Troop 615 News Volume 4, Issue 3 March 2016

Scoutmaster Minute

As I’m writing this note, it is a beautiful day in mid March! The temperatures are warming up, kids are getting ready for the start of Spring break, and you can FEEL that summer is just around the corner. This time of year is always a treat and is always quite challenging. There’s a lot going on in everyone’s lives! Spring means transitions: activities start increasing as the weather warms, end of year celebrations are being planned, big fundraisers are scheduled, vacations get set and graduations get closer to becoming reality. Folks in our Troop are getting ready for all of these activities and more: preparations and planning continue for Philmont and Sea Base and summer camp. All of those adventures will be here before you know it. Spring is also the time for new Scouts and their parents to join the Troop. As of this moment, we have three new Scouts and Scout families that have joined Troop 615. Please join me in welcoming them to the Troop! Recently, the boys have been working on several merit badges during weekly meetings. For those that don’t know much about merit badges, these are areas of focus that a Scout can study/investigate/learn that have specific accomplishment requirements. Those requirements vary depending upon the merit badge. There are specific merit badges that are required for Scouts to obtain in order to earn the rank of Eagle Scout as well as merit badges that intended for general interest. In short, merit badges are an integral part of the Boy Scout program. In order for Scouts to successfully complete the process of earning merit badges, they need merit badge counselors. Unfortunately, we have relatively few merit badge counselors for the number of boys that are in the Troop. In addition, there are a few individuals that are counselors for a large number of badges and a lot of individuals that have not signed up to serve for any. If those few individuals are not available when the Scouts need counselors, the Scouts can’t complete the merit badge. It’s really hard to help the boys complete the requirements for advancement when we don’t have enough merit badge counselors available. So, what is a merit badge counselor? Does that individual need to have an advanced degree in order to be a merit badge counselor? Do they need to have specific certification? Does one need to have 20 years of experience in order to serve as a merit badge counselor? The answer is no! To be a merit badge counselor, you need to have an interest in an area for which there is a merit badge, be STAND/Youth protection trained, you need to fill out a very basic application form (see Ms. Lizzo for the document), and have the interest and desire to work with the boys in the Troop. That’s it. I KNOW that there are adults in the Troop that have interests in a wide range of areas… both professionally and personally. For example: Many of families have pets. Excellent! There’s a merit badge for Dog Care and a merit badge for Pets. Many of you have interests in things related to computers. Terrific! There are merit badges for Digital Technology, Programming, Movie Making, and more. Many of you like to cook. Outstanding! Cooking is an Eagle required merit badge and one where we only have 6 people registered as merit badge counselors. I understand that not everyone can go camping with the Troop on a regular basis. Personally, I think that’s a bit sad because getting out in the woods is a pretty amazing thing to do, but I understand that’s not everyone’s idea of a good time.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

PLC (PATROL LEADERS

CONFERENCE) MEETINGS

ALL PATROL/ASST PATROL LEADERS, AND

THOSE WITH A TROOP POSITIONS NEED TO

ATTEND – 4/13, 5/11, 6/8 @ 6:30 PM

PARENT MEETINGS

ALL ADULTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO

ATTEND - 4/13, 5/11, 6/8 @ 7:00 PM

APRIL OUTING – ADVENTUREE –

BROADCREEK – 4/22-4/24

SUMMER CAMP REG DUE DATE – 4/27

5TH

ANNUAL BULL PORK ROAST – 5/14

MAY OUTING – WHITE WATER RAFTING –

5/20-5/22

WE REMEMBER – 5/27

COURT OF HONOR – 6/1

JUNE OUTING – FIREARMS - 6/3-6/5

PHILMONT – 7/15-7/27

SUMMER CAMP – OCKANICKON 7/17-7/23

AUGUST OUTING – GUPPY GULCH –

8/5-8/7

ECO ADV SEA BASE – 8/12-8/18

ST. THOMAS SEA BASE – 8/14-8/20

SEPTEMBER OUTING – TREEHOUSE &

BIKING – 9/23-9/25

Bull Pork Roast

Tickets

Tickets are available for sale at all Troop Meetings. Please see the

attached flyer for the order form. Table of 10 - $270 Table of 8 - $220 Single Ticket - $30 Carry Out Ticket - $15 Please make checks payable to

Friends of Troop 615.

Hotter than thou Chili Cook-off Winners

The Final Hotter than Thou Chili Cook-off took place at the Church of the Resurrection on Sunday, March 6th

. Congratulations to Troop 615 and Dr. Albuerne for winning First Place for Funds Collected at the Event! Over $34,000 was raised for the

Bridges for Housing Stability of Howard County! Great chili for a great cause!

Scout Master Minute Continued…

I understand that not everyone can attend every Eagle Scout service project or contribute to every bake sale, or drive to outings, or participate by updating the troop website, or help processing Scout applications, or dealing with health forms, or any of the other many, many activities that take place in the troop. One area where I know for certain that ALL parents can provide support for the Troop and to help allow all the boys to advance is serving as a merit badge counselor. My challenge to all of the registered adults in the Troop: become merit badge counselors for at least 5 different badges and have at least one of those 5 merit badges be an Eagle required merit badge. Still not sure what this merit badge thing is all about? No problem! Just ask! Or, go to the BSA site for general information on merit badge counselors: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/GuideforMeritBadgeCounselors/MBCounselorGuide.aspx Interested in serving, but not sure for which merit badges you could serve as a counselor? Here’s the list of available merit badges: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/MeritBadges.aspx Still not sure about what merit badges to take on? No problem! I’d be happy to chat with you about what might be a particular need that fits in with your background and interest. YIS, Dr. Anderson

March Outing – Wilderness Survival – 3/11-3/13

Things started off on an interesting note. We had some last minute changes in attendees. That meant some last minute scrambling to see if we could find some other folks to pitch in and get all the scouts to camp. Fortunately, the good folks from Troop 615 stepped up to help out. Ed Packard joined us for Friday night and Charles Smith was able to stay the entire weekend. Thank you to Charles and Ed for making the trip happen! Friday night, we were driving towards Camp Tuckahoe when we were stopped by local fire crews. There had been a fire at the camp and we were directed to a local elementary school to wait until the coast was clear. We stayed at the elementary school for around 20 minutes and then got clearance to get to camp. The weekend was terrific! The weather cooperated and the boys had a blast. Friday night got colder than expected. Low temperatures were in the mid 30s. So, what do you do when it's chilly outside? Build a fire! The boys had a fire going nearly all day on Saturday. And, when the boys were away working on their shelters, the adults stepped in to keep the flames going. The shelters the boys created were pretty stout. The senior leadership created a substantial and well insulated tee pee. You could tell this was not their first Wilderness Survival experience! The other Scouts utilized some tarps and found materials to create excellent structures as well. Everyone stayed in their shelters Sat night and they survived! Unfortunately, Mr. Pierre was not able to attend the outing, which means that there are many fewer pictures than is typical. All pictures have been posted to the Troop SmugMug site. https://troop615.smugmug.com/Wilderness-Survival-2016/ ~ Dr. Anderson

Philmont Shakedown – 3/12-3/13

For the Philmont shakedown we left on Saturday morning and got back at around noon on Sunday. We hiked from Pen Mar Park to Tumbling Run Shelter on Saturday and back to Pen Mar on Sunday. We hiked about 14 miles on the shakedown. The people hiking on this shakedown were Mikey, Ryan, Leo, Tristan, Matt, Michael, Mr. Stevens, Mr.Lanier, and Ms. Guindon and me (Connor). It was very fun hiking, and luckily it didn’t rain as much as we were expecting. We got to have a fire on Saturday night. We learned how to filter water, cook and clean for the outing, set up bear bags, and set up tents. It was a lot of fun and I’m excited for when we actually go to Philmont. Our crew number is 715-U and our trek will be 7/14-7/27. ~ Connor Maloney

A Scout is Thrifty - 2016 Camp Cards

This year the Baltimore Area Council kicked off its fifth-annual Camp Card Program – and there couldn’t be an easier way to help Mom and Dad pay for all the great campouts we go on! The beauty of these cards is they practically sell themselves, and they are rather lucrative: $2.50 goes into your Scout Account for every card sold!

The price of the card is $5, which the purchaser gets back when they buy $50 of groceries at either Safeway or Giant. Since everyone has to eat, these cards are an easy sell. Heck, if Mom and Dad buy all 20 cards in a pack, they’ll get their $100 back just by doing the grocery shopping – AND – you get $50 in your Scout Account! Sell 20 more cards to friends and neighbors, and that’s $100 in your Scout Account!

Camp Cards feature two one-time use “break-off” coupons and 10 reusable coupons. The break-off coupons are for Planet Fitness and Safeway. Since Giant Foods accepts competitor’s coupons, they can be used there too. I double checked at the Chatham Giant, and sure enough, they accept them. The reusable coupons are for Popeyes, Sky Zone, Wendy’s, Medieval Times, Royal Farms, Models, Sweet Frog, Bass Pro Shop, Jiffy Lube and Buffalo Wild Wings. All reusable coupons are good through the end of the year, except Bass Pro Shop’s, which expires December 13. For more details, or to see what the cards look like, go to http://www.baltimorebsa.org/campcard. Oh, and don’t forget to pick up your camp cards at the end of each Boy Scout meeting.

Happy selling and . . . Happy Camping!

YIS

Ed Packard

Upcoming Event!

2016 Boy Scout Aviation Day at Glenn L. Martin State Airport - Chesapeake District: 4/30/2016 10 AM - 3 PM

Description: 2016 Boy Scout Aviation Day at Glenn L. Martin State Airport

Start Date/Time: 4/30/2016 10:00 AM End Date/Time: 4/30/2016 3:00 PM Add to calendar

Registration Begins: 2/1/2016

Last Day to Register: 4/17/2016

Contact E-mail: kvnboywonder@hotmail.com

Details: 4th Annual Boy Scout Aviation Day Martin State Airport

701 Wilson Point Rd # 5-501, Baltimore, MD 21220 April 30, 2016

10-3PM (Check-In at 9am) Registration Closes 4/17/16 (No Exceptions) No onsite registrations!

$17 Per Scout, $7 Per Adult *A Box Lunch is available for an Additional $8*boxed meal

consists of a sandwich, a cookie, and a bag of chips. Sandwich options: Veggie Delite®, Black Forest Ham or Cold Cut Combo all subs come with lettuce and tomatoes (side of mayo and mustard) Must Pre-Register online at: http://www.baltimorebsa.org/event/1869124

(Pre-Rec’s and Blue Cards must be Completed and Presented the Day of Event to your Counselor)(All Scouts must have Transportation during event for travel to end of runway)

*Historic aircraft including antiques; warbirds; the Museum’s aircraft collection, Open cockpits of historic Aircraft, and an interior tour of a Martin 404 Airliner.

Aeronautical Charts and Maps

Hands on Merit Badge Classes relating to Aviation.

Pre Flight Inspection at Middle River Aviation Flight School

Health Forms Needed

It's time for the Troop to update Boy Scout health forms!! The BSA requires all Boy Scouts to have a completed health form on file and to update the form annually. Updated health forms are due Wednesday, May 4, 2016, but avoid the rush and turn them in sooner!

Please provide 2 copies of each page of the health form and a copy of both sides of your health insurance card. It is recommended that you make a copy of the forms for your records. If scouts are planning to attend Boy Scout summer camp, Parts A, B and C of the health form must be completed. Part C must be signed by a physician so consider scheduling physicals now or dropping off the form for the physician to complete. The Ockanickon web site has information about their health policies for Boy Scout summer camp: http://www.test.ockanickon.org/summer/policies-procedures/before-camp/ If scouts are not planning to attend summer camp, they still need to provide an updated health form. However, only Parts A and B of the health form must be completed. No physician signature required. The health form is available from the Troop 615 web site: http://www.bsa615.com/documents/forms/ A helpful guide is available to help minimize errors and omissions on the forms. The guide is available from the Troop 615 web site: http://www.bsa615.com/documents/forms/

Scouting for Food

Scouting for Food 2016 food collection was on Saturday, March 19 for food collection and delivery to food pantries in Howard

County. As in previous years, Troop 615 has been assigned to collect food donations in the Valley Meade neighborhood. Thank you to

all the scouts and adults that helped out with this service project. Troop 615 was able to collect 138 pounds of food!

Rank Advancements:

---------------------------- Ray Strozyk - 1st Class Kyle Amend – Star Jacob Kempic – Life John Parks - Bronze Palm

Merit Badge:

---------------------------- Zach Haines - Citizenship in the Nation

Other:

---------------------------- Jack Cumming - National Outdoor Badge – Camping Joey Peters - National Outdoor Badge - Camping

Great Job Scouts!

Court of Honor

Rank Advancements:

Scout : Cunningham, Thomas 04/01/15

Tenderfoot : Bachrach, Aitan 01/28/15

Fox, Jeremy 10/28/15 Haines, Zachary 10/28/15 Strozyk, Raymond 10/21/15 2nd Class : Harris, Matthew 04/22/15

Strozyk, Raymond 02/24/16 1st Class : Harris, Matthew 07/22/15

Moore, Trevor 10/21/15 Star : Benner, Nick 01/20/16

Cherry, Zach 02/27/16 MacKinnon, Liam 02/27/16 Moore, Gavin 10/21/15 Rice, Brendan 09/17/14 Life : Cumming, Jack 02/24/16

Maloney, Connor 12/16/15 Pugliese, Jackson 10/07/15 Eagle : Parks, John 10/19/15

Vook, Matthew 10/19/15 Merit Badges: Aguilera, Kevin Merit Badge : Archery 07/10/15

Bird Study 07/24/15 Forestry 07/10/15 Leatherwork 07/10/15 Nuclear Science 07/24/15 Benner, Nick Merit Badge : Cit In Community*

10/28/15 Borgert, Christopher Merit Badge : Personal Fitness*

09/30/15 Cherry, Zachary Merit Badge : Personal Fitness*

02/17/16 Weather 09/12/15 Cires, Adrian Merit Badge : Fly Fishing 02/25/15

Cunningham, Thomas Merit Badge : Fingerprinting 07/21/15

Fly Fishing 02/25/15 Indian Lore 07/24/15 Swimming* 07/24/15

Harris, Matthew Merit Badge : Energy 07/24/15

Family Life* 02/03/16 First Aid* 07/24/15 Fishing 07/24/15 Fly Fishing 02/25/15 Mining in Society 07/23/15 Nature 07/24/15 Space Exploration 04/18/15 Kempic, Jacob Merit Badge : Cit In World* 02/17/16

Luther, Aaron Merit Badge : Personal Management*

09/16/15 Luther, Isaac Merit Badge : Family Life* 10/14/15

Personal Management* 10/06/15 Maloney, Connor Merit Badge : Scholarship 11/04/15

Moore, Gavin Merit Badge : Graphic Arts 02/25/15

Norton, Wes Merit Badge : Personal Management*

11/18/15 Parks, John Merit Badge : Chess 11/11/15

Parnell, Benjamin Merit Badge : Space Exploration

07/24/15 P Peter, Michael Merit Badge : Cit In Community*

09/02/15 P First Aid* 09/09/15 Forestry 07/24/15 Kayaking 07/24/15 Pugliese, Jackson Merit Badge : Camping* 08/15/15

Rice, Brendan Merit Badge : Basketry 07/25/14

Bird Study 07/24/15 Cit In Community* 07/24/15 Cit In Nation* 07/25/14 Communication* 07/25/14 Cooking* 07/24/15 Geology 07/23/15 Nuclear Science 07/24/15 Schafer, Leo Merit Badge : Personal Management*

10/28/15 Railroading 09/12/15

Seliger, Sam Merit Badge : Archery 06/26/15

Rifle Shooting 06/26/15 Wood Carving 06/26/15 Vook, Zachary Merit Badge : Weather 09/12/15

Other Awards:

Gattis, Ryan Special Awards : NOA - Camping Award

09/23/15

Schafer, Leo Special Awards : NOA - Camping Award

09/23/15

Congratulations

Scouts!

Court of Honor – 3/2/2016

Timmy’s Farewell Speech Swearing in Garrett Currie – SPL

Swearing in Jack Cumming – ASPL Swearing in Patrol Leaders

Tenderfoot 2

nd Class

1

st Class Star

Life Eagle

2016 Ockanickon Summer Camp Registration Form

*** Camp Dates: July 17 (Sun) – July 23 (Sat) ***

Troop 615 will be going to summer camp at Ockanickon Scout Reservation in beautiful Bucks County, Pennsylvania. www.ockanickon.org

Complete the form below, and then give the bottom portion along with your payment (checks payable to Troop 615)

to one of the following adult leaders: Jill Reese or Shura Shontz, Summer Camp Coordinators, or Yung Cho

OR MAIL TO: Jill Reese at 2735 Dunleer Road, Ellicott City 21042

Scout Health forms will be due in early June 2016 – so get those physicals scheduled NOW. Camp T-shirts and Camp Photos will be ordered at a future date for an additional (small) fee.

Payment Type Amount

Cash $

Check # __________ $

Scout Account (Check with Yung Cho for current balance)

$

Total = $

Please retain this upper section for your records. _________________________________________________________________________________________

Please submit this lower section along with your payment (payable to Troop 615).

2016 Ockanickon Summer Camp Registration Form

*** Camp Dates: July 17 (Sun) – July 23 (Sat) ***

Scout: _________________________________

Summer Camp Fees

Rate Camp Fee Due Date

Special Discounted $415 02/24/2016

Regular $435 04/27/2016

Late $455 05/25/2016

Webelos Crossover $415 05/25/2016

Payment Type Amount

Cash $

Check # __________ $

Scout Account $

Total = $