Boy Scouts of America Centennial Tribute to the founders of the Boy Scouts of America (Lord Robert Baden-Powell, Ernest Thompson Seton, William D. Boyce, Daniel Carter Beard, and James E. West). This video was presented at the Longhorn Council's Chisholm Trail District Awards Banquet on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. This video was produced by Alecia Jarrett and James Williams of Venturing Crew 153.
The BSA requires all Scouts to have an updated health form each year. This year we have a new 2010 Health Form. Part A & C should be completed and turned in as soon as possible. Part B is the Physical Exam part that will be completed by a Physician prior to Summer Camp.
Our Troop will offer Physical Exams for summer camp at our Scout meeting on April 26. Or, the Scout may have their Physical Exam completed by their Family Physician. All Scouts and Adults attending summer camp are required to have a physical exam each year.
The Physical Exam form can be found on the [FORMS DOWNLOAD] page.
Part A & C will need to be completed and turned in for all Scouts that plan to attend the campout prior to March 26.
ORDER OF THE ARROW
Those of you who were elected to be in the Order of the Arrow during the meeting in January will be required to attend a Calling Out ceremony. Typically, the ceremony is conducted during the District Camporee and again during summer camp.
The District Spring Camporee is currently scheduled for April 26-28 in Rockdale. The Calling Out Ceremony is usually do during the closing campfire on Saturday evening. This date was just recently announced by our District Camping Committee. This date is in conflict with our Troop campout which is also scheduled for that weekend.
The other opportunity to participate in the ceremony will be at Camp Tahuaya during summer camp. The date for that ceremony will be on Friday, June 18, at the closing campfire for the first week of camp. Our Troop will have a group of Scout going to camp that week.
Also, the second week of camp they will probably have another Calling Out ceremony if there are any Scouts that still have not participated in the ceremony. That date will be Friday, June 25.
Please look at you family calendars and pencil in a date when you will be able to attend one of these ceremonies. In order to be in the OA, you must attend one of these ceremonies.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The following are the announcements from the Troop Court of Honor last Monday:
The next payment for Summer Camp which is $75.00 is dueat our next meeting on Monday, March 1. Checks should be made payable to Troop 153.
The Personal Fitness merit badge will be taught beginning with our next Scout meeting on March This is a required merit badge for Eagle. All Scouts that have not completed this merit badge should plan to attend these sessions. Mrs. Tresselt will be the counselor for this merit badge.
Spring Break is March 15-19. We will not have a Scout meeting on March 15.
Our next Troop Campout is schedule for March 26-28. The deadline to register for the campout is March 8.
SCOUT RANK ADVANCEMENT CHANGES
The new Boys Scout Handbook for 2010 has several changes in the advancement requirements. You can see a summary of these changes in the following [LINK].
Those Scouts that have completed rank advancement up to this point do not have to go back and redo anything. However, those that have not completed one of more of the ranks will be required to follow the new requirements.
For example: Let say that Scout Johnny Dogood has completed his First Class rank and is now working on his Star rank. He will need to follow the new requirements in order to complete the Star rank. And then also, he will have to follow the new requirements for Life and Eagle.
MARCH TROOP CAMPOUT
Our next Troop campout is scheduled for March 26-28 at Lost Pines Boy Scout Camp near Bastrop. We plan to meet in the church parking lot and be ready to leave by 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 26. We will return to the church parking lot by around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 28.
Directions to the Scout Camp are as follows: From the church parking lot take 31st Street south to Hwy 93. Turn left on Hwy 93 and go east for approx. 4.0 miles. Turn right on Hwy 95 and go south for about 72 miles. You will see a sign that says Lost Pines Boy Scout Camp on the left. Turn and follow the road to the camp. It takes about one and one-half hours to go from the church to the camp.
We will be depending on the adults that are driving to assist with the transportation and allow a few other scouts to ride in their vehicle. So it is important for everyone to meet in the church parking lot at the same time so we can make sure everyone has a ride.
Also, all Scouts attending this campout should wear their Scout uniform on Friday and again on Sunday morning. Also, all campers should eat their dinner prior to coming on the campout or bring a sack lunch with them. We do serve dinner on Friday evening. We will have a light snack after we complete camp set-up.
The fee for this campout is $10.00. Checks should be made payable to Troop 153. The deadline to register for the campout is March 8th at the Scout meeting. Please turn in the completed registration form along with the campout fee.
Download the registration form and the list of "What to Bring on the Campout" from the [DOWNLOAD FORMS] page. Remember, all Scouts should pack their own personal belongings and make sure their name or initials are on all of their items.
BOARD OF REVIEWS
As you know, at the end of each rank, the Scout is required to have a Scoutmaster's Conference and then a Board of Review. We have had several Scouts that need a Board of Review.
Also, we would like to remind everyone that we try to be through with the Scout meeting by 8:00 p.m.
Recently, some of the Scouts have waited until the end of the meeting to have their Board of Review. That causes Mr. Capps and several other adults, as well as the Scouts, to have to stay late to conduct these reviews. Therefore, to ensure we do not have to stay late, we will announce at the meeting this evening, that anyone who is scheduled to have their Board of Review should check with Mr. Capps as soon as the Opening Ceremony is completed and before they go to the Merit Badge Session.
This way everyone should be ready to return home immediately after the meeting is over.
MERIT BADGE PROCEDURES
There have been several parents and Scouts asking questions about the merit badge procedure. The following is a brief outline of the procedure.
1. Merit Badge Counselors: Counselors are usually parents or other adults that are knowledgeable about one or more of the merit badge subjects. The last time we counted them, there were 122 merit badges. We are very fortunate to have a fairly large Troop with lots of parents that are knowledgeable in almost any of these merit badge areas. So, we use primarily the resources we have within our Troop for our merit badge counselors.
All merit badge counselors are supposed to be registered with the Boy Scouts of America. They should complete a registration form using the leader code of 42. There is no fee for this registration. This is an area we have been a little weak in. So, we need to do a better job in registering our merit badge counselors in the future.
2. Merit Badge Sessions: Part of our Troop advancement program is to offer merit badge sessions during the Scout meeting. In these situations a merit badge counselor will teach a group of Scouts the information related to this merit badge at two or three of the meetings. At the completion of the sessions, the counselor will give the Advancement Committee Chairman (Mr. Capps) a list of the Scouts that have completed the merit badge. In most cases there are a few Scouts that do not complete all of the requirements. So, the counselor will also need to provide Mr. Capps with a list of those Scouts that have a partial completion.
3. Individual Merit Badge Activity: If a single Scout needs to work on a particular merit badge that is not being offered during the Scout meeting, then he will need to talk to the Scoutmaster or an Assistant Scoutmaster to find out who the merit badge counselor is for the merit badge. Then, he will need to contact the counselor for guidance and direction on this particular merit badge. Note: As part of the BSA Youth Protection program a Scout must have a buddy to go with him to meet with the merit badge counselor. The buddy may be another Scout, a parent, a brother or sister, a relative, or a friend. After completion of the merit badge requirements, then the Scout must obtain a blue card signed by the merit badge counselor and the scoutmaster and give the card to Mr. Capps. Then Mr. Capps will update the Scouts advancement record in the troop database and order the merit badge for the Scout.
4. Parent Involvement: Parents may assist their Scout with the merit badge by coaching, guiding and encouraging them to complete all of the requirements in a timely manner. However, the merit badge counselor is the one who determines if all of the requirements have been properly completed.
5. Merit Badge Counselors List: One of the actions that needs to be completed by the Scoutmaster and the Troop Committee is to develop a comprehensive list of our Troop Merit Badge Counselors. We will be working on this over the next few weeks. This list will be posted on the Troop website and will be updated on a regular basis. Any parent that is not currently registered to be a merit badge counselor should do so at their earliest convenience. Registration forms will be available at the Scout meeting.
PACK LEADERS MEETING NOTES
The February Leaders Meeting notes are now available for download on the [Download Forms]page.
THANK YOU!
We would like to thank everyone, Scouts and Parents, that assisted with the Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser last Friday. After expenses, we were able to make $1,328.34. This is the best we have done on this fundraiser. We had 29 Scouts that sold tickets. That is 41% of our Troop.
[UPDATED] 09-10 TROOP PLAN
The Troop Plan for 2009 - 2010 has been UPDATED as of 2/2/2010. You can download the new planner [HERE]. All adjusted dates and activities will be in Red.
WINNING PATROL NIGHT WATCHER PATROL 360 lbs. of food
Troop Total: 987lbs.
SELL POPCORN ALL YEAR!
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OUR PHOTOS
HAVE ANY PHOTOS?
If you would like to share your scouting digital photos please bring them to the next scout meeting. The preferred delivery method is by any USB device such as a thumb drive or a direct camera connection with a USB cable. Other ways are to burn the images onto a CD or by sending them by email to: info@venturing153.com. Please see James Williams (Venturing 153 Advisor) for any further questions.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratualtions to Alecia Jarrett for receiving her Venturing Silver Award on Saturday, November 14, 2009.
The BSA requires all Scouts to have an updated health form each year. This year we have a new 2010 Health Form. Part A & C should be completed and turned in as soon as possible. Part B is the Physical Exam part that will be completed by a Physician prior to Summer Camp. 
Those of you who were elected to be in the Order of the Arrow during the meeting in January will be required to attend a Calling Out ceremony. Typically, the ceremony is conducted during the District Camporee and again during summer camp.
The new Boys Scout Handbook for 2010 has several changes in the advancement requirements. You can see a summary of these changes in the following [
If you would like to share your scouting digital photos please bring them to the next scout meeting. The preferred delivery method is by any USB device such as a thumb drive or a direct camera connection with a USB cable. Other ways are to burn the images onto a CD or by sending them by email to: info@venturing153.com. Please see James Williams (Venturing 153 Advisor) for any further questions.