Fwd: Happy New Year Parents & Leaders

Dear Parents & Leaders,

Happy New Year and I apologize for my long absence.  Unfortunately I was battling with the flu or bronchitis at the beginning of the year.  In an unusual move for me, I was in bed and in fact missed a couple of days of work.  I am on the mend.  I hope you had a very enjoyable holiday season and ready to go to work.  We have a lot ahead of us.   Hopefully all of you will be able to make it to meeting this Saturday.  As far as I know we will have a regular meeting schedule.  Here is what we have going on.     Gifts of the Magi   This is our annual service project where we collect men?s clothing and toiletries for the residents of St. John?s Hospice.  St. John?s is located at 12th and Race Streets.  It is a homeless shelter and we collect just about anything that men can use.  We have a box in the Undercroft and we will be collecting through the month of January.     St. John?s Service Project   My son Jason is working on his Eagle Scout service project.  He has elected to organize a meal for some of the residents of St. John?s.  We have done this in the past we have invited 12 to 15 residents and prepared a meal for them at St. Thomas.  We go to St. John?s and pick them up and bring them to St. Thomas. We eat with them and have a program for them.  Mr. George Otey a member of the Men?s Fellowship of St. Thomas will do the cooking and he will have help with other men from the Fellowship.  The Boy Scouts will help Jason in serving the meal and will take part in a program that they will put together.  This event will take place Saturday night 22 January starting at about 6:00 p.m.  Any adult leader or parent are welcome to come out and help if they wish.     First Scout Breakfast/ First Cub Breakfast   Mr. Steve Buck, Committee Member is a professional caterer.  He is donating his services to hold a breakfast fundraiser on Saturday 5 February.  For space and availability the breakfast will be held at Overbrook Presbyterian Church which is up the street from St. Thomas.  Because of limited seating there will be two meals that morning.  The first seating is at 8:30 a.m. and will go until 9:45 a.m.  We are calling this our first annual Scout Breakfast.  The second seating will start at 10:00 a.m. and will be called our first annual Cub Breakfast.  Tickets will cost the same $10.00 each with kids 10 and under free.  I will send out a flyer later this week.  Tickets can be picked up on Saturday.  We are asking each Scout to sell at least 5 tickets.  All proceeds from the Scout breakfast will go toward the Boy Scout program and all proceeds from the Cub Breakfast will go toward the Cub Scout program.  The goal is to target all of the Scout units within the Triune District.  There will be room in the hall to set up displays.  Since this will be during the month of February, this will be a good time to promote Scouting.  Boy Scout leaders will be asked to help out during the Scout breakfast and Cub leaders during the Cub Breakfast.  The Boy Scouts will be on hand during the entire morning to help out.      Pinewood Derby   Triune Pinewood Derby will be Saturday March 12 and it will be at Berean Institute.  Prior to that we have conducted our own Pinewood Derby.  I will wait for Mr. Wilson and the other Cub leaders to tell me what date will hold our own.  Prior to that we will have workshops that all Cubs can work on their kits.      Blue and Gold Banquet/ Court of Honor   This year we will hold a separate banquet.  I am proposing the date of Saturday 19 February.  The time will be 2:00 p.m.  We will ask Mr. Steve Buck if he is able to cater this event providing he is available.  The Blue and Gold banquet is a Cub Scout event where Cubs can receive awards and recognition they have earned up to that event.  The next opportunity to recognize Cubs and their achievement will be the year end meeting.    The Court of Honor is the Boy Scout?s award banquet and I am proposing the same date of Saturday 19 February.  The time will be 5:30 p.m.  This event will recognize the awards and achievements of Boy Scouts. In the past we had the two banquets together.  However, since the Cub program has grown the time has come for separate banquets.    Please let me know if these dates are acceptable.  In the past these events would be held at the last Saturday, however I will be forced to be out of town and because of use of the facility in the afternoon and evening it will be important for me to be there.  This will avoid having to pay for security to have someone there if I am absent.      19 March ? Alternate Meeting Plans   On Saturday 19 March there will be an event at St. Thomas where we will not have access to our meeting areas.  This will be a good day to plan for an outside activity or trip.  Please plan on activities that are away from St. Thomas on that day.     Roundtable Monday 17 January   All leaders need to be advise that that Triune District Roundtable is conducted the third Monday of every month at the Marks Building Scout Headquarters at 22nd and Winters Street at 7:00 p.m.  This monthly meeting is attended by the District Chairperson, now Mr. Charles West, volunteer, District Commissioner, Ms. Christine Shaw, volunteer, and Mr. Anthony ?AW? Weiss, District Executive, paid professional.  All unit leaders are invited to attend to discuss activities that occur in the district and the council.  All leaders are encourage to come at least every other month to find out what is going on and to meet your fellow leaders within the district.     Summer Camp   This month we need to confirm our summer camp plans for both Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.  As mentioned previously the Boy Scouts will be planning to attend summer camp at the Flaming Arrow Scout Reservation near Tampa Florida.  Graduating Webelos will be eligible to attend Boy Scout summer camp, but there will be an option for new Scouts and graduating Webelos to attend summer camp at Resica Falls with Troop One.  Summer camp information needs to be provided to parents so that cost estimates can be made and camp deposits can be collected.     Medical Forms   There are two medical forms that have been handed out.  The two page Annual Medical Form needs to be completed by all Scouts and leaders who plan to attend summer camp.  This form will need the signature of a physician.  There is a single form that all Scouts and leaders should complete that provide basic health information.  This form does not require a physician?s signature.  The single page form needs to be turned in as soon as possible.      Recharter   I am happy to report that I was able to complete the rechartering process on time.  Rechartering is the process where all leaders, parent leaders, and Scouts have to be reported on our official roster.  There is a Troop roster and a Pack roster.  I will send out copies of our current roster.  The rosters will include names, addresses, and telephone numbers.  You may share this information with parents.  However, caution needs to be used that all rosters can only used for official Scout purposes and cannot be released to anyone outside of the Scouting family.     Yours in Scouting,     J.R. Brockman Scoutmaster Troop 133 609-381-9981 http://phillyscouts133.blogspot.com/