This is my Sunday night rambling attempt to keep everyone informed 11-09-08.
I have attached the permission slip for this weekend's campout. I know- it is late. Please fill it out and send it tomorrow night. Trip details: we are leaving Friday night at 6:30 to camp at Warner Robins Air Force Base. We are camping on the base. Scouts will need to bring their own tents. We will be going to the Museum at 8:30 Saturday morning. The Scouts that want to earn the Aviation Merit Badge will begin work on that. Around lunch those Scouts will get 30-minutes in an F-4 flight simulator. Really cool!! Mr. Klakis has put this together for us and is even covering the cost of the Badge for those Scouts. Thank you MR. K!! The rest of the guys can tour the museum and if possible, we will get them some flight time in the simulator. All of the Scouts will need some spending money (approx $35). For Scouts not taking the badge, there is an additional charge to use the simulator. Also, we will be visiting the museum store, possibly bowling, possibly visiting the Base movie theatre, and definitely eating breakfast Sunday morning on base(approx $5.00 not included in trip fees) in the mess hall with the Airmen. I have the following adults attending: Chad Hardy, Bo Miller, Scott Morris, Chris Smith, Chris Swindell, and Me. Please email me with any questions you have. Should be a great trip!
Also attached is the deposit form for the January snow skiing trip. It is due Monday night also. Please make your deposit. We can reserve X amount of spots. Later we can reduce that number; however, we can't add to it. If you aren't sure, go ahead and reserve your spot. You can back out later, if need be. Details soon on this trip.
Fundraisers: I can barely keep up. Looks like we made $200 on one fundraiser, $555 on the spaghetti dinner, $150 from the Metal Militia, and $190 from the Toner Toters. (I made that name up – I wanted to try and compete with the Metal Militia's legacy.) Anyway, that doesn't even include this weekend at Nash Farms. I want to thank everyone – without your help we wouldn't have those results. Stay tuned next week for all of the totals.
As Scoutmaster I spend a lot of time looking at other Troops and what they're doing. I was looking at Troop 629 from Atlanta Area Council's Ski Trip. The initial cost is $200.00. They are leaving on a Saturday morning and returning Sunday. That includes one day of skiing along with lodging. That does not include the airfare to get to Vermont. That is an additional $340.00. Wow! And to think I was really worried about our four-day weekend with two full days of skiing going over $100.00, with $20 to ride the bus. Go figure.
Bus update – Currently, we are looking at a 91 Blue Bird with a 5.9 Cummins engine. It's a flat nose bus in good shape. We should know for sure mid-week about that. (Sort of in the "haggling" phase.) I did not know this, but a lot of the old school buses are being crated and shipped to South America right now. They use them on the banana plantations for hauling fruit.
Scout Hut – Still waiting on the County to complete their survey. Bo is on top of this. We have to work with, and wait on them to complete their survey. Next week I will post a list of what we have donated, and what we still need. Stay tuned
Putting this to a vote – I have someone willing to donate a nice foosball table for free; I just have to go get it. Vote-Scouts: Do you want that in the hut? Reply by Wednesday.
Bus fund – We are getting closer and closer to the Bus. We now have a total of $2,157.86. That figure will change next week also. I figure we need at least $2,800 to get the bus, license it, insure it, and service it. This puts us at 77.06% of the way there. That figure will be updated this week, stay tuned. We now have XM Satellite Radio donated. We are also working on an endorsement deal with Gold Bond Medicated Powder. Stay tuned for details on that. They actually liked the idea… The Scouts want a DVD player and 4 TVs. We've already had several adults volunteer to go get their CDL to drive. Hopefully, if we have enough money in the bus fund the Troops bus fund will pay for that also.
Scoutmaster Conferences – To eliminate the confusion about Scoutmaster Conferences, I have started a new process. If a Scout needs a Scoutmaster Conference, there will be a sign up sheet on the pool table. The Scout can choose his time for the next week's conferences. This will eliminate a lot of confusion. Also, I will be scheduling conferences to meet with Scouts as I deem necessary. This week's schedule breaks down as:
7:00-7:12 – Ben Yonek
7:12- 7:24- Matt Shaw
7:24-7:36 –TJ Marchant
7:36-7:48 – Braxton Hardy
Next Week's(11-17-08) Schedule (so far) is
6:40-6:52 open
6:52-7:04 - Nolan Warner
7:04-7:16 – open
7:16-7-28 – open
Mega Fundraiser – Look for details in the next two or three days. There is a large company that is closing their warehouse on the Southside. They need a warehouse full of bins and shelving moved from Riverdale to Ellenwood. The lowest bid they have received so far is $9,600.00. I made them the offer of making us a donation of $6,000.00 and we would do the job for them. I sold it as a win/win. Their net cost (after their donation) is zero for the move. They get their bins moved, and make a nice contribution to Scouting. I give this a 50/50 chance of happening, but want to keep everyone in the loop. If it does happen, we will need a lot of help. Stay tuned.
Committee Meeting – Monday night. As most of you know Chris Smith is our new Committee Chair. Please attend the Committee meeting Monday night to meet Chris and hear what he has to offer.
Special Thanks – I have been left out of the loop on the last two fundraisers. I noticed someone that was definitely in the loop -- Sandy Tant has been there from bell –to-bell on both fundraisers. Special thanks to Sandy!!! I greatly appreciate all that you do for this troop! It does not go unnoticed.
Troop Dues - Everyone hates them. They are due by December 1st. $100.00 for the year. (December to December) The dues are used to cover Troop expenses such as Merit badges, camping supplies, gear, etc. December 1st is less than 3 weeks away.
This Troop is the busiest in the District, probably the Nation. We have so much going on: Hut, Bus, Fundraisers. A year from now we are all going to look back and be amazed at what such a small group accomplished. We will have a Bus to transport the Troop, and we will have the best Scout hut ever built!!
Toner/cell phone fundraiser – Please bring those cartridges and cell phones again. I have noticed the reduction in deposits. You are not hurting me, only the Scouts. We were averaging around $50 a month from this. It's not a lot, but it helps. Please start chunking them in the back of my truck again. This money is dedicated for the bus.
Also, the Court of Honor for December has been relocated to the Golden Corral off of Jonesboro Road. (Near the Church)
In closing, I would like to say that I know we have gone through a lot of growing pains lately. That is what they are – growing pains. We are growing towards being one of the best troops in the State, not the district, not the council, but the State. Fewer than 5% of Troops have their own Scout Bus. Less than 7% have their own Scout Hut. Most Troops that have both, (hut and bus), have been in existence for over twenty years. We will have both in less than three years. In closing, I would like to say that I would rather have growing pains as opposed to stagnation. We will never stagnate.
Live long and prosper...
Doug Clemens
Scoutmaster Troop 165
404-520-1160
Imagination is more important than knowledge...
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education... Albert Einstein
