Troop 24 is planning an overnight camp-out at Kankakee River State Park, leaving Friday, May 18, and returning Sunday, May 20.

Scouts should come prepared to camp in tents for two nights. We have two activities planned, if enough adults sign up as leaders/chaperones: canoeing (scouts MUST have earned the Swimming Merit Badge to canoe) or bicycling. The canoeing will be a 12-mile, 3-5 hour canoe trip on Saturday, outfitted by Reed’s. The biking will be done on a 10.5 mile paved bike path through the park. Biking is available for first-year scouts, or older scouts who have not earned the Swimming Merit Badge, or those who do not want to canoe.

Please drop your Scout off at RPC at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. We will return about noon on Sunday.

The deadline for signing up for the outing is Thursday, May 10.

Please fill out a form for each scout and each leader. The Scout cost for this outing is $30 for food, and $31 for canoeing (2 per canoe) or $42 for a single kayak. (Kayaking is only for scouts with kayaking experience. Do not sign up for a kayak unless you have kayaked before.) Scouts must wear their Class A uniforms to travel. Contact Dawn Gmitro with questions.

We will provide transportation for the bikes in one of the two Troop trailers. Scout parents should be sure that the scout’s bicycle is in good working order.

Scout Form
Leader Form

Next week’s scout meeting will be at Riverside’s Scout Cabin. The meeting will begin at 7:00.

At 6:30 scouts who need the following rank requirements (most scouts who are not already 1st Class or above) are invited to be at the cabin at 6:30 SHARP to work on these requirements:

First Class 6: Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of native plants found in your community.

Second Class 6: Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of wild animals (birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, mollusks) found in your community.

For the wild animal requirement, it’s possible that we will not actually see 10 different animals in that 30-minute period. Scouts should come with pictures (downloaded from the internet is fine) of 10 animals they have personally observed in Riverside at some time.

The Village of Riverside and the Frederick Law Olmsted Society sponsor Landscape Work Days. The first work day of the year is SATURDAY, APRIL 28 at Scottswood Commons.

Scouts are invited to participate, and this project is automatically approved for service hours. It’s also one of the easiest ways to fulfill the community service hour requirement for the Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge: While working on this merit badge, volunteer at least eight hours of your time for the [charitable community] organization.

All workdays are scheduled for Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Look for the Riverside Public Works dump truck. Come for an hour or three, whatever your schedule allows. Bring your favorite work gloves & a water bottle, and the service hour form. All other supplies & snacks will be provided.

Future locations & dates:
Scottswood Commons: June 23 & September 22
Riverside Road: May 12, June 9 & Sept 8
Scout Cabin area: May 19
Longcommon & Downing triangle: July 14 & Aug 11
Longcommon (Big Ball Park): November 10
Various locations: Oct 13

Book Drive 2012, Joe Rogers’ Eagle Project, was a success! It is now officially over, with a total count of 6,462 books (it is not in the 8000s as suggested at the April 26 meeting). Thank you to everyone who helped make it a success!

During the month of May, Riverside Presbyterian Church will be collecting cereal of all kinds for the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago. Families come to First Presbyterian for breakfast in the summer because they’re not receiving breakfast at their schools as they do during the school year. The scouts have been an enormous help in donating cereal in the past, and RPC would appreciate your help again. Boxes of cereal can be dropped off at any Troop meeting in May.

Scouts who started working on the Family Life Merit Badge are invited to meet with their counselor, Mr. Andersen, on Thursday, April 26. The meeting will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Westminster Room at RPC during the regular Troop meeting.

For any week-long camp, the BSA requires that each scout submit a medical form signed by a physician. If your scout has not had a physical in the past 12 months you will need to make an appointment with his doctor. We will send you reminders, but please make the appointment soon so we’re not scrambling to get all the paperwork done at the last minute. The form is available here: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/healthandsafety/ahmr.aspx

New scout parents might be thinking…didn’t we just do this? You did, but only Parts A & B of the form. For summer camp, we also need Part C, which is completed by a doctor. Scouts who are participating in Scuba or Microtreks at camp should play it safe and have the doctor sign Part D as well, which is the high adventure portion of the form.

On the first page of the form, don’t miss the part that says: ATTACH A PHOTOCOPY OF BOTH SIDES OF INSURANCE CARD. IF FAMILY HAS NO MEDICAL INSURANCE, STATE “NONE.” The form is not complete without the copy of the card.

On Part B of the form there is a section that says: ADULTS AUTHORIZED TO TAKE YOUTH TO AND FROM EVENTS: We suggest that you write in “Any Troop 24 leader or parent.” This will allow your scout to drive with any of our adults. You can, of course, list by name any adult who you do not wish your scout to ride with, should that be appropriate.

Please turn in medical forms to Nancy Hopkins or Liz Gomorczak, or bring them to a Troop meeting. Please turn in ONE complete copy (Parts A, B, C, D if appropriate, and insurance card copy); we will make a copy for the camp. Please retain a copy for your own files.

Scouts who are taking meds will need to fill out another form, but that will be done later.

At our Court of Honor last week we heard a presentation by representatives from our Council about the annual Friends of Scouting campaign. It costs $264 per scout to provide scout programs at the Council level. The Friends of Scouting fundraising campaign provides about 20% of the funding necessary to run the Council and events. (About 80% of the total budget goes directly to scout programs.) Our goal is to have 100% of our scout families return the donation card. If you are able to contribute, thanks! Even if you can not make a monetary donation, there is a benefit to our troop if you return the card. Please download and print it, and return it to the Council at:

Des Plaines Valley Council
Boy Scout of America
811 Hillgrove
La Grange, Illinois 60525

Thank you on behalf of our scouts.