Friday, November 29, 2019

Scout Leaf Raking on Sunday, December 1st

Hello Troop 20!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Holiday!

Troop 96 has informed us that they are still planning to rake leaves in Norton on Sunday.  The weather looks like the rain/snow will start at dusk.  That should provide plenty of time to rake up the remaining leaves.  There won't be as many as last time and they will already be in piles, so all that needs to happen is put them on tarps and get them over to the trucks.

Meeting time is 12:30 at Sacred Heart parish hall.

If the weather moves in faster than anticipated, the rain date will be Saturday, December 7th at 9:00am.

This is a great chance to earn money for the upcoming ski trip in January.  Half of what we earn will go into the Scout accounts of those who show up.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Troop Meeting - Thursday 11/21 7:00 - 8:30PM / Sacred Heart Parish Hall

Hello Troop 20!

There will be a Troop Meeting this Thursday, November 21st, at 7:00pm at Sacred Heart Parish Hall.

Please remember that we line up for our opening ceremony at 7:00PM so you need to plan to be at the hall about 10 minutes earlier.  Please arrive wearing your Class A uniform.

Upcoming Events:


11/28/19

Thanksgiving – No Troop Meeting

12/20/19

Pizza & Swim night at Middleborough YMCA

1/18/20

Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Jared Pierce.  2:00PM at Middleborough Town Hall Ballroom.

1/24 – 1/26

Ski Trip – Details to come.





Annual Dues:

Our annual dues will $100 per Scout this year.  These will be due by December 5th.  Checks should be made out to 'Troop 20'.  If you have any questions, please see one of the Scoutmasters or Mrs. Swindle at the Troop meeting.



Citizenship Merit Badges:  Mr. McKinnon should be at this week's Troop Meeting to continue the Citizenship merit badges. 

If you have not yet earned the Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, and Citizenship in the World merit badges, and you are interested in pursuing the Eagle Scout rank, please know that these are ALL REQUIRED merit badges for the Eagle rank.  You should be taking advantage of this opportunity to earn these merit badges. 



Mount Monadnock:  The temperatures were cold this past weekend up at Mount Monadnock, but we all had a great time summiting the mountain!  Saturday was a long day of hiking and climbing but the view from the top was spectacular!  Congratulations to all of our Scouts and Adults who made the trek!


Our trekkers from Troop 20 & 96













Troop Ski Trip:  Our Ski Trip plans are changing a bit.  It turns out that our lodging arrangements for Mount Abrams have fallen through due to a scheduling conflict but we plan to make arrangements for a different mountain that same weekend.  The leaders are working on the details right now and we'll have an update for you, hopefully, at this week's Troop Meeting, so stay tuned!




Looking for Suggestions:  The Troop Leadership is looking for input from our Scouts for campouts, hikes, or other activities you would like to see on our calendar through the rest of our Scouting Year.  Please feel free to see any of the Scoutmasters with your suggestions and we'll see how many of your ideas we can make happen!




No Troop Meeting Next Week - Happy Thanksgiving!  The leadership of Troop 20 would like to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy, and Safe Thanksgiving.  Be safe and no turkey fires!

 
We look forward to seeing everyone this Thursday!


Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Troop Meeting - Thursday 11/14 7:00 - 8:30PM / Church of Our Savior Hall

Hello Troop 20!

There will be a Troop Meeting this Thursday from 7:00 - 8:30pm at Church of our Savior Hall, 60 Union Street, Middleborough.  Please park in the Town Hall lot.  The church hall is located a very short walk down Union Street.  It's a red brick building right on the corner of Union Street. 
Please remember that we line up for our opening ceremony at 7:00PM so you need to plan to be at the hall about 10 minutes earlier.  Please arrive wearing your Class A uniform, shirts tucked in.

Upcoming Events:

 
11/15 - 11/17
Mount Monadnock Hiking/Camping Trip at Camp Wanocksett, Jaffrey NH
12/20
Pizza & Swim at YMCA
1/18/20
Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Jared Pierce.  Details to come.
1/24 - 1/26
Mount Abrams Ski Trip






Annual Dues:

Our annual dues will $100 per Scout this year.  These will be due by December 5th.  Checks should be made out to 'Troop 20'.  If you have any questions, please see one of the Scoutmasters or Mrs. Swindle at the Troop meeting.



Citizenship Merit Badges:  Mr. McKinnon will be at the troop meetings every other week to teach all three of the Citizenship merit badges.  If you have not yet earned the Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, or Citizenship in the World merit badges, and you are interested in pursuing the Eagle Scout rank, please know that these are ALL REQUIRED merit badges for the Eagle rank.  You should be taking advantage of this opportunity to earn these merit badges.  We will post his availability schedule in the Troop Calendar as soon as we have it updated.



Mount Monadnock:  Our hiking/camping trip to Mount Monadnock will be this coming weekend, 11/15 - 11/17.

  1. Temps are expected to be cold.  Expect temps overnight to be in the 10-20 degree range with wind chills in the single digits.
  2. Make sure you have an appropriately rated sleeping bag.  A 50 degree bag will likely not be warm enough.
  3. You can increase the warmth of your bag by adding a thermal liner if you have one, wearing thermals (synthetic is best) in your bag, and wearing clean wool socks.
  4. Have a good insulated ground pad to put under your bag.  This is critical to staying warm.
  5. Plan to dress in layers; No Cotton.  Synthetic or wool socks are best.
  6. You will need appropriate foot wear.  We recommend hiking boots with ankle support.  Sneakers are not appropriate for this trip.
  7. Hiking sticks would be useful for this hike.  You can purchase an inexpensive set at Walmart that will be fine.
  8. Winds on Saturday are expected to be strong so a wind breaker/windproof layer will help you stay warm
  9. Have a warm hat and if you want, some small ear muffs can help keep your ears warm.  Have some warm gloves as well.  You may want a thin pair for during the day and a thicker warmer pair for night.
  10. Sunglasses and Sunscreen are good to have.
  11. You should plan to have 2 water bottles along with the Scout 10 Essentials.

There is some snow/ice on the trails already and this last storm may have dumped some additional snow cover.  Conditions may be slippery on the trails so we will make as assessment when we get there as to how much hiking will be possible.

The hiking trail map can be found here.

You can stay on top of the weather forecast at this site:
https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mount-Monadnock/forecasts/965

We look forward to seeing everyone this Thursday!

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Committee Meeting / PLC and Troop Meeting this Thursday, November 7th, at Sacred Heart Parish Hall - 6:00pm Committee / 7:00pm Troop

Hello Troop 20!

There will be a committee meeting and PLC this Thursday at 6:00pm at Sacred Heart Parish Hall.  We will have our regular weekly Troop Meeting from 7:00 - 8:30pm.

Please remember that we line up for our opening ceremony at 7:00PM so you need to plan to be at the hall about 10 minutes earlier, wearing your Class A uniform, shirt tucked in.

Upcoming Events:
 


11/7

Troop meeting will be focused on sorting through equipment (what do we have, what should we dispose of, and what do we need?)

11/15 - 11/17

Mount Monadnock Hiking/Camping Trip at Camp Wanocksett, Jaffrey NH

1/18

Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Jared Pierce.  Details to come.

1/24 - 1/26

Mount Abrams Ski Trip



Annual Dues:

Our annual dues will $100 per Scout this year.  These will be due by December 5th.  Checks should be made out to 'Troop 20'.  If you have any questions, please see one of the Scoutmasters or Mrs. Swindle at the Troop meeting.







 

Citizenship Merit Badges:  Mr. McKinnon will be on hand Thursday, November 7th to continue the Citizenship Merit Badge class.  Please be prepared with any work that you would like to have reviewed and checked off by Mr. McKinnon.


We look forward to seeing everyone this Thursday!