October 17, 2005
District Fly-o-Ree was a great success
As the title says, the Fly-o-Ree
this past weekend at the Cortland County Airport was a great success. I
don't have exact numbers for attendance, but I know that the
Experimental Aircraft Association gave "Young Eagles" airplane
rides to 121 Scouts, and that wasn't every one of them. Most of the
Scouts earned Aviation Merit Badge (all 13 scouts attending from
Troop 2 earned the badge) at stations run by local pilots and Scouters.
There were at least that many Cubs at the Cub Scout activities, as well.
For a miracle, the weather broke for the first time in weeks, and we had
a beautiful afternoon for flying. The Wings of Eagles Warplane Museum
in Elmira provided a WWII AT-6 airplane, and the Tompkins
County R/C Airplane Club had an electric-powered biplane doing
stunts. David Jones Aviation/FBO Cortland let us use their hangar
for the inside stations and the evening IMAX films, and also ran some of
the stations. East Hill Flying Club from Ithaca loaned us their
instrument simulator and an instructor to run it, and many local
businesses and institutions loaned traffic cones and barricades to
cordon off the aircraft movement areas.
There's a description of the event on our District Scrapbook
webpage:
http://www.tompkinscortlandscouts.org/scrapbook.htm
My thanks to everyone who made the event possible!
Mike Brown,
Taughannock District:
http://www.tompkinscortlandscouts.org
Fall Fundraising
Our fundraising is coming to a close, all wreath orders are due at next Monday's meeting and all popcorn orders are due the following meeting (October 31st). Because it will be Halloween any scouts who are not going to the meeting need to get their orders to Tracy Brock either at the October 24th meeting or by delivering them by Monday 31st. For details on popcorn please contact Tracy Brock 257-8776 tbrock@twcny.rr.com and for wreath information contact Mari Tiwari 257-4228 mari_tiwari@yahoo.com - please be sure to attend the meeting to get your order forms and all the information.
Annual dues collection
As we did last year, the annual dues collection will be split into two parts $35 due now and the balance of $35 will be payable, in January, by any scout who did not contribute at the $200 level to our fundraising initiative. Any scout who makes the $200 will not have to pay the second dues amount and will also have $40 to spend in their troop account. Please send dues with your scouts to the next meeting or mail the payment (payable to BSA Troop 2) direct to our treasurer Tony Brock 257-8776
Merit badges
Our new merit badge coordinator, Rick Grossman, would like to hear from scouts regarding their choice of merit badge classes and will be available before next Monday's meeting to start arranging options. Anyone with ideas or wishing to join or help out with merit badge counselling should contact Rick Grossman rdg@sunytccc.edu or call 277-5556 (not after 9:00pm). Ben Brown blb3@cornell.edu still needs to hear from scouts wishing to complete merit badges in Camping and Family Life merit badges. Any scouts should contact Ben as soon as possible to avoid overlapping with future classes.
Troop 2 electronics policy
At our monthly meeting last evening, the committee was asked to formulate a policy regarding the use of cell phones on troop events and activities. Careful consideration has gone into the needs of scouts, parents and the adult leadership of the troop as well as the goals of the scouting movement and we feel that the following is a fair reflection on these needs.
Troop 2 permits no use of cell phones, music players or game machines unless specifically pre-authorized by the scoutmaster/adult leader responsible. On all occasions, cellular communications will be available to at least one of the responsible leaders for the event and the regular phone line is available during summer camp at Barton. Troop 2 obviously cannot guarantee coverage in any given area.
Blair Atholl Jamborette, Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland - July 2006
We have filled eight out of the possible
twelve spots in our 2006 Blair Atholl Patrol Jamborette Contingent. If we
can't fill the remaining four spaces before early December when the first
payment is due, we'll have to release those spots to other groups.
This is a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a Scout to spend three weeks
in another country: one week touring England and Scotland, then ten days
attending this unique international encampment in the Highlands, followed by
four days of home visitation.
Full information on the 2006 Blair Atholl trip can be found at:
http://www.bpmlegal.com/scotland/2004/jambo2006.html For descriptions of the
Jamborette and our past trips, see
http://www.bpmlegal.com/scotland/ or contact Mike Brown
wb2jwd@htva.net
Please let your Scouts know about this opportunity, before it's too late.
Mike Brown,
Taughannock District:
http://www.tompkinscortlandscouts.org
Upcoming events, October/November
10.22 - Taughannock District Junior Leader training, venue to be advised
10.24 - Scout meeting at FCC, First year patrol at 7:00, meeting starts at 7:30
10.31 - Scout meeting at FCC, First year patrol at 7:00, meeting starts at 7:30
11.5 - 6 Scout-O Orienteering weekend in Highland Forest, contact Mark Tate
11.7 - Scout meeting at FCC, First year patrol at 7:00, meeting starts at 7:30
11.14 - Scout meeting at FCC, First year patrol at 7:00, meeting starts at 7:30
11.15 - Troop committee meeting, the Library @ FCC, starts 7:30
11.21 - PLC meeting at FCC, First year patrol at 7:30, no regular trop meeting
11.28 - Scout meeting at FCC, First year patrol at 7:00, meeting starts at 7:30