Hello everyone......
It is the time of the year when people start to get the itch for Spring. The weather has started to tease us and give us a few nice days here and there that remind us of what is to come soon! Winter is entirely too long.....
With the change in the weather is the start of our camping season. The boys are starting to get the itch to do some things, especially camping and advancement. This is a season of moving forward on their Scouting trail. Many boys have been taking advantage of some free time and some renewed vigor by working extremely hard on merit badges and rank advancement. Are you one of them?
We have a Court of Honor in one month. I have issued a challenge to the boys to earn at least 2 merit badges each.......there is NO reason why they cannot attain this goal with plenty of time and room to spare.......some boys have really gone above and beyond with their pursuits in this area! I would like to see a minimum of 5 rank advancements as well......our boys have the ability to do all this and so much more.
Boys, encourage and help each other. Work on merit badges and rank advancement together. Parents: Please continue to encourage and support the boys as they try move forward on their Scouting trails......
Yours in Scouting,
Big Mike
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
How to balance Scouting in everyday life
There are so many things in life that are different from when I was growing up. Imagine, years ago, when kids cam home from school.....what options were available for acivities back then? What did many of you do when you came home from school? I had an after-school job......I delivered the Buffalo News papers 7 days a week to approximately 120 homes in my neighborhood. I was able to do this in about 45 minutes to an hour daily, which still allowed me plenty of time to play one of the games being played in my neighborhood.....such as football, street hockey, basketball, freeze tag, etc. I also, obviously, made enough time to make sure that my school work was done and any chores around my family home were completed as well. There seldom came a day when I was not outside after delivering my papers as I figured out quickly how to balance my time and responsibilities......
I was extremely lucky to grow up in the area I did as I had choices, but I also had other things that kept me busy.....such as playing in the woods behind my house and actively working on my Scouting badges and advancement. I was constantly on the go, kind of like I am to this very day. Ironically, I still play in the woods behind my house and now.....I HELP other boiys with their Scouting advancements and merit badges. While I still enjoy playing sports and doing adult things like working on my house, I continue to make time to enjoy my Scouting career.
I encourage all members of our Scouting program, whether you are an adult or a child, to make room for Scouting and it's pursuits in your lives. Boys, remember that school and family comes first. Sports obviously have an importance in our towns as well as most of you play at least one sport. Scouting is one of those things that will always be here in BR, as we understand that boys are busy and have multiple choices for activities in their lives. Adults, please encourage your sons to open their books at home and work on advancement requirements as much as possible. Afetr they achieve first class rank, the onus will be more on merit badges and other achievements. This is where boys can really step up and take a plethora of merit badges to actively learn. We are extremely lucky to have many merit badge counselors in our local area who are willing to work on things as long as the boys ASK.....
Scouting definitely has a place in our everyday lives and our communities. Scouting is a place where our boys can actively make choices that can drastically alter their lives and in turn, make them better young men and adults. I cannot stress enough how important the following phrase is:
Your boys will get out of Scouting EXACTLY what they put into it.
As always, I am here for each and every one of you.......
Yours in Scouting AND For The Boys,
Big Mike
I was extremely lucky to grow up in the area I did as I had choices, but I also had other things that kept me busy.....such as playing in the woods behind my house and actively working on my Scouting badges and advancement. I was constantly on the go, kind of like I am to this very day. Ironically, I still play in the woods behind my house and now.....I HELP other boiys with their Scouting advancements and merit badges. While I still enjoy playing sports and doing adult things like working on my house, I continue to make time to enjoy my Scouting career.
I encourage all members of our Scouting program, whether you are an adult or a child, to make room for Scouting and it's pursuits in your lives. Boys, remember that school and family comes first. Sports obviously have an importance in our towns as well as most of you play at least one sport. Scouting is one of those things that will always be here in BR, as we understand that boys are busy and have multiple choices for activities in their lives. Adults, please encourage your sons to open their books at home and work on advancement requirements as much as possible. Afetr they achieve first class rank, the onus will be more on merit badges and other achievements. This is where boys can really step up and take a plethora of merit badges to actively learn. We are extremely lucky to have many merit badge counselors in our local area who are willing to work on things as long as the boys ASK.....
Scouting definitely has a place in our everyday lives and our communities. Scouting is a place where our boys can actively make choices that can drastically alter their lives and in turn, make them better young men and adults. I cannot stress enough how important the following phrase is:
Your boys will get out of Scouting EXACTLY what they put into it.
As always, I am here for each and every one of you.......
Yours in Scouting AND For The Boys,
Big Mike
Sunday, February 13, 2011
JLT / Merit Badge MADNESS!!!
Now that the Troop JLT is complete and we have our annual plan in effect, it is time to start getting to work on the important things......like the boys running their patrols and troop from this week forward. As you can probably alredy tell, SPL Tylor is well in gear with his communicating troop events and messages through facebook and email. This is part of the master plan of better communication for ALL!!
I am very proud of the boys and what they have accomplished so far. It is not easy to commit to the program and time that is needed for it.......we have excellent young men in our troop. I will always take great pride in trying to cultivate their leadership skills and interpersonal abilities through many different lessons and plans. I also want to announce a new feature that we will be starting this month: Scheduling a Scoutmaster's conference through this site. I will start making myself available certain times and days for the boys so they can get their Scoutmaster conferences in a timely manner. I believe that this is important moving forward as the adult leadership corp will be working extremely hard these next few months to help the boys advance in rank and work on merit badges.....look for this function very soon on the site!.....
That leads me to another program we are rolling out immediately......MERIT BADGE MADNESS! The adult leadership corp is looking for a few good scouts to teach, assist, and help attain merit badges for all of our boys! If your scout is looking to work on a merit badge, simply inquire who teaches it with our troop.....we will be REALLY REALLY pushing this in the next 4-6 weeks....we have lots of qualified merit badge counselors right here in Bolivar-Richburg.....lets put them to work!
I challenged the boys at last weeks meeting to try and attain at least 2 merit badges each (per active scout)....this would be a total of 38 merit badges by the time the Court of Honor comes around in April......lets help them attain this goal!
From now until the Great Scoutmaster of all times deems us worthy to meet again....
Big Mike
I am very proud of the boys and what they have accomplished so far. It is not easy to commit to the program and time that is needed for it.......we have excellent young men in our troop. I will always take great pride in trying to cultivate their leadership skills and interpersonal abilities through many different lessons and plans. I also want to announce a new feature that we will be starting this month: Scheduling a Scoutmaster's conference through this site. I will start making myself available certain times and days for the boys so they can get their Scoutmaster conferences in a timely manner. I believe that this is important moving forward as the adult leadership corp will be working extremely hard these next few months to help the boys advance in rank and work on merit badges.....look for this function very soon on the site!.....
That leads me to another program we are rolling out immediately......MERIT BADGE MADNESS! The adult leadership corp is looking for a few good scouts to teach, assist, and help attain merit badges for all of our boys! If your scout is looking to work on a merit badge, simply inquire who teaches it with our troop.....we will be REALLY REALLY pushing this in the next 4-6 weeks....we have lots of qualified merit badge counselors right here in Bolivar-Richburg.....lets put them to work!
I challenged the boys at last weeks meeting to try and attain at least 2 merit badges each (per active scout)....this would be a total of 38 merit badges by the time the Court of Honor comes around in April......lets help them attain this goal!
From now until the Great Scoutmaster of all times deems us worthy to meet again....
Big Mike
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Using this site as a tool
Hello fellow Scouters and families,
We finally did it! We have the site we wanted that is fully active and allows for all the communication, pictures, and information we could want! Thank you to Mr. Don Schiffer for setting this format up and getting it going.....also thank you to Mrs. McDonnell for setting up the domain for us.
I want all of you to understand that we will update this site regularly......it will be full of calendar dates, interactive games and searches as clues for contests we will be having, information on all leadership positions as they change and evolve, TLC notes so anyone can tell what we will be doing from month to month, council and district news, an OA corner for those involved and/or interested, updated pics on our meetings and activities, etc.
Please come here regularly as part of your daily and weekly web surfing......put this site into your favorites and visit often as we will be using this as a tool for communication of many, many things!! The site is only as good as the content we put on it, so with that in mind I pledge to make sure it ALWAYS has something new on it! We need all of you to use it......this can only enhance our communication efforts going forward as an organization. I want this site to be voted the best in council........
Again, we as a troop set the pace here in Allegany Highlands Council.......a boy-led troop that uses the patrol method that is constantly evolving to be better......I am so proud of out troop, it's leaders, and it's members!
Yours in Scouting,
Big Mike
We finally did it! We have the site we wanted that is fully active and allows for all the communication, pictures, and information we could want! Thank you to Mr. Don Schiffer for setting this format up and getting it going.....also thank you to Mrs. McDonnell for setting up the domain for us.
I want all of you to understand that we will update this site regularly......it will be full of calendar dates, interactive games and searches as clues for contests we will be having, information on all leadership positions as they change and evolve, TLC notes so anyone can tell what we will be doing from month to month, council and district news, an OA corner for those involved and/or interested, updated pics on our meetings and activities, etc.
Please come here regularly as part of your daily and weekly web surfing......put this site into your favorites and visit often as we will be using this as a tool for communication of many, many things!! The site is only as good as the content we put on it, so with that in mind I pledge to make sure it ALWAYS has something new on it! We need all of you to use it......this can only enhance our communication efforts going forward as an organization. I want this site to be voted the best in council........
Again, we as a troop set the pace here in Allegany Highlands Council.......a boy-led troop that uses the patrol method that is constantly evolving to be better......I am so proud of out troop, it's leaders, and it's members!
Yours in Scouting,
Big Mike
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