T-123 Announcements

One of our troops favorite campouts is at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. The campout will be held on May 18-20. The cost is $45. This campout is open to all scouts, family, and friends of troop 123. We will meet at Bass Pro Shop at 6:30 on the 18th. Make sure to bring sleds and other things that will entertain you on the dunes. See you there!

This years summer camp will be held in Ohio at the Pioneer Scout Reservation, or Camp Frontier. At this camp we will enjoy water-front activities, archery, a wide veriety of merit badge courses, rifle shooting, and ATV riding ( 14+ ). A sign up sheet is out right now during our meetings. The troop has never been to this camp yet, but we have heard many good things about it. So come to summer camp 2012 at Camp Frontier! More information will be announced as we near this campout.

 

The Great Lakes Council will be sending one Troop of 36 scouts to a pre Jamboree Shakedown this summer at the Summit Betchel Scout Reserve on July 13 to July 17, 2012

This long weekend event is to do a couple things.  The first is to TEST the Jamboree systems at the new site. The Second is to provide youth an outstanding experience.

You might ask: “what will the boys be doing?”  The boys will be participating in Zipline, White Water Rafting, Mt. Biking, Rock Climbing, service project, Mountain Man experience, Patch Trading, Opening ceremony, and many other events.

The Great Lakes Council will be providing a Charter Bus Transportation to and from the site.  The estimated cost of the trip will be $300 per person.  This will include cost for all weekend activities and transportation.

Sign up quick! Because there are only 10 or less spots avalible.

REMEMBER-This event is only availible to scouts already going to the 2013 National Jamboree

 

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.