There will be NO Troop meeting on December 12. Instead, we will be going to the Oak Brook Family Recreation Center from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on December 13. The Oak Brook Family Recreation Center is located at 1450 Forest Gate Road in Oak Brook. Parents are asked to provide transportation for their scouts to & from the event. We also need adults to attend as chaperones. There is no cost to families for the outing, but we need to know how many plan to attend. Please let us know if you can come by signing up here: http://troop24riverside.com/2013/12/gym-swim-form-december-13-2013/

The Morton Arboretum is offering several merit badge classes during their Winter term. More information can be found here:

http://www.mortonarb.org/learn-experience/course-guide?field_course_type_tid=80

Thanks to those of you who have already volunteered to work at the Holiday Stroll this Friday. We are still in need of scouts & adults to work the 6:00-7:00 shift and the 8:00-9:00 shift this Friday, December 6. We provide ingredients for strollers to roast marshmallows and make s’mores. We do not charge for the s’mores, but collect a free-will offering that goes to the Riverside Food Pantry. We will be located at Riverside Garage.

PLEASE sign up here: http://troop24riverside.com/2013/12/holiday-stroll-form-december-5-2013/

Monday trip on the Nantahala River

Our older scouts have been meeting to discuss possible high adventure outings. After a survey of parents and scouts, the first choice was a whitewater rafting trip. Fortunately, we have been able to reserve one week at BSA Camp Daniel Boone in Asheville, North Carolina, for July 27 through August 2, 2014. All participants must be First Class or above, have graduated from 8th grade, and have previously attended a summer camp with Troop 24. Participants will be required to pass a swim test, and should be strong swimmers.

They require a minimum of 12 participants on the crew so we would need 10 scouts and 2 leaders to commit. We must have commitments by December 30 for the event to go forward.

The trek itself is $475 per person for the week. With transportation, extra meals during travel, and miscellaneous expenses, we estimate the cost to be $700-$900 total per person (variation in cost depends on transportation costs, and whether we fly or drive). We will collect the cost in 3 installments, with the first $175 due by December 30, an additional $250 due on March 1, and the balance due on May 1.

More information is available at:
http://www.campdanielboone.org/HighAdventure/RaftingCanoeingTreks/WhitewaterAdventureTrek.aspx

The whitewater trip does not conflict with our regular summer camp at Tesomas, which is July 13-19. Scouts can attend both.

Ready to sign up? You can do so here: http://troop24riverside.com/2013/12/6083/

Have more questions? Contact Kent Johnson at kentjohnson@ameritech.net.

Sign-up is now closed for Whitewater Rafting.

Scouts & adults are needed for our annual s’mores tent at Riverside’s Holiday Stroll this Friday, December 6. We provide ingredients for strollers to roast marshmallows and make s’mores. We do not charge for the s’mores, but collect a free-will offering that goes to the Riverside Food Pantry. We will be located at Riverside Garage, always a popular location due to their train set-up. One-hour shifts are available starting at 5:00 p.m., and we also need a few people for set-up (4:00) and take-down (9:00). We need two adults and three scouts per shift. Please sign up here: http://troop24riverside.com/2013/12/holiday-stroll-form-december-5-2013/

For the past several years the scouts have provided s’mores during the Holiday Stroll. We are seeking a parent to be the chairperson for this event. We have detailed records describing what needs to be done. Please contact Nancy Hopkins at nmhopkins1@comcast.net to volunteer.

GS Troop 657 is working on a community service Silver Award Project to increase reading skills and the love of reading through the availability of books in an under-served school. As members of the Riverside/Brookfield community we are very fortunate to have outstanding schools and libraries that have served to foster our love for books, the girls of Troop 657 want to give that same opportunity to kids that do not have those same resources. They have selected to help the K-8th graders at Corkery Elementary School located in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. Through a used book drive and a new book fair they will build classroom libraries with enough books to meet and grow each child’s reading level. The goal is to donate 1000 books to each grade!

Troop 24 Scouts and families can help in two ways:

• Please consider donating any gently used children’s books appropriate for ages 3-14. Scouts can bring donated books to troop meetings on December 5 and December 12. Girl Scouts will have a collection box available at those meetings.
• Join Girl Scout Troop 657, with Scholastic Books, at the Arcade Building for the Holiday Book Fair during the Riverside Holiday Stroll, on December 6, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. to shop for best-selling titles for all ages, interesting reads, and holiday classics. This is a great opportunity to give the gift of reading to your friends and family while sharing that gift with Corkery Elementary. All profits from the book fair will be used to purchase new books for the Corkery classroom libraries.

More information is available here: Holiday Book Fair flyer