Sunny Servitude, Batman!

Good morning,

In the classic ‘One man’s junk is another man’s treasure’ event, scouts provided muscle for Blessed Sacrament on Saturday helping with the Mary’s Knights’ Rummage Sale.  The social hall was filled to overflowing with baubles and door busters old and new, and by the afternoon, much of it had been carried to and loaded in vehicles to now clutter up someone else’s closet.  Continuing the service / servanthood theme this glorious sunny weekend, on Sunday members of the troop were at the finish line of the PF Chang’s Rock n Roll Marathon cheering Team in Training runners in particular, and everyone in general.  It was amazing to watch humanity of all sizes and ages come down the home stretch – some with renewed energy in a virtual sprint, some barely able to make it over the line before the medical teams would come to their aid.  From barefoot Todd, who had now run 300 marathons in 18 months sans shoes, to Brandon’s Team who had wheeled the quadriplegic the entire course, to 80 year old grandparents, to father/daughter or husband/wife pairs coming across hand in hand, it was an amazing afternoon of witnessing the human spirit at its most basic.  Many thanks to all who participated in both events.  For the marathon, this is the 10th consecutive year we have partnered with Mr. Grisa in this worthy cause.

Hopefully all of you who have Scout O Rama tickets are having success in trading them for money!  If you have need of tickets, please see Mr. Jeorling during tomorrow night’s meeting.  There are also a few slots remaining at specified times at grocery stores if you would like to supplement your friends, family & neighborhood efforts.  For those of you close to your next rank, keep in mind this week and next are your remaining opportunities for scout skills boards of review prior to our Court of Honor on the 5th.  We also have an outing coming up right after that on February  8-10 in the White Mountains.  Get yourself psyched up for blasting downhill on skis or snowboards during the annual snow sports outing to Sunrise.  Please see Mr. Harness for details and reservations.

Finally, I hope that you will consider spending part of the morning of February 2nd with us.  We have the unique opportunity to demonstrate to members of our charter organization who we are, and what we do during national Scout Sunday.  We are planning to be involved in morning services at Blessed Sacrament – primarily to greet the parishioners as they enter and exit services.  We will be all set up in the courtyard, and will have tents, dutch oven cooking, fire starting, and other activities for the children, and pamphlets and other information on scouting for the adults.  Please make it a point to participate in this opportunity to communicate and relate to this partnering religious organization, which kindly hosts us every week for our meetings and events, and gives us room for our volumes of equipment.

I hope that you all have a happy Martin Luther King holiday – enjoying in your own way the freedom that he and countless others have tirelessly worked to preserve for all of us.  See you tomorrow night at the troop meeting!

Mr. Cole