1. MEETING THIS WEEK TONIGHT, APRIL 8TH- SCOUTMASTER CONFERENCES: Our next meeting will be tonight at 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm at St. Martin’s in the Field Parish Hall. All scouts need to remember to wear Class “A” Uniform, your neckerchief, and either gray, green, or khaki-colored pants for the meeting. PLEASE BRING YOUR SCOUT HANDBOOK- IT’S MANDATORY! New parents must see Ms. Heller at this meeting and get the New Scout Application so we can get them officially signed up. As part of the Boy Scouts 100th birthday, we have been allowed to offer a series of discontinued merit badges THIS YEAR ONLY including tracking, signaling, and carpentry. During this week’s meeting, we will be offering SIGNALING, teaching the boys the use of semaphore flag signaling; in an upcoming meeting, Scouts will be building their own Morse code kits and learning how to use them. Note that this Signaling merit badge will extend over two meetings and if they miss one, given the one year moratorium on the issuance of these rare badges, make-ups will be difficult. So try not to miss this week or next week’s meeting! This is a very cool and rare opportunity to learn a long lost outdoor skillcraft. Scoutmaster Conferences will be held this week, with Board of Review on April 15 for those Scouts ready to advance in rank. Please notify Mr. Ver Ploeg (tverploeg@earthlink.net) if your Scout needs a Scoutmaster conference this week in prep for April 15 BoR. 2. NEW BOY AND SCORPION CAMPOUT, APRIL 10-11TH: This campout is open to all new scouts and Scorpions and will take place at Thomas Point State Park. Tents are not required. Scorpions will work on first- and second-class requirements. Questions? Ask Scoutmaster McFeely at rmcfeely1@comcast.net . Thank you. NEW SCOUTS- PLEASE SEE ATTACHED MEDICAL FORM THAT MUST BE FILLED OUT BEFORE THE TRIP: If possible on short notice, please print out the attached form and fill out parts A and C (A and C only) and bring it to tonight’s meeting. This form must be filled out before the trip on Saturday. Thank you. Departure Time: Meet 9:00 am Saturday morning at St. Martin’s in the Field Church for departure. We will go rain or shine! Return Time: Return will be between noon and 1:00 pm on Sunday, April 11th. 3. APRIL 15TH BOY SCOUT MEETING- ORDER OF THE ARROW ELECTION: The somewhat clandestine and highly coveted Order of the Arrow nominations are coming up next week. At the April 15 meeting, all older scouts interested in becoming members of the Order of the Arrow should come and be a part of the voting process. OA is a prestigious part of the Boy Scout program and members are voted into the program by their peers. 4. WHITE WATER RAFTING TRIP, MAY 21-23: Please see the attached flyer on the White Water Rafting Trip in May. This year, we will be able to take first-year scouts, since they will have already had their New Scout Campout. Sign ups will continue at this week’s meeting. More information in future weekly updates. 5. BROAD CREEK SUMMER CAMP- SUNDAY 7/4/10-SATURDAY 7/10/10: We are beginning official sign-ups. Cost is $340 and we are going to Broad Creek Scout Reservation in Harford County. For our new parents: Scouts earn most of their merit badges for the year at this camp and most consider it a highlight of their scouting careers. Rifle, Shotgun, Archery, Canoeing, Camping, Wilderness Survival, Swimming/lifesaving, Pioneering, Climbing Merit Badges are all offered and we will begin merit badge sign ups soon. Note that we will have a much smaller group this year attending Summer Camp because over half the troop will be leaving for Philmont that week. As always, please make your checks payable to Troop 855. Also note that some will need updated medical forms so don't be getting school physicals without taking your scout medical forms with you! 6. LINK TO OUR WEBSITE: http://troop-855.org 7. SCHEDULE (Subject to minor changes): April 10-11th – New Boy and Scorpion Campout at Thomas Point State Park April 11th – Committee Meeting at 7:00 pm April 23-25th – Philmont Prep Weekend Hike April 23-25th – Rifle/Archery Campout at Broad Creek Scout Reservation May 2nd – Committee Meeting at 7:00 pm May 14-16th – Philmont Prep Weekend Hike May 21-23rd – Whitewater Rafting and Campout at Ohiopyle, PA May 23rd – Philmont Prep Hike June 2nd – (Note that this is a Wednesday)- Committee Meeting at 7:00 pm June 4-6th – Cape Henlopen Beach Campout June 10th – Final Thursday meeting for the year and Court of Honor July 4-10th – Summer Camp at Broad Creek Scout Reservation