A good many people today, and more all the time, live their entire lives without once having had the magnificent opportunity of sleeping under the stars. There are none of those unfortunate souls in our troop! Friday night, an intrepid bunch of T648 scouts headed up for the Mogollon Rim, planning to get some fishing in, but knowing full well that some adjustments may be necessary due to the impending front bearing down on us from California. The stars on the Rim were glorious, the air crisp and cold, and the well-prepared tenters had a toasty night amidst the pines, followed by a fortifying hot breakfast in the freezing dawn. As the dishes were cleaned and put away, the storm hit. While some of the troop hunkererd down for conversation in a new low profile, hi-tech easy-up Mr. McFetters had discovered online, another group kept warm by going on a four mile hike. After 6 hours of rain, wind, sleet, and accumulating large snowflakes, it became pretty clear that no fishing was going to get done. When we finally became concerned about getting the trailer out of the dirt roads being buried by the falling snow, the boy leadership decided that we’d had enough of a good thing. There is being prepared, and then there is good common sense! During tear-down in the heavy snowfall,  I was reminded of the scene in ‘A Christmas Story’ (I double dog dare yah!) where Flick’s tongue gets stuck to the flagpole, as multiple boys’ fingers froze to their tent-poles as they were trying to get them apart.  As we had a late lunch in Payson, I was reminded of a de Cervantes quote – “forewarned is forearmed, being prepared is half the battle.â€Â We prepared, had a ball, have some good memories of overcoming the elements, but headed back down the hill before it became a tribulation. Many thanks to the dozen who participated for completing a short, but memorably excellent outing.
This week we have the troop meeting tomorrow, and the focus is all about our upcoming Pancake Breakfast and Silent Auction this coming Saturday morning. Your theme basket collections / donations are due, as Tuesday is the night that we will need to package up the baskets in preparation for the auction. Please also bring any other auction items you have collected as standalone bids. Young Mr. Hart is in charge of the Auction (Mrs. Conrad is the adult), young Mr. Traynor is in charge of ticket sales (Mr. Parizek is the adult), and young Mr. Turner is in charge of the breakfast (Mr. Cole is the adult). We need everyone’s participation to also bring in your ticket sales to date, and then remember the ABCs of selling the remainder of the week (always be closing) to finish up with a bang! We will begin on Saturday morning at 6:15, with the doors opening at 7:30, so come and setup, cook, serve, and cleanup – and you will cleanup with a brand new bulge in your scout account.
It is also the end of April, so the entire amount of $370 is due for summer camp. For those of you selling tickets and working the event this weekend, your scout account is an option for paying some or all of the summer camp amount. If that is your intent, please let Mr. Benyi know after the final accounting is completed for the May 3rd breakfast and auction. We will apply whatever amount you desire towards finalizing the summer camp fees.
This is an eventful week of scouting! Keep working on your merit badges and your advancements – we will be having an early June court of honor before summer camp so you can be at your current rank for Geronimo.
See you at the troop meeting.
Mr. Cole