Photos from Camp Tesomas are (finally) online. Photos were provided by Joe Connelly, Nancy Hopkins, and Bruce Robertson. There are 900+ photos, so every scout should be included! You can see the photos in our gallery at http://troop24riverside.com/troop-scrapbook/?album=8&gallery=70.

Thanks to Charlie R for the reminder!

The scouts have been asked for their annual help with RPC’s canned food drive. Scouts are invited to bring canned food of any kind to the meeting this week (Friday at the Scout Cabin), or next week (Thursday at RPC). Alternatively, please drop off any contributions at RPC in the collection box in the hallway near the office (which will save us from transporting them from the Scout Cabin, or downstairs!) Contributions go to food pantries in the area.

When:   October 27, 2:00 to 4:00  p.m  – two one-hour slots to pick between.

Where:  Archery Custom Shop in Forest Park  at 7240 W. Madison

Cost:  $20/scout/hour

Scouts should sign up for one of the two times offered based on their skills and needs. Each hour is limited to 10 scouts.

2:00 – 3:00 PM  –  Archery shooting with instruction.  For beginners or anyone who would like to take advantage of an instructor.  This is not a merit badge class.  Register here for 2-3 pm.

3:00 – 4:00 PM – Archery practice/shooting without instruction.  For scouts who already know how to shoot or have worked the Archery Merit badge and who need to shoot to complete a already started badge.  Register here for 3-4 pm.

Registration closes 10/25.

Parents should bring their scout to the Archery Custom Shop approximately 5-10 minutes before their time slot so that they can get checked in.  We will send out a notice prior to the event, notifying parents which scouts are signed up for the outing so that parents can carpool if they choose.

For questions contact Susan Lynch

ALL popcorn orders are due to our Popcorn Kernel this Thursday, October 18. Scouts can bring orders to the meeting, or order forms and payment can be dropped off at Anne Kodama’s home. Please contact Anne at amkodama@sbcglobal.net to get directions to her house and schedule a drop-off time. Orders must be accompanied by full payment (in other words, if your scout took any orders without getting payment, you will need to pay for the popcorn and get paid when it’s delivered. Scouts should not have sold with an I.O.U.). Parents: please tally counts by popcorn variety and check the totals to be sure the money turned in equals the amount ordered. Our Popcorn Kernel requests checks only. If your scout collected cash, please keep the cash and write a check to Troop 24 for that amount. Your scout’s names should be on all order forms, and forms and checks should be placed in an envelope. Please contact Anne with any questions.

Roaming reporter, Jimmy S, reports on the recent campout to Camp Inferno, near Pana, Illinois, sponsored by the Lincoln Trails Council:

The camp-out at Camp Inferno was awesome, and on my scale, was the second best camp-out I’d ever been on, with Camp Tesomas just beating it out. The main reason it was the best is because we got to blow stuff up. Well, we really did not blow stuff up, for some strange thing called safety, but we imploded soda cans and lit lots of fires and a lot of other cool things. First, we arrived late at night, and set up our tents in the pitch black, with the help of flashlights, of course. (My tent was all sandy inside, so an anonymous person had to clean it out, but remember, if you take a tent home, make sure it is CLEAN.) Then, we fell asleep immediately. When I woke up in the morning, I helped make a breakfast burrito with hash and breakfast sausages, and then went to a flag ceremony. After flags, the troop broke off into different groups of people. First, I went into a smoke house, which strangely enough, did not have smoke in it because of this safety thing, but instead had steam. There I learned how to escape a burning and smoking house. In a house, you normally wouldn’t do this, but since it was one story, I got to jump out of the window. After that, I went into the shop, and they had cool knives and such, but I did not buy any because these words echoed in my head, “a scout is thrifty”. Following that, I went to an implosion station. Basically, we took pop cans, put a teensy bit of water in it, heated it up, and then submerged it in cool water and the can imploded. Also near there, I got to see a thermal imaging camera at use, and it was very cool. Also near the implosions, I got to try on a fireman’s suit, and man was it heavy. Afterwards, I got to use a fire extinguisher to quench the fire and watched a helicopter land. Following that, I headed back to the campsite to eat a lunch of cold cuts and potato chips. I then headed back to main camp where I used drunk goggles and got a headache from trying to walk in a straight line. Apparently the cops don’t like it when you are drunk, so I was handcuffed and thrown into a police car. I’m just kidding, I actually offered to be handcuffed to just experience what it felt like, and it was pretty unpleasant. Subsequently, I went up into a grain silo and got sucked in. I had to be rescued by some other boy scouts, and survived. Don’t worry, this time I volunteered as well. After this, I kind of just explored the camp, and when it got later, I headed back to our campsite, Prairie Village, and had dinner. After dinner, we went back to the same place we had flags and were all given a lecture about 9/11 because the people at the fire station in whatever town we were in had acquired a piece of steel from the twin towers. After the lecture, we went to the campfire, or rather, the house fire. First, the man doing the demonstration showed us a large oil drum that he had heated up for about an hour, and then had the firemen blast it with water. It imploded and crumpled up like a soda can, except for the fact that it was 500 times bigger. Also, he showed us how to put out a kitchen fire, and it was awesome, because the fire exploded at some points. Next, he showed us a house fire. He had a makeshift room with a couch, a television, and a painting in it. He then put a candle in the couch and we watched as the flame slowly but surely enveloped the couch, then the painting, and then the TV, which exploded, and it was awesome. At the peak of the fire, I was sitting in the back row of the stadium, and I could feel the heat. It was supposedly supposed to warn us of the dangers of a flame in the house, but I think everyone there just liked it because it blew up. Afterward, we retired to our tents and slept like rocks. We got up in the morning, packed up, had a small breakfast, left, and then arrived at the RPC at about 12:30 p.m.

Troop 24 is planning an weekend camping outing to Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan, October 19-21.

Scouts will camp, hike dunes and beaches, and have an opportunity to work on rank advancement.

Scouts should be dropped off at RPC on Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. Scouts will return to RPC on Sunday early afternoon. The cost for this outing is $35. The deadline for signing up for the outing is Monday, October 15. Scouts should wear their Class A uniforms to travel.

Scouts Register here by October 15

As always,  we need leaders and adult chaperones to participate and drive.

Leaders/Adults Register here by October 15

For questions contact Susan Lynch

If you haven’t yet registered to help out on Saturday October 20 at the 11:00 am shift of Feed our Community Day, please take a moment to register.  Registration closes tonight (10/9).

Scouts or Siblings register here.

Leaders or Adults register here.

Remember you can get service hours!

Link to the original posting for this Service Opportunity.

Mrs. Lulich will be at the Troop Meeting on Thursday, October 11, to sign blue cards for the Law Merit Badge. She will also be available to help scouts who have already started the Citizenship badges, or the Communications badge.