Supporting Youth through Scouting in Westford, MA

The Troop has scheduled a registration night for Scouts attending summer camp on July 8 at 7:00 pm at St. Mark’s Church.

We will be set up to collect final payments and forms for Scouts attending camp as follows:

• Final Payment of $340 ($365 less $25 deposit).  Checks made payable to Troop 591
• Medical Forms – A valid med form is required for each Scout and adult attending camp.  Both a physicians signature and parent signature is required on the med forms. (see the Summer Camp page for a link to the form)
• Meds Schedule – Scouts requiring medications while at camp must provide a schedule of medications (dosage and times) prior to camp.  Meds will be collected during checkin at camp.
• Merit Badge/Program Registration – Merit badge classes and special programs are available by pre-registration only.  Scouts must provide a list of classes requested and times.
• Special Meal Requests – Special dietary needs require that the Scout submit a diet request form to the camp.

If you are unable to attend the registration night, you must make arrangements to have all forms and payments submitted no later than July 8.  Please contact Mr. Jensen or Mr. Lauer for details.

Adult Registration

Adults planning on attending camp must contact Mr. Lauer with the specific days and nights you plan on attending.  The Troop depends on having at least 4 adults in camp to help manage Troop activities, so we welcome and encourage parents to join us – even if it’s for 1 or 2 days.  Please contact Mr. Lauer ASAP if you plan on attending!!!

Special Notice Regarding H1N1 Flu

Camp Yawgoog will be taking special precautions to prevent an outbreak of the H1N1 flu at camp.

You can find more information at the Yawgoog website and this memo.

If someone has the flu or has been exposed to the flu and cannot attend camp, a full refund will be issued.

More Information

For more information on Camp – including links to various camp forms – please visit our Summer Camp Page (login required) or the Yawgoog website at http://www.yawgoog.org

Last chance to get your trip or activity ideas in for consideration on our 2009/2010 calendar!

The planning meeting will be held tomorrow night beginning at 5:00 pm at St. Mark’s.  Please note that this is a leadership meeting, not a regular Troop meeting.

If you are attending the meeting, please print and bring a copy of the 2009/2010 baseline calendar (see below).  We will try and begin promptly at 5:00, so please be on time!

Pizza will be served, so no need to worry about an early dinner.

If you are not attending the meeting, but have an idea or two to contribute, please email me with the details or speak to the SPL or another member of the leadership team.

See you tomorrow!

2009-2010 Baseline Calendar

While the forecast looked wet and dreary, the weather held off (at lease in NH) and the Troop enjoyed a great weekend kayaking along the CT River.

We departed bright and early Saturday morning and (after a quick stop at Dunkin’ Donuts to fuel the drivers) proceeded north to Woodsville, NH and the start of our 2-day trip.  We put in at the Dodge Falls Hydro dam north of Woodsville, loaded our gear and set off down the river.

The narrower channels in the upper portion of the river made for some fast flows and tricky currents, but the Scouts handled it in stride.  We camped overnight on Howard Island and enjoyed dinner under partly cloudy skies.  While the forecast promised rain, it was dry overnight (which made for an easier pack-out in the morning).

Sunday offered a couple of brief showers, but the rain held off and we cruised downriver under cloudy skies.  The river widened out south of Howard Island making for slower flows along a meandering section of the river.  Our final stop was the takeout at Bedell Bridge State Park with a last opportunity to deploy the squirt guns and bilge pumps to make sure no one got home with dry clothes!

Photos of the trip have been posted in the photo section of the website.

Hello everybody,

I was just reminding all wishing to help with my Eagle project that there is an informational meeting a half an hour earlier than the meeting at the hall on Wednesday, June 17. I will be going over the basic layout and steps for my Eagle project, which I will be carrying out within the next month. I will have handouts for all that attend. Hope you all can make it, and I will see you there.

Yours in Scouting,

- Brandon

Hi everybody,

A quick reminder about times for my Eagle Project this weekend:

Friday 4:00 – 6:00 PM

Saturday 9:00 – 11:00 AM

Saturday 12:00 – 4:00 PM

Please be early to the trail head, because we will be leaving promptly at those time and there will be nobody left behind to lead in latecomers. Lunch will be served between the Saturday sessions to workers of both sessions. You will need work gloves, bug repellent, and clothes that can get very dirty! Anyone with a wheelbarrow and/or a battery powered drill with a phillips head bit please bring them.

If you need directions or the full schedule please let me know.  Call or E-mail me with any other questions.

Chris

A reminder that Scouts have “homework” to do before this week’s meeting!

Each Scout should research trail recipes on the Trail Cooking web site and bring at least 2 meal recipes for different meals (b’fast and dinner, lunch and dinner, etc.) to this week’s meeting to help you in planning the meals for the June outing.

The link to the Trail Cooking website is on the front page of the Troop website.  You can also reach it by typing in http://www.trailcooking.com into your browser.

We’re trying to finalize details with an outfitter for kayak rentals for this month’s kayak trip. I urgently need a headcount (both Scouts and interested parents) for the trip to secure the boats.

If you plan on attending, please send me an email as soon as possible indicating your interest.  I will also be asking the Patrol Leaders to contact their patrols directly.

Just a quick reminder that our Spring Court of Honor is to be held tomorrow night at 7:00 pm.

I encourage everyone to be on time so that we can get the program started on time.  If you have gear to return from this past weekend’s outing, please try to arrive early to get the gear checked back in.  Full Class A uniforms are required for all Scouts and adult leaders.

In addition to the awards, we will also have more information about summer camp to share with Scouts and their parents.

It was quite an adventure for both seasoned hikers and our newest Scouts when we hiked Mt. Manadnock this past weekend!

For a smaller group of Scouts working on the Backpacking Merit Badge, it was a 20-mile trek over 3 days.  We started at the base of Monadnock and hiked the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway to the Spiltoir Shelter 4 miles to the north.  After a rainy overnight at the shelter, we hiked south to join the main group in at the base of Monadnock.

The entire group hiked 6 miles up and over Monadnock to the campground at the base of the mountain.  The hike took about 6 hours and included some pretty tough climbs through steep rocky sections of the trail.  The group was rewarded with lunch at the summit under partly cloudy skies.  The hike down proved equally challenging in places as parts of the trail were pretty slick after the rains the night before.  We made it into camp around 3:30 for a well deserved rest.

After a pretty tough day, it wasn’t hard to convince the Scouts to hit their tents for a good night’s sleep after a short campfire.

The following morning the main group hiked 2 miles out to the cars while the long-hikers treked another 5 miles to the base of Gap Mountain to the south.

I’m really proud of all the boys (and the dads!) for accomplishing a pretty tough hike!

Pictures have been posted in the Photos section of the website … hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Well, I finally got the opportunity to upload some photos from our recent New Scout Overnight.

Although the gnats and mosquitoes were in full bloom, the weather cooperated and we had a great weekend over at Camp Acton with our newest Troop members.

Led by a few of our veteran Scouts, our greenhorns got a chance to swing an axe, whittle a bunch of sticks and build some fires – in other words cut stuff and burn stuff!

There was a lot more to it than that of course.  We focused on basic outdoor skills – knife and axe safety, firebuilding, knots, camp cooking, pitching a tent and some basic map & compass skills.  We got a bunch of requirements signed off and the new Scouts were able to earn their Totin’ Chip and Firem’n Chit.

The only thing we missed was how to stay dry in the rain … but I think everyone was happy to leave that skill for another day!

Check out the photos in our Photo section.