Good morning!
I hope that you return from the Thanksgiving holiday recharged and renewed, fueled with new energy born from yummy leftovers and quality time spent with family, and ready to tackle preparation for the granddaddy holiday of them all. In between chasing Cyber Monday specials or spending hours trying to find that missing string of blue LED lights, I hope you’ll set aside time to join us at scouts. Because of the way the calendar falls this year, we will not have meetings on the 12/25 or 1/1 Tuesdays, so early December is the time to focus on your advancement opportunities and prepare your patrols for a couple of fun winter camping outings. With foresight and a bit of time management, there will still be plenty of time to finish studying for finals and getting the tree trimming done, too!
The boys in charge of the next outing have reevaluated the December Winter Camping theme, due to our recent unexpected excellent experience with winter weather during the November outing above Mayer. We will continue the backpacking format originally planned, but now schedule it for a Superstitions trek instead of the originally planned higher altitudes. Come find out the details on our upcoming adventure 12/7-9 into the amazing Sonoran wilderness bordering the eastern-most part of our Valley.
This is the time of year during which we focus on recruitment. If you have contacts with a cub scout pack, please let young Mr. Dahlmann know, as he has been contacting local packs about attending our January Webelos weekend. He will appreciate any help you can provide in spreading the word about this fun weekend, which typically includes 75-100 people as a sunny Saturday afternoon in the McDowell mountains turns into evening, learning scout skills, playing, laughing, eating, singing, and staring into the community campfire before heading home or turning into the tent, tired but happy.  If you have a friend at school that you have been thinking about inviting to try out scouts, this is also a perfect opportunity for them to get a good understanding of what it is to be a scout in T648.
Please keep in mind a number of upcoming dates / events. Tomorrow night is a fun get together of all troop Moms at Mrs. Yu’s home during the troop meeting. December 1st is when the first $50 installment of payments for summer camp is due. For all adults, we have a parent/committee meeting on December 4th in a conference room next to the troop meeting.
As we prepare for Christmas, I am so very thankful for family health, which is at the pinnacle this year of the many other blessings in my life. We have such an abundance, but in the midst of all we have, there are many who are much less fortunate than we are. Please also remember to give as you are able this season. One good option is to bring gently used blankets and socks to our next two troop meetings, and young Mr. McFetters will see that they are provided to our friends at Streets of Destiny Church. Stay tuned for further details on this continuing service project.
I give thanks for all of you! See you at the troop meeting….
Mr. Cole