June 16, 2021

Posted on by Troop 177

In this week’s newsletter

Troop Committee Meeting

The troop committee meets on the second Monday of every month, which is this week. We will be planning the troop activities for the upcoming months. All adult leaders and parents of Scouts are invited to attend. This is a zoom meeting, so you don’t even need to leave home to participate. Contact Jimmy Gilmore or join the Troop 177 Parents Remind channel for the meeting link.

Summer Meeting Schedule

Starting this week, we will have informal meetings one night per week from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. We will be rotating nights to accommodate swim meets on Tuesday nights. We will be meeting the same night each week as Troop 77. These meetings will will be informal affairs to give Scouts the opportunity to drop in to work on advancement and Scout skills, and have rank and Merit Badge requirements signed off.

The schedule is as follows:

  • Wednesday June 16
  • Thursday June 24 — Summer Camp Q&A
  • Monday June 28
  • Thursday July 15

If you have anything in particular you would like to work on, please be sure to let Mr. Taylor know in advance, so that he can be prepared to work with you.

Fishing at Cofer Park

We had a great event at Cofer Park on Sunday and the girls who attended got to practice their angling skills. They even caught a few fish. Thanks to Mr. Shofner for leading this activity. We hope to have a few more troop outings like this that are close to home throughout the summer.

Summer Activities

Thank you all for your patience while we work to get some fun summer activities planned. We have run into several logistical issues planning the activities the girls wanted to do, but hope to have those worked out soon. We will have more details as soon as the activities are finalized.

Summer Camp

Remember that Summer Camp is the Week of July 18-24th at Woodruff Scout Camp in Blairsville, Georgia. If you need to make any changes to your summer camp schedule, please contact Mr. Taylor ASAP.

Also, if you have not turned in your medical forms for camp, be sure to do so at any of the meetings in June. If we do not have your complete medical forms, including part C, you will not be able to attend camp.

High Adventure

WHO WANTS TO DO SOME LOCAL HIGH ADVENTURE THIS OCTOBER?

As part of his Wood Badge Ticket, Mr. Cole and other Leaders are taking a crew of co-ed Scouts (we will be doing this through the Venture Crew made up of Scouts from Troop 77, Troop 177, and Venture Crew 77) on a Local High Adventure Trip that will simulate the backpacking adventure of attending Philmont (without it taking 14 days, traveling to New Mexico, and costing nearly $2,500 like Philmont does).  The trip will be over the long Columbus Day weekend leaving the evening of Wednesday 10/6/2021 after school and returning Monday 10/11/2021.  I am looking for three sets of volunteers:

(1) approximately 8-10 Scouts (14+ or have completed the 8th grade) both girls and boys to go on the actual hike itself (NOTE: If more Scouts are interested, then we can have more than 1 crew and everyone eligible should be able to go],

(2) approximately 5 Older Scouts, preferably with Philmont experience, to meet us on the trail for one day (likely either Saturday or Sunday) and host a Philmont-like Program Activity (and then those Scouts can hike before and after that day in the same area), and

(3) Adult Leaders to (a) go with me and the High Adventure group (Thanks Ms. Henderson and Ms. Indu for stepping up as Female Adult Leaders) on the hike, and (b) at least two leaders to hike with and assist the Older Scout Program group.

If you are interested in getting involved in this project, then please send me an email at ctcole0308@gmail.com with what part you are interested in doing (hiking crew, program crew, or Adult Leader).

Thanks.  Mr. Cole (Troop 77 Scoutmaster)

*An earlier version of this section include a requirement to write a couple of paragraphs about why you wanted to participate. This requirement has been removed.

Conservation Weekend

Registration is open for the 2021 Conservation Weekend at Camp Woodruff November 12-14. This was formerly called Hornaday Weekend, but the BSA has renamed the conservation award. It is now the Distinguished Conservation Service Award, and the weekend has been renamed to match. The event is still pretty much the same though. Scouts will have the opportunity to work on up to three conservation themed merit badges, all of which will help satisfy requirements for the Distinguished Conservation Service Award, and will also participate in a workshop on creating and leading a conservation service project. The cost of the weekend includes camping, meals, merit badge costs, and a t-shirt.
Get all of the details at: https://www.campwoodruff.org/conservation

Merit Badge Opportunities

With school out, now is the perfect time to spend some time working on merit badges. There are plenty of in-person and virtual programs available. Please remember, though, that before starting work on any merit badge, you need to have a conversation with your Scoutmaster or one of the Assistant Scoutmasters.

Atlanta Area Council offers many merit badge offerings throughout the year. Upcoming in-person merit badge opportunities include Aviation (July 17), Automotive Maintenance (August 7), and Railroading (September 17).
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 weekends during the summer. Upcoming classes include Environmental Science August 14th and Canoeing August 22nd.
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 over the summer. Upcoming classes include Sustainability June 26, and Environmental Science on July 10.
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.
Learn more and register at: https://www.danielboonecouncil.org/virtual

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