Trail Talk – 4/28/25

Please take note of important signups, permission slips and payments needed below:

  • Pathfinder Church Cleanup Day
  • Girl Troop Lock-in
  • Wilderness First Aid Volunteers Needed!
  • May Campout
  • Summer Camp
  • Boundary Waters
  • Forms! Forms! Forms! We need those Medical Forms and more!
  • Tax Exempt Donations!
  • JERKY SALES! JERKY SALES! JERKY SALES!
  • Mini-High Adventure

Here are our Troop announcements for the week:

Pathfinder Church Cleanup Workday(NEW) – The church needs volunteer help with some cleanup projects. The project will be on May 10th(Saturday). This is the weekend before our May campout so you all don’t have to choose between the campout and the workday! You will earn service hours for this. The day will start at 9:00 a.m.

GIRL TROOP LOCK-IN(Reminder) – May 2nd, 2025 at Pathfinder Church. THAT IS THIS FRIDAY! This event is for the girl troop only! Sorry boys! We will be having a lock-in at Pathfinder Church starting at 6:00 p.m. on Friday May 2nd and ending at about 10:00 a.m. on Saturday May 3rd.  The cost is $10 and there is a permission slip attached to this email. You can pay Sherry and sign up on Tuesday. PLEASE SIGN UP, PAY AND TURN IN THE PERMISSION SLIP ON TUESDAY NIGHT. LAST CHANCE TO SIGNUP AND PAY WILL BE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT!

WILDERNESS FIRST AID TRAINING(UPDATE) –WE NEED HELP!! WE NEED SCOUTS THAT WOULD BE WILLING TO BE PRACTICE VICTIMS! The adults taking this training need to get actual experience treating (fake)wounds! Scouts, please join us this Saturday and Sunday! Scouts, you do not need to pay anything! This will take place on May 3rd and 4th at the Brake’s residence. 2723 Vanderbilt Ave. Portage, MI  49024 starting at 8:00 a.m. each day. The cost is $60. You can pay Sherry or you can pay on Zeffy.

 MAY CAMPOUT PIONEER SCOUT RESERVATION(New) – May 16 – 18. The May Campout is only 3 weeks away. We will be going to Pioneer Scout Reservation to do our annual cleanup of Klewer campsite. We want Klewer to be ready for us for the first week of summer camp and so we need to get it all cleaned up after the Fall and Winter! WE NEED HELP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! A few people cannot do this alone! There is a permission slip attached to this email, and you can sign up for this campout on Tuesday with Sherry. The cost is $40. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEAE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE(THE TUESDAY BEFORE) TO SIGN UP. This time of year, is very busy and I need plenty of time to make the appropriate plans for this campout!

SUMMER CAMP 2025(UPDATE!) –Pioneer Scout Reservation the week of June 15 – 21st! The cost for Summer Camp this year is $430 per scout and $215 per adult! All payments are due by the end of April! If you haven’t made your final payments yet, please do so as soon as possible. We must pay Pioneer! Don’t forget that there is a ton of paperwork that must also be turned in; Informed Consent, Release Agreement and Authorization, Scouting America Physical Forms Parts A, B1, B2 AND C, Troop Summer Camp Permission Slip. Merit badges have been registered and as soon as we have everything sorted out, we will let you know what merit badges you got and what time slots you got!

BOUNDARY WATERS(Reminder) –July 11 – 20th Please continue to make payments. The cost is $900, and we have been asking you to pay $200/month since January. After our training this last weekend, please make sure that you now start taking care of making sure you are ready for the trip!

PHYSICAL FORMS!(Reminder) – NO PHYSICAL FORM, NO SUMMER CAMP, BOUNDARY WATERS OR MINI-HIGH ADVENTURE. Every Scout and Leader MUST have an up-to-date BSA PHYSICAL FORM with all parts of the form filled out, Part A, B1, B2 and C if you plan to go to Summer Camp, Boundary Waters or the Mini-High Adventure. You must get a new one for this year. No Form, No Trip. WE NEED ALL PHYSICAL FORMS TURNED IN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Starting NEXT Scout Year(September), we MUST have a physical form on file for your scout for that scout to be able to go on ANY outing with the troop. This is Scouting America policy.

TAX EXEMPT DONATIONS(Important) – Now that we are back under the charter of Pathfinder Church, we once again have a 501c 3 status which means that we have an EIN number that allows for tax free donations! If you have been wanting to donate money to the troop for such things as our Campership Fund(help, send a scout to camp) or for other areas of troop need but haven’t wanted to be taxed on it, NOW is the time! Please talk to Sherry about donations to the troop!

 JERKY!(Reminder) – Our annual Jerky sale began on January 28th. Each stick sells for $1.00 and for each one sold, the scout earns 24 cents into their individual scout account. You can make payments for jerky at any time here – https://bit.ly/244Jerky

Mini-High Adventure(Reminder) –The trip will take us to the historic battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This trip is taking place August 2 – 6th. A day of travel, 3 days in Gettysburg and a day of travel home! The mini-high adventure sounds like it is going to be loaded with fun and some awesome things to see. Sign up now! The final cost is to be determined but could be somewhere around $150. That is a STEAL for a trip like this. We are going to ask for a $50 deposit currently to secure your spot. Sign up for this and pay the deposit with Sherry in the office. Questions, please contact Abby Withers.

Scoutmaster Minute – EXCITEMENT – I have been pondering what my scoutmaster minute should be for this week, and I think this last weekend really helped push me towards this topic. Excitement. With spring here and the warmer months on their way, schedules really start to get busy. They get busy with our scout troop, but they also get busy with other activities that people are involved in. Sports, music, dance, theatre and on and on it goes. When it starts to be this time of year, I almost feel like I am coming out of my cave and ready for the months ahead. They will be busy, but I think they will be rewarding as well. This last weekend, we spent the day on Saturday talking all about High Adventure. If you don’t know me by now, you should know that high adventure is one of my favorite aspects of the scouting program. As we talked about Boundary Waters a lot on Saturday, I found myself getting more and more excited about that trip. Then, Sherry registered the troop for Summer Camp and merit badges on Sunday and I couldn’t help but get excited about Summer Camp. Not just Boundary Waters and Summer Camp though but the May Campout, Pentwater, the Lock-in next weekend, the Wilderness First Aid, my own outdoor activities both camping and in my yardwork! There is just something about being outside that helps bring one alive. We have a busy time of year right now, but it is a worthwhile one as well because it helps to spark that excitement in all of us as we look towards the summer months and all the activities that we have planned. I hope that you aren’t letting school or whatever bog you down and dampen that sense of excitement you get when you look ahead to getting to do something big. I hope you find joy and your spirits lifted when you think about your scouting activities that lie ahead! I know I do!

 “What Troop Does More!!” – 244