Trail Talk – 8/10/26

Good afternoon 244!

We DO HAVE a MEETING THIS WEEK!! We will have a regular troop meeting this Tuesday (tomorrow night). We are BACK AT THE CHURCH! We will continue working on summer merit badges, rank advancements and any partial merit badges that need to be done! NEXT Week, August 18th is when we will not have a normal meeting but instead have our Annual Planning meeting which includes troop youth leadership and adult leadership to plan out the next year. Hope to see any of you that are in town at tomorrow night’s troop meeting!

September campout – Cheboygan State Park and Labor Day Bridge Walk. This has been something that people have asked me about doing for several years now. Now that it is August, we need to start planning for this campout. Please see details below!

IMPORTANT NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THIS WEEK: 

  1. TROOP MEETING AUGUST 18TH – ANNUAL PLANNING MEETING.
    • AUGUST 18TH – will be our annual planning meeting for the next year.
    • THIS MEETING IS FOR TROOP YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND ADULT LEADERS.
    • YOUTH LEADERSHIP = SPLs, ASPLs, Troop Quartermaster, Scribe, PLs, JASMs, Troop Guides
    • If you are a scout NOT a part of troop leadership – NO TROOP MEETING
    • Troop will supply the main dish – hamburgers, hot dog, something like that.
    • PLEASE EVERYONE ELSE, BRING A SIDE DISH OR DESSERT TO PASS!
    • Planning Meeting will start at 6:00 pm(instead of 7:00)
    • COME WITH IDEAS FOR THE NEXT SCOUT YEAR!
  2. EAGLE PROJECT IDEA!!
    • Who: Pathfinder Church
    • What: Building and installing shelves for the PuzHub at the church. This is their puzzle area upstairs right next to the main entrance.
    • HOW: Talk to Mrs. Baldwin about the idea and get contact information from her for who you would need to contact at the church!
    • IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS IDEA, PLEASE COME AND TALK TO ME!! 
  3. PHILMONT 2027 – REMINDERS
    • Cost: $2,200: $150 Deposit already Paid. $815 by Last week of September. $815 by last week of February. $420 by last week of May.
    • Tentatively: July 5 – July 22nd. Our actual arrival date at Philmont is July 8. HOWEVER, the past several treks, we have tried to arrive a day early, which would be July 7. I have to communicate with Philmont about that. Typically we take two nights to drive out there, hence July 5. On the other end, our last full day at Philmont is July 19. In the past, we have taken 1 night to drive home. So, leave Philmont July 20. Could get home on July 21 or if we take 2 nights, July 22. All of this depends highly on transportation.
    • Transportation: We have a scout leader or 2 looking into Train options at this point in time.
    • Preparation Meetings: Mandatory. Even if you have been to Philmont before, it doesn’t matter. Preparation for Philmont starts with your commitment to attending preparation meetings.
    • TENTATIVE Preparation Meeting Dates:
      • Sunday, September 20 at 1:00 at Al Sabor Land Preserve(Training hike)
      • Sunday October 18th at 3:00 p.m. at Pathfinder(Expectations and Gear)
      • Sunday January 10th at 3:00 pm(Important!!, Itinerary Selection!) at Pathfinder
      • Sunday April 18th at 3:00 pm at Pathfinder(Final Information and readiness).
      • THESE DATES ARE ONLY TENTATIVE AT THIS POINT IN TIME BECAUSE I HAVE TO CONFIRM THESE DATES WITH PATHFINDER CHURCH! I will send out more firm dates once I have communicated with the church about whether spaces are available on the given dates. PENCIL them in for now but be ready for changes to be made.
    • COMMITMENT – Philmont is a commitment. That is the only way I can say it. To have a successful, MEANINGFUL, trek, you have to commit to be at everything.
    • Want to know more about Philmont – ASK THOSE THAT HAVE GONE! Best information source possible!
  4. STEM NOVA Awards
    • Do you want to earn a Nova Award and get a unique patch?  Do you want to Do More, 244 Style?
    • You are in luck! The Michigan Crossroads Council is offering you an opportunity to complete a Scouts BSA STEM Nova Award that you can earn right here at Troop 244.
    • What are the STEM Nova Awards?
    • The STEM Nova Awards are designed to excite and expand a sense of wonder in Scouts. By working with an adult counselor or mentor, the various modules allow you to explore the basic principles of STEM and discover how fun and fascinating STEM can be.  If you are super ambitious, you can work to earn a Supernova award and go above and beyond by earning multiple STEM Nova Awards.  More Information on Nova and Supernova Awards on the Michigan Crossroads website: https://michiganscouting.org/stem/.
    • All of this will be worked outside of regular troop meetings unless we get a lot of interest in doing an activity at a meeting or a campout!
    • Contact Mr. Clapp for details.
  5. SUMMER TROOP MEETING MERIT BADGES
    • Non-Required Merit Badges offered at Troop Meetings in Summer
    • Geocaching – Mrs. Bliss
    • Orienteering – Brian
    • Artificial Intelligence – Mr. Thurn
    • Gardening – Mrs. Knapp
    • Photography – Mr. Greene
    • If you want to work on continuing to finish up Eagle Required Partials you have, you may do that as well IF your counselors are present at the meetings.
    • T21 Scouts will continue to work on T21 requirements.
  6. EAGLE COURT OF HONOR
    • Our next Eagle Court of Honor will be Sunday, August 30th at 2:00 p.m.
    • Honoring Sophie Schmidt, Ryan Jones, Yuna Sullins and Reilly Reinhart
    • Will need scouts to show up by 1:00 p.m. to be a part of the ceremony.
    • Please wear your Class A and neckerchief to this.
    • Please come out and help celebrate these NEW TROOP 244 EAGLE SCOUTS!
    • There will be cake!
  7. SEPTEMBER CAMPOUT – LABOR DAY BRIDGE WALK
    • September 5 – 7th
    • Cost is $45 per scout and $20 per adult leader.
    • Scouts will need to bring extra money for sightseeing and lunch on the way.
    • Permission Slip attached
    • SIGN UP AT THE TROOP MEETING THIS TUESDAY!
    • Saturday – Monday. Leave Saturday morning at 10:00 am from Pathfinder
    • Arrive back home on Monday evening around 5:00 p.m. (time may vary)
    • Hang out in Northern Michigan Saturday evening and Sunday all day! Visit sites!
    • Walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day Morning!
    • Most likely will walk halfway from Mackinac City and then doubleback to save on time and transportation issues.
    • After Labor Day Bridge walk, return to campsite, pack up and head home!
  8. 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.
  9. 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 – Finally, you have completed ALL of the requirements for Eagle Scout. Now what? How do you finish things up? The final steps involve an Eagle Scout Rank Application, a Scoutmaster Conference, Submission of Paperwork and a final Eagle Board of Review. First, the Eagle Scout Rank Application is something that I will fill out, print out and bring with me to our Scoutmaster Conference. I will most likely ask you for some information in order to fill out that application prior to the scoutmaster conference, such as the names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers of the people writing the letters of recommendation. Once I have your Eagle Scout Rank application prepped and ready, we will schedule an Eagle Scoutmaster Conference. This will consist of a meeting with myself, Becky Baldwin(our committee chair) and Christy. We will NOT meet on a Tuesday night. We will meet most likely on a Wednesday or Thursday evening or a Sunday afternoon. These conferences typically tend to take about an hour. YOU will come to the conference dressed in full scout uniform, including merit badge sash and neckerchief. The first part of the conference will be pretty easy. We will spend some time doing “paperwork”. This means signing things. I will sign your Eagle Project booklet. You, Becky and I will sign the Eagle Scout Rank Application. I will then show you what you have to do to submit certain paperwork AFTER the scoutmaster conference but BEFORE your 18th birthday. The second part of the scoutmaster conference will consist of a “practice” board of review for the Eagle Rank. We will ask you questions about your Eagle Journey, what you have gotten out of scouting, and we will want to know more about YOU as a scout! Once the Scoutmaster conference is done, I will send you a detailed email with instructions on next steps. This email will include what you have to submit, where you have to submit it and what information you need in order to submit your paperwork. Once everything is submitted, it is now out of your hands. It goes to Ms. Moreau at the scout office. She “verifies” that everything is correct with dates and things you have earned and such. Once you have been “verified”, you will then email Mr. Bowman to setup an Eagle Board of Review. This happens on the first Wednesday of every month and can vary in location and time. You will go to your Eagle Board at the scheduled time and day, and you will become an Eagle Scout. Technically the day of your board of review is the day of your Eagle. However, they do have to send the completed Eagle Scout Rank application to the National Office in Texas where it has to be certified once again. Once that happens, they will in turn send the Eagle certificate to your home address. You will bring it to us at scouts for your Eagle Court of Honor. I will discuss that Eagle Court in the next trail talk!

“What Troop Does More!!” – 244!!!