Trail Talk – 1/12/26

Good afternoon Troop 244!!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I want to let everyone know that I will NOT be at tomorrow night’s meeting for Scouts. It is basketball season and Rachel has basketball this month and next, so I have to figure out a way to balance out my schedule. I will be missing probably about half the Tuesdays over the next month and a half due to her basketball schedule. However, your scouts are all in good hands with Christy and Sherry and all of the other leaders!

IMPORTANT: PICTURED ROCKS PARTICIPANTS. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR SOME NEW UPDATED INFORMATION ON PICTURED ROCKS!

 IMPORTANT NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THIS WEEK:

JANUARY CAMPOUT: PIONEER SCOUT RESERVATION – JANUARY 16TH – 18TH, 2026.  $45 per scout, $20 per adult. You can still sign up for this campout through Zeffy! Right now, we have about 30 adults and scouts signed up. The boys are currently winning the nice cabin(15 boys to 8 girls)! Girls, get in there and sign up! You can pay and turn in the permission slip(attached) to Sherry on Tuesday night! This Tuesday is the deadline for the campout. You MUST sign up by Tuesday night so that we know proper numbers for food and transportation. We will be taking down the Zeffy Link at 9:00 on Tuesday night.

FEBRUARY CAMPOUT: ANTHONY WAYNE SCOUT RESERVATION – February 13 – 15th, 2026. $45 per scout, $20 per adult. COME AND CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY WITH YOUR FAVORITE TROOP AND YOUR LOVE OF SCOUTING! We will have 2 cabins, one for the girls and one for the boys! In honor of Valentine’s Day, we will have a Thanksgiving Dinner with Turkey and all the fixings! This is our annual Thanksgiving Meal campout! Your PLC will plan activities for the weekend. We have a short turn around time between the January Campout and February Campout, so I wanted to get a sign up for this going NOW! The permission slip for this campout is attached! You can start signing up with Sherry and paying the fee on Tuesday night!

SUMMER CAMP 2026 June 21 – 27th, 2026 PIONEER SCOUT RESERVATION! We are looking at the cost this year of $450/scout and $210/adult. Pioneer raised their prices approximately $20 over last year. This price includes the summer camp fee, t-shirt, and transportation. Summer Camp is one of the best things a scout can do to have a great outdoors time with their fellow scouts, to learn some new skills and to advance in rank. WE HAVE A SIGNUP FOR SUMMER CAMP STARTING THIS TUESDAY! YOU CAN SIGNUP NOW AND EVEN START MAKING PAYMENTS! WE WILL HAVE AN INFORMATIONAL MEETING FOR SUMMER CAMP IN APRIL AFTER SPRING BREAK! Please remember that every scout that goes to camp has to have an updated Scouting America Physical form. The forms for last year DO NOT count! The physical forms are only good for 1 year. So, start thinking about this now and get your scout their physical form filled out Parts A, B1, B2 AND C. Adults attending camps or high adventures are required to have medical forms filled out as well!

Scout Sunday EXTREMELY URGENT! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! Sunday, February 8th. Please plan to attend 1 of the 2 church services at Pathfinder Church on Sunday, February 8th, which is Scout Sunday. This is one of our ways to thank the church for all the ways that they support us in scouting. We have things that many other troops do not have, and we are so grateful for it. Please wear your uniform and come at either the 8:45 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. service. Please be there about 15 minutes early. I may need some scouts for a flag ceremony.

Pictured Rocks Backpacking Trip – I did a little bit of work on the Pictured Rocks trip over the weekend, and I have some new information to share. While I was able to make MOST of the reservations, I still must wait until Wednesday to make one more. However, I can give you the FIRM start date for this trip is going to be Thursday, July 9th!! We will stay at Bay Furnace Campground just outside of Munising that first night. The next day, on Friday, July 10th we will split into 2 groups and hit the trail! One group will start at the east end of Pictured Rocks and head west while the other group starts west and heads east. We will be in the backcountry for 4 nights in various group sites. When we are done in the backcountry, we will stay 1 more night at Bay Furnace Campground(hopefully, this is the reservation I still need to make) and then head home on Wednesday, July 15th! Please remember the cost for this trip is $300. You should have already paid $25 of that and should now start making payments for the rest of it. All payments are due by May 31st. You will need to have a Scouting America Physical form filled out for this trip, just like Summer Camp and other high adventure trips. I will be emailing out a more extensive information packet once I make final reservations and get a chance to create it. Until I get that sent out, feel free to email me if you have questions! Right now, we have 28 people signed up and I have room for 4 more! If you still want to do this trip, sign up now!

MERIT BADGE UPDATES – Scouting America’s Advancement Committee has made updates to over 80 merit badges. These updates took effect on January 1, 2026. If you are already working on the merit badge before January 1st, you can follow the old requirements. If you start any of the merit badges with updated requirements after January 1st, then you need to follow the new/updated requirements. I am attaching the updates they made to this email.

SWAMPBASE – SwampBase participants, please remember to pay your payments as we need to make our final payment to SwampBase by the middle of next month. ALSO, EVERY SWAMPBASE participant will need to have a Scouting American Physical Form filled out in order to participate. This includes ALL parts, Part A, B1, B2 and C. Make sure you take care of this sooner rather than later!

Updated TAX Information for Charitable Giving  – Starting in 2025, taxpayers who do not itemize can claim an above-the-line deduction for cash donations to qualifying charities, up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. This means that even those taking the standard deduction can benefit from charitable giving.

Mackinac Service Contingent Dates – July 18 – 25th, 2026 You will need to submit an application by February 10th. Applications will be available at any of the Callout Nights for the 2026 Troop. Those nights are Jan. 27th and Feb. 5th at 7:00 pm at First Congregational Church in St. Joseph. There is also a Callout Night, specifically for Portage, on February 2nd at Portage Chapel Hil Church on Oakland Drive. Question, ask Mr. Carr.

Philmont 2027 – Start making payments and start physical preparation. It is never too early to start!

Troop 244 Payment Portal – Zeffy. Our Zeffy page remains open for you to make payments or by troop merch! Wanna pay for the campout, Pictured Rocks, SwampBase, Registration, etc. Go to the following link: http://bit.ly/pay244

For troop Swag/Merch you can click on this link: http://bit.ly/244swag

Scoutmaster Minute  – I was made aware of a situation recently and this last weekend I was reflecting on that situation. As I was doing so, it really struck me how opinionated of a species the human race is. We really are. We all have our own thoughts about what is best for a given situation. We often think that the way that we think about how something should happen is the only right way it should happen. We all have our own experiences, some individual and some shared that lead us to think about our given opinions on whatever the subject might be. The problem that a lot of us face though is that we do not know how to effectively communicate our thoughts/opinions without either harming others or at least having the fear that we are going to harm someone else. Thankfully, the Scout Law gives us a guide for doing such a thing with one simple word: Kind. I think it is ok for people to share their opinions with others if they can do it in a kind way and in a way where they realize that the other person might not share their opinion, thoughts or criticisms. We walk on eggshells around people, afraid to talk to them for fear that we will either come across in an unkind way or that their response will be unkind. What ends up happening is that we end up talking about that person or group of people BEHIND THEIR BACKS.  I began asking myself, “why does it have to be that way?”. Why can’t we have productive conversations about a given situation without it degrading into an unkind exchange or happening behind someone’s back? Why is it that I can’t give my opinion without either being fearful of the response or realizing that maybe my opinion doesn’t align with the other person’s and that is OK! I am as guilty of this as the next person, but it is something I have been trying to work on over the years. I try to tell people that I am perfectly willing to listen to what you have to say but you must realize that I might not agree with you. My dad and I have had suggestions about things with Troop 244 over many, many years. Some of those suggestions we took and some we chose not to. Unfortunately, and too often, when we choose not to take someone’s thoughts, suggestions or opinions, they choose to go a different way. It is too bad, really, that that is the response that people have…to walk away from something just because your suggestion or opinion wasn’t followed through on but to be excitedly happy when it is followed through on. Often this is due to a difference in thought or philosophy and in those cases, maybe walking away isn’t such a bad idea but I ask “is it the only solution?”. Every person needs to be where they belong. My dad said for years that not every scout needs to be in or will fit into Troop 244 and that is OK, as long as they remain in Scouting.  Each of us must find our own “fit” that aligns with our given thoughts, opinions and philosophies. There is nothing wrong with finding where you fit but once you are there, support your place with all that you’ve got and maybe think that walking away isn’t the only option. We need to recognize our differences and celebrate them but also realize that those differences sometimes keep us apart and they really don’t need to. I hope that everyone in this troop has found a place where you fit. If you are on the fence about that, let’s have a conversation about it. There are always options but let’s approach everything with kindness in our hearts.

“What Troop Does More!!” – 244!!!