Tonight's letter will be fairly short But there are 2 things that I wanted to touch on.
New meetings with a twist
This Monday we are going to be holding our first digital meeting at 7pm on our new Discord channel. The voice service Discord is an application best known by online gamers and streamers. Best of all (especially for us) it's free. Anthony D has been working hard on setting the troop up with a server and I think it could make a huge difference In giving us our Monday meetings back.
This simple solution to a very complex problem may be just what we needed for the time being. It gives the boys the ability to try and continue with scouting even while real life goes against our original ideas for the year. Discord has a desktop and mobile friendly version. Download the app and sign up. You will need a microphone or you can use the text option to join in. You can contact Anthony or myself and we will invite you in to the group.
Anthony = TideTurner143#4773
Stevan = Stevan W#3810
What's up with the scoop?
Some of you who have been receiving the troop scoop may be wondering why I haven't sent out this month's new issue. I am having a massive writer's block and have no idea what to talk about (first time for everything). Usually we talk about the upcoming events and the exciting new things coming down the pipeline. At this time with everything being in lock down it's taking me an extra amount of time to put together something interesting. If you have any suggestions or would like to make a submission send me your Ideas and we'll see what we can do. It can be something topical, allegorical, comical, or just flat out bonkers.
Here we all are after another week of the lockdown. If you like me are a news junkie you will have seen that the CDC extended the virus precautions for another month until at least the end of April. The State of Illinois will more than likely follow CDC recommendations fairly soon extending the shut down for a few more weeks. As of right now I have not heard from any of our members regarding anyone being sick and I hope that this news remains positive.
The sad news I have is that the troop will more than likely not be meeting physically until the Illinois lockdown status has been lifted. Anthony D sent me a lead to the voice service Discord and I have been looking into YouTube's / Facebook's live stream ability. I will be testing out a mixture of the two or three and see what i can come up with. Holding video meetings is a solution that may aid us in this problem.
Doing a good turn
Because Spring time has finally arrived and the weather (although still rainy) has started to clear up this gives all of us the perfect chance to clean up and clear out a lot of the junk we have accumulated over the past Winter. Spring cleaning can be a fun past time when you have lots of time on your hands and no place to go.
Upcoming video updates updated
I have been cleaning out portions of my workshop and basement converting them into filming locations for online meetings and small video. Please remember that I'm using a 10 year old Sony camcorder and my cell phone to put together a few short vignettes and messages. If any of the members of the troop have filming / editing equipment or know how to edit videos and mix audio please let me know.
Badges in limbo
Here are the partial merit badges that we have on record. With everything I've been sending out over the past couple weeks I thought it best to allow the guys some time to digest the requirements and badges that we already sent out. If you are a go getter and want any more things to do here is a list of the partial merit badges.
Below is the name of the scout, the merit badge and the requirements you have completed on the badge so far
Charles, Cooking, 1,2 and 3
Anthony, Animation, 4 and 5
Anthony, Cooking, 1,2 and 3
Joey, Cooking, 1,2 and 3
Noah K, Emergency preparedness, 1,2 and 3
Orienteering, 1,2,3,4,5 and 6
Riley Bird study, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10 and 11
Communications, 1,2 and 9
Cameron, Environmental science, 1,2,3,5 and 6
Architecture, 1,2,3 and 5 Public speaking, 1,3 and 5 Animation, 1,2,4 and 5
This scoutmaster summary is going to be shorter than the previous week's just because there is not much to talk about. Only a few new things have come our way and here tonight is the news you need to know.
The next physical meeting:
As of right now we will not be having physical meetings until April. The next Monday meeting that we will more than likely be having is Monday the 6th based on what is going on in the outside world.
This is of course subject to change based on what happens over the coming weeks.
Camp-out cancellation:
A little bit of sad news on the camping front. Because of the virus, the Abraham Lincoln pilgrimage has been canceled this year. Depending on what happens and depending on if parks or places are open again by the end of April we will be coming up with our own day trip or camp-out to be used instead of the pilgrimage. Again this is all based on what happens over the coming weeks.
New scouts patrol induction:
For anybody out there who doesn't know, our March camp-out is our new scout camp-out. Some of our first years were able to experience a troop camp-out In a controlled and much more relaxed environment. Or as I like to call it a much gentler introduction to camping than I experienced when i was in your shoes. Late on Saturday night we were able to award Joshua his night owl patrol patch and Noah his Phoenix patrol patch. If the virus had not screwed up our plans Cooper, Morgan and Anthony would have learned their new patrols last Monday. Since that wasn't able to happen I will now be announcing what patrols they will be joining because now is as good a time as ever to do it.
Cooper and Morgan will be joining the flaming arrow patrol and Anthony will be joining the Phoenix patrol. As soon as meetings are back in session you will be receiving your patrol induction letters and patrol patch.
Lemonade out of lemons:
I understand this is not exactly how we all thought the Spring would unfold for us. It's what we where given and what we will have to deal with. Eventually things will get back to normal. When they do I want us to all be able to hit the ground running and make the most of the time we have.
I was able to finally get confirmation from the Three Fires Council that the spring flower fundraiser is still going on. Attached below is a picture of the form and pricing. The digital form is not accurate so we will go with this one for the time being. If anyone is feeling ambitious you can try to pad your scout account while we are on hiatus. All profits raised from this fundraiser will go into your scout account. The profit margin is 20% of the product price. For example each flower flat is $20.00 (48 flowers per flat). The cost per flat to the troop is $16.00. The other $4.00 of that is profit for the scouts. If you wish to participate or have questions please let me know.
The next round of letters and updates will pertain to merit badges and fundraising opportunities. I am in contact with Three Fires council to find out if the flower sale is still going on or if it has been delayed/canceled. As soon as I learn more information I will get that out to all of you. Please remember to have the boys take a look at the emails, Facebook page and our website for all the information that I have been putting out.
Over the next weeks the two primary merit badges that I want everyone to seriously consider looking into and beginning are the First Aid merit badge and the Reading merit badge. The Reading merit badge is a straightforward badge that any scout from any year can get within a week or two. With everyone being home and unnecessary travel discouraged, reading a good book may be a great way to "escape" from this situation for a little while.
The First Aid badge is important during these times for self explanatory reasons. Learning more about what you should do in times of crisis and emergency are something that the Boy Scouts have been teaching their students for over a century. Listed below are requirements for the Reading and First Aid merit badges. The troop is developing a presentation / demonstration for the First Aid merit badge that is still in the prototype phase. After we are able to send it out to everyone working through a big Eagle required merit badge will be a little bit easier.
