Livingston, Montana    November 2002   Volume 5   Issue 10

Troop Election Report: The Troop had its semi-annual elections on Monday, November 4th. The results are: Daniel - continuing Junior Assistant Scoutmaster Danny - new Junior Assistant Scoutmaster Joshua - continuing Senior Patrol Leader Jay - new Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Jerome - continuing Venture Crew Chief Jere - continuing Troop Guide Nicholas - continuing O.A. Troop Representative John - new Dragon Slayer's Patrol Leader Michael - new Assistant Dragon Slayer's Patrol Leader Billy - new Raptor's Patrol Leader Seth - new Viper's Patrol Leader T.B.A. - Assistant Viper's Patrol Leader Micah - new Troop Historian Mark - new Troop Librarian Jere - continuing Troop Quartermaster Mark - continuing Troop Scribe Matthew - new Troop Bugler Billy - continuing Webelos II Den Chief Matthew - new Webelos I Den Chief Congratulations to all the boys! Boys that are new in their positions will need to meet with Joshua for their initial training. Scouts that have never participated in Junior Leadership Training should meet at Sleeping Giant Middle School room A-105 on Saturday, December 7th from 1 to 5 p.m. for a great training program. Venture Caving Trip Report: An experienced crew of three Venture Scouts, including Jerome, Jere and Nicholas, met at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 12th. We departed for Driggs, Idaho which we arrived at four hours later. After obtaining food and fuel we headed to Darby Canyon. We hiked 3.4 miles up the canyon to the mouth of Wind Cave. The cave is actually in Wyoming and on the

(continued from column 1) western side of the Teton Mountain range. We worked ourselves and equipment to the third room of the cave. This was difficult as we had to push packs through a two tight spots. There we set up a short rappel of 25 feet. We all descended the rope and explored in three directions from the bottom of the pit. This was Nicholas' third rappel and with it he completed Climbing Merit Badge. Having spent five hours in the cave we decided to head for the exit. We all ascended the rope using the ropewalker system and packed up our vertical gear. We left the cave and hiked by the light of the first quarter moon back to the trailhead. We took a few astronomy breaks on the way back down the trail. We changed out of our caving clothes and headed for Jackson, Wyoming for Pizza Hut. We ate our pizza and drove to Grand Teton National Park and stayed at Signal Mountain Campground. That night we saw many elk, antelope and deer and finally got to sleep just after midnight. In the morning we had a great sunrise with Mt. Moran right across Jackson Lake from us. It was a magnificent view. We earned 19 Frost Points! We drove home through Yellowstone and saw bison, coyotes, waterfalls and geysers. All in all it was a great adventure. November Troop Merit Badge Focus: We are supposed to work on Electronics Merit Badge this month but we are in the middle of a Woodwork Merit Badge project and need more time to finish it and the other requirements. We will postpone Electronics and reschedule it for another month. Scouts are also encouraged to complete any merit badge that they have started from previous months. The next Court of Honor is February 24th and it would be great to set a new record for merit badges earned.

Tour of RY Lumber: By Michael:      On October 14, Troop 563 went to the RY Lumber Mill to start Woodwork Merit Badge. It was a very fun and informational trip. We got to watch the trees get striped of their bark then they went into the building. There they were cut into about five pieces with really big saws. Then a smaller machine cut them into 2 by 4s. They were stacked and then brought by a forklift to a building to be dried. Next they were sent through the planer and then an inspector looked them over. He was really fast as he only gets about a second to look over each one. Last they are stacked again and pressed together into a bundle. The bundle is painted using a big stencil and then the bundle is ready for shipping by truck or train. This was a really fun trip and a good way to start Woodworking Merit Badge. Troop Campout at Livingston Lodge: We had a very productive day and night at the local Girl Scout Cabin on October 26th. We started by cutting four fallen trees out of the brush and stacking them. Thanks to Mr. Ron Nelson and Mr. Moore for all the help! The Scouts learned to split wood and broke a couple of axe handles too. Each Scout met with Mr. Andrews for at least one half of an hour to talk about rank advancement and merit badges. Two of our new Scouts finished their Scout Rank requirements and many Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class requirements were completed too. There was a review of the outstanding Merit Badge Blue Cards and many Scouts finished requirements on these. We had great cooking supervised by Seth and lots of gaming in the evening. There were 14 Scouts in total on the campout which is a record for any Troop campout this year. Twelve of the Scouts and Mr. Andrews stayed out on the deck for the night and earned 16 Frost Points!!! Merit Badge Day and Troop Campout: We will meet at 7:15 a.m. at the Lincoln School on Saturday, November 16th to head to Bozeman. We will spend the first part of the day working on a merit badge and then head to Window Rock Cabin for the afternoon and night. We will be back in town at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 17th.

Future Events Summary: November Electronics Merit Badge Theme  7 District Roundtable Meeting, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. in Bozeman  9 - 10 Dragon Slayers Patrol Campout  11 Scout Meeting, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. at SGMS room A-105  16 District Merit Badge Day in Bozeman, meet at 7:15 a.m. at Lincoln School; Swimming, Citizenship in the Nation, Art, First Aid, Weather offered  16 - 17 Troop Campout at Window Rock Cabin, $5 for food  18 Troop Committee Meeting and Scout Meeting, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. at SGMS room A-105  23 Christmas Tree Cutting meet at 8:00 a.m. at Sales Barn  25 Scout Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at Fairgrounds Sales Barn  26 Christmas Tree Sales Flyer Hanging; 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  30 Christmas Tree Sale Begins December no Merit Badge Theme  2 Scout Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at Fairgrounds Sales Barn  5 District Roundtable Meeting, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. in Bozeman  6 Green Bar Meeting, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. at SGMS room A-105  7 Troop Junior Leadership Training, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. at SGMS room A-105  9 Scout Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at Fairgrounds Sales Barn  16 Scout Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at Fairgrounds Sales Barn  21 All Scouts clean up Fairgrounds Sales Barn 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.  23 Christmas Break (no meeting)  24 Community Christmas Dinner Set-up  30 Christmas Break (no meeting)

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