February 8, 2022

Posted on by Troop 177 Webmaster

In this week’s newsletter

This Week’s Meeting

There are some changes I need to go over so this could be a long email. As always, please bear with me.

First of all: the church has cleared us to meet inside! This means that we’ll be meeting in the Youth Group room where we used to meet. At the beginning of the meeting, you can go ahead to that room. I’ll most likely be going between the BBQ pit and the Scout Hall to make sure people know where they’re going. YOU STILL HAVE TO WEAR A MASK AND DO YOUR BEST TO BE DISTANCED! The pandemic isn’t over just because you’re over it, and we need everyone on board to keep us safe. We will have to be stricter with masks since we’re inside, so you only get one reminder before we have a conversation with the scoutmaster (as opposed to 3).

Moving on to the meeting, which should be a fun one. We are welcoming some guests to come and speak to us about Truck Transportation, and starting the Truck Transportation Merit Badge! I’ve attached the Merit Badge worksheet and book to this email for those who want to look at it. Please prepare some questions to ask our guests and, if you want to, you’re welcome to wear a Trucker Hat :). 

IMPORTANT CUMBERLAND ISLAND STUFF: We need to identify a grubmaster by Tuesday. My mom and I have some food leftover from our Cumberland shopping trip and would like to hand it off at this meeting. I have attached photos of the food we have so you can get some ideas for meal planning, which we’ll do after the meeting on Tuesday. If you are down to be Grubmaster, please email me. First person to email me about being grubmaster wins my eternal love and respect, and also gets to be Grubmaster :). 

Now’s the moment you’ve been waiting for when I announce what movie we’re watching for Citizenship in the Community! The movie is…drumroll please….
THE BEE MOVIE (to absolutely no one’s surprise-). Date is TBD (but most likely in March or April).

Lastly, If you are in the PLC, please stay a bit after the meeting so we can discuss the plan for the 2/15 meeting which I won’t be attending. 

Scout Sunday 2022

Scout Sunday at Oak Grove United Methodist Church. Thank you to all who attended either online or in-person. We’d also like to recognize the Troop 177 Scouts who participated in the service: Abby Cole, Alice Gufstason, and Leigh Shofner. This is a great way for the troop to show our appreciation to the church for all they do for us.

A special congratulations goes to Mr. Gilmore for receiving the Cross & Flame award!

If you missed the service, you can still view the recording at https://www.youtube.com/c/OGUMC.

Cumberland Island Camping Trip

We are moving ahead with plans to visit Cumberland Island as our February camping trip. The deadline to register for this trip is next Monday, February 7th, at 10:00 p.m.

Note that even if you were registered for the trip in January, you will still need to register again.

For more information you can review the updated Trip Sheet.

If you’re planning to go (even if you registered for the January trip), please Register Online.

OA Elections

Troop 177 will be holding elections for the Order of the Arrow at our meeting on Tuesday March 8th. Any Scout who is at least First Class rank, and has 15 camping nights in the last two years (since March 2020) is eligible for election into the Order of the Arrow. We currently have two Scouts who will be eligible for election, and another two who are right on the edge, and could be by March 8th. If you are interested and think you are close please talk to Mr. Taylor ASAP.

Scout Day at the Capitol

March 9, 2022 | Georgia State Capitol

Scouting prepares young people to be good citizens. Spend the day witnessing first-hand the political process in Georgia. Take on the Capitol Scavenger Hunt. Watch your legislators recognize your Scouts from the House Gallery. And have a chance to ask actual representatives your most pressing questions! 

The Capitol will provide a note explaining the activities the Scouts participated in during the day. This event starts at 7:45 AM. Please check with your school’s administrative staff to determine if this will qualify as an excused absence. 

For more information and to sign up visit: https://www.atlantabsa.org/ScoutCapitol

Shooting Sports Days

Upcoming Atlanta BSA Events:

Open Shoot – Archery, Rifle, or Shotgun
Date: February 19 from 9AM-4PM
Location: Bert Adams Scout Camp – 218 Scout Rd, Covington, GA 30016
Cost: $10 per session

Open Shoot – Archery, Rifle, or Shotgun
Date: April 2 from 9AM-4PM
Location: Woodruff Scout Camp – 31 Woodruff Dr, Blairsville, GA 30152
Cost: $10 per session

Note: This is not a merit badge day. Scouts can sign up for one session in the morning and another in the afternoon, or the same one all day. For signup information: https://www.atlantabsa.org/shootingdays

Ranger Camp – June 26 – July 1, 2022

For over 30 years, the US Army Rangers has partnered with the BSA to create a unique High Adventure opportunity for up to 100 participants including youth and adult. Highlights include:

  • Learning knots, including how to tie a climbing and rappelling harness
  • Climbing, belaying and rappelling on various features, starting out small and leading up to a night rappel
  • Learning how to construct a rope bridge as part of a team and night rope bridge competition
  • Land navigation as part of a team using a map and compass

The camp is held at the Camp Frank D. Merrill US Army Ranger base in Dahlonega, GA. Participants sleep in the barracks and eat in the mess hall or MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) in the field. In the middle of the week, participants transition to Yonah Mountain and camp for two nights where skills are put into practice on a larger scale.

For more information, click here: https://www.nega-bsa.org/Ranger.

Mr. Henderson with T77 went to this camp as a youth for 5 years in a row and considers it his favorite camp. It is a lot of fun and very rewarding. It inspired him to spend weekends in college climbing, rappelling and camping on Mt. Yonah. He looks forward to going back to Ranger Camp this year and is happy to answer any questions you have.

Summer Camp

We are still a couple of months off from summer camp registration, but some of the High Adventure programs fill up early. If you will be 13 by June 1st, 2022 and would like to participate in one of the High Adventure Treks offered through Camp Daniel Boone, instead of the traditional summer camp program, please read through the High Adventure Guide to find out what programs are offered and what is involved in each program, then register through the troop Summer Camp Registration Form.

National Youth Leadership Training

NYLT is a week-long advanced leadership course designed to teach Scouts the tools, techniques and skills they need to be better leaders – not only in their units, but also at home, in school, and in their daily lives. The Atlanta Area Council offers this several times throughout the year. This is a great opportunity to hone your leadership skills (and it looks great on a college resume). Introduction to Leadership Skill for Troops is a prerequisite for NYLT. This is a one day course taught at the troop level, and we will be scheduling this for the spring. If you are interested in attending please visit the Atlanta Area Council NYLT page or talk to Mr. Taylor or Mr. Wheeler about what’s involved.

If you have already attended NYLT, you can also serve on staff for one of the upcoming NYLT weeks. See the above website for details.

Service Opportunities

There are opportunities for community service listed on the Community Service Page. If you know of any other opportunities, please feel free to share these with Autumn or Mr. Taylor.

Merit Badge Opportunities

Atlanta Area Council has announced all of the Merit Badge summits for 2022. The next Merit Badge Summit will be April 30th and will feature STEM Merit Badges. Registration opens on March 18, 2022 at 9 AM.
To learn more about this and other Merit Badge Summits planned this year, visit: https://www.atlantabsa.org/MeritBadgeSummit

Northeast Georgia Council is holding the Appalachee District Advance-A-Rama February 26, 2022 at Central Gwinnett HIgh School in Lawrenceville. For more information at to register visit: https://www.nega-bsa.org/APAAR

Atlanta Area Council offers many merit badge offerings throughout the year. Upcoming Merit Badges include Automotive Maintenance on February 12, and Aviation offered March 12, April 16, and May 14.
More information about these and other Merit Badge programs at: https://www.atlantabsa.org/meritbadgedays

Chattahoochee Nature Center offers nature themed merit badge classes on the weekends in the Spring through Fall. Upcoming classes include Mammal Study on February 27.
For more information and to register visit: https://www.chattnaturecenter.org/education/scouts/scouts-bsa/

Dunwoody Nature Center also offers a number of nature related Merit Badges. Upcoming classes include: Bird Study February 19 and Nature April 9.
Learn more and register at: https://dunwoodynature.org/scout-merit-badges/

Daniel Boone Council headquartered in Asheville, NC has a rolling slate of virtual merit badge programs, with new merit badges offered every week. These are usually two sessions in the late afternoon or evening. There are quite a few popular merit badges including a large selection of Eagle Required. These usually fill up, but if you look at later weeks, there are plenty of seats still open.
Learn more and register at: https://www.danielboonecouncil.org/virtual

Merit Badge Process

For any Merit Badge that a Scout works on, the first step in the process is to have a discussion with the Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster and get a signed blue card. While Troop 177 has embraced digital blue cards, Scouts still need to have a discussion with one of the adult leaders in the troop and get either a physical or digital sign off before beginning wok on the Merit Badge. You are welcome to sign up for any of the Merit Badges offerings that are listed on the website, please remember to talk to Mr. Taylor or one of the ASMs to get approval for the merit badge before taking the class.

Troop Communication

Please be sure to join our Remind Classes to get notifications on all of the Troop 177 happenings. There is an app, but you can choose to get notifications via text messages or email.

Troop 177 Parents

Troop 177 Scouts