Please see details below about up-coming campout next month.    

• Campout at Maquoketa Caves State Park.  9688 Caves Rd. Maquoketa, IA 52060
•  Friday May 3rd - Sunday 5th. 
  
• Youth Group Campsite B is reserved. 
• Meet at SJV at 5:30pm on Friday, May 3rd, eat dinner before arriving.  Wear Class A uniforms. 
• Returning Sunday morning.  We don't know the exact time when we will return. leaders will contact parents when they depart from  Maquoketa Cave State Park.  50min drive.  ETA 9:30am Sunday.
• $20 per Scout standard T24 camp fee applies
• Caving, hiking, and exploring.  
• Watch weather and pack/plan accordingly. 
• Please send extra clothes and old clothes that you wouldn't mind throwing away at end of weekend.  Caves tend to be muddy and rough on clothes/shoes.  
• Flashlights/headlamps required.  
• Sign up on the Google Form included in this email
• Permission slip and medication form attached
• Deadline to sign up is Tuesday April 30th at beginning of  T24 meeting. Meal planning will take place at meeting on Tuesday April 30th.  
• Please call or email with any questions, 

Nate Wilson

563 579-3252

May Maquoketa Caves Campout

Please see details below about up-coming campout next month.    

• "New Scout" Campout at Loud Thunder. 9906 175th St W. Illinois City, IL 61259.
• All Scouts welcome,  traditionally this campout is used to get new scouts up to speed and on their way to scout rank.  Great campout for any member to get needed camping nights, mentor and teach younger scouts, work on any needed requirements with leaders.  
•  Friday April 19th - Sunday 21st. 
• War Club campsite reserved. 
• Meet at SJV at 5:30pm on Friday, April 19h, eat dinner before arriving.
• Returning Sunday morning.  We don't know the exact time when we will return. leaders will contact parents when they depart from  Loud Thunder.  45min drive.  ETA 9-10am Sunday.
• $20 per Scout standard T24 camp fee applies.
• Watch weather and pack/plan accordingly.  
• Sign up on the Google Form included in this email
• Permission slip and medication form attached
• Deadline to sign up is Tuesday April 16th at beginning of  T24 meeting. Meal planning will take place at meeting on Tuesday April 16th.  

Loud Thunder April 19-21

Scouts and Parents,

Scouts and Families,

This is just a reminder of what you need to do when you have completed your SM Conference for a Rank.

Scout Rank:  You just need to show the Advancement Chair your signed book.  If you don't do this, you will not receive your badge at the CoH.

Board of Review:  If you need a Board of Review, please see the Advancement Chair for this.  It is his/her job within the Troop to help you find Committee Members to assist you with this.  If the Advancement Chair is not at a meeting and
                  you need one, please reach out to another leader for assistance.  I recommend Mr. Kerr.  The current Advancement Chair is Mr. Carber.  The plan is to have Mr. Sinderman assume this position after the January CoH.

Final Requirement:  When you complete your BOR, you must inform the Advancement Chair that you received your rank.  He/She will want to see your book to verify that it was signed.  If you forget to do this in a meeting, you can always email pictures of your book to the Advancement Chair.  If you don't complete this last step, you will not receive your badge at the CoH.  It is not the responsibility of the BOR adults to tell Advancement Chair.  The Scout must do this.

Please remember that it is not the Advancement Chairs's responsibility to track you down in a meeting for a BOR, even if you have informed him/her that you need one.  You should come see the Advancement Chair as soon as possible during the meeting to do the BOR after opening.  This may require you skipping a scheduled meeting event.  No BOR will be started after 8 pm as the BOR adults should not feel rushed when completing the BOR.  We want to do proper BOR's.

If you have any questions about this, please feel free to reach out me to discuss.

Greg Carber
Advancement Chair

There are still Council's and individuals offering online Merit Badge classes.  The council one's that we feel are good are posted to our Troop Facebook page.  We also post individual one's if we run across them.

Some of the Councils that still offer online are Cape Fear, Western Los Angeles, and Camp Daniel Boone.

Another place to go that I have heard good comments on is the following:

The Edmond Historical Society & Museum (EHSM) now has 18 merit badge digital programs from which to choose, including 8 Eagle-required MBs. They are:
American Heritage
Archaeology
Citizenship in the Community (required for Eagle)
Citizenship in the Nation (required for Eagle)
Citizenship in the World (required for Eagle)
Coin Collecting (kit provided by museum)
Collections
Communication (required for Eagle)
Emergency Preparedness (required for Eagle)
Entrepreneurship
Environmental Science (required for Eagle)
Exploration
Family Life (required for Eagle)
Genealogy
Indian Lore
Personal Management (required for Eagle)
Scouting Heritage
Stamp Collecting (kit provided by museum)
This program is open to ALL Scouts.
For more information, and to register your Scout to receive a digital program, go to https://www.edmondhistory.org/.../merit-badge-programs.../

We also coordinate local events for the scouts and of course we have the one's we hold within the Troop.

I encourage all scouts to take advantage of these offerings and opportunities.  I always recommend looking for merit badges to take that we don't offer, or you can't take at Summer Camp.  You will never get an opportunity again in your life to try so many different things and gain many new experiences.

Remember 14 Eagle and 7 other merit badge is just the number you need for Eagle.  There are about 135 merit badges in total to consider taking.

If you sign up for an online merit badge, please let the Troop Merit Badge Coordinator (Mr. Kerr) and Scoutmaster (Mr. Gagnon) know.  The Scoutmaster is supposed to approve all merit badges.  That is why he signs the blue card before you begin.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Greg Carber
Advancement Chair