Hello all Scouts and Scouters,

We had a fantastic weekend at Wisdom. Six patrols comprising 35 scouts built pioneering structures designed to launch tennis balls. Five of the six were seaworthy and made it onto the pond lashed to canoes while one patrol chose to shoot from shore. Jack R's patrol cooked some excellent dishes in dutch ovens including enchiladas and a delicious chocolate cherry cobbler. Thank you Walker W for your cooking efforts. They even showed us an interesting method of cooking bacon in canola oil which led to a fire suppression demonstration. The Vegetarian Vikings were named the overall honor patrol, great helmets Alex! We learned a lot this past weekend. A great time was had by all.

Many scouts failed to bring water bottles, which are necessary on every campout. Please check you gear list and highlight the essentials: medications, water bottles, mess kits - we all eat and drink and need the equipment to do so. For parents with children who need medication: if you send it please pick it up at the end of the campout. If your scout needs it, please send him with the appropriate medications. We all pack in haste sometimes but personal health and safety always takes precedence over being a little late for a Friday campout departure.

Our campout next month will be the Personal Fitness/First Aid Olympics in honor of this Olympic year. Monday night we will begin preparation by choosing the various events at the campout. Tom D. will lead the discussion and planning of this exciting event. By the end of the month we will all be in better shape and we will know how to better handle cuts and bruises.

It is Cottonwood time again! This is a key community service project as well as being our biggest fundraiser. Each scouting family should consider contributing a minimum of eight hours of time to ensure we have enough hands to get the job done. We will be helping artists setup their booths, selling water, providing artist breaks and some lucky scouts will get to help in the children's art area. Scouts will earn service hours toward advancement. Sign up Monday night and help the troop continue to grow in the community.

There is no First Aid merit badge class for the next few weeks as Mr. Reisinger is out of town. The God and Country class will continue as planned if Mr. Frank has gotten over his sudden illness that caused last week's cancellation.

Thanks to all the Freebirds that helped the troop soar this past weekend. Canoe wars is a tradition in the troop but a hard one to get all the gear to make it happen. Quartermaster Roberts and Committee Chair Miller made a great effort to ensure that our SPL's motto for the troop was met, "We are building and maintaining a tradition".

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

Yours in Scouting,
Scoutmaster Coon