We need help with our annual pizza booth at Riverside’s 4th of July celebration. This is our second largest fundraiser. We need scouts AND parents! Please sign up for one of the shifts below. Scouts should wear uniform shirts or Troop t-shirts. For food serving, hats are required. Please contact Roman Salij at romansalij@yahoo.com with questions.

Sign up here: http://troop24riverside.com/2014/06/4th-of-july-pizza-booth-form-2014/

Merit badge classes are offered at the Field Museum. Registration starts on July 1 for fall classes. More information is available here: Field Museum Merit Badges. The dates and merit badges are:

Oct. 4: Insect Study, Archaeology
Oct. 11: Insect Study, Archaeology
Oct. 18: Mammal Studies, Archaeology
Nov. 8: Geology, Archaeology
Nov. 15: Mammal Studies, Archaeology
Dec. 6: Geology, Archaeology

Scoutmaster Stephanie Lanken will be at the North Riverside Library this Saturday, June 28, from noon until 2:00 for scouts who wish to start a merit badge this summer. Some of the possible merit badges are Personal Management, Reading, Scholarship, Gardening, Genealogy, Traffic Safety, Pets, Dogs. Scouts can also e-mail Mrs. Lanken to set up a different time, or to discuss different merit badges.

Scouts going to camp who have not yet taken the swim test should meet tomorrow–Friday, June 27, in front of the Swim Club entrance, 100 Bloomingbank, Riverside, at 10:00 a.m. (change from original time). (See http://troop24riverside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/SwimTestResults.pdf for details.)

Bus Transportation
If your scout is taking the bus to summer camp and you have not already paid, please do so now. Eleven families have paid. We may be short on bus space, so to be sure your scout is able to ride the bus, please pay now: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e9e6zqgfbb97f776&oseq=&c=&ch=

Medical Forms
Scouts must have a medical form signed by a doctor, and dated within the 12 months prior to summer camp. Medical forms should be turned in to Liz Gomorczak. A copy of the form is available here: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/ahmr.aspx

Swim Tests
All scouts have to take a swim test for camp. (See http://troop24riverside.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/SwimTestResults.pdf for details.) Riverside Swim Club has graciously agreed to conduct the tests on Saturday, June 21 and Friday, June 27. Meet in front of the swim club entrance 100 Bloomingbank at 9:30 a.m. on either of those days. Please contact Tom Hartwig at thartwig@olparks.com if you absolutely can’t come either of those days.

Bicycles at Camp
Scouts are encouraged to take their bikes to camp. Mountain bikes or hybrids are best. A road bike will not work. BMX bikes are not ideal but can be taken if that’s the only bike you have. The cost to transport the bike is $15. You can pay for the bike transport here: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e9gbm24pc30a4019&oseq=&c=&ch=.

Bike Inspections
You must have the bike inspected to be sure it’s in working order. We will not have tools, time, or spare parts to repair bikes while at camp. You have several options for the inspection:

The Wheel Thing in LaGrange at 15 S. LaGrange Road is offering free bike inspections and 10% off labor should repairs be needed. If you know your bike needs work you need to go as soon as possible.

On July 8, starting at 4:30 p.m., scouts will be able to bring their bikes to the Janopoulos home at 360 Nutall to have it inspected or repaired as needed. If you know that your bicycle needs repair you will need to bring the needed parts with you and we will repair the bike that day.

You can also take your bicycle to any other bike shop for inspection. Ask the bike shop to provide a paper saying that it is good working order.

Bike Drop Off
We are going to have the bike drop-off this year at 2413 4th Ave, North Riverside from 8:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 12. Bikes can be dropped off earlier in the week but you must contact Tom at 708-516-2266 if you are going to drop a bike off early. Bikes dropped off early will be kept in Tom’s garage until Saturday.

We have 49 scouts signed up for summer camp.  If you have not paid in full, please do so ASAP.  Liz will be in touch with you if she is missing a payment.

The next step is to sign up to ride the bus to Camp Tesomas.  We charter a coach bus, with a bathroom & movies for the approximately six-hour ride.  The cost is $100 per scout.  Families who have two scouts pay $75 for the second scout.

Please sign up and pay by credit card at: Constant Contact.

Today–Monday, June 2–is the last day to sign up for summer camp at Camp Tesomas. If you have not paid in full for camp, we need your payment ASAP. To sign up, go to: http://troop24riverside.com/2014/03/camp-tesomas-form-2014/ Please drop off payments to Liz Gomorczak. If you need her address, please e-mail her at jecggomo@gmail.com.

We need scouts to help us on Thursday, June 5, at 6:30 p.m. at RPC in setting up and checking out all of the equipment we will need for summer camp. (Rain date is Friday, June 6.) Meet by the garage. If you have any troop equipment it must be returned on Thursday.

Additional photos from the Kankakee River State Park outing have been provided by John Flaherty and Bruce Robertson. You can view the photos online at http://troop24riverside.com/troop-scrapbook/nggallery/2014/kankakee-river-2014.