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Volume LXXIX September 2014

Important Dates: September 2

Dutch Oven Cook Off

September 9

PLC Plans 2015 Activities/

Campouts

September 9

Troop Elections

September 19-21

Canoe Campout

September 30

Court of Honor/Creekwood

October 3-5

OA Ordeal

October 17-19

Shooting Sports Campout

October 28-November 11

Scouting For Food

November 14-16

Camp Tiac Ropes Course

December 16

Christmas Party

December 27-30

Winter Camp

Inside this issue:

Scoutmaster Update 2

Dutch Oven Cookout 3

Canoe Campout 4

Court of Honor 5

Leadership 6

August Highlights 7

Reader Contest 8

VIEW THE TROOP WEBSITE

TO STAY INFORMED OF

TROOP ACTIVITIES. YOU

WILL BE ABLE TO PLAN

AND BUDGET IF YOU

KNOW WHAT THE TROOP

ACTIVITIES ARE.

Popcorn Time!

The popcorn season is well underway. Scouts

have sold popcorn at three Walmarts and

three Lowes on September 16 & 23. Sales and

dontations exceeded $6,000. Thanks to those

who stepped up to help and to raise money

for their scouting experience.

Scouts are now on their own to sell popcorn

door-to-door. This is where the majority of pop-

corn is sold. Get out there and sell every week-

end. It is not that hard and your effort helps

your scout, the troop, and the Council.

Order of the Arrow Ordeal

The OA will have their Fall Ordeal on

October 3-5. The Ordeal is an event

where newly elected OA Candidates go

to become inducted into the OA. Other

Arrowmen can attend a class to become

a Brotherhood Member which means

they become full members in the OA.

All Arrowmen should attend this event.

It will be fun time with many activities

planned.

The Order of the Arrow is a service or-

ganization that helps the Council with

many activities. Arrowmen are consid-

ered to be the “best of the best” in scout-

ing.

See You At Ordeal!

Troop Neckerchief

The troop has a new neckerchief. It

will be available this Tuesday at a

cost of $8. Everyone needs to pick

theirs up as they will be required as

part of the uniform on special oc-

casions such as out Court of Honor

on September 30. See Jay to pay and get your neckerchief.

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Manny's Epistle! Troop 292

Scoutmaster Update August was a busy and fun month consisting of “end of the summer swim party,” beginning of popcorn sales, Cub Scout Roundups, and a cam-

pout at Camp Pinetreat.

The first year scouts earned a lot of new skills on the August campout which included “Leave no Trace” discussion, understanding your rights

and responsibilities as a U. S. Citizen, how to tie knots, how to lash, and how to raise and lower the flag.

The troop was also busy with helping Packs recruit Cubs for this new year. The troop has helped the Council at Dodge, O’Rourke, Dawes In-

termediate, Hutchins, and O’Rourke.

Cub Scouts become Boy Scouts!

Make sure you read the article in this newsletter regarding election of new positions that begin on October 1. These positions are how scouts

learn to be leaders. Just as important, they also learn what DOES NOT WORK when trying to be a leader.

The troop is very appreciative of our parents that volunteer so much of their time for their scout and to help the troop. Your help and support is

a primary reason the troop is successful. Thanks for supporting the scooting program.

Manny Russo Scoutmaster

September 2

James

September 6

Seth

September 17

Spencer

September 23

Norman

September 23

Evan

September 30

Brock

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Look What's New! The troop is now accepting debit/credit cards to pay for re-charter, campouts, summer camp, and other scout activi-ties. This will make it much easier for those who do not use checks. The troop will have to charge 3% extra to cover the cost of the card. For example, if you pay $25 for an activity, the amount debited will be $25.75. We hope this will make it easier for you. You can still make installments on activities and use your debit card each month to make these payments.

Take advantage of this easy payment method.

Partial Merit Badges

Parents: Sumer camp is now over and your scout proba-

bly has some partial merit badges meaning that they

have some work to do a home in order to complete the

badge he started at summer camp. Some scouts have

partial badges from 1-3 years ago that he also needs to

work on. To complete the badge will require parents to

help their scout just as you would if it were a homework

assignment. We are urging parents to review the ad-

vancement report that Scott sends out and help your

scout complete these badges. In some ways, scouting is

no different than school as the scout must accept respon-

sibility for his badges just as he would with homework. I

One of our Assistant Scoutmasters, Angel, has participat-

ed in Wood Badge Training which is the highest level of

training offered to adult scouters by BSA. One of her pro-

jects to complete as part of this training is to organize vol-

unteers to help scouts complete these partial merit badg-

es. This effort will be in full swing starting in August. Your

scouts should be hearing from one of our adults regarding

his partial merit badges. If have skills or interest in working

with scouts on a badge, see Scott.

Talk with your scout about this and give him a

little nudge in the seat of the pants!

Dutch Oven Cook Off

On September 2, all patrols will prepare a dish and cook it

in a Dutch oven at the Church. Each Patrol has selected

their item to cook and must be at the church at 6:00, not

7:00. They will mix up their food and start cooking at 6:30

and serve the troop at 7:30. Each patrol member should

contribute to the cost of the food.

Starting this fall, each patrol will be cooking meals in a

Dutch oven. Learning to cook in a Dutch oven is easy and is

a “one pot meal.”

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To Camp or Not to Camp!

(A message from your Scoutmaster)

Throughout the year that are many opportunities to camp. Scouts will

sign up for a campout and then change their mind. I will often ask them

why they are not camping or why they changed their mind. The answers

are usually the same. “I did not think I would have fun” or “it is not what

I wanted to do.” It is important for parents to remember that camping is

the major part of scouting. In fact, it is the heart and soul of scouting.

Troops that do not camp much will lose scouts to troops that do. Cam-

pouts are not always about doing what the scout wants to do. It is about

teamwork, being independent of adults, cooking, learning to deal with

stormy weather, developing relationships with fellow scouts, and much

more.

Parents are urged to make sure your scout camps every opportunity. I

know that families are busy and scouts will often prefer to stay home and

play video games, watch TV, or just sleep in. Scouting takes your scout

away from his “comfort zone” and puts him in the great outdoors where

he learns new skills.

Camping is the focus and scouts should take every opportunity to camp

and learn. He will grow and advance if he camps often. Parents, it is im-

portant that you understand this message and share it with your scout.

Thanks, Manny

Shooting Sports Campout

A shooting sports campout will take place on October 17-19 at

Camp Maubila. The scouts will shoot 22 rifles, black powder ri-

fles, shotguns/skeet, bow & arrow, slingshots, and tomahawk

throwing. These activities will take place all day Saturday and a

half day on Sunday which means we will not return until mid

afternoon.

The purpose of this campout is not only to have fun but to teach

firearm safety and learn skills when using firearms. In addition to

these activities, we will have a campfire ceremony, and the boys

will have their evening meal judged to see which patrol is the best

cook. The winning patrol will have bragging rights until the next

cook off.

Scouts can start signing up for this campout at any time. The cost

will be $30.

Coosa River Canoeing

The troop will travel to Wetumpka, AL and

camp at Fort Toulouse on September 19-21. The

scouts will enjoy the history of the fort and watch a

French reenactment. We will also canoe a 6 miles

stretch of the Coosa River which will take about 5-6

hours. The river is known to have fast running water

with several rapids. This speed of the water will de-

pend on rainfall and the amount of water coming

thru the damn. This canoe trip will be a lot of fun and

will give scouts an opportunity to improve their canoe

skills or just Learn Them! .

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Can You Sew?

Help is needed for two projects. First, we plan to make 6 Indian cos-

tumes and 2 headdresses. While the boys will perform much of the

hand work it will still be necessary to use a sewing machine for some

of the stitching.

The second project involves sewing 100 three foot banners on a nylon

webbing (flat rope) to use to mark off certain areas or to put up a

roped area for an activity. This will be straight line sewing using a

sewing machine. The length of the banners once sewed end to end is

300 feet! The banners will be divided into 5 sections that can be

clipped together if needed.

If you can help with this please let Ken or Manny know.

Court of Honor

September is the troop semi-annual Court of Honor. What

is a Court of Honor? In our troop, a Court of Honor is held

every six months. It is a time to recognize each scout for

rank advancement, earned merit badges, positions, help,

and other service given to scouting. What makes a COH

special is that it is conducted in front of fellow scouts, par-

ents, siblings, leaders, and friends of scouts.

It is formal event and is a fun time for all. This year’s COH

will be catered by Gambinos. The choice of entrees will

include Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti with Marinara, and

Chicken Alfredo. Salad, beverage, and bread sticks will

be available. The cost of this meal is just $3 per person.

WHAT A BARGAIN! Beginning on September 2, families

should start signing up with the treasurer, Jay.

All must be signed up no later than September

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Recharter Time

It is time to recharter or “rejoin” for 2015. At the Court of

Honor on September 30 everyone will receive their rechar-

ter packet. In the packet you will find a personal infor-

mation form that should be reviewed to make sure every-

thing is accurate (address, phone numbers, email ad-

dresses, a different vehicle to be used for scout transpor-

tation, etc). You will also find a “consent form” to be

signed. This recharter packet should be turned back in by

Tuesday, October 14. The 2015 fees are $85 if paid by that

date ($9 discount) and $94 after October 14. These fees

include Troop fees of $58, National fees of $24, and Boy’s

Life Magazine of $12. If you need to make your payment

over two or three installments, just make your first payment

and talk with the treasurer about future payment dates.

All payments must be made by December 6 as that is the

date we must turn everything in to the Council.

This Process of rechartering is very time con-

suming and Important so your cooperation is

appreciated.

Patrol Leaders Council Will Plan 2015

On September 9 the Patrol Leaders Council will meet at

5:30 to plan the 2015 calendar of activities. This planning

will include campouts, fundraisers, troop events such as

leadership elections, Christmas Party, Scouting for Food,

Popcorn sales, Summer Camp, Winter Camp, and much

more. The scouts will be advised by the Scoutmasters and

will plan considering the dates of Mardi Gras, school

spring break, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc.

It is hoped that 2015 activities can be put on the website

by the end of October. This will allow families to be aware

of troop activities as they plan their busy schedules.

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2014 Campouts

September 19-21

Fort Toulouse Civil War Reenactment &

Coosa River Canoeing

October 17-19

Shooting Sports

November 14-16

Tiak Ropes Course

December 27-30

Winter Camp

What is Leadership?

When we think of leadership we usually think of the

Senior Patrol Leader, older scouts, those that get things

done, and so on. Leadership in many ways is less con-

spicuous than this. When your scout offers to help or to

carry out a task and demonstrates a positive attitude

then he is demonstrating leadership. At summer camp,

many of our first year scouts asked if there was any-

thing that they could help with. This is leadership. When

scouts help other scouts, this is leadership. A good

leader must first be a great follower to his SPL, ASPL, or

Patrol Leader.

In September, we will have elections for SPL, ASPL’s,

Patrol Leaders, & Assistant Patrol Leaders. We will also

appoint scouts to fill positions which include Scribe, Li-

brarian, Den Chiefs, Chaplain, Quartermaster, Instruc-

tor, Historian, Service Patrol, Bugler, OA Rep, &Troop

Guide. All of these positions will require scouts to

demonstrate leadership in an effort to help fellow

scouts and the troop.

Parents are urged to talk with your scout about leader-

ship and help them understand the importance of

developing leadership skills.

Step up to serve your fellow scouts

Be a leader

Why You Should Not Get Under A Tree During a Lightening Storm!

Copy to your browser: http://www.wimp.com/amazingstrike/

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August Highlights

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Troop 292 is a very active troop that camps each month regard-

less of the weather! We will camp in excess of 30 nights and

days per year. The Boy Scout Program is an “Outdoor Program,”

meaning that scout skills and leadership skills are developed

throughout this outdoor program, not only at Tuesday night meet-

ings. We also provide hundreds of hours a year in service pro-

jects as we teach scouts this key value of “Service to Others.”

Join us as we provide a quality program that turns young boys

into young men who live the Scout Law and Oath in all that they

do.

Our Mission—The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to

prepare young people to make ethical choices over their lifetimes

by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.

Providence Presbyterian Church

2320 Schillinger Rd

Mobile, AL 36695

Troop 292

News You Can Use

Scoutmaster: Manny Russo

E-mail: Manny292@comcast.net

We’re on the

web!

www.bsa292.org

News You Can Use Reader Contest

Scouts, read your newsletter cover to cover to locate our logo, or , and then email your

editor, Irene Watson at mom96rn93@aol.com, with the total number of logos you find in the en-

tire newsletter. Look everywhere, including on uniforms and flags. The first three scouts to email

will be entered in a drawing to receive the prize of the month from Mr. Manny. You must be in

full uniform with your scout book at the meeting in which the prize is awarded. And I would bet

you’ll be really informed about all your troop’s happenings, too. Good Luck!

Editor’s Note - If you have any suggestions or contributions for

292 News, please contact Irene Watson at

mom96rn93@aol.com.

If you would like to submit articles for the web-

site or tell us about something your scout has

done outside of scouting, please email this in-

formation to:

Manny at manny292@comcast.net or

Steve Marcantonio at steve@cpsinet.com.

Website and Photo Gallery