do the Personal Management merit badge in scouts is to hopefully teach you a little more about being thrifty with money. However, Thrifty can also apply to a lot of other areas. It can apply to time, resources, and associations. Do you use your time wisely or do you waste it? How do you use your time? Are you good at time management or not? I recently wrote about this in an announcement to my students because many of them are still learning about time management. I have had colleagues wonder why I am always so far ahead in my work at school(I lesson plan 3 weeks out). I tell them, it is because for me, time management does not mean multitasking. In fact, I don’t believe in multitasking. I don’t think you can do more than 1 thing at a time and do it well. I tell them that I focus on 1 thing, get it done and get it done to my satisfaction and then move onto the next thing. I set aside time for my work, my kids, for stuff around the house and for scouting. However, I know that if I spend all of my time doing thing or another, I am going to get burnt out. I also set aside time for rest. Likewise, I think about the resources I use. Do I waste food? Probably. However, I do try not to. How can I best use the heat and water in my house so that I am not wasteful? Should I always go to one friend with every problem I have or should I realize that I have many friends that I can confide in?
Think about it a little. If you are feeling burned out about something, maybe a sport or even a class at school, are you being thrifty with your time and resources? What could you do better to manage those time and resources to keep yourself from something like burnt out?
“What Troop Does More!!” – 244