Monthly Archives: March 2007

Schedule issues: No meeting April 5 or April 19

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Hey All -

In the next coming weeks, the meeting schedule is slightly disrupted due to religious holidays and vacation. Additionally, there are a few camping trips to take note of.

Tomorrow, those attending the Rod and Gun camping trip must be at St. Brigid’s at 7:00 AM sharp. Matthew Shorter, the troop quartermaster, and I will be at the church at 6:30 to double check for all gear. As I mentioned on Thursday, I will be at the church to send everyone to the Gun Club, but I will not be showing up until the afternoon, at about 1 to 2 o’clock. Ryan Woodhouse will be in charge in my absence.

The next event of note is next Thursday, April 5th. Due to Holy Thursday, the hall we meet in is unavailable, and thus there will be no meeting.

The following week, the 12th, will be the week of the Patrol Leader’s Council. This begins at 6:15 PM sharp. Those who need to come include all Patrol Leaders and Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders. If a patrol leader can not make the meeting, their assistant should come as a representative.

The meeting also serves as our week for prep work for the pancake breakfast. It is very important that all scouts be at this meeting, but especially new scouts, as this is an important meeting to teach all the procedures during the breakfast. Signups will also be available this week for timeslots for the breakfast – they will be explained at the meeting as well.

The 16th is our pancake breakfast. More details will come closer to the breakfast, but keep in mind that so long as you are in Lexington on Patriot’s Day, you are required to come and work at the breakfast.

That week, the 19th, there will be no meeting because of school vacation. The next week, the 26th will be the return regular meetings.

Thank you all – I’ll see many of you tomorrow morning bright and early.

Yours in Scouting,
Jeff Gilbert – SPL

Archery & Riflery Campout, March 31 – April 1

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Where: Hudson, Ma
Meet: 7:00 Saturday, Mar 31, St. Brigid
Return: 12:00 Sunday, April 1, St. Brigid
Cost: $15.00 per scout. “Troop 160” checks by Mar 29

Sign-up: Return attached form by Mar 29 to Mr. Tan or Mr. Bassett

Equipment:
1. Bring own archery equipment if desired – but no personal guns or ammunition
2. Overnight camping gear, rain gear, fishing rod, bait, barb-less hooks
3. Patrols are responsible for their own food. Bring bag lunch for Saturday

Coordinator: Mr. Glen Bassett

Primary Objective: gun and archery safety and skills

Scouts receive gun and archery safety awareness training, instruction in archery and riflery (indoor and outdoor) and even fishing time if you bring your rod and bait (night crawlers best).

Merit Badge. If the scout has already started archery or riflery merit badge, he may be able to complete the safety, maintenance and shooting part of the badges on this trip.

Primary Instructors. The Riverside Gun Club, Hudson, MA, has generously volunteered their 236 acre club, qualified instructors, equipment and facilities for Troop 160 use this weekend.

Adults: we need adults! We have a need for 8-12 adults to help organize and monitor the activities on Saturday, Mar 31, 9:00 – 5:00. Please call or e-mail Glen Bassett to volunteer. And please plan to stay for a delicious adult dinner Saturday evening!

Agenda:
SATURDAY: Arrive, Archery and Riflery, Fishing, Cooking, Campfire, Campout
SUNDAY: Troop service project, Depart


It is that time of the year to sign up for Pancake Breakfast!

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Hello folks,

It is that time of the year again! We are about to embark on our annual fund-raising activity, the Patriots Day Pancake Breakfast.

This year may be even more interesting than last year.

1.) We are serving breakfast to the Lexington Minutemen. This means serving as early as 3:30 am. We will need a small crew quite early to make coffee, orange juice, hot chocolate and start making pancakes.

2.) We are working with the folks from Cambro, who manufactured our coffee urns to see if we can purchase a few more of their products (at a discount – we hope).

3.) Franco Wong has accepted the post of Pancake Breakfast Coordinator to succeed me. He is in heavy training this year for his first solo marathon next year. He plans to kick me upstairs into an advisory capacity.

4.) We will attempt to solicit more donations from local businesses to cover the cost of items utilized during the breakfast. We need your suggestions as to who to approach. Wilson Farm has been generous to us for many years with the donation of oranges. We would like to try to approach local stores especially on items that they actually carry. Their cost is lower for an equivalent size donation on such items, which is a win-win for everybody. So, please, if you have connections or just good ideas, let us know.

5.) We will try using the web site to communicate ideas, progress and sign-up information to all adults. We plan to put up on the site the first initial and last name of any person who is signed up. We are ONLY doing this for adult sign up, NOT for scout sign up. We will assume your tacit permission to put your name on the web site, UNLESS we hear from you otherwise.

Below is a list of jobs and positions for the pancake breakfast. To paraphrase a famous saying: Sign up early and often. If you cannot make any of the times listed, please, let me know. There are jobs that can be done ahead of time and there are times when the scouts are doing certain jobs, that adults can join.

Charles

To view sign-up sheet…

West Point Camporee, May 4-6

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We have been invited to take up to 25 Scouts and up to 10 adults to the West Point Camporee in May. This is a very popular outing, with many competitive events, merit badge courses, Army displays, and other activities. It is organized by the West Point Cadets, with assistance from Soldiers at the post. The flavor seems very similar to the National Jamboree. We’ve gone to this event for the past three years, but this may be our last for a while – our sponsor, Troop 160 Assistant Scoutmaster Zach Griffiths, is graduating from the Academy in May.

Similar to the National Jamboree, all participants must wear Class A uniform (including Scout shirt, Scout pants, and neckerchief) to some events, and may wear Class B uniform (including Troop shirt and Scout pants) to all others. NOTE: Scouts and other non-military personnel will NOT be permitted to wear military uniform (BDU) or similar clothing.

Because West Point is about a four-hour drive from Lexington, it will be something of a logistical challenge. Some events open around noon on Friday, for those who can leave on Friday morning. Everyone else will need to leave right after school on Friday (exact time TBD), which means we will need to load all gear the day before. We will need a number of drivers, and a number of fairly large vehicles. We need to know in advance who will be driving, so that we can get a National Tour Permit. If any adults are willing to drive but don’t want to attend the Camporee, let us know and we can make alternate arrangements in the area.

The charge for this campout will be $30 — $17 for the Camporee, plus $13 for food. In addition, we will need to buy a dinner en route Friday night, and a lunch on the way back Sunday. As always, camperships will be available if needed.

For every person attending, we need the following items by Thursday, March 29. This is a hard deadline, as we have to send in our Camporee registration the next day. You can bring them to a Troop meeting, or to Barry and Donna Griffiths (34 Harding Rd, Lexington).

Scouts:

Troop 160 Permission Slip for Scouts
West Point Release Form (minors)
West Point Medical History
Check for $30

Adults:

Troop 160 Signup Sheet for Adults
West Point Release Form (adults)
Check for $30 if attending (not needed for people driving only)

Downloads:

West Point Camporee Forms Packet (everything needed to sign up)
West Point Camporee Information Packet (lots more info)