The Troop will have 3 meetings this spring at the Scout Cabin: February 3, March 2, and May 4.

This summer’s “high adventure” scout experience will be canoeing on the Boundary Waters. There will be an informational meeting on Tuesday, January 17, at 7:00 p.m. at Ascension Lutheran Church. Ascension is at 400 Nuttall in Riverside, across from Ames Elementary School. Please enter through the side door and come downstairs to the Fellowship Hall. Scouts and adults who are (or who might be) interested in this trip are invited to come and learn more.

We have filled the two remaining spots for the Nuclear Science Merit Badge class on January 21.

Our Popcorn Kernel, Mrs. Kodama, reports that 33 scouts sold a total of $13,027.65 worth of popcorn. The profit from the popcorn sales is available as a credit to each of those scouts to be used for summer camp or other troop outings. Because the scouts are listed by full name, this information is available in the password-protected directory on the website. (Contact Nancy Hopkins if you need the username & password.) Our top sellers this year (in order of sales) were: Max B ($1,669.00), Jimmy S ($1,509.00), Ryan K ($1,105.90), Elijah O ($949.00), Glen Q ($726.00), Andy C ($710.85).

Thank you very much to Anne Kodama for coordinating our popcorn sales!

The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago offers monthly Archeology Merit Badge classes. Several of our scouts are signed up for this merit badge class on Saturday, January 21, noon-2:00 p.m. Any scouts who are interested in joining them can register directly with the Institute by calling 773-702-9507. The cost is $15 per scout. Please call the Institute or e-mail oi-education@uchicago.edu for more information.

There are two spots remaining for the Nuclear Science Merit Badge outing to Fermilab on January 28. If your scout is interested, please see more information here: http://troop24riverside.com/2012/01/nuclear-science-merit-badge-outing-on-january-28/

Mark your calendars for an informational meeting (parents & scouts) to discuss our High Adventure options for the summer of 2013. We were successful in getting a reservation for a Philmont trek for the summer of 2013 (departing July 5 and returning on July 19). Scouts must be 14 years old or age 13 and have graduated from 8th grade to participate in a Philmont experience (our current 7th graders and older). There is also a possibility for a scuba experience at Florida Seabase. Those who are interested in either outing should attend an informational meeting on Monday, February 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the Social Hall at RPC.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to donate food to our Night Ministry food prep. The main activity for this Thursday’s meeting will be making soup and PBJ sandwiches.

Here is the list of what everyone volunteered to bring:

Andersen – 200 bags
Bork – 5 bags mixed veggies, 5 loaves bread
Connelly – 1 Peanut butter
Culloden – 5 cans stewed tomatoes
Lanken – 4 PB, 1 jelly
Lennon – 2 PB, 2 jelly
Gmitro – beef bouillon, 3 lbs ground beef.
Gryczan – 6 loaves
Jones – 2 loaves, 2 PB
Machina – 5 bags frozen veggies
Marcou – 3 lbs browned ground beef
McCoy – 5 loaves
Olszewski – 5 cans stewed tomatoes
Ozga – 1 loaf white bread, 1 wheat, 1 Peanut butter, 1 jelly
Quinn – 10 loaves
Ringbloom – 3 lbs browned ground beef
Salij – 1 PB

Please have your scout bring food to the meeting on Thursday. We will meet in the Social Hall. Contact Dawn Gmitro with questions.

The Troop Committee will meet on January 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Westminster Room at RPC. All scout parents are welcome to attend.