Dear Parents and Scouts,
I want to thank all of the Scouts and Parents who made Scout Sunday so memorable. This was by far the best Scout Sunday we ever had. This was the largest number of Scouts ever to attend a Scout Sunday program.
Additionally, I want to thank our parents who did a fantastic job with the bake sale. We made over $300.00 in about an hours time. Thank you so much.
Everyone was very impressed with how many people showed from the St. Thomas Scout Family. I am still receiving compliments and comments about Sunday. You should know our Scout program is well thought of by the congregation.
About our honorary members and who they are. As a note, the Honorary Membership program was designed to honor those individuals who are not official members of the Scout program, i.e., parent, leaders, etc., but who have served Scouting or who have made contributions to our Scout program over several years. Our recent Honorary Members:
Mr. George Otey
Mr. Otey is a member of the Men's Fellowship of St. Thomas who is the sponsoring organization of the Scouts. He has help catered numerous affairs charging us just for food or making contributions of food to several of our banquets and other programs. Additionally, he has helped out on just about all of the occasions when we have invited residents from St. John's Hospice to the Church for our meal invitation program. This is where we bring residents from St. John's to the Church for a special meal program.
Ms. Virginia "Ginger" duBrey
Ms. duBrey is the Church's secretary and has helped us from the very beginning. Ginger has helped us scheduled practically every event. She has ensured the dates we ask for are granted. She makes sure that when we need the Church van it is available at all possible and she includes all of the notices we need in the Church bulletin. During Popcorn Sale season, Ginger takes popcorn and sells it from her desk during the week.
Mr. Ridard "Butch" Farmer
As the Church's custodian, it was Butch's job to stay until we left. Every Saturday since the beginning he has stayed until we finished meeting and has cleaned up behind us. He never complained if we stayed too late or made too big of a mess. During the times we have banquets, Butch sets up for us and does whatever he can to support the Scouts.
Mr. Randolph "Uncle Randy" Blakeney
There has been no one at St. Thomas that has consistently supported the Scout program in a financial way like 'Uncle Randy' . In addition to personnally making regular contributions to our Scout program, he sought out and got help in getting us grant money from the City. Then Councilman Michael Nutter signed off on a regular basis for us to get funding through the Philadelphia Activities Fund, a grant giving agency to non-profit organizations. Thanks to 'Uncle Randy' and to former Councilman Nutter we receive almost $10,000.00 in grant money over the years to help support our programs.
Mr. Steve Buck
Mr. Buck has been an ardent and passionate supporter of the Scout program every since he joined the Church. As a professional caterer, he has help prepare numerous banquets for us where he has only charged for a portion of the food paying for the kitchen help out of his own pocket. He set up a fund raiser, selling soap on Sundays raising nearly $700.00 to help support our Scuba Diving program to pay for equipment and dive lessons. He lobbied fiercely on our behalf in getting us space and thanks to his effort we now have office space up on the third floor. Just recently Mr. Buck has decided to join us an official member of the Scout committee.
As a note our very first honorary member was Dr. Frank "Tick" Coleman who at the age of 97 when he passed away last year was one of the first African American Eagle Scouts in the nation.
Yours in Scouting,
J.R. Brockman
Scoutmaster
Troop 133
609-381-9981
