T-123 Announcements

Have you ever wondered how you could benefit your neighborhood or community? Well here are some examples that can  give you an idea.

• Pick up litter around your neighborhood.
• Clean up trash by a stream.
• Plant seedlings or flowers.
• Shovel snow or rake leaves for seniors.
• Do a cleanup project.

Those are just to name a few. You think of some. The completed list of community service projects are below.

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Activities/Adults/service.aspx

 

On December 17, 2011 troop 123 went to Planet Rock in Pontiac. We bouldered, used the treadwall, rope climbed, slacklined, and best of all, rock climbed. The Bouldering wall was very intense, but if you made it to the top you could climb over the wall and rest on a couch.

The rope climb is hard but very fun, you must climb to the ceiling which is an estimated 40-50 feet tall.

The treadwall is just like a treadmill but you climb it instead. You climb it by using  rocks that are attached to the treadwall. You can adjust the speed and angle of the wall.

The slackline was one out of many challenging things there were at the climbing gym. A slackline is a 1 inch nylon webbing tensioned between two anchor points. You must balance yourself and walk across to the other side without falling down. It was very addicting to do.

Rock climbing at Planet Rock was a blast because they have very tall and challenging climbing walls. You can choose from multiple muscle working walls. Some walls even go upside down! Auto belay or belay with a buddy, you choose!

Planet Rock is the best place to go for rock climbing.

 

This year, the Thanksgiving campout was held at Independence Oaks. At this campout, we did not need to set up the troop tents because there were platform tents with bunk beds. At breakfast, the Road Kill patrol made about 100 pieces of bacon. At lunch, they made burgers and doughnuts that were awesome. Then later in the day, we started to cook the four turkeys (hanging, deep-fried, smoked, and Dutch oven). While they were cooking, we went for a hike around the lake. During the hike, we saw a geocache. When we got back, we saw that the hanging turkey was all black and asked what happened. They said that we put it too close to the charcoal. Even though it was burnt, it was still most people’s favorite because it was tender on the inside. People started to arrive at about 5 o’clock for dinner, approximately 30 people showed up. We started to carve the turkey and had dinner at 7 o’clock. Once all the people were gone, the scouts cleaned up, relaxed for a while, and then went to bed. The next morning, we cleaned up the campsite and left to go back home.

Today, the executive boards of nine Boy Scout councils across Michigan announced that their board members and chartered organization representatives have voted on a plan to pave the way for Scouting's future in Michigan.

The council's executive board and associates voted resoundingly to accept the Crossroads Recommendation, a volunteer-led effort designed to combine the administration of nine Michigan councils to reinvent the delivery and structure of Scouting and make it a more viable, efficient, and sustainable organization.

What will the Crossroads Recommendation do for the Chartered Organizations, Families and for Leaders of Packs, Troops, and Venturing Crews?

The Crossroads Recommendation ~ Unit Focused Scouting will re-focus the time and resources of Unit Serving Executives and related District volunteers resulting in the following:

Click here for details.

 

The Summit is where the 2013 National Jamboree will be hosted.

• CREATE WORLD JAMBOREE-STYLE SCOUTING NEIGHBORHOODS
• BUILD FLEXIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT BOTH THE JAMBOREE AND THE SUMMIT YEAR-ROUND PROGRAMS
• EMBRACE CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY IN THE JAMBOREE OPERATIONAL MODEL
• EMPLOY A SEAMLESS LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY OPERATION
• DELIVER A WORLD-CLASS PROGRAM—CONSTANTLY ON THE MOVE
• SHOWCASE A VISITOR EXPERIENCE VERY DIFFERENT THAN THE PARTICIPANT EXPERIENCE
• ENABLE A VOLUNTEER-DRIVEN, PROFESSIONALLY GUIDED JAMBOREE STAFF OPPORTUNITY
• GO GREEN, GO HEALTHY, AND GO SAFE
• SUSTAIN THE SCOUTING MOVEMENT FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS
• OFFER SCOUTS, SCOUTERS, AND VISITORS A TRUE, ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXPERIENCE

Click here for more information

 

How hard do you think it is to geocache over hills, through gullies, across ravines, battle fatigue, nerves, and a few mistakes? This is what troop 6 had to do to finish the GEOFOX challenge. They had to split into teams, find 10 geocaches, and “fox hunt” to find 10 radio transmitters. The teams had to build their own transmitter and beacon. They had to find the spot, radio back to headquarters, and tell them a secret word. If it is correct, then they are sent the next coordinates. The signals were in Morse code, so they had to have a translation sheet for Morse code. The teams faced difficulties such as sticking together, ending up in a bog, or radio signals that bounced off metal and made teams go the wrong way. Some teams were walking for 5 hours. One lesson I learned by reading this article is that it is harder than most people think it is. The most interesting thing is that you have to build the transmitter by yourself and that you have to communicate in Morse code. This is the reason why I think it is so hard to complete this challenge.

NFL and MLB players support eKnowledge donation of free SAT/ACT software to Boy Scouts of America families

 

In alliance with the Boy Scouts of America, eKnowledge is offering SAT and ACT test prep programs valued at $200, free to Boy Scout families. The eKnowledge Sponsorship Alliance is made up of educationally focused foundations, as well as a group of professional athletes from the National Football League and Major League Baseball that includes Warrick Dunn and Chipper Jones. The eKnowledge Sponsorship Alliance has provided more than 120,000 SAT/ACT prep programs to families all over the United States.

Click here for more information.

 

This knot is used to tie the end of a climbing rope into a tight ball so the rope can be thrown. When a rope is coiled it is difficult to throw long distances because the coils of the rope catch the wind. With the monkey's fist knot tied to the end of a small coil, it can be thrown much further. This knot was first used by mariners to throw a tow line to another boar or to shore. The knot is about the size of a "fist" when tied. Mariners coined the name "monkey's fist" because of it's shape. The monkey's fist is an ideal knot for many climbing situations where a rope needs to be thrown. The monkey's fist knot helps you heave a rope a little further out over a ledge, a bush, or up to a Routesetter in a gym.

If you want to learn more please click here.

 

This last weekend, we were at the place where scouts meet scouts and troops meet troops, a camporee. The camporee was at Put-in-Bay. Put-in-Bay is on an island in Lake Erie called South Bass Island. On the island, we went in 2 caves, a wine, and grape juice winery, marched in a parade, and almost everyone went to the putt-putt course. Twenty people total went to Put-in-Bay from our troop (5 adults and 15 scouts). There were over 1,200 scouts who camped on the island. The residents welcomed us like family by letting us tent by Perry’s monument, help get us food, and even set up a parade for the Boy Scouts to march in. The rain and the mud was definitely everybody’s thorn. The mud even sucked a shoe off one of the scouts. Everybody in our troop used words like fun, awesome, and huge to describe the camporee.

The seed was planted several years ago about the trip back to Isle Royal by our illustrious trek leader Rex. Beautiful, Calm, Rocks, Moose, Wolves, tree roots, 10 days of paradise, hilly, swimming, fishing, boat rides, and 50 Miler were some of the words Rex used to describe the trip to build enthusiasm.  Eighteen people signed up and all eager to experience this "Once in a Lifetime" opportunity.

The trip was mostly as Rex described, but never in our minds did we put together the two words Rocks & Roots meant that the whole trip was about stepping on rocks & roots (not avoiding) to navigate your way from camp site to campsite. I am not complaining as the R&R brought out the best in all of us. Words I would use to describe this experience in addition to previous words would be: perserverance; determination; accomplishment; bonding; team spirit; sharing; helping; friendship; enlightment; and comradery.

Seeing is believing as I was constantly fooled by Sam into thinking that he caught the big one everytime he casted and reeled in his line (such passion); or seeing Nick (bag of bones) carry his fully loaded backpack for the entire trip and encouraging me to "please keep up" dad; or watching Jake get stronger and faster day by day; or Jason & Nick working efficiently together daily on the setup and teardown of their gear.

At the end when the troop ate together at the restaurant, we all ate like we've never eaten before or that our dish could taste so good brings back memories of when mom would make our special dish and we would devour it because it was so special.

Our sevice project with the guidance of Ranger Leah was to pull an invasive plant & not native to Isle Royale (Mountain Bluet or Bachelor's Button) from Rock Harbour. We managed to pull 450 plants before boarding our ship the Queen to go home.

Thank You Rex for putting this together and making it a memorable summer. As you have guessed, I would entertain going back again when I've forgotten what the real R&R stands for.

D. Tran