January 11, 2022

Posted on by Troop 177 Webmaster

In this week’s newsletter

This Week’s Meeting

Hello Troop 177,

I know I’m getting this out kind of late, things have been kind of crazy. In order to minimize the risk of COVID for the upcoming trip, I have decided to make this week’s meeting virtual. 

For people going to Cumberland Island, we will work on making characters. If you aren’t going to be at Cumberland, you can make a character for fun. After that, we can do some Blookets/Kahoots/Gimkits/etc. 

I know that these online meetings are not ideal and it’s very hard to please everyone. Thank you all so much for bearing with me and here’s to hoping we’ll get back to in-person scouting soon. 

As always, let me know if you need anything.

Thanks and YiS,

Autumn

Committee Meeting

Parents, please make plans to attend the troop committee meeting on Monday January 10th at 7:30 p.m. This will be a virtual meeting. We will be discussing recharter and our plans regarding changes to meetings during the current wave of covid. Please be sure to attend to offer input and help with decision making.

Cumberland Island Camping Trip

We will be making menus and duty rosters for the Cumberland Island trip at this week’s meeting. Adults going on the trip will also need to have an aside to discuss some of the logistics for the trip. If you’re signed up for Cumberland Island, please be sure to join us virtually.

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

MLK National Day of Service

For those not attending Cumberland Island, the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance is participating in the MLK Day of Service on Monday January 17th. This would count as conservation service for those that need it.
Learn more and sign up at: https://www.wawa-online.org/post/registration-open-for-mlk-day-of-service

Camp Allatoona Fish Habitat Build

On January 22nd, there will be a fish habitat build at Camp Allatoona (where the troop has camped several times). The project involves placing donated Christmas trees while the water level is at winter lows. This is a great project for anyone needing to finish the project requirement for Fish and Wildlife management, as well as anyone needing conservation service hours, or any general community service hours. If you are interested contact Mr. Taylor to find out more.

Merit Badge Opportunities

No Troop Merit Badge Opportunities this month. If you would like to work on a Merit Badge, please contact Mr. Taylor to arrange to work on a Merit Badge independently.

Atlanta Area Council has announced all of the Merit Badge summits for 2022. The first one falls on February 5th, which also coincides with the Troop 77 & 177 advancement day. Many of the same Merit Badges offered by the council will be offered at the troop level. We encourage everyone in the troop to participate in advancement day.
To learn more about other Merit Badge Summits planned this year, visit: https://www.atlantabsa.org/MeritBadgeSummit

Northeast Georgia Council is holding their annual Advance-A-Rama January 29, 2022 at Shiloh High School, just up the road in Gwinnett County. For more information at to register visit: https://www.nega-bsa.org/swaar

Atlanta Area Council offers many merit badge offerings throughout the year.
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. There are no upcoming classes, but check back often for new offerings.
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: Environmental Science January 15 & 16, and Bird Study February 19.
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