Scouts who would like to participate in Camp Tesomas’ SCUBA Program: Do not delay! Only six spots remain for the week Troop 24 will attend (July 17-23). You must pay online to reserve your spot. Scouts who take the scuba class can earn the Scuba Merit Badge, and will be PADI-certified by the end of the week. Scuba is an all-day program, and participants will not have time to take other merit badge classes. Registration will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants must be 14 years of age OR 13 years of age and completed the 8th grade by date of participation. The additional cost for Scuba is $170 per person, which includes all equipment. Use the link below to register and pay.

Pay for Scuba

Several scouts are needed to assist with the crossover ceremony for Pack 24 and Pack 120. Pack 120’s crossover is this Sunday, February 21, at 4:00 p.m. at Mater Christi. Pack 24’s crossover is Sunday, February 28, at 4:00 p.m. at the Riverside Golf Club. Please contact Scoutmaster Flaherty at jef2004@msn.com to volunteer.

Time is running out: please sign up for one of our two ski trips. If we do not have enough people signed up we will not get a group discount. The deadline for sign-up has been extended to Sunday, February 14. Please sign up! We need 3 more skiers to get the group discount at Sunburst.

February 20-21, scouts (and parents) with some ski experience, and who are First Class & above, will be going to Cascade Mountain. More information is available here:
http://troop24riverside.com/2016/01/cascade-mt-ski-trip-feb-20-21-2016/

February 27-28, we are offering a ski trip to scouts and families to Sunburst Resort. This is a perfect outing for those who have not skied before and families with younger children. More information can be found here:
http://troop24riverside.com/2016/01/ski-sunburst-february-20-21-2016/

Parents & Scouts: Please read this Feedblitz carefully. We have several options for scouts for summer camp this year, including two high adventure outings.

Troop 24′s annual summer camp will be at Camp Tesomas, north of Rhinelander, Wisconsin (about 6 hours from Riverside). Traditionally, almost all of our scouts attend summer camp, and we highly recommend that new scouts attend camp. The dates for this year’s camp are July 17-23. More information about the camp is available here: http://www.tesomas.com/.

Younger scouts (current 5th, 6th, 7th graders) will take merit badge classes. For our 5th grade scouts particularly, our leaders will discuss their options with them and make recommendations. For older scouts who are 1st Class and above, several other options are available: Scuba, Microtreks, Isle Royale Backpacking, and ATV trek.

The cost for camp is $290 if paid before April 15. After April 15, the cost is $15 more. Because many scouts have popcorn credits, the camp fee will be paid by check made out to Troop 24. Checks can be turned in at a Troop meeting or delivered to Carrie Staubus’ house. Scouts with popcorn credit will receive an e-mail with the amount. If it will be a hardship to pay everything at once, you can pay $150 now, with the remainder due by May 15.

Tesomas offers a confidential “campership.” The application for this financial assistance is due to Tesomas by April 1 and can be found here: Campership Application. Some of our scouts have received funds in the past, so please apply if needed.

As in the past, we will charter a bus to take our scouts to camp. We anticipate the cost to be $100 (which is in addition to the cost of the camp). More information about the bus will be available later. The bus will leave from Hauser’s parking lot about 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 17, and will return mid-day on Saturday, July 23.

We will also be transporting bicycles to camp. More information will be available as we get closer to camp.

All scouts will need a BSA medical form, signed by a physician (Part C) prior to going to camp. Please make your doctors’ appointments soon. The form that you need to take to your physician can be downloaded here: BSA Medical Form

Please make it easy for us; don’t wait until the last minute to register! Register for camp here: Summer Camp Registration.

General questions about camp can be directed to our new Summer Camp Coordinator, Carrie Staubus, at carrie@staubus.net.

In addition to our regular summer camp at Camp Tesomas (July 17-23), our scouts have a number of options for events at or outside of camp.

Scuba
As in the past, scouts attending Camp Tesomas can sign up for a Scuba Adventure offered at camp and operated by Klein Scuba. Over the past several years over a dozen of our scouts have completed their dive training at Camp Tesomas. Scouts who take the scuba class can earn the Scuba Merit Badge, and will be PADI-certified by the end of the week. Scuba is an all-day program, and participants will not have time to take other merit badge classes. Registration will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants must be 14 years of age OR 13 years of age and completed the 8th grade by date of participation. The additional cost for Scuba is $170 per person, which includes all equipment. If you’ve ever looked into scuba certification classes, you know that this is a terrific bargain. Payment should be made online.

Pay for Scuba

Microtrek
Scouts in Microtrek will participate in a different high adventure activity each day. Microtrek is available in the morning or the afternoon. Scouts who sign up for the afternoon Microtreks can also take up to 3 merit badge classes in the morning. Scouts who sign up for morning Microtrek can take one afternoon merit badge class. Microtrek spots are also limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

There is a $52 fee for Microtrek 101 designed for scouts who are 13 and 14 years old, and First Class or above. There is a $63 fee for Microtrek 200, which is for scouts 15 and older, and First Class or above. There is a limit of 10 scouts in each time slot; some spots may have already been taken by other troops. To reserve your spot, you must sign up early, and pay online.

Pay for Microtrek

Isle Royale Backpacking
Our troop has 8 slots available for a backpacking trip offered by Camp Tesomas during the week prior to our regular summer camp (July 10-16). Scouts must be Star or above, have completed freshman year of high school, and be very physically fit and able to carry a 50-lb pack up to 12 miles per day. Leadership for this outing will be provided by Camp Tesomas staff, not Troop 24 leaders. The cost is $690 per scout. A deposit of $200 should be paid online to reserve your spot. Two additional payments of $245 will be due, by check, on April 1 and May 1. Preference will be given to those who register and pay a deposit early, and to older scouts.

Register & pay for Isle Royale

ATV Trek
Due to the popularity of the ATV component of the Microtrek for older scouts, for the first time Tesomas will be offering a 3-day ATV trek for scouts age 16 and older, and 1st Class and above. Our troop has reserved all 8 spots. Participants will leave Camp Tesomas on Friday, July 22 and return on Sunday, July 24. The program will consist of day trips from Schomberg Park in Hurley, Wisconsin. This park has easy access to ATV trails and plenty of camping areas. The park includes restrooms with showers, pavilion and ATV washstation. There are lots of program options and the group will choose their own route and destinations.

Scouts who are working on merit badges at camp can work hard to get them done by Friday and still go on the ATV trek. Obviously, since they will return on Sunday, the day after the bus leaves, we will need parents who are willing to pick them up. Scouts can also go on the ATV trek even if they are not attending summer camp; however, they would not then be able to ride the bus one way.

Everyone who does the ATV trek will need to complete a Wisconsin Safety course (online) prior to attending camp. Unfortunately, even those who did the ATV Rider Course at camp (in prior years) will need one since the state of Wisconsin does not recognize the ASI national course. We prefer that scouts who sign up for the ATV Trek have ATV experience through participating in Microtrek in the past.

The cost of this outing is $283 per scout, with full payment made online.

Register & pay for the ATV Trek