February 6, 2006
Winter Court of Honor
Monday evening we had a great collection of scouts, families and leaders to join in recognition of the achievements of our scouts since the summer. Outgoing Senior Patrol leader Jesse opened the meeting and lit the ceremonial candles along with new SPL, Adam. Following the return of Jery and Robin Stedinger from a sabbatical, outgoing scoutmaster Mark Tate thanked all those who made his job easier during the last six months, particularly thanking our college student assistant scoutmasters, Dan and Jeremy from Ithaca College and Tom from Cornell. Mark then presented a slide show of activities and events beginning with our bike ride to Camp Barton, including the orienteering and aviation weekends, our rock climbing fun, carol singing and ending with the Scout overnight two days before. Various boys were asked to talk about their experiences and explain what was happening in the slide show.
Sam and Joah advanced in rank and were presented with their new insignia by their proud parents. Pictures of the events during the evening as well as other activities can be found on our photos page. Mari Tiwari thanked everyone for their work in supporting the troop and stressed the importance of family commitment and backing for the boys, the troop and the committee.
Dave Gross was presented with a $500 donation to the Camp Barton bouldering wall project and he brought along 7 or 8 decades worth of scrap books for everyone to get some good idea of the history of Camp Barton. Michael Kazarinoff made a presentation on behalf of the Friends of Scouting and made sure everyone understood the purpose and the benefit to our council of a successful campaign. It looks as though, through hard work and fiscal propriety, Baden Powell Council will balance the books for the second year running.
The evening closed with refreshments provided by the committee, giving people a chance to talk and exchange views and memories of scouting.
Overnight and Scout Sunday
Scouts from Troops 2 and 4 joined with Venture crew 2000 for an evening of fun and games followed by an overnight at the First Congregational Church. A traditional camp fire was held outside the church and many skits, songs and jokes were enjoyed before bedtime. Many thanks are due to Willy and Gretchen Tang for providing massive amounts of the best Chinese food available.
Senior Patrol Leader election
Congratulations to Adam, his election address covered what the troop wanted to hear well enough to see off challenges from Sam B and Nolan. We were pleased to welcome several senior Webelos from Pack 4 and everyone was pleased to see the return of Jery and Robin Stedinger. Sam S and Kenny both completed their boards of review for advancement in rank and will be amongst those recognized for their achievements at the Winter Court of Honor 7:30 pm next Monday, February 6th at FCC.
University of Scouting 2006 - From Dave Martin, Chancellor
Merit Badges
Our Merit badge coordinator, Rick Grossman, would like to announce a general info session for anyone wishing to take Reading merit badge this year. All those interested should meet at the First Congregational Church next Monday at 7:00pm for half an hour prior to the scout meeting. For more information on this or to discuss any aspect of merit badges, please contact Rick Grossman rdg@tc3.edu or call 277-5556 evenings and weekends.
Beginning at the end of February and running through the Spring, David Kuckuk will be running the Communication Merit badge each Monday from 7:00 until 7:30 at FCC. More details will be coming soon.
Recruitment - 2006 and beyond
Troop 2 is not alone in facing difficulties with maintaining numbers in the face of increasing alternatives to Scouting. Some of our recent events have been incredible experiences for the boys taking part and the value of scouting cannot be overestimated. To ensure that we grow our numbers we are looking for ideas from scouts, parents, troop alumni or anyone else interested in helping. If you know boys between 11 and 18 then talk to them about the troop and see whether they would like to come along and find out what's going on. If your scouts have friends at school then talk to them about overcoming their fears and asking them to come to a meeting - they might just enjoy themselves!
Annual dues collection
If anyone has not paid their first dues payment yet please make arrangements to send it in. For those not reaching the $200 sales level in fundraising please note the second installment of $35 is now payable. 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
Upcoming events, January/February
2.4 - Scout overnight at FCC followed by Scout Sunday
2.5 - Scout Sunday at First Congregational Church
2.6 - Court of Honor at FCC. Come and celebrate scouting achievements within the troop, meeting starts at 7:30
2.13 - Scout Meeting at FCC. First year patrol and Merit badges at 7:00, meeting starts at 7:30
2.20 - School break, Scout Meeting at FCC. First year patrol and Merit badges at 7:00, meeting starts at 7:30
2.21 - Troop committee meeting, the Library @ FCC, starts 7:30
2.27 - Scout Meeting at FCC. First year patrol and Merit badges at 7:00, meeting starts at 7:30