Scouts who are able to attend Riverside’s Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 31, should please contact Mrs. Lanken to let her know that you will attend. As many scouts as possible are needed, both to help set up chairs at 7:00 a.m., and to attend the ceremony at 9:00. Also needed is an Eagle Scout, or Eagle Scout candidate, who would lay the memorial wreath. Please let Mrs. Lanken know. Any scouts who are in town on Monday are encouraged to attend.

We will have a bus going to Camp Owasippe this summer. The cost of the bus will be the same as last year ($100). Payments can be turned in at the Troop meeting tonight, with checks made out to Troop 24, or dropped off to Nancy Hopkins. (e-mail Nancy if you don’t know the address.)

Central School scouts are asked to wear their scout uniforms to school on Friday, May 28, for Central’s Memorial Day ceremony.

The Village of Riverside’s “Spring Ahead” project to beautify downtown Riverside is moving into the final phase, and Boy Scouts are invited to help. (Service hours available, but don’t forget to have your service hour form approved by a leader and signed by one of the adults in charge. The service hour form is available here.)

May 28 — On this day the Riverside-Brookfield SEE Team (45 kids strong) are coming to help us mulch the Longcommon and Triangle, weed the Burlington planters, and actually plant the beds on Quincy and Riverside Road. We need ten adult volunteers to help from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. We will meet at the Public Works Building at 8:30 a.m. If you have a truck or van we especially need those to help transport plants.

May 29 — The Big Day! We need all available hands to plant and mulch the Burlington Street planters. We will meet at 9:00 a.m. at the parking lot beside Riverside Bank and start the transformation of our downtown. We will break for a nice lunch and then keep at it until we are finished and our downtown blossoms!

Bring your family and friends on the 29th to help us realize this great project. Also please bring hand trowels, shovels, and gloves (and knee pads) if you have them.

So we can plan for lunch, please RSVP if you can help on either day and how many folks you think will be coming with you.

Thank you for your support of the project and our Village. With your help Riverside really is poised to Spring Ahead! If you have any questions, e-mail Ben at bsells@riverside.il.us

Terri Lynne-Culloden, Commissioner, Landscape Advisory Commission
Ben Sells, Trustee, Village of Riverside

The Village of Riverside’s annual Memorial Day program will be held on Monday, May 31, at 9:00 a.m. The village has asked for the scouts to participate with the ceremony at 9:00, as well as arrive at the village hall to help set up chairs at 7:00 am. Scouts should be in full uniform. It’s always a very moving ceremony, so any scouts who are in town this weekend are urged to attend. Contact Stephanie with questions.

Just a reminder: Summer camp registration forms and payment are due today, Thursday, May 17. You can turn them in at the Troop Meeting or drop them off to Nancy (e-mail if you don’t know the address). Medical forms and equine waivers can be turned in later, but we need the permission form and payment ($265 made out to Troop24) today.

Just a reminder – our meeting to discuss summer camp logistics is tonight, May 17, at 7:00 p.m. in the RPC Social Hall. All summer campers are required to come, and for first-year campers, a parent should attend as well. If you or your scout are still unsure about summer camp, this is the time to find out more about camp. If you have the Owasippe packet that was distributed earlier in the year, please bring it. If not, paperwork will be available at the meeting. Payment for camp ($265) is due no later than Thursday.

Performing service for others is a requirement for most Boy Scout rank advancements. Scouts who want to receive credit toward advancement for service they perform should have the form filled out and signed in advance, by our Scoutmaster or any Asst. Scoutmaster. At the event the form must also be signed by the adult in charge of the event. (In the case of an Eagle Project, that could be any scoutmaster present, or the Eagle Scout candidate. For an non-scouting-related event, it would be an adult who was in charge.) Be sure the hours you worked are accurate. (You might plan to work 2 hours, but if work was done in 1 1/2 hours, you are responsible for making sure your hours are correct.)

The final step–and this is important–keep track of your hours, and the dates worked (retaining a copy of the form yourself is a good idea), and turn in the form at a Troop meeting for our Advancement Chair, Mrs. Olzewski, to enter into “Troopmaster” to track your progress toward advancement.

The “Service Hour Form” is available on the website, right column, under

Reference
Forms and Documents
Service Hour Form

One of the duties of the Troop Committee is to conduct Boards of Review for scouts who are advancing in rank. We currently have 70 active scouts, including twenty-three 5th Grade scouts. Consequently, the number of boards needed will be increasing. BSA has an excellent on-line training resource for conducting a Board of Review–not the interactive training, but a document you can print or read online.

All current Committee members, and anyone who might be interested in being active in the Troop Committee, is encouraged to read this:

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/TrainingModules/BoardofReviewTraining.aspx

Don’t forget–we do NOT have a Troop meeting on Thursday. We’ll be at the Scout Cabin on Friday, May 7. Scouts will be working on Emergency Preparedness with guest speaker, Riverside Fire Chief Kevin Mulligan.