Monthly Archives: November 2006

Citizenship in the Nation and First Aid start November 16

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As most of you probably know, Merit Badge courses for Citizenship in the Nation and First Aid will be starting at the Troop meeting on December November 16. Both of these are Eagle required badges, as is Citizenship in the Community (another ongoing course).

Course materials for Citizenship in the Community can be downloaded below:

1. Merit Badge Requirements can be found at meritbadge.com or here.

2. The course schedule can be found here.

UPDATE: If you were unable to attend on Nov. 16 but you’d like to do Citizenship in the Nation, it’s not too late. Download the course materials, start on the prep work for the Nov. 30 meeting, and let me know so we can get you caught up. — Barry Griffiths

UPDATE: I originally wrote “December” in the headline — sorry! If you haven’t started the merit badge but would like to, contact me ASAP — Barry Griffiths

Cookoree writeup in Boston Globe

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You might want to pick up the Boston Globe today and turn to Section D–Food. Then look at the center of the page (ABOVE the fold, thank you) and read all about this hotshot Boy Scout troop in Lexington that actually cooks its meals outdoors, of all things, and serves a ton of people by lantern light. Then to get another account of the event, fire up your computer and point your browser to http://www.boston.com/ae/food and look for “Be Prepared – And Hungry” or just click on this link which should take you there: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2006/11/15/be_prepared_151_and_hungry/
Sometimes boston.com asks for a registration, but it is easy and free and the e-zine article is worth it.

Besides the article, there’s also a slideshow with sound. Go to http://www.boston.com/ae/food and then click on the link at the bottom of the header, “Boy Scout Troop’s ‘Cookeree campout’”. The link to go directly there is: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/packages/cookeree.

I hope everybody noticed how hard the reporter/photographer/sound people had to work to get that article and once more I thank all of you for this fine and fun event. And remember how much work it was to get that meal on the table. Once again the coordinators have set a standard for others and the SPL made it all look easy. So thanks to Jeff Gilbert, Tad Coburn, and Andy Dixon knowing that there are just too many others to thank.

Now what artist is playing that really soulful harmonica?

-Hank

UPDATE: Several people have reported that they’ve been unable to download the slideshow from boston.com. A captured version of the slideshow is also available here. It’s not quite as nice as the original, and it’s quite large (about 75 MB of Windows Movie, or WMV file; you’ll also need the ZDSV codec, also available here). But we did capture the soulful harmonica playing… We’ve also put an archive copy of the article here.

A longish reminder note

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From the Scoutmaster:

Here is a somewhat longish reminder note. My apologies for the length, but I wanted to remind all Scouts and parents of a few things.

We need to be alert to the calls from Scouts for support on Eagle and other projects. Those projects are what introduce us to the town so they are really important. Eagle projects are managed by older Scouts who have spent several years in Scouting helping younger Scouts so this is our chance to give them a small gift by helping them complete an important Eagle requirement.

I understand—there is so much going on that the weekends are precious. However, there are two projects and one class coming up. One of the projects requires no weekend time at all and we could really use some Scoutpower on both. Adults are also very welcome to participate in both projects and the class.

The first project is next Thursday starting at 5:00 PM or as soon as you can get there, and ending when the pizza arrives. We will be helping the Friends of Cary Library move something like 8,000 books from the storage room to the sale area to prepare for their twice-yearly book sale. The work is easy, you get to operated the lift, wheel carts back and forth, show off your muscles, and eat pizza in the library. The money that FOCL makes from the sale is an important part of the fund which purchases new material like those Manga books which you like so much. So show up and help. We will be through in time to walk over to our respective meetings and while we are at the library we will satisfy half of Requirement #4 for Reading merit badge. If you have participated before, then you will finish the requirement by participating this time. Scout or LHS community service hours are also available and I will the appropriate LHS forms available. A FOCL volunteer will be on hand to tell us about the group while we stuff ourselves with pizza.

The second project is the holiday decoration of the bandstand. We need to have it done before Thanksgiving so all those interested should meet next weekend at the bandstand starting at 8:00 AM. If we hustle, it shouldn’t take more than two hours. We are a bit hampered this year by the rough treatment our stored material received last year while the bandstand was being repaired and we also lost a few timers and extension cords during that period so we will have a little extra work sorting out the good light strings from the bad. Yes—we can give either Scout or LHS service hours for this work because we are doing this for the Town, not for ourselves. If you have a safe stepladder, you might want to bring it. Staplers will also be useful, but we want to use as few staples as possible since the bandstand has just been renovated.

One last thing to remind you about is the upcoming class for Citizenship in the Community. Come on down even if you didn’t get a reply from me. The class will run both Monday and Tuesday–just pick a day. Yes, you can switch days if things interfere some weeks. Parents are both invited and encouraged since we will need to elect a Board of Selectman and probably a Planning Board. Scouts should be thinking about a law they would like to see enacted and of course we will spend some time during that first meeting making sure our town of Lexingtonia is set up correctly. I will need to know if we need to work around Thanksgiving week. I assume not, but if there are some Scouts who will not be there for some reason we may have to skip Thanksgiving week and simply extend the classes one week. Let me know at that first class.

So—to recap:

  • Next Thursday (November 16th): All those interested meet at the Library at 5 PM or thereafter to move books.
  • Next Saturday (November 18th): All those interested meet at the bandstand in Hastings Park near the Hayden Ice Rink at 8:00 PM to decorate the bandstand. Rain date for that event will be Sunday although it will take a pretty heavy rain to keep us from doing it Saturday since most of the work will be under cover.
  • Citizenship in the Community merit badge will start next Monday/Tuesday, November 13/14. All meetings will be in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room on the second floor of the Town Office Building except for the first Monday meeting which will be in Room 111 on the first floor. Meetings will run from roughly 3:30 PM to roughly 5:00 PM and will last four weeks plus one extra day to hold a Special Town Meeting.

-Hank

The ever-popular Tom O. Eagle project

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Tom O’s Eagle project will be finishing up this Saturday! It will be right after the Veterans’ Day parade, and as usual it will be behind the Baptist Church. Conveniently, the church is right across from the White House (School Department Administration Building), which is where the parade forms up.

2006 Cookoree a big success

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The 2006 Cookoree was a smashing success. Nobody counted how many we fed, but I am guessing that it was at least 60.

It appears that too many cooks do not always spoil the broth because just about everybody had a hand in the preparation of the meal which was beautifully cooked and nicely served. The Webelos did a fine job on their first Scout campout and were a major factor in getting the apples peeled and sliced to make those great pies. Speaking of pies—the desserts were, once again, so much more than mere food. They were an artistic statement. Of course, when there are two Chemistry PhDs in charge of the baking, one expects superb results.

The food included five turkeys, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, carrots, squash, french fries, onion rings, and cranberry sauce. We went through 12½ gallons of cocoa, 2 gallons of coffee, and 4 gallons of hot cider and still needed more. We are already planning how to produce more hot drinks next year.

The breakfasts on Sunday morning should also be mentioned. I expect the adults to know how to cook by now, but both Scout patrols also turned in noteworthy efforts with the banana pancakes having a slight edge in the food department.

There were too many cooks to be able to thank them all, but it was all possible because of the superb effort by the event coordinators, Tad Coburn and Andy Dixon, and by the SPL and his assistants who put on a great show for the Webelos and their parents.