Boy Scout Troop 1001

Hello all Scouts and Scouters,

We are in the busy time of year for scouting, two weekends ago we helped clean up the church yard, last weekend we had a fantastic campout which included Troop 118 of Hamilton Park along with five Webelos & parents as guests. Thank you to Scouts Ray P. and Ryan C. for taking such good care of the Webelos and to Scouter Mr. Reavis for arranging the joint campout with Troop 118. Mr. Goad also did a great job getting a perfect site for our First Aid/Physical Fitness Olympics. If your scout attended he probably came home tired from all the fun.

I mentioned it is a busy time of year, this weekend members of Troop 1001 will be manning the archery range for Webelos Woods. All those that volunteered to staff will need to be in the TBC parking lot Saturday morning at 6:00am for an early departure. We will arrive at Camp Cherokee near Athens about 8:00am to set up the archery range. The first event will start at 9:00am. We will be home Saturday evening around 9:00pm. This event will complete the service hours required for rank advancement.

SPL Richard H. established a new policy for scouts holding a leadership position in the troop. There have been too many unexcused absences at meetings and campouts by those individuals holding leadership positions like patrol leader, historian, instructor, troop guide, etcetera. The new policy states that any absence must be explained in a 200 word essay to be given to Richard at the next regular meeting. He is tired of excuses like "I have to go to the birthday party of my sister's best friend's mother's dog". When a leader doesn't attend it sets a bad example for others.

The exception to this policy is for those that have contacted SPL Richard in advance with a reasonable explanation of the absence. For example, we missed some troop members at last week's campout while they were competing at a regional band competition. We are proud to know that several of our troop members will be at the State Competition Band event this coming weekend. No essay is necessary from them, but we do hope a trophy accompanies them home. Good luck at the state competition!

Raney's Ranch is our next campout to be held at Quail Alley on November 14-16 at Mr. Raney's ranch near Ranger, Texas. It is always one of the most talked about campouts of the year. We will have only two regular meetings preceding the campout so make sure your scout attends both of these important meetings. We will be covering gun safety, archery safety, how to handle a fishing pole and rules of the ranch. If you are going to the campout do not miss the next two Monday meetings.

The First Aid Merit badge class and the God and Country Award class will be held at 6:00pm preceding the regular meeting.

I look forward to seeing you all Monday night at Trinity Bible Church.

Yours in Scouting,
Scoutmaster Coon