Greetings! 1. TOMORROW’S MEETING: Will be held at St. Martin’s in the Field church at 7:30 – 9:00 pm, Thursday September 18th. Class A uniforms are required. 2. DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR BOOKS! Bring your Scout Books to the meeting tomorrow night. Each Scout must bring his Scout Handbook so they can be checked to make sure Scouts are getting the qualifications signed off that they have completed the requirements for. 3. PHILMONT PRESENTATION: At tomorrow’s meeting, we will have the Philmont 2008 presentation, with pictures and awards. The next opportunity to participate in Philmont is coming up in 2010. Philmont is such a popular trip that we must start planning for it in October of this year. Parents, please come to tomorrow’s meeting to learn of this exciting and unique opportunity. 4. UPCOMING PLC MEETING: The next PLC meeting is next Monday, September 22, at 7:30 pm. 5. DEADLINE FOR CALVERT CLIFFS TRIP: Deadline for permission slips is September 18th. The first trip of the year will be to Calvert Cliffs State Park, Sept. 26-28. We will be tent camping for 2 nights in the youth group area of the park which is close to the beach. Activities include swimming, beach combing, hunting for sharks teeth and other fossils, cliff exploration, and trail hikes. On the return trip home, we will also stop at "Brownies Beach" (a bayside park just south of Chesapeake Beach) for excellent shark teeth hunting. Last year, many shark teeth were found, and many fish were caught. More information including permission slips will be made available at our first meeting. There is information and a permission slip available for this trip on our website at http://troop-855.org . Patrol cooks need to be at tomorrow’s meeting, if you missed last week. 6. FALL SAILING TRIP: This trip will take us back to the Bayport Scout Reservation in Jamaica, Virginia, where we were for Summer Camp. We will be camping at the river base this time. On the waterfront, we will have access to club 420 dinghies and the Bayport Hobie catamaran. We will arrive on Friday, October 17th, spend all day Saturday and Sunday morning on the Rappahanock River, and be home Sunday, October 19th in time for dinner. In addition to offering just plain fun, this trip will offer the opportunity to qualify for the skills portion of the prestigious small boat sailing merit badge. Total cost will be $80 per person, due to boat rental fees. 7. LOCATION PICKED FOR PIONEERING TRIP! The Pioneering Trip on November 7-9 will be held at Pocomoke River State Park. With 14,753 wooded acres in the Southwestern section of Worcester County, between Snow Hill and Pocomoke City, the state forest there is famous for its stand of loblolly pine and for its cypress swamps which border the Pocomoke River. Pocomoke means black water, and there is good fishing in these waters! 8. SCOUT MERIT BADGE RECORDS: Please see the attached listing of merit badges your Scout has earned, according to our database records. It is a good idea to make sure you have your blue cards and notation in your Scout Handbooks for each qualification that you have. Please check our records with your records, and Mr. Snader know of any differences. Also attached is a listing of Merit Badge Counselors, if you need to consult with one to help you achieve your merit badge goals. 9. ADULT TRAINING RECORDS: Adults, do you remember all those little certificates and cards you have collected through the years by getting trained in a Boy Scout requirement, such as “Safe Swim”, “CPR”, “First Aid”, or “Safety Afloat”? We need a copy of those certificates or cards for our files. Please bring yours to the Boy Scout meeting either this week or next week, or scan them into an email and send it to Mrs. Heller. 10. HOW TO BECOME YOUTH PROTECTION CERTIFIED: It takes about 45 minutes, and helps to protect the boys and the health of the troop. The online course is now good for two years. Please read on to learn how to get this training. If you want to get this training online, here are the steps to follow: a. Go to this link: http://www.scouting.org/Applications/MyScoutingFull.aspx b. If you do not already have a “MyScouting” account, then click the “New to MyScouting?” link to the right side of the screen. c. After you have set up an account, then they email you a link that then takes you to the e-learning classes. d. If you go to the e-learning tab that says “General” (for general training), then you will see the Youth Protection Training. If you want to take classroom training instead, there are also two-hour Youth Protection classes offered at the Glen Burnie United Methodist Church at 2nd Avenue and Crain Highway. The dates of these classes are 9/29/08, 10/29/08, and 11/11/08. Classes are held at night and are only one night in duration for the entire Youth Protection course. Contact Greg Milne at 410-969-0244, if you are interested in registering for this class. 11. OTHER ADULT LEADER TRAINING REQUIRED: If you are a registered adult leader for Troop 855, you must have some basic training. The one you need to take first is Youth Protection Training. After that, you need to take something called New Leader Essentials and Boy Scout Troop Committee Training (for committee members only). There is also training specific for Assistant Scoutmasters. There is a mega training session being held on October 4-5th at the Harbor Hospital – Baum Conference Center at 3001 South Hanover Street in Baltimore that will take care of these requirements. Please see the flyer attached to this update, and submit your registration today. 12. EAGLE SCOUT PROJECTS UPDATE: Sam Degenhard’s Eagle Project: Sam thanks all who helped build the kayak rack at the Olde Severna Park Beach. Yet another Eagle project WELL-DONE! Saturday, September 20th: Adam Blaszczak’s Eagle Project: Adam needs your help! Adam’s project is to build picnic tables and landscape the area around them at Shipley’s Choice Elementary School. Plan on showing up at 9:00 am. Bring work gloves, rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows, and screwdrivers. 13. RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL UPDATE: It’s coming up! Please volunteer to serve drinks at the Renaissance Festival. The Maryland Renaissance Festival Fund Raiser is scheduled for Sunday, October 5, 2008. Work hours are 9:30 am to 7 pm. Scouts must be 14 yrs or older. Please let either Sam Degenhard or Mr. Watson know if you are planning to participate. This project is a substantial fund raising opportunity for the Troop. Please plan to help. 14. OTHER BOY SCOUTING OPPORTUNITIES: 32ND Annual Maryland Scout Orienteering Day: This exciting event is held near Upper Marlboro on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at the Patuxent River Park’s Jug Bay Natural Area. Learn many important skills for orienteering, including parts of the requirements for the Orienteering Merit Badge. We are not required to go as a troop and can go as individuals. If you are interested, talk to Mr. Watson. There is no minimum age limit for Boy Scouts. Cost is $4.00 each. “A good orienteer needs strong legs, a subtle brain, and the ability to exert both at the same time, which is rare.” –Outside Magazine 100th Anniversary Boy Scout Jamboree: This event will be held at Fort A.P. Hill in the summer of 2010. We will give you more information as we get it on this event. 15. EVENT SCHEDULE: § September 26-28 – Camping Trip to Calvert Cliffs State Park § October 5 – Maryland Renaissance Festival Soda Sales (for scouts age 14 and over) § October 5 – Sharks and Huskies Kayak and Canoeing Day Trip on the Potomac River § October 17-19 – Fall Sailing Campout § November 7-9 – Pioneering Trip § November 16 – Scouting Sunday at St. Martin’s in the Field Church. We are all invited to church and coffee hour afterwards, where Troop 855 will be recognized. § November 22 – Campus Cleanup at St. Martin’s in the Field Church. We are on track to help for this event. § December 6 – St. Martin’s in the Field Holiday Bazaar Parking § December 12-14 – Caving Trip in West Virginia § January 17 – Klondike Derby § January 24 – Old Rag Hike § February 20-22 – Ski Trip, Seven Springs § March 7 – Scouting for Food § March 21-22 – Rock Climbing § April 17-19 – Whitewater Rafting § April 25-26 – New Boy Campout § May 1-2 – Webelos Camp Barrett § May 15-17 – Patapsco Mountain Biking and Campout § June – To Be Determined- Beach Campout § July 19-25 – Summer Camp § August 15-23 – Sea Base Scuba Trip 16. lord baden-powell’s QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “A boy learning what he can as a Scout has a good chance in the world.”