About Barry Griffiths

Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop 160.

The New Keilty Hall

Here is a link to some pictures of the newly renovated Keilty Hall. Not shown are
the bathrooms which are now both spacious and modern. Also not shown is the new
entrance which includes elevator access to the hall. Having elevator access not
only benefits our patrons, but it means that the work associated with transporting
grills will be GREATLY reduced.

http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/CGPFa1hW/1/4925641

Just click on Start Slideshow when you get to the page.

There was some fear that the addition of new bathrooms along with the creation of a
serving area would greatly reduce the space available, but it looks like all that
has happened is the reduction of previously wasted space along with the addition of
new facilities. The new, built-in, serving area will mean we can put more tables
along the side wall, for instance.

Within the next month we have to find a replacement coffee/hot water maker, test the
grills, and decide if we need a fourth grill to replace the one we will be missing
because of the change in stoves. We also have to work on a Plan B to get around the
fact that we are now down one oven. The old stove had two, but the new one has only
one.

-Hank

Winter Campout at Hidden Valley, Jan 22-23

Please see this flyer (PDF, DOC) for Hidden Valley Winter Overnight. This is a fun trip for all scouts. THINK SNOW!!!

We will be sleeping on tent platforms in tents. Outhouses are open for winter use. Grab your friends for a fun filled weekend.

Don’t let equipment or cost stop you–talk to me about equipment–the troop has some gear to lend. (And see here for lots of information on this website about winter camping and gear.)

Talk to George Kaplan for financial aid for this trip.

Make checks out to Troop 160 and return by 12-23-10.

Meg Bonnell-Bradley

Matagamon High Adventure trip, July-August 2010

In July 2010 6 Scouts and 3 Adults participated in a true wilderness experience in the Maine north woods. Based out of Matagamon High Adventure Base (near Patten, ME), the crew spent a week canoeing and sailing lakes, running rapids and portaging gear/canoes 5 times over difficult terrain.

Trip photos can be found on kodakgallery.com at http://tinyurl.com/2g2xgqe. The full trip report can be found here, or via the Trip Planning information page.

First meeting will be Wednesday, September 1

First–the first meeting will be on a Wednesday, not a Thursday because that very next Friday is a school holiday and the start of the Labor Day weekend. Then the next week we run into a Thursday holiday which makes a meeting impossible. The main point of the first meeting is election of a new SPL and reorganization of patrols. All Scouts should make a real effort to attend because the selection of an SPL is VERY important. So Wednesday, not Thursday, this one time only. Mark that date on your calendar: September 1st at 7:30 PM.

There were very few lost items reported at camp. One was a gray-and-blue backpack with a water bottle in it. If it shows up in a trunk, bring it to the first meeting. If you are missing other items, let me know about it.

I owe pictures to a small handful of people and arrows to a slightly larger handful. I will give them to you when I see you. There is a continuing misunderstanding of pictures and how they are paid for. We used to ask a Scout who went to camp for two weeks pay for one of the pictures. That is no longer the case. It is built into the price of camp.

There are some meds which parents did not pick up after camp including an epi pen. E-mail me offline so I can figure out how to get the meds back to you.

There are some partials on merit badges which can be cleaned up. We are making plans for a cleanup session like the one we had last year. The merit badges we will concentrate on will include Swimming, First Aid, Small Boat Sailing, and Pioneering. We will take a look at all of the partials, however, to see what a Scout needs to do to complete those merit badges. If we can provide some way to complete those partials, we will. I suspect it will be an Old Res Saturday as it was last time.

We will also be discussing camp among the Scouts at that first meeting so we can start the planning process for next year. If adults have any thoughts about camp, good or bad, please share them with me.

A note to adults: Go online and at the very least get that Youth Protection Training requirement out of the way. The rules are getting stricter and we want all our adults to have YPT.

-Hank