Trail Talk – 6/29/26

Good afternoon 244!

Wow!! Another Summer Camp “in the books”. These weeks seem to fly by so fast. We wait with great anticipation all year for summer camp and it is gone in the blink of an eye! The great thing is that we get to look back on it and remember! We had such a great week at summer camp last week! For the most part, the weather was great(not like this week) and scouts were so busy with different activities that sometimes they had to make choices about what to do. Here are some statistics from last week’s summer camp:

  1. 42 Scouts – 21 boys and 21 girls. First time the #girls have equaled the #boys at camp!
  2. 13 Adult Leaders – who gave of their own time, talents and willingness
  3. 135 Merit Badges Attempted
  4. 124 Merit Badges Earned!
  5. That is a 92% earned merit badge ratio! Only 11 Partials!! That is AWESOME!
  6. There were at least 6 Rank Advancements(there might be more, I don’t have the final numbers on this yet).
  7. Other activities were completed as well including – ATV, Stand-Up Paddleboarding, Leave No Trace and Paul Bunyon Training
  8. WE BEAT 287 IN WATERBALL!
  9. Keely Carr got most improved at the Shotgun Range
  10. Phinn FLEW AN AIRPLANE!
  11. Lawson Dodde got recognized for helping out at Handicraft
  12. Ian Anderson tied for 1st place in the Chess tournament
  13. Logan Custer caught the biggest Fish of the week!
  14. 287 Stole my Troop Car Flag but our Scouts GOT IT BACK!
  15. Hard work was done all week long!
  16. Incredible Life-Long Memories were Made by Everyone!
  17. WE HAD FUN!

Please check out this link OR our Troop Facebook Page for Photos from the week! https://photos.app.goo.gl/49PkPBDEYNpa59jE8

IMPORTANT NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THIS WEEK:

MINI-HIGH ADVENTURE MAMMOTH CAVE

  • July 26 – 30!
  • Cost is $250 per person.
  • Check with Abby Withers and Sherry if you can still sign up for this trip!
  • Mammoth Cave National Park
  • Information Meeting on July 7th at 6:15 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall

PATROL LEADER’S COUNCIL Meeting

TUESDAY NIGHT AT 6:15 PM THAT’S THIS TUESDAY!

  • In the Fellowship Hall
  • Summer Camp Debrief – Need Feedback!
  • Positive feedback
  • Critiques

HELP!

  • We need to get the Red Trailer completely unloaded from camp.
  • We need to unload the white trailer of all things we don’t need on a normal campout.
  • We will try to start working on this at tomorrow night’s meeting if we have enough help!
  • If we don’t, I will need a group of people to meet me later this week!
  • Thursday – 4:00 p.m. Trailer Cleanout! – who can help?

NO SCOUT MEETING ON TUESDAY JULY 14TH!
SUMMER TROOP MEETING MERIT BADGES

  • Non-Required Merit Badges offered at Troop Meetings in Summer
  • Geocaching
  • Orienteering
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Gardening
  • If you want to work on continuing to finish up Eagle Required Partials you have, you may do that as well.
  • T21 Scouts will continue to work on T21 requirements.

Scouting America PHYSICAL FORMS!

  • NEW 2026 Printing of the Medical Form
  • Use the New Printing from now on!
  • Only Good for 1 year! Will need a new one for next summer!
  • Rather than waiting until the last minute, start thinking about the medical form BEFORE next summer!
  • Parts A and B – required for all troop activities
  • Part C – required by Doctor for all activities 72 hours or more.

Pictured Rocks Backpacking Trip

  • Leave July 9th! Be at church at 7:30 am!
  • Meeting THIS TUESDAY, June 30th AT 7:15 PM at the church!
  • BRING YOUR PERSONAL GEAR TO THIS MEETING!
  • We will cover last minute details and questions.

SWAMPBASE

  • Leave July 9th!
  • Meeting THIS TUESDAY, JUNE 30TH at 7:15 pm at the church!
  • See Mike King for details!

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  – EAGLE REQUIREMENTS – Ok, now, you have your Eagle Service Project Approved(discussed in the last Trail Talk), now what? Once you have your Eagle Project approved, it is up to you to do it. I always recommend to scouts that they start by using their resources! The middle section of the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook is called the “Plan” section of the workbook. You already did the “Proposal” section, now it is time to do the “Plan”. The Plan section of the workbook helps you to think of all of the details about how to execute your project. Not only does it help you to think of the details, but it also helps you to think of the questions you might have in carrying out your project. The best thing you can do, once your project is approved, is to start the Planning phase of the project and to do this, FILL OUT THE PLAN PORTION OF THE Eagle Workbook! You are going to have to do it anyway so you might as well use it for its intended purpose! Figure out the details! If you have questions as you fill it out, ask them! You are going to need to think of things like; date for the project, getting help, materials, supplies and tools, cost and fundraising, what could go wrong, how you will organize the project itself and so on. Part of carrying out a project of such magnitude and scope is learning to plan about it and thinking of all the little details. The best advice I can give you in this portion of the Eagle project is to keep in mind the Scout Motto: Be Prepared. How can you be prepared for anything for your project or for anything that could go wrong? How do you be prepared for all of the little things. Planning! Planning! Planning!

“What Troop Does More!!” – 244!!!