Trail Talk – 9/1/25

Good afternoon Troop 244!!!

Happy Labor Day! Happy September! Happy it is still summer!!  I hope you are all having a great weekend and a great day today! I will say this, the day has already flown by for me. I can’t believe it is after 4:00 already. I hope that you have found ways to enjoy the Labor Day weekend whether that be doing things outside, going places or just hanging around. I am looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow night at our next Tuesday, troop meeting. Just so everyone is aware, I will be absent from several troop meetings throughout the months of September and October. I may have mentioned this already, but I want to make sure you know. For instance, I will be missing out on our Troop Open Houe next Tuesday, Sept. 9th. It seems that Rebekah has a swim meet every single Tuesday in these months. I will be there this Tuesday and then probably back again at the Court of Honor on Sept. 30th! Please be patient and gracious during this time. You can always feel free to email me or call me if you need to. Christy and Sherry are available for any other immediate issues.

IMPORTANT NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THIS WEEK:

PARENT MEETING – We would like to hold a brief parent meeting for the new scout year this Tuesday, September 2nd at about 7:20 p.m. during the scout meeting. This is an informational meeting to let parents know about some important things for this year and to answer questions you might have. Mostly it is to make sure you are informed. If you are available and can attend, please plan to come to the church and attend this meeting. We will have our regular opening ceremony, patrol elections and then after that we will have the parent meeting. Place at the church is to be determined but there is a good chance it will take place in the Sanctuary!

New Things to Take Note of for this New Year: There are 2 items that you should take note of that are a little different for this upcoming scout year:

Permission Slips – the permission slips for outings have a little different look to them. They are now 2 pages. The first page is the regular permission form that must be turned in. The second page is the medication page. The top portion of the second page can be torn off and kept by PARENTS so that Parents know the time and location of departure and return. This way you don’t have to constantly ask what time we will be back at the church at the end of a campout. You will have that slip to let you know. The bottom half of the second page is to be filled out and then included with any medication that you send along with your scout. Please put the medication and this part of the page in a Ziploc bag and send with your scout when they come to a campout or other outing.

Medical Forms – medical forms are now required for ALL outings for BOTH Adults and Scouts. Medical Forms are good for 1 year, so if you have a medical form that was filled out by a doctor last January, that form will be good until next January. If you had a form filled out prior to a year ago today, it expired, and you need to get a new medical form filled out. Scouts and Adults must have up to date medical forms filled out and on file with the troop to go on outings. If we don’t have an up-to-date medical form on file, then you or your scout cannot go on a campout.

Troop Open House – NEXT Tuesday, Sept. 9th starting at 6:00 p.m. and going until 8:00 p.m. Please note the time changes. Our meeting will end at 8:00 p.m. next week because that is when it starts to get dark and we will be outside. BRING A FRIEND!  Do you know someone or maybe you know someone who has a younger sibling that might be interested in scouting? Bring them out to the open house! Spread the word and let’s get youth into scouting! Give them a chance to come and talk to other scouts. Invite them to come and interact with other scouts so that they can hear more about the scouting program. Plus, there will be food! Hot Dogs and Chips!

SwampBase Participants – Please be making your payments for SwampBase now. For the month of August, you should have paid a minimum of $125. We need another payment of $125 due by September 15th. Starting in October, payments will be made in increments of $160 per month through February.

SEPTEMBER CAMPOUT – Yankee Springs September 19 – 21st. This is CONFIRMED! We will be camping at the Deep Lake Group Sites as we have in the past! The cost for this campout is $40 per scout and $20 per adult leader. The permission form for this campout is attached. Please sign up for, turn money and permission slip in for this campout to Sherry as soon as possible!! Last year we only had about 9 scouts, and 4/5 leaders go on the September campout. I need to see more participation from the troop on these things otherwise we will be forced to cancel and that is never a good thing! SIGN UP THIS TUESDAY! The goal for this weekend is to do some Fishing and Hiking. We are going to make this a Fishing Weekend and if you don’t like Fishing, then the alternative will be Hiking. To make it a good Fishing Weekend, we will be bringing 8 canoes with all the equipment with us so that you can go OUT on the lakes and fish! We hope that we have some of you “expert” fisherman handy to help teach the rest of us novices how to fish. Other people that have boats are more than welcome to bring their own. You just have to tow it yourself. If you are 17 years old or older you need a valid Michigan Fishing License for this year.

ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY –   September 27 at 9:00 a.m. at the Speedway Gas Station in Schoolcraft. Please bring gloves and wear long pants. We have adopted this section of 131 now for 30 years and we clean it up every September and April. These are SERVICE hours! We need as many people as possible to help! The more we have, the quicker it gets done. It usually takes about 3 hours. We need adults who can drive alongside the highway to supervise and keep scouts safe. Sean Harrigan will be leading up this event.

October Campout – NO CHANGE WITH THIS ONE YET. TENTATIVELY Cranhill Ranch. October 24 – 26th. Horseback Riding. This is very tentative right now. I have been going back and forth with Cranhill and am still waiting to hear final details from them. Once I hear back, I will share more information. The cost for this campout will most likely be a little higher than a regular campout. That is why I am announcing this now, so that you can be prepared. The idea for this campout is that scouts would ride horses and earn the Horsemanship Merit Badge. More Information to come.

Philmont 2027 – I need you to sign up NOW for Philmont. I need to know how many people are not just interested in this trip but are going to commit to it. I know it is a long way out, but I will make reservations for us in 30 days!! I need to know how many crews to sign up for! There is an “interest” sheet on the activity board if you have interested in going to Philmont in 2027. SHERRY HAS THE OFFICIAL SIGNUP SHEET! If you are merely interested in Philmont you will put your name on the interest sheet. If you want to officially sign up for Philmont you will sign up with Sherry and there is a $150 deposit due upon signup per person. I must have people SIGNED UP with the deposit no later than September 23rd so that I know to make the proper reservation. Thank you!

Fall Court of Honor – September 30th at 6:30 p.m. We are planning to have our annual Fall Court of Honor on Tuesday, September 30th. This court of honor is always a big one because of all that has been accomplished over the summer months. There will be announcements galore! There will also be awards galore! This includes merit badges, rank advancements and more! In addition, we have a special ceremony for one of our adult leaders that will be a part of this court of honor! You don’t want to miss out! Make sure that you attend with your scouts!

Scoutmaster Minute – RESETTING – Have you ever found yourself in a “funk”? Just a mood or a feeling that you feel stuck in. Have you found yourself just not feeling like doing anything or so unfocused that you don’t feel like you can’t get anything done. Maybe you have had a feeling of being overwhelmed that caused you to lose your focus altogether and you weren’t even sure what you needed to be doing. I think we all go through these at times. I have been in one of these “funks” for the last several weeks. I think it has a lot to do with the change from summer back to the school year. It messes with my mind a lot. I have felt very unfocused and hesitant about diving into things. So, what does one do when one gets into one of these funks? For me, I decided to go to a place that holds special memories for me and to hike around. Yesterday, Sunday, Aug. 31st, I took my dog, and we drove down to Portage, and we went out to Rota-Kiwan. He and I started on the old cub scout side, walked around that for a bit and then headed over to the boy scout side of camp. While I have spent a significant amount of time on the cub scout side, I have spent even more time on the boy scout side of camp. My dog and I walked ALL OVER camp. I am not sure there is a spot we missed. We even hiked on one of the new trails that has been made that goes into an area that I have never been before! That was cool. As I was hiking around camp, I couldn’t help but flash back to the many, many years spent out at Rota-Kiwan, both as a scout and as a scout leader. I counted it up, 18 Summer camps at Rota-Kiwan! Not to mention all the weekend campouts, day hikes and other activities out there. I couldn’t help also flash back to all the memories created out there with scouts and scout leaders, not to mention the multitude of time spent out there with my dad. I can’t look at the camp and not see him there. He cared so deeply for that camp as I do. I know he takes a hike out there every so often now. I like to think he was hiking with me when I went yesterday. When I got back from my hike yesterday, I felt refreshed. I felt ready to go. I have had that feeling pretty much all day today as well. The only other place that has made me feel the same way is Philmont Scout Ranch. I am excited again for the scout year ahead. For me, I needed to go somewhere that was special to me to help me to refocus and reengage. I hope that you all have something, somewhere or somewhat that helps you to refocus when you feel stuck in that rut. If you don’t, let me know. Let’s go for a hike out at Rota-Kiwan sometime!

“What Troop Does More!!” – 244