Tomorrow is the due date for the Pancake Breakfast ticket money. If you have not already turned in your pancake breakfast money, please bring it to the Troop Meeting on Thursday, February 23.

Scouts interested in working on the Snow Sports Merit Badge are invited to the Riverside Library this Saturday, February 18, at 3:00 p.m. Scouts should bring their Blue Cards, the snow sports worksheet, and the merit badge book. Scouts who need to work on rank advancements are also invited to attend.

It’s not too late to sign up for our Ski Trip on February 25-26 (registration deadline February 19). More information is available at http://troop24riverside.com/2012/01/sunburst-ski-trip-feb-25-26/

Troop 24 is planning a day outing to the Challenger Learning Center at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois, on Saturday, March 17, to complete the Space Exploration merit badge.

Scouts should be dropped off at RPC at 7:00 am and will return around 8:30 pm the same day. The cost for this outing is $21. Scouts will need to bring a sack lunch and money for dinner. The deadline for signing up for the outing is Sunday, March 11. This outing is not open to Joiner scouts (Webelos who have recently crossed over) because their first campout is scheduled for this weekend. Please fill out a form for each scout.
You must fill out the registration form first and then go to WePay.

As always scouts should wear their Class A uniforms to travel.

The adult leader in charge of this outing will be Stephanie Lanken. Contact Dawn Gmitro with questions.

Link to: Space Exploration Merit Badge workbook.

The second session of the Law Merit Badge class is being postponed.

Check out this presentation at the Riverside Library on Wednesday, February 29, at 7:00 pm.   John Huston, Polar Explorer, will be back at the Riverside Library for a multi-media motivational presentation & book signing,* 

In April of 2009 Huston and his expedition partner, Tyler Fish, became the first and only Americans to travel “unsupported” from land to the North Pole. This 55-day, 475-mile journey has been accomplished by only 11 expeditions and has been called the “toughest on the planet.” In December, 2011 their expedition book Forward was published: a jaw-dropping, must-read for adventure lovers! John has appeared on CNN, the History Channel, BBC, National Public Radio, and in Outside Magazine, Popular Mechanics, the Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times. Huston is a graduate of Northwestern University, and a former Outward Bound Instructor.

* Books will be available for purchase and autographing–$40 cash or check.

The second session of the Law Merit Badge will be held this Thursday in the Social Hall at RPC. Scouts who were not at the meeting last week can still participate but will have to make up the material covered last week. All scouts should bring pen/pencil and paper (or print out merit badge workbook found here: http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/e/e5/Law.pdf)

Scouts should have the merit badge book (available at the Scout Store) and should review it before the meeting.

You have until Sunday, February 19, to sign up for our ski outing (February 25-26). We have 13 scouts signed up, as well as two siblings, five parent/leaders who are skiing, and one parent driving but not skiing. Our incoming Webelos are also welcome to attend with a parent.

Don’t forget that you have to both register on our website and pay via WePay:

Register

Pay

So far 11 scouts have signed up for our ski trip (as well as several siblings and parents). It’s not too late. Parents and Leaders, please fill out the registration form for yourselves if you plan to ski. It makes it easier to track the number of participants. It’s not too late to sign up: http://troop24riverside.com/2012/01/ski-trip-february-25-26-registration/

The Journey to Excellence program is “designed to encourage and reward success and measure the performance of our units, districts, and councils. It is replacing the Centennial Quality Awards Program as a means of encouraging excellence in providing a quality program at all levels of the BSA.” There are three levels of the award: Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

Being designated a Journey to Excellence unit entitles all our scouts and leaders to wear a 2011 Journey to Excellence patch on their uniforms. The patch can be purchased, if you choose to do so, at the Scout Store in LaGrange. Please be sure to get the patch that also says 100% Boys Life, as we are a 100% unit.