Happy Tuesday!
We have some events coming up that everyone should be aware of.
Friday Jan 13-Sun Jan 15 Camping at Boyhaven
Scouts should arrive at Horsley Hall between 6:00 and 6:30 Friday evening and they should have already had dinner. Sunday morning pick up will be at 9am at the same place. Please let Mr Roby know if you have questions.
Monday, Jan. 16 Martin Luther King Jr Day. No Troop Meeting
Tuesday, Jan 17 Troop Committee Meeting 7:00 pm
Friday, Jan 27, 7pm- Sat, Jan 28, 7am Electronics Lock In
BSUMC
Friday, Feb.3- Sun. Feb 5 Camping at Wakpominee
Monday, Feb 6 6:30 PLC
Sunday, Mar 5 6:00 Court of Honor
***************
So, with the New Year we have new changes and almost everyone will be affected by them to some degree, but hopefully any little bumps will be smoothed out before long.
By now, everyone should be aware of the advancement changes. They took effect for all scouts on Jan. 1. Some ranks had significant changes, others not much. You can see all the new requirements here www.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/524-012_BS_Requirements.pdf. At yesterday's troop meeting all the scouts were given the new requirements as well as their individual advancement report. It is VERY important that if your Scout was given a booklet with a cover with a red canoe on it that he keep it with his current handbook. This little booklet will become his record for advancement requirements, just has his handbook had been in the past. He should bring the handbook and this booklet to all scouting events so that requirements can be signed off. You may staple the booklet into the current handbook, tape it in, glue it or whatever you feel is necessary to insure it stays with the handbook. If you prefer to purchase a new handbook we can transfer advancement information to the new handbook but scouts need to keep their old handbook for Boards of Review, so don't throw it out or loose it.
Another change that is happening is that we have upgraded our Troop management software. Now that isn't a huge deal (except for those of us who use it every week) except that it has more features that we hope will help with communication. As of right now, the software has been set up to send a 'newsletter" out every Sunday to everyone with a list of upcoming events, similar to what I posted above. This weekly email will have a link to register for each event sort of like the sign up sheets that we have out on Mondays. When you click the link to register for the event there will be a link to click to get the permission slip that you will need to sign that your Scout needs to bring, it will not be emailed to you. We are exploring the posibility of having automatic email reminders sent for some specific events as well. As you can tell, it is becomming more and more important that we have current emails for anyone who wishes to receive these messages. It is your responsibility to be sure that the troop has a good email for you and anyone you wish to receive these messages. If your Scout has an email account I would suggest giving us his email address as well, so he will get these reminders. Our goals as parents is to raise responsible men and seeing and being responsible for (at least part) of his schedule is a good way to encourage that.
As you may have heard (or may not), as of Jan 1, 2017 the Twin Rivers Council has been redistricted (is that even a word?) . The new district that we are in includes units in the Ballston Spa, Saratoga, Glens Falls, Lake George area. The new district has been named the Turning Point Districtand will bring us camporees and other district events that are different than we are used to as well as changes to the Eagle process that we are familliar with. The leadership of the Turning Point district has only met once so we don't yet know exactly what these changes might be, but it is an exciting time for everyone.
That's all for me this week, I hope..... Have a safe MLK day.
We have some events coming up that everyone should be aware of.
Friday Jan 13-Sun Jan 15 Camping at Boyhaven
Scouts should arrive at Horsley Hall between 6:00 and 6:30 Friday evening and they should have already had dinner. Sunday morning pick up will be at 9am at the same place. Please let Mr Roby know if you have questions.
Monday, Jan. 16 Martin Luther King Jr Day. No Troop Meeting
Tuesday, Jan 17 Troop Committee Meeting 7:00 pm
Friday, Jan 27, 7pm- Sat, Jan 28, 7am Electronics Lock In
BSUMC
Friday, Feb.3- Sun. Feb 5 Camping at Wakpominee
Monday, Feb 6 6:30 PLC
Sunday, Mar 5 6:00 Court of Honor
***************
So, with the New Year we have new changes and almost everyone will be affected by them to some degree, but hopefully any little bumps will be smoothed out before long.
By now, everyone should be aware of the advancement changes. They took effect for all scouts on Jan. 1. Some ranks had significant changes, others not much. You can see all the new requirements here www.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/524-012_BS_Requirements.pdf. At yesterday's troop meeting all the scouts were given the new requirements as well as their individual advancement report. It is VERY important that if your Scout was given a booklet with a cover with a red canoe on it that he keep it with his current handbook. This little booklet will become his record for advancement requirements, just has his handbook had been in the past. He should bring the handbook and this booklet to all scouting events so that requirements can be signed off. You may staple the booklet into the current handbook, tape it in, glue it or whatever you feel is necessary to insure it stays with the handbook. If you prefer to purchase a new handbook we can transfer advancement information to the new handbook but scouts need to keep their old handbook for Boards of Review, so don't throw it out or loose it.
Another change that is happening is that we have upgraded our Troop management software. Now that isn't a huge deal (except for those of us who use it every week) except that it has more features that we hope will help with communication. As of right now, the software has been set up to send a 'newsletter" out every Sunday to everyone with a list of upcoming events, similar to what I posted above. This weekly email will have a link to register for each event sort of like the sign up sheets that we have out on Mondays. When you click the link to register for the event there will be a link to click to get the permission slip that you will need to sign that your Scout needs to bring, it will not be emailed to you. We are exploring the posibility of having automatic email reminders sent for some specific events as well. As you can tell, it is becomming more and more important that we have current emails for anyone who wishes to receive these messages. It is your responsibility to be sure that the troop has a good email for you and anyone you wish to receive these messages. If your Scout has an email account I would suggest giving us his email address as well, so he will get these reminders. Our goals as parents is to raise responsible men and seeing and being responsible for (at least part) of his schedule is a good way to encourage that.
As you may have heard (or may not), as of Jan 1, 2017 the Twin Rivers Council has been redistricted (is that even a word?) . The new district that we are in includes units in the Ballston Spa, Saratoga, Glens Falls, Lake George area. The new district has been named the Turning Point Districtand will bring us camporees and other district events that are different than we are used to as well as changes to the Eagle process that we are familliar with. The leadership of the Turning Point district has only met once so we don't yet know exactly what these changes might be, but it is an exciting time for everyone.
That's all for me this week, I hope..... Have a safe MLK day.
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