The Village of Riverside and the Frederick Law Olmsted Society sponsor Landscape Work Days. 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.

Locations & dates of work days:

Scottswood Commons: April 28, 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

Scouts are invited to sign up to help with Riverside’s annual “Riverside Springs Ahead” spring clean-up of the downtown business district on Saturday, April 7. Volunteers will meet at 8:00 in the parking lot next to Riverside Bank. The clean-up goes from 8:00 a.m. to noon. Tools will be provided, as well as water & snacks. To have an idea of how many volunteers to expect, we’re asking scouts to sign up here: http://troop24riverside.com/2012/03/riverside-springs-ahead-form/

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.

Sorry for the frequent Feedblitz messages, but this is the easiest way to keep the list up-to-date for everyone. The following is an updated list of the slots we still need to fill for the Holiday Stroll, tonight, at Riverside Garage. We now need only workers for the 7:30-8:00 and 8:00-8:30 timeslots. (If we can fill up the 7:30-8:00 shift, and leave the last shift unfilled, that would be OK, as traffic will be less, and we may have run out of ingredients by that time anyway.) Please e-mail Nancy Hopkins to sign up for a shift:

5:30 – 6:00
Max H.
Daniel D.
Joseph C

6:00 – 6:30
Scott A.
Michael L
Max B ??

6:30 – 7:00
Jimmy S
Ben L
Jack L

7:00 – 7:30
Glen Q
Jeff R
Abraham O

7:30 – 8:00
Andrew S
OPEN
OPEN

8:00 – 8:30
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN

The Troop will be providing s’mores on Friday, December 2, at Riverside’s Holiday Stroll. We need 3 scouts to work in each 30-minute shift. Some of our scouts signed up at the meeting tonight, and their names are listed below. We still need more help! Please e-mail Nancy Hopkins to sign up for a shift:

5:30 – 6:00
Max H.
Daniel D.
OPEN

6:00 – 6:30
Scott A.
OPEN
OPEN

6:30 – 7:00
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN

7:00 – 7:30
Glen Quinn
OPEN
OPEN

7:30 – 8:00
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN

8:00 – 8:30
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN

The Troop will be providing s’mores to passersby at the Riverside Holiday Stroll on December 2. We’ll be stationed near Riverside Garage, and we need 3 scouts for every 1/2 hour shift beginning at 5:30 p.m. If your scout is able to help, please have him sign up at the Troop meeting tonight, or e-mail Nancy Hopkins at nmhopkins1@comcast.net.

The scouts have been invited to participate in the Riverside Holiday Stroll on December 2 at Riverside Garage. We will have a fire pit and fire, and the Troop Committee had discussed having ingredients for s’mores. We are not intending this to be a fundraiser, but a “community event.” We could take donations for the s’mores to be given to the Riverside Food Pantry. What we need at this point is an adult to take charge. If you are available, please contact Nancy Hopkins ASAP at nmhopkins1@comcast.net

5th Grade Scouts: If you plan to participate in the Memorial ceremony at Central School on Thursday, please meet after school today–rain or shine. Meet inside the school if it’s raining. contact Mrs. Gmitro with questions.

Attention all Central School 5th grade Boy Scouts! You are invited to to be part of the Honor Guard for a Memorial Day ceremony at Central School at 8:25 a.m. on Thursday, May 26. The 5th grade Boy Scouts will march the flag from the entrance of Central to the flag pole and present the flag to the 5th grade Girl Scouts, who will raise the flag. In order to participate in this you must attend a practice after school on Wednesday, May 25. The Girl Scouts have invited us to their ice cream social starting after school in front of the school. After eating we will practice the ceremony. You must also wear your Class A uniform (shirt tucked in, neckerchief and slide, hat if you can find it) on the day of the ceremony. On Thursday morning scouts participating should check in with their teachers, leave their backpacks in their rooms and report to the front of school when they are released by their teachers. If you are interested in participating, please contact Mrs. Gmitro. Scouts not in uniform will stand with their classes.

The upcoming RB referendum will affect the high school experience for most of our scouts. At 7:00 p.m., on Thursday, February 24, we invite Troop 24 and Pack 24 parents (and any interested friends, neighbors, etc.) to attend an informational session in the Social Hall at RPC. Dr. Bonnette and Jim Landahl will be making the presentation, and can answer any questions you might have. (In addition to being an active parent, Jim’s sons are scouts in Brookfield.)

A document showing the cuts necessary in the RB budget, if the referendum does not pass, can be found on the RB website at: http://www.rbhs208.org/2011-12BudgetGuidlelinesTentative11-1-10%20.pdf More information about the referendum can be found here: http://www.yesrbhs.org/. For specific information on what additional tax you would pay, based on your house’s assessed value, visit “The Cost” page on this website.

Since you will be dropping off your scouts at RPC anyway, please come in for the presentation!

Thursday, February 24, 7:00 p.m.