NEW SPL

Last night, in an election decided by just one vote, a new SPL was chosen.  Eliot Wong, stand up!

I thank all of the candidates for putting themselves forward.  I know that they will continue to be leaders during this new term.

Eliot will be meeting with me Tuesday afternoon to go over his plans for a junior leader corps with the plan being to announce his two ASPLs at the start of the meeting next Thursday.

A very important part of the next meeting will be the formation of patrols so be sure to come!!!  As I said in an earlier message–let’s form the patrols which make the most sense.  No strongarm tactics allowed!

GAMESMASTER

I am looking for an adult who has a knowledge of games to assist the SPL and his staff in developing some activities for meetings.  Send me an e-mail if you are that adult.  Better sooner than later.

MOVIE TIME

Many of you have probably seen my early attempt at a slideshow using pictures from camp this summer.  I am about to add many more pictures and would like to replace the soundtrack with one done by the Scouts.  To that end, all Scouts who went to either camp this summer are invited to a pre-meeting activity at 7 PM next Thursday.  The plan is to sit around a screen, watch the slideshow, and talk about summer camp and what you did there.  I will have a DAT recorder which will produce that soundtrack.  This will be like making a movie and should be a lot of fun.  So, if you went to camp this summer, come to the meeting at 7 PM next Thursday prepared to tell us all about your experiences.

If anybody out there has more pictures they would like to share, let me have them.  I am currently using only about 200 MB of my 1 GB online allowance so there is still room for more material.

The first meeting of the term will be this Thursday.  That’s right–this Thursday.

This e-mail has two purposes.  Based on a recent meeting with older Scouts and a core group of leaders, it will lay out what the first two meetings will look like and it will talk about some of our hopes for the coming year.

We need particpation from all Scouts.  All Scouts.  The first two meetings will see the election of a new SPL and the formation of patrols.

The uniform for meetings is Class A.  So wear your Class A shirt and take the time to button it and tuck it in.

Given the newly cleaned RFK hall, we are going to support the new facilities manager, John Niland, a Troop 160 Eagle Scout, in keeping it that way.  Wear shoes with non-marking soles and if you are coming from the playfields, take off your shoes at the door.  For the time being, at least, we will no longer play The Game or others like it in the upstairs hall because it puts too much stress on the hall.

FIRST MEETING

We will elect a new SPL.  Five candidates have already been nominated.  They are Matthew, Eliot, Nathan, Ronny, and Ryan.  All have my approval and all are qualified so I hope they all decide to run.

At the first meeting we will re-open the nominations just in case there are more and then we will hear a short presentation from each of the candidates on why they are qualified and how they plan to do the job.  Any candidates who wish to do so may decline at this time.

Each candidate should start thinking about who will be on his staff of Junior Leaders and each candidate should have in his mind who his ASPLs will be.

SECOND MEETING

The SPL will finish the process of appointing Junior Leaders and then we will form new patrols.

In the past there has been some strong electioneering.  That should not happen this time around.  Form patrols which make sense without resorting to strongarm tactics.  And then elect a Patrol Leader who is up to the job.

No patrol or PL is set until approved by the SPL and Scoutmaster.

BOTH MEETINGS

We will spend some time talking about the coming events and we will need some indication of who will be going.  To be blunt, our attendance at events last year was a little sparse.  Let’s get back to the purpose of Scouting which is outdoor events.  And we really need to start letting event organizers know IN ADVANCE who will be going.  Too many Scouts sign up at the very last minute.

SOME EXPECTATIONS

- A renewed emphasis on junior leaders.

- A focus on better training.

- An in-house course for adult leaders.

- More consistent attendance.

- Prompt meeting starts.

- Attention to program rather than extraneous issues.

- More support from Junior Leaders and adult leaders.

- An abrupt end to rude and disruptive behavior.  We are Scouts.  A friend to all and a brother to every other Scout.  Robert Baden-Powell wrote that and we need to remember it.

For all meetings, there will be some pre-meeting activities in place when you arrive.  Maybe a Frisbee game.  Maybe some sort of skills test.  It will vary from week to week.  Scouts who were at camp this summer should come to the first two meetings prepared to discuss their advancement at camp.  NEW SCOUTS AND THOSE FIRST CLASS AND BELOW — BRING YOUR HANDBOOKS!!!  Sorry to shout, but that last is important.

Expect some further e-mails about the coming events.  They will be sent by the event coordinators.

-Hank Manz