Mark your calendars for eight days beginning Sunday, June 25 2017 as Troop 24 will be returning to the Florida Seabase for epic high adventure.  Our troop has been allocated space for a crew of 18-20 participants for the Sea Exploring adventure.  Here is a description of this program from the official Seabase website:

• Designed for larger groups (either a council contingent or a larger troop), offering your crew the opportunity to experience a sailing adventure of yesteryear. These are large vessels, 75 feet or more, normally gaff-rigged topsail schooners, fully equipped and prepared to provide an unforgettable adventure snorkeling the beautiful Keys’ reefs, fishing, and hands-on sailing as well as a port-o-call in Key West.
• For a hands-on sailing adventure voyage, one that is exciting, ruggedly challenging, and excellent for larger groups, pack your sea bag for the Sea Exploring program. This is an eight day event and the contingent will be back in Riverside by July 3.

The eligibility requirements for participants are that they must be thirteen (13) and graduated from the 8th grade or fourteen (14) years old to participate in all programs. We are going to be gathering information to estimate cost and then plan a meeting of interested scouts in the near future.  If you have any questions in the interim, please email Jim Jerz.

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

All Scouts should bring their books and Totin Chips to the Thursday Meeting.

Scouts on the Trail to First Class will be working on First Class Requirements 8b, c, & d at Thursday’s Meeting. Please review pages 154-175. Star Scouts who still need Life requirement #6 please be at Thursday’s meeting and prepare to teach First Class Requirement #8 according to the EDGE method found at page 53.

The Troop will be making new Troop position (jobs) assignments at the October 8 meeting. Any Scout holding the rank of First Class or above who wants a Troop job is required to sign up on the Troop 24 Web site by Oct 2. A list of jobs and job descriptions is on the web site.

The Star And Above Scouts will hold an activity planning meeting with Mr. Johnson at Thursday’s meeting. Please attend Thursday’s meeting to offer suggestions and opinions on High Adventure Trips for next Summer.

Troop 24 is Going Sailing in the Keys!

Troop 24 is going on a high adventure trip to BSA’s Florida Sea Base on Lower Matecumbe Key in the Florida Keys (Islamorada, Florida) over the Fourth of July weekend of 2015. Why are we bugging you about it now? Because we need to confirm our spots and pay our 50% deposit by October 1.

Who Can Go: Boys who are 1st Class or higher, have finished 8th grade and have the Swimming Merit Badge. We have spots reserved for up to 18 boys. We will also need six adults to accompany the boys (you do not need to be an Adult Leader to accompany the trip).

Where Are We Going: BSA’s Sea Base High Adventure Camp in the Florida Keys on Lower Matecumbe Key, Islamorada, FL.

What Are We Doing: We are going on a Coral Reef Sailing adventure. We will be spending the week on a 40-50 foot sailboat(s). We will explore the Keys and associated Coral Reefs, snorkeling and fishing as we go (no SCUBA on this trip). The entire trip will be overseen by an experienced captain and there will be an opportunity to learn basic sailing skills.

When Are We Going: July 1 to July 9, 2015 (the adventure runs from July 2 to July 8, 2015, with the additional time being travel). Our tentative itinerary starts and ends at the Ft. Lauderdale airport with travel to and from Ft. Lauderdale being arranged separately to allow planning flexibility (there will be an organised group from Chicago or you can use frequent flyer miles, drive your self, travel by Portkey, etc.). When we know who is going we will work out the final itinerary as a group.

What Is It Going to Cost: If we fill all of our slots, the cost should not exceed $1,250 per person, plus the cost of airfare to Ft. Lauderdale (currently $325, but the cost for next July is unknown). The cost will go up the smaller the group gets, a small group may be several hundred dollars more. These are preliminary estimates and probably the total cost will be closer to $1,000 per person in the end.

If your son is even a little bit interested in going on this once in a (Scout’s) life trip, please talk to Michael Murphy (mjmurphy64@gmail.com). We will need a commitment to the trip by Monday, September 29. Commitment will be in the form of a check to the Troop for the initial, nonrefundable, deposit of $500.

Troop 24 is Going Sailing in the Keys!

Troop 24 is going on a high adventure trip to BSA’s Florida Sea Base on Lower Matecumbe Key in the Florida Keys (Islamorada, Florida) over the Fourth of July weekend of 2015. Why are we bugging you about it now? Because we need to confirm our spots and pay our 50% deposit by October 1.

Who Can Go: Boys who are 1st Class or higher, have finished 8th grade and have the Swimming Merit Badge. We have spots reserved for up to 18 boys. We will also need six adults to accompany the boys (you do not need to be an Adult Leader to accompany the trip).

Where Are We Going: BSA’s Sea Base High Adventure Camp in the Florida Keys on Lower Matecumbe Key, Islamorada, FL.

What Are We Doing: We are going on a Coral Reef Sailing adventure. We will be spending the week on 40-50 foot sailboats. We will explore the Keys and associated Coral Reefs, snorkeling and fishing as we go (no SCUBA on this trip). The entire trip will be overseen by an experienced captain and there will be an opportunity to learn basic sailing skills.

When Are We Going: July 1 to July 9, 2015 (the adventure runs from July 2 to July 8, 2015, with the additional time being travel). Our tentative itinerary starts and ends at the Ft. Lauderdale airport with travel to and from Ft. Lauderdale being arranged separately to allow planning flexibility (there will be an organized group from Chicago or you can use frequent flyer miles, drive your self, travel by Portkey, etc.). When we know who is going we will work out the final itinerary as a group.

What Is It Going to Cost: Well, that’s the big question and we only have an estimated answer right now. The cost will vary based on the number of participants. If we fill all of our slots, we expect the cost not to exceed $1,250 per person, plus the cost of airfare to Ft. Lauderdale (currently $325, but the cost for next July is unknown). The cost will go up the smaller the group gets, a small group may be several hundred dollars more. These are preliminary estimates and we think the total cost will be closer to $1,000 per person in the end.

There will be an informational meeting during the September 18 Troop Meeting. If your son is even a little bit interested in going on this once in a (Scout’s) life trip, please come to the meeting or talk to Michael Murphy (mjmurphy64@gmail.com). We will need a commitment to the trip by Monday, September 29. Commitment will be in the form of a check to the Troop for the initial, nonrefundable, deposit of $500.

On Thursday our scouts tackled the Ocoee river in Tennessee. One website described it as “big waves, warm water, and continuous action.” They will finish up tomorrow on the mighty Chattooga which runs through Georgia & South Carolina. It boasts class 5 rapids, including a plunge over an 8-foot waterfall. At the end of the week our scouts will have visited 8 states and rafted 5 major rivers in 5 days. Everyone is doing well but tired. They have a 5:00-6:00 a.m. wakeup everyday, with 4:30 on Thursday. More photos are available at http://troop24riverside.com/troop-scrapbook/nggallery/2014/whitewater-camp-daniel-boone-2014

Wednesday’s whitewater adventure was the Pigeon River, with Class 3 and Class 4 rapids. For anyone unfamiliar with river ratings, see Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Scale_of_River_Difficulty. On Thursday and Friday they will travel to Georgia and S. Carolina with even bigger whitewater than they have experienced so far. More photos have been uploaded to our Photo Gallery at http://troop24riverside.com/troop-scrapbook/nggallery/2014/whitewater-camp-daniel-boone-2014

On Tuesday our scouts rafted on the French Broad River. In the afternoon they went into the mountains and swam by a waterfall. There is no cell phone coverage at camp so we’ve received limited text messages with a few pictures, but everything is going well, and the boys are worn out by the end of the day. NO mosquitoes.

Troop 24 scouts tamed the Nantahala River, hiked a segment of the Appalachian Trail, and worked up a big appetite at Camp Daniel Boone. Several photos are available at:
http://troop24riverside.com/troop-scrapbook/nggallery/2014/whitewater-camp-daniel-boone-2014