Meeting Reminders:

Scouts who have already started the Personal Management Merit Badge will continue working on the badge with Mr. Culloden. Please be sure you have completed those items that you were assigned.

Scouts who are working on the Snow Sports Merit Badge with Mr. Robertson will meet at 6:00 in the Westminster Room at RPC.

Scouts working toward Tenderfoot requirement 10a & b (showing improvement over 30 days in push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, standing long jump, and 1/4 mile run) will be working on that requirement.  This includes scouts older than 5th grade, so please ask your scout if he needs this requirement.

Scouts: Don’t forget your scout books! If you brought a tent home from the Camporee to dry, please bring it to the meeting.

Reminder: The cereal drive continues throughout May. The cereal collected will go to children in Chicago who normally receive breakfast at school during the school year. During the summer the kids in the neighborhood can have breakfast at First Presbyterian Church in Chicago. Please have your scout bring cereal donations to any of the May Troop meetings.

All scouts are invited to the Riverside Landscape Work Day (sponsored by the Village of Riverside and the Frederick Law Olmsted Society) this Saturday, April 30, from 9:00 a.m. until noon. Meet at the Big Ball Park to continue the work begun earlier in the month.

Service hours can be used for rank advancements for Star (6 hours earned while a 1st Class Scout) and Life (6 hours earned while a Star Scout), or for the Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge (all 8 hours of community service have to be done for the same organization–Landscape Work Days are scheduled every month, spring through fall).

Scouts can come for the entire morning, or for a portion of the time. Please download the Troop 24 Service Hour Form. It does not need to be signed in advance, as this event is “pre-approved.” Bring the form, filled out with scout’s name & information, and give it to Mrs. Skiest. She will mark the arrival and departure time and turn in the forms to the Troop.

Parents: In the past, the Village of Riverside has required a volunteer waiver form when you drop off your scout. This form must be completed on an annual basis, and our Village Forester will have those forms available, or you can download it here.

If you have any questions, we have two scout moms who are active in the Olmsted Society and can answer questions: Dorie Skiest at djskiest@sbcglobal.net and Holly Machina at hmachina@ameritech.net. Look for one of them when you arrive. Please bring work gloves and a water bottle, and perhaps a hat and sunscreen. Tools will be provided. (More wheelbarrows were needed at the last work day, so if you have one and can bring it, those would be appreciated.)

We will accept registrations for Camp Mach until May 23. Register here: http://troop24riverside.com/2011/02/camp-mach-form/

We will have a Camp Mach meeting for all campers and leaders at 7:00 p.m. on May 23, in the RPC Social Hall.

Medical Forms are needed PRIOR to camp, with sufficient time for us to copy them; therefore, the deadline for medical forms will be July 15. If you haven’t already done so, make your doctors’ appointments now. Medical forms (which must include a copy of the front AND back of your insurance card) should be given to Liz Gomorczak. Download the medical form here: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34605_Letter.pdf

We need payments for the Camp Mach bus ASAP, as we need to confirm the bus size, based on the number of scouts and leaders who will ride the bus. Payments for the bus should be made by check because we have so many scouts with popcorn credits, etc., that your payment may be different than the $100 fee. Mrs. Gomorczak has already sent an e-mail with the amount due for your scouts. If you can’t find that e-mail, please contact her at jlgomo@sbcglobal.net

We need one Camp Mach leader for a HALF week (Wednesday, August 3, through Saturday, August 6). Mr. Marcou has volunteered for the first half of the week, and we need a parent/leader to take the second half of the week.

We’ve already begun planning and scheduling outings for next fall. On Friday, September 9, we’ll kick off the year with an overnight at the Scout Cabin, following our first Troop meeting of the fall.

September 23, 24 & 25, we will be participating in the Des Plaines Valley Council’s “Camporall.” The theme for the weekend is Planting the Seeds for Tomorrow. A portion of the weekend’s activity will be tree planting on Saturday morning. Scouts who plant trees at this first Camporall of Scouting’s Second Century can see their work grow and thrive when they camp in future years at Rochelle’s Adventure Camp. There will also be an option for Troops to “adopt” a larger tree for planting in a main area. More information about the weekend can be found here:
http://www.bsa-dpvc.org/CyberNews/cybernews110421.htm#camporall

On October 1, we plan to visit the Civil War reenactment at Cantigny.

On October 14-16, the Troop will camp at White Pines State Park near Oregon, Illinois. It’s been several years since our last outing to White Pines, which is a little over 2 hours west of Riverside north of I-88.

Our goal is to plan outings about 6 months in advance. New ideas are always welcome. Parents who have an idea and would like to lead an outing, please contact Michael Payne, Nancy Hopkins, or Dawn Gmitro.

On Monday, May 23, at 7:00 p.m., we will have a mandatory meeting for Camp Mach campers, their parents, and our Mach leaders. Please put this event on your calendars. We will accept additional Camp Mach registrations until that night, and all payments for camp and the bus will be due then. If your scout is still considering Camp Mach but is concerned about being away from home, or concerned for other reasons, please feel free to contact any of our leaders to discuss those issues. 61 of our 71 scouts are signed up for one of our three summer camps. The cost of Camp Mach is $290. To sign up: http://troop24riverside.com/2011/02/camp-mach-form/

On Saturday, May 14, the Troop will be bicycling and camping on the Illinois & Michigan Canal Trail. Scouts should be dropped off at RPC at 8:45 a.m., with arrival at Channahon by 10:00. The campsite is a 3-mile ride (totally flat, limestone screening surface) from the drop-off site, along the Des Plaines River about a mile from where it joins the Kankakee River to form the Illinois. (The campsite is shown in the photo above). Scouts should bring normal camping equipment–sleeping bag, pad, and clothing appropriate for the weather forecast. We will transport bicycles and gear in the Troop trailers.

If there are scouts who do not wish to bicycle, this can also be done as a hike if there are adult volunteers to accompany the hikers. Completing this hike, along with additional loop trails through McKinley Woods using a compass, would satisfy the requirements of Second Class 1b, if leaders/parents are available to assist.

Bicyclists or hikers should bring a sack lunch and water for the trail. Those who are interested can also bring fishing gear. We will return to Riverside about noon on Sunday. This may be our last camping outing before summer camps. The adult leaders in charge will be Joe Ourth & Nancy Hopkins. The cost is $15 per person. We will need drivers & more leaders. Parents are welcome to cycle or hike. The deadline for signing up is April 28. Please sign up here: http://troop24riverside.com/2011/04/i-m-canal-form/

It’s that time of year again…ALL scouts AND adults going to any of our summer camps need to turn in a new medical form, signed by a physician. This includes our new scouts, who–you may be thinking–just turned in forms, but those forms included only the parent portion.

BSA has made it slightly easier by combining all types of forms into one online form. You can enter your information online, save it, and print a copy to take to your son’s doctor. The revised forms have 4 parts:

A & B – To be filled out by a parent
C – To be completed by the physician for ANY summer camp
D – To be given to your physician for High Adventure camps (Philmont, Seabase, Northern Tier)

Make your doctors’ appointments now. We have NO flexibility on the medical forms. We are required to turn in the forms on our arrival at camp. Scouts whose families decline immunizations must complete a BSA release form.

If your son is definitely not going to summer camp, we will ask for an updated medical from (Parts A & B) in the fall when school starts.

More information about BSA medical requirements: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/healthandsafety/resources/medicalformfaqs.aspx
Link to medical form: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34605_Letter.pdf
Immunization release: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/680-451.pdf

Our Troop was awarded the 2010 Centennial Quality Unit Award. This entitles all our scouts and leaders to wear a 2010 Quality Unit patch on their uniforms. The patch can be purchased, if you choose to do so, at the Scout Store in LaGrange. We are also a 100% Boys Life Unit, so be sure you obtain the correct patch (the one shown on top).

At the Troop meeting on April 28, Mr. Culloden will continue the Personal Management Merit Badge. Scouts should have been working on requirements since their first meeting. If you have any questions about what should be done, please contact Mr. Culloden.