Home.25 November 1999
This month, we bid "Adieu" and "Good Luck" to our five seniors, Eagle Scouts all, all off to college: Tim Hupalo (VCU), Nathan Kennedy (Radford), Rusty Philpott (Maine), Jamie Smith (UVA), and Tim Tuck (Holy Cross.) Study Hard, Gentlemen! We also wish "Au Revoir" and "Good Luck" to Ryan H.; his family recently moved to El Paso, Texas, for at least a year, while Colonel H. does a stint at the War College. We may see Ryan again, as Ryan's family believe they'll be returning to the area next year; let's hope!
Well, it was Nathan Kennedy in the last "Minute"; this month, it's Matt Stainback - Troop 111 Eagle Scout #64. Matt follows in brother David's footsteps (#51) two and a half years later. His Honor Roll:
Matthew Kirkpatrick Stainback
His Eagle Project was rebuilding the upper half of the Blue Jay Way trail at Potomac Overlook Park. This trail was so badly overgrown and eroded that even park regulars didn't know it was there; now it is a showcase, thanks to Matt (and also Nathan, who did the lower half for his project.) Matt's project took just under 300 man-hours to complete.
Matt, a rising Senior at Gonzaga High School (and very active in many sports), has not yet picked a college, but is leaning towards pre-med studies.
Thanks to the Board of Review members Hank Dettmar, Rita Rooney, Jim Smith and Rick Wolff - who had to put up with a very harried Bob while trying to run a Board (I was simultaneously trying to get the Killarney trip equipment sorted and packed up!)
And once again, "Happy 18th Birthday, Matt!"
In other advancement, I apologize for not including Sam F. in last month's summer camp merit badge listings; Sam's Honor Roll from Camp Powhatan: Sculpture, Art, Woodcarving, Fishing, Rifle Shooting, and Canoeing. Congratulations!
I think that's everyone now....
This Sunday, the Summer of Fun continues with a trip to Six Flags. Next weekend (assuming we have adequate Scouts, and backcountry camping is not restricted because of the drought), we will be doing our second Troop High Adventure of the summer, a 50 mile backpacking trip in the Shenandoah National Park. As the month draws to a close, the Summer of Fun will wind down with a lazer-tag night on the 30th. We are also on the hook to assist the Parish with sealing more of the cracks in the parking lots, which I may try to do the weekend of August 28 - 29, and Labor Day weekend if necessary. More details to follow....
To relieve the summer doldrums, try this series of brain teasers (answers at the end of this "Minute.")
A. There is one word in the English language that is always pronounced incorrectly. What is it?
B. A boat has a ladder that has six rungs, each rung is one foot apart. The bottom rung is one foot from the water. The tide rises at 12 inches every 15 minutes. High tide peaks in one hour. When the tide is at its highest flood, how many rungs are under water?
C. Is half of two plus two equal to two or three?
D. How much dirt would be in a hole 6 feet deep, 6 feet long, and 3 feet wide, that has been dug with a square edged shovel?
E. A farmer has three fields. If he has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in another field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in the third field?
1) Leaving? - With the start of a new school/Scouting year comes new opportunities and new challenges for every Scout in the Troop. Several current Scouts may decide that they no longer wish to continue with Scouting in order to better pursue these other opportunities or to provide adequate time to meet the upcoming year's challenges (or perhaps, they're simply tired of being in Scouts.) If you wish to drop out of the Troop, we would appreciate knowing as soon as possible, so we can avoid including you in the new Patrols, new Troop Roster or new Module schedule. You may notify me via either a phone call or an email, preferably before September 1st.
2) Staying? - As noted in a recent mass email, we will be initiating Troop meetings on TUESDAY, September 7th. We need to hold a meeting this first week because of the proximity of the year's first campout (the canoeing trip on the weekend of September 17 - 19); holding our first meeting on the 7th will give us two meetings before the campout. For obvious reasons, we do not want to schedule a meeting on Labor Day Monday. Our normal Monday meetings will resume on the 13th.
...and again, if you're staying, remember that Scouting does require some time, both for meetings and for campouts, and that you need to keep that time in your budget as you sign up for new activities over the next six weeks. If you fail to do so, you will soon be faced with the Hobson's Choice of Scouts versus "X." This is particularly important for Scouts entering 9th grade this year; there is a world of difference between 8th and 9th grades.
3) Troop Calendar - We will soon be publishing the Troop Calendar for the upcoming Scouting Year, pending a few last adjustments. The Good News - It is extremely ambitious, with many exciting campouts and programs for active Scouts. The Bad News - It is extremely ambitious, and will run your Scoutmaster (that's me) right into the ground if he attempts to do it all. Early last year, Jim S. and I determined that I have missed less than 10 campouts in the last 11 years - and many of those "misses" were because I was off doing one campout with part of the Troop while the rest of the Troop was doing another campout (e.g., Philmont versus summer camp.) Well, that is going to have to change this year, and each ASM and (most) parents are going to have to commit to picking up some of the load. Either that or accept that this will be my final year as Scoutmaster, because there'll be nothing left of me by the end of next summer if I have to handle more than half the events. Not the Y2K problem you were anticipating, probably, but there it is. This will be the primary topic of the year's first parent's/ASM's meeting, TBA.
4) New Patrols - One of the changes we will almost certainly enact this year will be the splitting of our current four Patrols into eight new Patrols. The average Patrol will have six - seven Scouts. The intent is two-fold: First, to double the available Leadership opportunities; and Second, to make the Patrols more manageable for the individual Patrol Leaders. To date, we have avoided expanding beyond four Patrols because of our restricted closet space (even with four Patrols, we're blowing out the windows.) In order to reconcile this apparent contradiction, each of our eight Patrols will be "paired" with another Patrol (the same Patrol, permanently) for camping purposes; thus, we should still have functional Patrols on our campouts.
Patrol Leaders will either be appointed or elected. After some internal debate, we have decided to waive the First Class requirement for Patrol Leaders; in essence, we would rather have an inexperienced but highly enthusiastic Junior Scout who will do his best, versus an experienced but overscheduled, stressed-out Senior Scout who can't or won't make the time to do the job. The latter Scouts will have to meet their Leadership requirements via alternate means.
5) Uniforms - With the startup of a new Scouting year will come the perennial fight over Scout Uniforms. Although some effort has been made to develop a Class C Uniform, I frankly admit that I am less than enamoured of the current selection, as it appears to be specifically designed to disguise the fact that the young man wearing it is a Scout. As I have oft-stated in the past, anyone who has this little pride in being a member of Troop 111, should find something else to do with himself. I will revisit this issue with the Steering Committee later this month, but for now, all Scouts should anticipate wearing full Scout or Sports Uniforms for all meetings, starting Monday, September 13th.
Speaking of Uniforms, I have found in the lower Scout closet a white fish-net bag with a complete Scout Uniform inside, dating (I believe) from the Bear Fence Mountain trip. The uniform has a Second Class patch, a Totin Chip patch, an Arrow of Light patch and a World Friendship Crest on it. Sound familiar to anyone??? Give me a call....
The Summer of Fun continues to be a hit with a small but active cadre of Scouts - we have had an Ultimate Frisbee night, a Miniature Golf session, a Soccer Game night, and a Softball "Game" night (the latter was the only event which was not that well attended). Thus far, Mother Nature has cooperated fully, and we've had no rain-forced bailouts to Troop Movie nights. One positive spin from the lengthy drought this summer.
The primary activity for the month (so far), of course, was our first Troop High Adventure of the summer - a wilderness canoe trek to Killarney Provincial Park, just north of Lake Huron (Georgian Bay) in Ontario, Canada (about 200 miles north northwest of Buffalo, NY.) Because I basically wrote up a short diary on this trek (which is too lengthy for inclusion in this "Minute"), I will not include it in this posting, but will instead post it as a separate page! Suffice it to say that it was a great trip. Participants included: Christopher B., Luke B., John C., Matt G., Daniel H., Dan H., Tim H., Stefan N., Jay P., Thomas S., Neil S., Chris W., Eric W. Thanks to Tim A., Rob B., R.J. C., Dan C., Al M., Gordon P., Hugh S., Rich S. and Rick W. Thanks also to Jim and Kim S. for preparatory assistance, and Joy G. and Micki C. for information teletrees. And last but not least, Congratulations to Tim H., who ended his Scouting career in style - on the trail!
- Bob
2. None, since the boat rises with the tide.
3. Three. Well, it seems that it could almost be either, but if you follow the mathematical orders of operation, division is performed before addition. So... half of two is one. Then add two, and the answer is three.
4. None. No matter how big a hole is, or what kind of shovel you used, it's still a hole (i.e., no dirt.)
5. One. If he combines all of his haystacks, they all become one big haystack.
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