Trail Talk – 6/9/25

Happy New Week!

Good afternoon! Happy Monday! I apologize for the delay in getting this out. I have had a migraine since yesterday afternoon. What a great weekend we had this weekend at Pentwater! This truly is one of my favorite campouts because we can just take it easy. There is no pressure to get things done at a certain time and you can truly just enjoy yourself. The weather we had was absolutely gorgeous. We honestly could not have asked for better weather the whole weekend. The scouts played in the pool, rode the Go-Karts, depleted the arcade of tickets, went to the beach at Lake Michigan and some even went in Lake Michigan. I may have gone in the big lake as well! We roasted s’mores and truly enjoyed fellowship with each other!

Now, we are less than a week away from Summer Camp! Summer Camp is a big deal. This is an entire week where the scout is gone and away from home. It is very important that scouts come to camp prepared for that week. They don’t want to bring too many things, because much of what they will bring, they will physically carry to the campsite but at the same time they want to make sure they are prepared. I will be sending out emails throughout the week this week to remind you(parents) and you(scouts) to be prepared for Summer Camp on Sunday!

Here are our Troop announcements for the week:

Troop Meeting this week! Come early and help! – Scouts, if you are able, it would be great if you could come to the church a little early on Tuesday night at 6:00. We want to get the two trailers(Red and Yellow) loaded and ready for summer camp and we can use some help! We always bring a lot of things with us to camp in order to make our site “home” for the week. We need help to load it and load it nicely in the trailers! Please come Tuesday night at 6:00 to help!

SUMMER CAMP 2025(Check-In) –SUNDAY, JUNE 15TH AT 10:00 A.M. AT PORTAGE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL PARKING LOT. WEAR YOUR CLASS A UNIFORM, NECKERCHIEF AND NICE SHORTS! We will be getting troop pictures taken upon arrival at camp. You will change into your swim suits when we get to the campsite. Have that campsite packed at the top of your pack. KNOW YOUR TENT PARTNERS. BRING SNACKS FOR THE CAR RIDE! MAKE SURE YOU ARE PACKED PROPERLY AND HAVE WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE WEEK! BE PREPARED TO BE PATIENT AND TO HAVE FUN!!

The Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops (ILST) – In place of merit badges and rank advancement, we will be running a program for the three Tuesdays AFTER SUMMER CAMP. ILST is a great training that helps the scouts understand the different roles and positions of a troop, and the leadership skills that will help them be successful. Usually this is something that we want to do after patrol elections, but this time around we want to make sure everyone can be a part of it. ILST will be split into 3 sessions held over the 3 normal troop meetings between Summer Camp and the Boundary Waters trips.

We understand that the summer is a busy time, but scouts who do attend all three of the ILST sessions will earn course completion in their records and become eligible to attend National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) and then the National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE) — which are both week-long, advanced leadership courses for scouts.

ILST Session Schedule:

  • June 24th – Troop Organization – Learn about each leadership position, roles, and responsibilities
  • July 1st – Tools of Leadership – Core skills of leadership, such as communication, planning, and teaching
  • July 8th – Leadership and Teamwork – Team characteristics, dynamics, and development, and values and ethics of a leader

This is an awesome chance for Scouts to grow as leaders and prepare for future leadership roles in the troop and beyond. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Mike King (meking1@gmail.com).

CLASS B SHIRTS FOR SUMMER MEETINGS –Just a reminder that we are wearing Class B shirts for summer meetings. This means a SCOUTING related shirt of some kind! Troop shirts, summer camp shirts, OA shirts, high adventure shirts and so on. Random scouting shirts you can get at the scout shop as well. It DOES NOT mean any old shirt you happen to be wearing that day. We are all still apart of the Scouting America organization and should show as much.

BOUNDARY WATERS(UPDATE) – July 11 – 20th. Meet at the church at 7:00 a.m. July 11th! Make sure your pack is ready with everything you need in it for the trip. Make sure you have a separate smaller bag for the car with fresh clothes, toiletries, things to do in the car and so on. Are you ready to hear the call of the Loon? Are you ready to maybe see an Eagle swoop down and snatch a fish out of the lake with its talons? Are you hoping to maybe see a Beaver swim by your campsite at dusk? Adventure is waiting and coming soon!

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 your Physical Form, you are in danger of not being able to go on a trip this summer. You cannot go to summer camp and we cannot take you with us unless you have the form! The same goes for Boundary Waters or the Mini-High Adventure. This is not just Troop policy, but this is Scouting America policy. You must have a Scouting America Medical Form on file with us with Part C filled out to participate in anything more than 72 hours long.

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 – UNITY– For a lot of my years there was 1 Troop 244 made up of just males. In fact, for 29 of my 35 years, that was the way it was. Then in 2019, females were allowed into the main Scouts program within the Boy Scouts of America but instead of being 1 troop 244, we were made into 2 Troop 244s, a boy troop and a girl troop. My dad and I never believed in us being two separate troops. Both of us said from the get-go that one day they will probably make it combined and coed(believe it or not that might be in the works yet this year!) and so we treated our troops, for the most part, as one troop. We meet at the same time, do merit badges, go on campouts, share equipment and everything together. In fact, except for “paper” we are in fact one troop. I think we need to remember that as we go into Summer Camp and the summer. We might be “boys” and “girls” but we are 1 troop, Troop 244. We have 2 SPLs, one boy and one girl, but they are SPLs over the entire troop, both boys and girls. We are NOT 2 separate troops except on paper! So, when you are at summer camp this year and you are asked “What troop are you?”, don’t say “boy troop 244” or “girl troop 244”, I want you to say TROOP 244 and say it proudly! We all look out for each other!

 “What Troop Does More!!” – 244