Wow !! I can’t believe it is already the 20 th of May..

Ryan will be completing his Eagle Project Saturday at the church and could use your help. The bricks have been delivered and need to be placed. Please arrive at 8:30 am

Our first JLT class went well Monday night. The second and last class will NOT be next Monday but June 8 instead. This class is helping our Leadership understand their rolls and responsibilities better.

Money ( $20.00) is due for the upcoming camping trip this Monday

Our Troop Mobilization exercise went as well as I expected. Congratulations to the Wolf patrol who had 100 % participation. We will perform another one at the end of the Summer.

Summer Camp:
Medical Forms are due in a couple of weeks . this form can be printed off of our web site www.tejastroop222.org
Permission Slips are also due. It is on the web site as well.

Philmont : 28 more days , four weeks from today !!!

Have a great weekend.

Brian

Please make sure that the scouts are prepare for their merit badges and money for lunch or brown bag it. I will check to see if we can have the merit badge books available on Monday for the scouts to check out what they will need for Saturday. Please make sure they have paper and pen/pencil for their merit badges and any prework that will need to be completed at home prior to Saturday. Remember they will only have two weeks in between Saturdays to complete their requirements for this Merit Badge College.

I still need one or two drivers for both Saturdays to take the scouts to and from, please let me know if you will be available to drive. I may also need some volunteers to help out in classrooms or in other areas. The troop is set with the instructors but the volunteers seem to have fallen through.

Thank you,

We are meeting at Dyno Rock . Address is 608 E. Front St in downtown Arlington. This is on the north side of the railroad tracks.

Pick-up time is 8:30.

There will not be a Lock-in this year due to a lack of adult volunteers. Sorry !

I would like to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. We will meet again January 4

YIS

Brian Schwettmann

Please try to attend if you can. If you need to add anything to the agenda please let me know.

Four other new merit badges will appear over the course of the coming year:

Inventing (First quarter 2010)
Geocaching (Second quarter 2010)
Scouting Heritage (Second quarter 2010)
Robotics (Fourth quarter 2010)
These badges are being introduced because they received positive feedback in a youth interest survey.

If five new merit badges seems like a lot, it is. By comparison, the BSA introduced just six new merit badges between 1992 (Collections) and 2006 (Composite Materials).

When you have an idea for a new merit badge, the first step is to complete a proposal form, which you can get by e-mailing merit.badge@scouting.org . Proposals that fit merit-badge criteria and rank highly with youth members are sent to a volunteer task force and the Program Content Committee for review and development.

But the new badges aren’t the only innovation. In the past it took three years to create a merit badge. Now, that time has been cut to just less than a year, helping to keep the badge topics and content fresher than ever.

Please help spread the word about the new merit badges, belt loops, and pins through Web sites, newsletters, e-mails, social networking, roundtables, and events. As always, www.scouting.org is your best source for the most current information about these awards.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holidays, you MISD guys had a long one.

Monday night we will be meeting in the basement so parents you can drop off and pick up down there. One reason we are doing this is so you can pick up your 5 or more poinsettias .

Candle orders are in so you can pick them up too.

Saturday is the final day for Kennedale Merit Badge College , hopefully you have completed homework ( I am sure you worked all week on it {yea right !!})

Monday the 7 th is our Christmas party . You may wear your class-b. There will be a white elephant gift exchange, gift value around $ 10.

Monday the 14 th we will be going to Dino Rock. Sign up sheets will be at the next meeting. Approximate cost is $ 12, we will know final cost at the Christmas party

YIS
Brian Schwettmann

We are entering our most critical time of the year. Instead of having several “troop” fundraisers throughout the year like most other non-profit organizations, our troop has historically tried to have one major “successful” fundraiser each year. The success of our fundraiser is critical in allowing our troop to remain as active and successful as it has been in the past and to purchase equipment. Without its success, our programs could suffer or be cancelled, additional troop fundraisers may be needed, or parent/scout fees may increase for campouts, etc… The Troop Committee has always try to keep parent/scout fees as low as possible and the success of this fund raiser allows us to do this.

As members of Troop 222, participation throughout the year is not only encouraged, but is expected. The Committee realizes that we all have busy lives, but Scoutmaster Schwettmann and the Assistant Scoutmasters can’t do it all and shouldn’t be expected to. Your sons’ scouting experience is only for a short period and I encourage you to be a part of his scouting experience.

Each year we sell poinsettias, coffee and candles. Each scout is required to sell 5 poinsettias, 5 coffees, or a combination of both; candle sales are not part of the scouts required 5. If a scout does not sell his required 5, a donation to the troop of $25 is required. After a scout sells his required 5, any “individual” sales will be posted to his account.

Each scout in Troop 222 has an account. The money in his account can be spent on 5 things: yearly registration, summer camp, campouts, high adventure trips, & merit badge colleges. Any unused money is donated back to the troop when a scout leaves the troop.

The amount credited to each boys account will be finalized Nov. 2 after the committee knows the cost of these items. Typically each scout has been credited $4.00/poinsettia sale and $3.00/coffee sale. All individual candle sales will be credited to the boys’ account at $3.00/candle. Individual sales are considered any sales from the scouts’ efforts. All sales at St. Vincent’s Catholic Church, Foster’s Hardware and Blockbuster are considered troop sales.

The troop will be selling these items at St. Vincent’s for 3 weekends. Nov. 29th Dec. 6th and Dec. 13th. Additionally, we will be selling at Blockbuster and Foster’s Hardware on Friday, Saturday & Sunday (Nov. 27, 28 & 29th). We will also sell at Foster’s on Dec. 5th and 6th. Items sold at these locations/events do not count towards the scouts required 5.

Two parents are needed at each location when we’re selling. Your responsibilities are to keep an eye on the scouts, keep track of sales and the money. Each scout’s family is expected to work a minimum of 2 shifts; obviously the more you can work and help out during this event the better. We would also like to encourage grandparents or other family members to come work a shift if they would like to do so.

Filling these shifts is the key to a successful fundraiser. Showing up on time and with scout/parent spirit is the only thing that we ask. If you sign up for a shift and need to change it, please try to switch with someone, then alert Scoutmaster Schwettman or myself to the change. Cancelling a shift at the last minute or failing to show up presents all kinds of problems.

We pre-order the poinsettias and typically pick up our supply 3-4 times during the event. If anyone knows that they need “group sales” (10 or more) please call/email me: (817) 516-0071 or glivens@swbell.net. I can place the order and make the arrangements with you for pick-up if I know ahead of time, so please give me as much advanced time as possible. This year we’re being told that we will have red, white and rose poinsettias.

Our first scheduled pick up will be Wed. afternoon, Nov. 25th. If anyone would like a group order then, please let me know and I’ll meet you at Lowe’s that day or make special arrangements. If you would like your scouts individual 5 items on that Wed. please let me know now. Otherwise, you’ll be picking up your “minimum” 5 on Monday, Dec. 7th at our regular meeting.

Poinsettia/Coffee/Candle Coordinators: If anyone could volunteer to help with this event please call me. We could use a couple special assistants to: (1) order/pick up at Lowe’s 3-4 times; (2) order/pick up the coffee 2-3 times; (3) order/pick up the candles 1-2 times: (4) help close down and set up at the locations; (5) whatever comes up??????

To stay informed about this event and all troop events go to our web site http://www.tejastroop222.org/

Please make sure that JoAnn McCracken (jym4cm@yahoo.com) has your current email(s). Also, please come to a committee meeting if you’d like to further your involvement in your son’s scouting career, you’re always welcomed.

I think we have a great scoutmaster and some of the finest assistant scoutmasters around, so please let them know it if you feel the same. These are the adult leaders impacting your son’s scouting experience.

Sign up sheets will be available soon, so please sign up as soon and as often as you can. I look forward to another successful fundraiser and your active participation.

YIS,

Gene
Troop Committee Chair
glivens@swbell.net

It is that time of year again when we must pay the Boy Scouts of America our Recharter payment. This year the fee has gone up $ 5 .

For each youth it is $ 16.25 or $28.25 with Boys Life.

Adults it is $ 16.25

Please bring this payment to the meeting Monday , make check out to Troop 222 or if you want the amount debited from his account let Mrs. McCracken know.

Thank you,

Brian Schwettmann

Also, Popcorn order and money is due Monday. We will give prizes for the 1st and 2nd scouts that sell the most, first prize is $20.00 gift card to academy and the “marshmallow bow and mallow”, second prize will be $10.00 card to academy and the corn hat!
Let’s keep popping!

Yours in Scouting,
Wanda Doyle

We haven’t heard from some of you for the Court of Honor, I am assuming you are not coming for dinner. Hopefully you will be able to attend the ceremony , the Scouts have worked hard the last 6 months to earn these awards.

If your son signed up to serve donuts please have them at the church in class-A . The shifts are :9:30, 11:30, 1:00
each shift will only last about an hour. If he is a part of the new PLC we will have a meeting in between the 1 st and 2 nd Masses.

A few of you have asked about popcorn sales.. Orders are due Monday , November 2 . Any questions you may have need to be directed to Mrs Doyle.

There is No Meeting Monday, October 12.

Lastly, next Sunday we are selling Pumpkins at SVDP during the masses, the boys have already signed up but we need 2 parents for each shift. Please help.

Thank you
Brian