Troop 24 will hold an Ax Yard on Friday, July 1, at 4:30 p.m. at the Janopoulos residence, 360 Nutall, Riverside. The purpose of the Ax Yard is to teach proper and safe use of knives, axes, and saws. Completion of the Ax Yard is required to obtain a Totin Chip, which is required if the scout is in possession of any kind of personal knife during any scouting activity. In preparation for the Ax Yard, each scout must review wood tools use and safety rules in the Boy Scout Handbook Chapter 12. Scouts must wear closed toe shoes and may wear Class B shirts.

Troop 24 Instructors are required to attend the Ax Yard and be prepared to teach the requisite wood tool use and safety rules.

At the Troop meeting on Thursday we will have a “Lost and Found” display from the camp-out at Bullfrog Lake. Despite Scoutmaster Flaherty’s instructions to the scouts, none of these items were labeled. They were spread out on a picnic table at the end of the camp-out and none of the scouts seemed to recognize their own gear.

We have two suggestions:
LABEL EVERYTHING that your scout takes to a camp-out
Have your scout pack his own bag

Both of these requirements will be very important at summer camp.

This list of items left behind at the camp-out is beyond anything we have experienced in the past. Please talk to your scout, but if you don’t think he will be able to identify his gear, a parent may want to come to the meeting Thursday to claim the following items:

– white plastic camping cutlery, knife/fork/ spoon on a ring
– expandable camp cup
– green plastic two ended unit with fork/ spoon
– metal camp fork
– blue mesh bag
– back / green trim champion brand youth gloves
– cooking dish with handle
– mini pan / pot with lid
– youth Levi jeans 26w/ 26.5 L “527 style”
– neckerchief (Cindy Reynolds has it)

In case you didn’t see the earlier e-mail from Susan about this, Bullfrog Lake campground said a scout left behind a pair of boots; they are going to clean the mud off them and hold onto them in hopes that they will be claimed. The boots are tan with black soles – the size indicates one of our younger scouts left them behind. If your son did not come home with his boots, please call Bullfrog Lake:
Phone: 312-636-9785
Address: 9600 Wolf Rd, Willow Springs, IL 60480

One of our scouts is missing a blue, non-mesh (Coleman) bag for his sleeping bag.

If your scout came home with anything that was not his, please bring it to the meeting on Thursday.

It is that time again: New Boy Scout requirements! However, there are major changes for this year and all scouts will have to abide by these new requirements, no matter how long you have been a scout. This is different from most requirement changes where scouts could continue with requirements in the book that they started in. For this change, all scouts have to convert to the new requirements sooner or later. Here are the major items to be wary of:

• There is a new Boy Scout Requirements book and a new Boy Scout Handbook. You can buy these at the Scout Store for our council at 811 W. Hillgrove Ave., La Grange, IL
• All scouts joining on or after January 1^st, 2016 MUST use the new requirements
• Scouts who joined before January 1^st, 2016 have some rules as well:
  • Scouts working on the Scout badge MAY continue to work on the existing requirements, but MUST convert to the new requirements upon completion of the Scout badge.
  • Scouts working on Tenderfoot through First Class MAY continue to work on the existing requirements, but MUST convert to the new requirements upon attaining First Class.
    • So if you are a Tenderfoot scout, you CAN use the old requirements to attain Second Class rank and First Class rank, but once you receive First Class you must switch to the new stuff.
  • Scouts that have completed First Class MAY complete the rank they are currently working on in the existing requirements, but then MUST convert to the new requirements for subsequent ranks.
    • So if you are a First Class scout, you CAN use the old requirements for Star, but once you attain the Star rank you must use the new requirements for Life.
  • HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE: All Scouts MUST use the new requirements, regardless of rank, starting on January 1^st, 2017.

Most of the changes affect the Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks. These new requirements can be found at:

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/524-012_BS_Requirements.pdf

Kit K

Life Scout Kit K. is our Troop Webmaster. He will be reporting on various events and topics of interest to scouts and parents. Look for his byline on upcoming articles!

We would like to send Feedblitz messages directly to our scouts, and occasionally contact them with other news via e-mail. With 3 exceptions, we have e-mail addresses for all our “Star & Above” Patrol, but we would appreciate receiving e-mail addresses for any scout who is 1st Class rank or below. If you are willing to share your scout’s e-mail address, please send it to nmhopkins1@comcast.net.

As some of you are aware, our esteemed Scoutmaster, Tom Hartwig, recently announced his (semi)retirement. Although he is stepping down as Scoutmaster, he will continue to be involved in the Troop as an Assistant Scoutmaster.

We are pleased to announce that John Flaherty has agreed to be our next Scoutmaster. John has served on the Troop Committee for several years. He has two sons in scouts–one a junior and the other a sophomore.

Thank you, Tom and John, for your commitment to Troop 24!

Several of the Second Class requirements involve the use and care of sharp tools. These are not requirements that can be completed at a regular meeting, so we have scheduled an “Ax Yard” (or Axe Yard). All scouts who have not yet completed Second Class requirements 3c, 3d, and 3e, are invited to the Janopoulos home (yard, actually) on Wednesday, MAY 13, at 6:00 p.m. The requirements that are not completed on Wednesday will be finished at the Troop meeting on MAY 14.

Please check your scout books and see if you need these requirements. Any scout who is lacking these requirements is invited, including the first-year scouts. Don’t forget to bring your books to 360 Nuttall Road in Riverside on Wednesday.

3c. Demonstrate proper care, sharpening, and use of the knife, saw, and ax, and describe when they should be used.

3d. Use the tools listed in requirement 3c to prepare tinder, kindling,and fuel for a cooking fire.

3e. Explain when it is appropriate to use a cooking fire. At an approved outdoor location and at an approved time, and using the tinder, kindling, and fuel wood from requirement 3d, demonstrate how to build a fire; light the fire, unless prohibited by local fire restrictions. After allowing the flames to burn safely for at least two minutes, safely extinguish the flames with minimal impact to the fire site.

Four current Boy Scouts of America councils – Calumet, Chicago, Des Plaines Valley and Northwest Suburban – are in the process of joining a newly created Council. Together, they encompass over 20,000 registered Scouts and nearly 9,000 trained adult leaders. More information is available here: http://www.betterstrongerscouting.org/

Elaine Potamianos, mother of scout leader Garey Potamianos, and grandmother of Eagle Scout Dennis Potamianos, passed away earlier this week. Visitation will be Friday, November 23 from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Conboys-Westchester Funeral Home, 10501 W. Cermak Road (2 1/2 blocks west of Mannheim) in Westchester.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, 7560 S. Archer Road, Justice, with interment at the Elmwood Cemetery.

The obituary can be found at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=161185867.

If you have not already done so, please pay your son’s scout dues for the year ($30) at: https://www.wepay.com/events/scout-dues-2012-2013-school-year