Trail Talk – 6/2/25
Happy June 244!
Good afternoon! Wow, June started yesterday and that means 2 things: 1. School is almost over and 2. Summer Activities are about to begin! Summer is always an exciting time for the troop is this where are “bigger” things happen such as summer camp. It is a time where scouts can kick the bonds of school and the school routine and take some time to really immerse themselves in other things, such as scouting and camping. I look forward to this every year! SUMMER CAMP IS ONLY 2 WEEKS FROM YESTERDAY!
Please note this week that Sherry will NOT be at the scout meeting. Derrick Townsend will be taking her place this week. He will only be accepting things from people such as signing up for the June Campout, permission slips, payments and so on. He does not have information about what is in a scout’s account or anything like that. If you need that information, please email Sherry. Sherry is headed for the Pre-Summer Camp meeting in Toledo to get all of our forms turned in for Summer Camp, which is only 2 weeks away!
Here are our Troop announcements for the week:
June Campout – Pentwater – June 6 – 8th, Hill and Hollow Campground, Pentwater, MI. Please sign up, turn in the permission form and pay, THIS Tuesday night!! See Sherry! This is one of the most FUN campouts that, in my opinion, we do all year! This is meant to be an end of the school year celebration for all the hard work that scouts have put in over the years. We have been doing this campout since 1995, and I want to make sure that we keep doing it! You can come to the campout and not have to worry about working on scouting requirements. You can come to completely have fun…swim in the pool, play at the arcade, ride the go-karts, go to Lake Michigan Beach and so on. BRING YOUR OWN MONEY FOR THE GO-KARTS, ARCADE, MINI-GOLF AND ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THE NORMAL CAMPOUT COST! The cost of campout is $45 but will cover the normal, gas, lodging and food.
CLASS B SHIRTS FOR SUMMER MEETINGS – From now until the ed of August, YOU MAY WEAR CLASS B’S FOR THE SUMMER to Troop meetings. !! THIS MEANS YOU MAY WEAR A SCOUTING AMERICA OR TROOP T-SHIRT OF SOME KIND TO SCOUT MEETINGS INSTEAD OF YOUR CLASS A!!
This does not mean you can just wear any old shirt of some kind though. Much like we wear our Class A to scout meetings throughout the school year, and the Class A is the expected dress, Class B’s are the expected dress during the summer. Class B’s include troop shirts, summer camp shirts, high adventure shirts, cub scout shirts or any other Scouting America t-shirt! Please dress appropriately. If you don’t have a Class B, then you will wear your Class A.
The next time I want to see Class A’s worn is the day we leave for Summer Camp, which is now less than 3 weeks away!!
SUMMER CAMP 2025 (Check-In) – OH MY GOSH!! SUMMER CAMP IS ONLY 2 WEEKS AWAY!! THAT IS CRAZY TALK!! IT IS ALMOST HERE! ARE YOU GETTING READY? ARE YOU MAKING SURE TO START PACKING THE THINGS YOU NEED FOR THE WEEK! ARE YOU GETTING THE PRE-REQUISITES DONE FOR YOUR MERIT BADGES! YOU WILL HEAR MORE REMINDERS FROM ME IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS TO “BE PREPARED” FOR SUMMER CAMP!
BOUNDARY WATERS(UPDATE) – July 11 – 20th Please continue to make payments. The cost is $900. Please pay any remaining balances and turn in any remaining permission slips! This trip is going to be awesome!
Mini-High Adventure (SIGNUP! SIGNUP! SIGNUP!) – August 2 – 6th the troop will travel to the historic battlefield of Gettysburg, PA. We have a final cost for this trip now. The final cost is $200 to cover lodging, food and transportation! Please pay the balance of this trip as soon as possible. A permission slip for this outing is attached to the email. If you have not signed up yet, there is still time to sign up. Questions, please contact Abby Withers.
PHYSICAL FORMS! (URGENT! IMPORTANT!) – If you have not yet turned in a Physical Form for Summer Camp, Boundary Waters or the Mini-High Adventure, then you need to do so now! NO PHYSICAL FORM MEANS 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. If you show up to Summer Camp and don’t have a medical form, WE CANNOT TAKE YOU WITH US! It is a simple procedure.
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) – THIS IS IT! We are now selling jerky until it runs out! We are not ordering or getting anymore! Let’s try to make sure we don’t lose any money on this fundraiser and get all the jerky that we have in stock, SOLD! Sell, sell, sell! 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
Scoutmaster Minute – ACCOMPLISHMENT – This weekend brought to my mind a lot about the idea of accomplishment. I went to the graduation of Portage Central High School on Friday night. It felt weird being an alumni coming back to my alma mater to go to graduation. Afterall, I didn’t graduate at Wing’s Stadium. Back when I was at PC, we graduated on the football field, and we loved it! However, with coming to PC’s graduation on Friday night it was with a profound sense of pride that I came. My niece, Madison, who is the daughter of my youngest sister, graduated from PC on Friday night with all the possible honors that one can get! She is an incredible young lady who is destined to do great things in life. I was very proud to be there to watch her walk across the stage and graduate from the high school chapter of life and move onto the next. At the same time, not only was I there to support Madison but we had several scouts from Troop 244 graduating on Friday night from Portage Central as well- Alexander Haas, Jack Kingston, Ethan Wadsworth, Ivan Kwigzile and Nick Geraci. In addition to these fine men, we also had Elliott Anderson who graduated from Loy Norrix, Ryan Jones who graduated from Vicksburg High School and Shota Sullins who graduated from the homeschool coop that the Sullins are a part of. All these young gentlemen can be so extremely proud of what they have accomplished this far in life! I got to thinking after graduation on Friday night a little more because during graduation let’s just say I was quite enthusiastic during the ceremony. Apparently, you could hear me yelling for my niece and for our scouts on the other side of Wing’s Stadium. What made me think about this was the fact that I hope the graduates and the families realize that I wasn’t yelling loudly to bring attention to myself. I was yelling loudly to let these young men and women know that I was there to support them! I wanted them to know that I was proud of them and that not only did they have my support in that moment but they would always have my support. I don’t yell loudly at things like that for myself, but for the ones that I am so extremely proud of. I also hope that these graduates know that my dad would have been equally proud to have been there to see them graduate. He would love to have seen his niece cross the stage and he would love to have been there to support out scouts as well. He might not have been as loud as me, but he would show his support in his own way. I fully believe that my dad was there in spirit watching as he saw his niece and these scouts whom he loved so much, accomplish this phase of their life and be ready to move onto the next. He will always be with me, and he will always be with us. Congratulations Class of 2025! We are proud of you as a troop, and we look forward to all that you will accomplish in the future!
“What Troop Does More!!” – 244