Thanks to all who have contributed photographs of recent events for the website. The Troop’s online Photo Gallery has been updated with six new Albums (some dating back to 2010–sorry it took so long!). Please view our photos at http://troop24riverside.com/troop-scrapbook/

The Troop Committee will not meet in June. The next regular Committee meeting will be on Tuesday, September 6.

Congratulations to our newest Eagle Scout, Brian Robertson!

All scouts who signed up for the bike outing will receive a full refund.

For our 42 scouts attending Camp Mach, your selections for merit badge classes must be turned in at the Troop Meeting on Thursday, May 26. This is our last meeting of the school year, and the last meeting before Camp Mach. 24 scouts turned in the merit badge forms on Monday, thirteen of you needed more time to think about it, and five scouts did not attend the Camp Mach meeting.

The merit badge schedule is available here: Merit Badge Schedule – Camp Mach 2011

5th grade campers: Please sign up for the Brownsea (First-Year Camper) at 9:00 and Swimming Merit Badge at 10:30. You can then sign up for one or two merit badges of your choice in the afternoon as long as they are not water-related (which require the Swimming merit badge as a prerequisite), and not First Aid, Camping, Environmental Science, Rifle, Shotgun, Archery).

Older campers who are going to summer camp for the first time: You do not need to sign up for Brownsea, but please sign up for the Swimming Merit Badge class, as swimming is a prerequisite for many other classes, and it is an Eagle-required badge. We recommend taking swimming at 10:30 when it’s warmer. (The 9:00 swimming class can be a little chilly.)

Anyone who is unsure of your swimming level: assuming you can swim at all, we recommend you sign up for the Swimming Merit Badge. If necessary, you can switch to “Instructional Swim” while at camp. If you are definitely a non-swimmer, you can sign up for Instructional Swimming now.

Parents or scouts who have questions about which merit badges are most appropriate, please feel free to contact any of the leaders, Liz Gomorczak (Camp Mach Coordinator), or Nancy Hopkins.

If you plan to ride the bus, please turn in payment to Mrs. Gomorczak ($100 made out to Troop 24).

5th Grade Scouts: If you plan to participate in the Memorial ceremony at Central School on Thursday, please meet after school today–rain or shine. Meet inside the school if it’s raining. contact Mrs. Gmitro with questions.

For scouts attending Camp Mach, we will have a meeting for scouts and parents on Monday, May 23, at 7:00 p.m. This meeting is required for all 1st year scouts and their parent(s). Older scouts who have an unavoidable conflict should contact Nancy Hopkins or Michael Payne in advance. Scouts will be signing up for merit badge classes on May 23, so scouts & parents should review the choices prior to the meeting.

As a reminder, this information was sent out previously:

First-year scouts should sign up for:

Brownsea (First-Year Camper) 9:00 – 10:30
Swimming Merit Badge 10:30 – 12:00 (Scouts who do not know how to swim should, instead, sign up for Instructional Swim, which is from 11:00 – 12:00)
One other merit badge of your choice in the afternoon.

Signing up for three classes will still leave plenty of time for other open activities the camp has to offer, such as open swim, open rifle, and open archery. It also leaves you some free time to enjoy the outdoors and to completely finish those merit badges.

First-year campers can not take any of the water sports/boating merit badges (Canoeing, Rowing, Motor Boating, Skiing, Small Boat Sailing, Snorkeling), because the Swimming merit badge is a prerequisite for these classes. Also not allowed for first-year campers are the shooting merit badges (Archery, Rifle, Shotgun — although scouts will have an opportunity to try these sports during “Open” times). Also not recommended for 1st year are Camping, Environmental Science, Pioneering, and Wilderness Survival. No one should sign up for First Aid, as Dr. Stephanie teaches that during the year. What’s left? For first-year campers, we encourage the Cooking Merit Badge (teaches skills used on almost every camp-out, and satisfies requirements for rank advancements). Other choices are Geology, Leathercraft, Mammal Study, Reptiles & Amphibians, Soil & Water, Weather, Woodcarving. Many of the merit badges require you to have completed some requirements at home before coming to camp.

A complete list of merit badges offered at camp is included in the Camp Mach Leader’s Guide (which is helpful for scouts and parents as well as leaders). In fact, the list is so complete that it includes some badges not offered this year! Please review the prerequisites for the badges your scout plans to work on. It’s disappointing to a scout to expect to complete a badge and not do so, but items for many badges must be completed at home. (Just as an example, Requirement 7 of the Cooking merit badge requires that the Scout plan and prepare meals at home.) Ideally those requirements should be done before camp, but they can also be done after returning home.

If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s not too late! We will accept registration forms until May 23. The cost is $290. We have reserved a bus to take scouts and leaders to camp. The bus will leave from RPC early Sunday morning, July 31, returning the afternoon of August 6. The cost for the bus trip is $100 (same as last three years). Checks should be made out to Troop 24, and can be turned in on May 23. Also due no later than July 15 is a medical form for each scout (and each leader).

The Troop meeting on Thursday, May 25, will be the last meeting of the school year. We have several things on the agenda:

Mr. Culloden will be at the meeting to work with the older scouts who have started the Personal Management merit badge.

Mr. Robling will be at the meeting to work with scouts who want to begin the Communications merit badge. Scouts need to get approval and a blue card from a Scoutmaster prior to beginning to work on a merit badge.

Any scouts who have not completed the Tenderfoot rank should definitely attend to try to finish up missing requirements.

We will have Boards of Review for scouts who have completed their requirements for a rank advancement. Five scouts are scheduled already; if additional scouts complete their requirements during the meeting on Thursday, we will make every effort to complete their Boards as well. Remember: scouts must be in full uniform and have their books for a Board of Review.

All scouts should bring their books! Please review the books at home and if a scout believes he has completed a requirement that is not signed off, please talk to a Scoutmaster at the meeting.

Philmont Scouts: In order to go to the Kettle Moraine outing this weekend, you need to have a “permission slip” form completed by a parent. Please fill out the form. (Only 3 scouts are registered at this time).

Ben’s Eagle Project involves rebuilding benches in Riverside. On Thursday, May 19, we will prepare the iron frames for painting, then use Rustoleum spray paint to paint them. On Friday, May 20, we will install new wood and new hardware, to finish all work in time for the Arts Festival this weekend. We will meet at the Riverside Post Office, on Burlington Street, at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, and at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. (RB students are released at 1:30 Friday, because of the Prom that night.)

Please bring your signed permission slip with you. Download the form here.