Livingston, Montana February 2000 Volume 3 Issue 1
Recent Happenings:
During the past six weeks we
have been very busy and have had a great time. Scouts have been
working on requirements for all of those incomplete merit badges.
We had a great winter campout and earned 71 Frost Points (the
true meaning of fun!). We had a swim night at Chico Hot Springs.
Josh, Jere and Daniel set up our Troop Scout Week Display. We
heard about many diverse collections that the Scouts have. Boys
did service work for our community. We had a knot tying competition.
We had one of the best Green Bar Meetings yet! We attended a
School Board Meeting. Nine boys were certified for adult CPR
and to top it all off, we re-chartered our Troop early for a
change.
Merit Badge Day:
The Mountain Valley District (our district) is organizing
another Merit Badge Day. These have been very successful events
that allow boys to focus on one merit badge of their choice during
a Saturday morning. The next Merit Badge Day is March 18 from
8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at various Bozeman locations. The Merit
Badge Day is a great complement to the activities of the Troop
but does not replace our monthly outing. Last November we added
a great campout at Battle Ridge after the Merit Badge Day was
over. We can do the same in March or keep the planned campout
which is the weekend before. This will be a good issue for the
Green Bar and Troop Committee to decide. The merit badges offered
this time are: Computers, Snow Sports, Fire Safety, Salesmanship,
Citizenship in the Nation, and Emergency Preparedness. Most of
the boys have been asked what they tentatively plan to take with
the final decision needed by March 1st.
2001 National Jamboree:
The 2001 National Jamboree is July 23 - August 1, 2001 at Fort
A.P. Hill, Virginia. The boys of our Troop have at least three
choices if they plan to attend. Choice number one is to go with
the Montana Council which leaves by air on July 20 and returns
August 2. This trip is all expenses paid (except personal spending)
for the fee of $2075.00 per boy (yes it has gone up $100) and
$650 per leader. Information sheets and applications are available
from Mr. Andrews. Choice number two is to pile into a van for
a 21 day road trip including visiting the Jamboree for 2 to 3
days, visiting Washington D.C. for 2 days, hiking 50 miles on
the Appalachian Trail for 5 days, caving in Virginia and West
Virginia for 3 days and 8 days of driving (4 each way). This
trip would cost less than $600 per person. Choice three is to
fly back East and join the van(s) for the Jamboree, D.C., hiking
and caving and fly home. This option would cost less than $1000
per person. Decisions about your attendance and which option
you wish to pursue need to be made soon. The Montana Council
has already asked for $320 per person with another $220 due on
March 1st.
New Troop Campout Food Charges:
The Troop Committee has approved the year 2000 Troop
Budget and has a new campout food charge. Each boy will pay $7
for one night campouts and $11 for two night campouts. It would
be great if boys could bring money to the Troop meeting before
the campout instead of the morning of the campout or after the
event. For example: the $7 for the next campout is due on Monday,
February 21st at the committee meeting.
to earn
the badge. Parents should keep track of when repairs or installations
were complete and send notes to the Scout meetings for the boys
to give to Mr. Andrews.