Check the Troop Calendar for specific dates for all these camping opportunities.

 In the next two months our Troop will be working on…

Cinematography,          Hunting,                and Astronomy!

 The schedule has come together nicely for February and March, and I’m very excited about our upcoming meetings and events. Normally our boys do most of the instruction, but for these two months we have experts who will come educate us! Our Troop theme for February is Cinematography (the craft of filmmaking), and Mr. Stevens has great plans for two meetings this month! In March, a FREE Hunter’s Safety Course for our scouts has been arranged by one of our Scouts, and our Troop will be learning about Mr. Lockwood’s passion, Astronomy. See below for details!

 Below is a glance at February and March. As always, these and other events can be found on our Troop Calendar, along with the plan for the year, on our Troop Website: http://www.avontroop26.org/calendar.htm. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

 February

Troop Meetings
3 (Wed) – 7pm, Troop Boards of Review, Final preparations for the Klondike Derby
10 (Wed) – 7pm, Troop Boards of Review, Scott Stevens will be demonstrating Cinematography
17 (Wed) – NO MEETING – School Vacation – Scouts can use this time to make their storyboards, videos, etc.
24 (Wed) – 7pm, Scott Stevens will wrap up Cinematography 

Outdoor Activities / Special Events
5-7 (Fri-Sun) – Klondike Derby, Camp Sam Wood
7 (Sun) – 9:45 am, Scout Sunday Observance
7-13 (week) – BSA Window Displays, with Troop gear and memorabilia, designed by the Pack (or do your own, see me if interested)
11 (Thu) – 6:30pm, Troop Physicals, Zion Episcopal Church
26-28 (Fri-Sun) – Schoellkopf Campout, lean-tos, orienteering, sledding

Youth Leader Meetings
21 –Greenbar, 4pm, Location to be announced

 March

Troop Meetings
3 (Wed) – 7pm, Troop Court of Honor, Eagle Court of Honor for Jacob Bailey, Avon Veteran’s Hall in East Avon
10 (Wed) – 7pm, Troop Meeting, Scout House, Astronomy
17 (Wed) – 7pm, Troop Meeting, Scout House, Astronomy
24 (Wed) – 7pm, Troop Meeting, Scout House, Astronomy
31 (Wed) – 7pm, Troop Meeting, Scout House, Astronomy 

Outdoor Activities / Special Events
6 (Sat) – Hunter’s Safety Course, 8am-4pm, York Sportsman’s Club – Must sign up in advance!
13 (Sat) – 3pm, Blue & Gold Banquet, High School Cafeteria
13-14 (Sat-Sun) – Jamboree Swim Test & Lock-in, Albion
19-20 (Fri-Sat) – Merit Badge College, United Methodist Church in Geneseo
26-28 (Fri-Sun) – Italy Hill Campout
TBD – Troop Swim Tests

Youth Leader Meetings
TBD –Greenbar, Date and time to be announced

Cinematography - Scott Stevens, our previous Scoutmaster, will be coming to two meetings in February to teach the boys about Cinematography. If a Scout would like to take the Merit Badge, I’m sure Mr. Stevens would be able to guide them on the requirements they need to work on themselves between the first meeting and the second. The requirements for Cinematography include coming up with a story, making a story board, and coming up with a film or videotape of a story. This is a very unique opportunity for our Scouts, as Mr. Stevens works in the film industry (he will reveal what he does in his job in the upcoming meetings)!

Klondike Derby – We will have a great time at Camp Sam Wood running through the woods with all the necessary gear onboard our sled. Many years ago, men raced across the Alaskan frozen wilderness by means of dogs and sleds. Scouting has taken this idea and come up with the Klondike Derby as an activity for Boy Scouts. Each patrol builds a sled (or uses a sled already built), collects materials and equipment, and embarks on the Klondike to participate as a team in the derby. Each Patrol will load their sled with the gear necessary to meet the fun challenges along the way, as well as the equipment and food necessary to cook their own lunch. They will pull the sled as a team to each event location, which are located throughout the camp. Patrols use GPS devices to find the locations for each Event. The events have in the past have included Fire Starting, Ice Rescue, Emergency Winter Shelter, First Aid, making a stretcher and carrying a Scout, Severe Weather Cooking, sled race, snowball challenge, and more. The term derby implies this is a race, and there are winners determined for each event and for the overall derby, although winning is an extra bonus, the fun is in rising to the challenge and working as a team to solve problems.

Scout Sunday Observance – As part of the celebration of Scouting’s anniversary, Scouts should attend a chuch service, and one church in particular will be expecting us! This coming Sunday morning, February 7^th, at the First Presbyterian Church, 4-corners East Avon, our Troop will gather to participate in a church service together. 9:45am for all Scouts, dressed in full field uniform (Class As).

BSA Window Displays – To celebrate 100 years of Scouting, our Pack has created 3 window displays that will be in the storefront windows of the Avon Historical Society on Genesee St, a vacant storefront next to Movie Gallery, and (hopefully) inside Tops in front of the dairy section! The pack has borrowed some of our gear, photos, and memorabilia for the Window Displays, and our second ever Eagle Scout, Steve Stevenson, has loaned his uniform and some of his items to display. These should be very interesting to see, so make it a point to check them out! If you want to make another Window Display, just let me know and we can get you set-up with items from the Scout House and memorabilia from adults.

Troop Physicals – To go camping, each Scout must submit a physical in case something happens to them while on the campout (and to inform the Scoutmasters of allergies and the like). If you’ve already submitted a physical for Jamboree then you do not need to do another one for the Troop, the Jamboree physical will work quite nicely! Mr. Feller has arranged with Dr. Collins (Ethan’s Dad) to do our Physicals at the Zion Episcopal Church, on the Avon Village Circle. Please print out the form ahead of time and fill out Parts A and C, and bring a copy of your Insurance card and your son’s immunizations. This will make the entire process go smoothly.  Physicals will start at 6:30pm and be finished by 8:30pm. You can download the form here: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34605_Letter.pdf  

Schoellkopf Campout – The last time we went to Schoellkopf for a campout there wasn’t much snow, but the boys enjoyed warming up the lean-to and exploring the camp. We have the map to a permanent Orienteering course, and the lean-tos have a wood stove and a heavy rubber tarp that covers the opening to keep the heat in. We had a great time playing cards, hiking, orienteering, and playing games, and look forward to a return there later this month, hopefully with enough snow to go sledding down the hill behind the shotgun range.

Troop Court of Honor – Our next Troop Court of Honor is planned for Wednesday, March 3^rd at the Avon Veteran’s Hall in East Avon (along the 5&20 stretch between Avon and East Avon). Jacob Bailey has decided to be awarded his Eagle Rank at that same Court of Honor, so it should be a great evening!

Astronomy – Eric Lockwood is very passionate about astronomy, and he will be using the meetings in the month of March to help Scouts earn some or all of astronomy Merit Badge. He is looking to see what other opportunities he can make for our boys, so stay tuned for more details!

Hunter’s Safety Course – Caleb Nellis has contacted and arranged for a FREE Hunter’s Safety Course, and I can tell you from personal experience that finding a Hunter’s Safety Course is VERY DIFFICULT, so the fact that Caleb was able to arrange one for the Troop is amazing. Caleb has done the legwork to arrange for a rare opportunity for our Scouts and parents, a Hunter’s Safety course arranged with us in mind! All our Scouts that are at least 11 years old can participate in this course, as Caleb had that in mind when he made the arrangements. There is space for only 25, and the slots will fill VERY quickly. The instructors must also open up the course to the public, so if your son wants to take this course then you must let Caleb Nellis know so that your spot is reserved. All students under 16 must bring a signed permission slip (http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/permparent.pdf) to take the course. A booklet will be made available to all participants that they must work on BEFORE coming to the course. Please contact Caleb Nellis to sign-up for the course (243-3319, jnellis@rochester.rr.com).

Blue & Gold Banquet – Each Scout not attending the Jamboree Lock-in should be at the Blue & Gold Banquet to welcome our new Scouts to the Troop.  In addition to a good meal, our presence there encourages our Cub Scouts to continue into Boy Scouting, where adventure and opportunity awaits. You should be prepared to lead a song or skit, and the crossover bridge may be revamped this year by our Troop, when we make it into a small rope bridge. This should be a fun event for our Scouts, and a chance for our Cub Scouts to get to meet and talk with older Boy Scouts. Be welcoming and friendly, encourage these Scouts to join Boy Scouting!

Jamboree Lock-in – For Jamboree participants only, the lock-in will start out with Swim Tests and Emergency Preparedness training, then move into games, activities, movies, and an ice cream social. The Jamboree committee has done everything it can to make this a fun and interesting event, and it is mandatory for all Jamboree participants to attend. Please look for an upcoming Jamboree newsletter for details.

Merit Badge college - The College will be March 19^th & 20^st at the United Methodist Church on Route 63 in Geneseo (same place as in previous years). Please review the information on the Council Website (http://www.itcbsa.org) with your Scout and send me any reservations you would like me to make on his behalf for the Merit Badge College. Space is limited, so get your reservations to me as quickly as possible so that your space is reserved. The boys can take as many Merit Badges as time permits, but they should look carefully at the prerequisites as they must be completed before going to the College. This year our council is offering 21 Merit Badges. We have many of the Merit Badge pamphlets at the Scout House, but the Scouts should purchase more as needed. They do not offer any Merit Badges required for Eagle, but our Troop works hard to offer all required Merit Badges to the boys on a rotating basis, and those we do not offer can be earned at Summer Camp.

Italy Hill Campout – Our current Plan for the March Campout is to return to Italy Hill. We went to Italy Hill last year, and the boys enjoyed the adventure so much that they wanted to return this year! We will be hiking in to the lean-to and camping out for the night in and around the lean-to (most Scouts will be warmer and more comfortable in tents). The hike in and out were very adventurous, as it follows the Finger Lakes Trail and requires crossing several streams. Last year they were frozen, and great care and planning had to be exercised to make the crossings. Guaranteed the Scouts that went last year remember it well, and many are looking forward to returning! 

This link takes you to a page that specifically discusses the Geocaching, a new high-tech hobby that several Scouts and sometimes the Troop actively participates in. We will be Geocaching as often as possible. This page was developed by our very own Eagle Scout, Tyler.