Troop Meetings Suspended Until Further Notice

Hello Troop 20 & 96!

We hope that all of our Scouts and their families are doing well and adjusting to being out of school for an extended period.
 
In accordance with Governor Charlie Baker's announcement, schools are closed in Middleborough for at least the next 3 weeks.  It is Troop 20 & 96's policy that when school has been cancelled, we will not hold Troop meetings either. In addition, the BSA has issued guidance suspending all Unit Meetings in an effort to comply with the social distancing requirement while the country tries to get a handle on the spread of COVID-19.
 
We don't know how long this will continue but we will try to get information out to everyone, via the Troop Blog, as it comes to us.  In the near term, our camping trip on the 28th will have to be re-scheduled and we will have to see what impact there may be to the Herring Run Festival in a few weeks. Beyond that, we really don't know yet.
 
It is always disappointing to the leadership, as we know it is to our Scouts, when we have to postpone or cancel events that everyone has been looking forward to. We assure you that we are eager to get our Scouting program back into full swing and to be able to provide all of you the Scouting experience you deserve. We simply want to do so in a manner that keeps our Scouts, Scouting Families, and our Community safe.
 
So, over the next few weeks, please stay on top of any school work you may have, take advantage of the time to work on requirements for merit badges that you're working on, and above all, stay safe.
 
We hope to see everyone back at our Troop events and having fun very soon. Keep an eye on the blog and be well.
 
Yours in Scouting,
The leadership of Troops 20 & 96

Committee Meeting / PLC and Troop Meeting this Thursday, March 12th, 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.  Please arrive wearing your Class A uniform.

Citizenship Merit Badges:  Please remember that if you are working on the Citizenship merit badges, Mr. McKinnon should be available at the Troop meeting to go over any completed work you have to show him.

Upcoming Events:

3/12	Order of the Arrow Elections
3/21 or 3/28	Possible camping trip to Camp Norse on the 21st or Murdoch Street on the 28th.  Details to follow soon.
4/18	Tentative troop activity to help setup for herring run festival
5/9 – 5/10	White water rafting, Maine.  Details to follow
6/19 – 6/21	End of year camping trip at Myles Standish
7/12 – 7/18	Summer Camp
TBD	Possible camping trip to Camp Sayre in the Blue Hills
TBD	Reedy’s archery night

Order of the Arrow Elections:  On Thursday, March 12th, both Troop 20 & Troop 96 will be holding our Order of the Arrow (OA) elections for this upcoming year. The OA was founded in 1915 as the BSA's National Honor Society and Scouts are elected by their fellow Scouts for membership. A representative from the OA will be showing up to give a short speech about the Order of the Arrow and an election will be held. Election requirements are:

• You must be a registered member of the Boy Scouts of America, Sea Scout, or Venturer.
• You must hold the rank of at least First Class Scout in a BSA Troop.
• You must have experienced 15 nights of Scout camping while registered with a troop within the two years immediately prior to the election. The 15 nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of at least five consecutive nights of overnight camping such as summer camp. Only five nights of the long-term camp may be credited toward the 15-night camping requirement; the balance of the camping (10 nights) must be overnight, weekend, or other short-term camps of, at most, three nights each.

If you believe you meet the requirements, please see Eric Grady a few minutes before the start of the Troop meeting on March 12th, to collect some information before the OA election.  We encourage all youth to attend this meeting and if you are already an OA member, we encourage you to please wear your OA sash.

If you have any questions about the OA or the upcoming election, please email Eric Grady at: ericgrady21@gmail.com


White Water Rafting:  The weekend of May 9-10 will be the Maine White Water rafting trip.  More details to follow.

End of Year Camping Trip:  The weekend of June 19-21 will be our end of year camp out at Myles Standish State Forest.  We will be biking the trails in Myles Standish and we will have easy access to Charge Pond for swimming and boating/kayaking.  Since school should be out, we plan to leave earlier on that Friday so that we will be at Mules Standish by lunchtime to enjoy the afternoon there.

Summer Camp:  The Troop has blocked out the week of July 12-18 for summer camp.  We are presently working with the Scouts to finalize where we will be going.The Troop is entertaining thoughts of attending Camp Bell in Gilmanton, NH.  We have leaders who are willing to volunteer their time to attend camp so that our Scouts can go together as a Troop.  What we need is a commitment from at least five (5) Scouts to allow us to register and reserve a spot at camp. This commitment will come in the form of a $100 deposit made by the end of February, which will allow us to obtain the early bird pricing ($50 discount off of the standard cost for camp) which is due at council by March 16th. Final payment of the balance due will be needed by May 15th. There are sibling discounts and camperships available to help Scouts afford the cost of summer camp, parents just need to speak to the Scoutmaster to get things started.

Tentative Activities

Herring Run Festival:  The Troop is tentatively planning to help with setting up for the annual Herring Run Festival at the Oliver Mill Park, on Saturday, April 18th.  The Troop is also considering using this event as a way to publicize the Troop and recruit some new members. One activity the Troop might consider, in conjunction with this event, is offering canoe rides in the area of the Nemasket River, just below the fish ladder/dam area adjacent to the park.

Camp Sayre:  Another idea that's being considered is a weekend camp out at Camp Sayre in the Blue Hills to include a Blue Hills hike to the observatory at the top and a possible tour of the weather station at the observatory.

Reedy's Archery:  We are looking into scheduling an off-site at Reedy's Archery in Middleborough for the Scouts to spend some time at Reedy's indoor range, learning to shoot a bow and arrow.  We need to coordinate a time that works with Reedy's and line up enough adult coaches to be on hand.  Stay tuned.

We look forward to seeing everyone this Thursday, the 12th!

Offsite Troop Meeting - Thursday 3/5 at the National Weather Service, Norton

Hello Troop 20!

This week, Thursday, March 5th, we will be meeting off-site at the National Weather Service office at 46 Commerce Way, Norton, MA. We will tour the office, discuss how to brief yourself on the weather before a camping trip, and work on the weather merit badge.  See the link below if you would like to download the weather merit badge worksheet.  As a reminder, you should be wearing your class A uniforms.

For those who will be carpooling to the NWS office, we will be leaving from the Sacred Heart parish hall at 6:30pm sharp and returning to the hall around 8:30pm.

The weather merit badge worksheet can be found here:
https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Merit_Badge_ReqandRes/Weather.pdf


Citizenship Merit Badges:  We will resume work on the Citizenship merit badges next week, if Mr. McKinnon will be available.

Upcoming Events:

3/4	Webelos council Arrow of Light ceremony, Attleboro, MA
3/5	Off-site Troop Meeting at the National Weather Service office in Norton
3/12	Order of the Arrow Elections
3/21 or 3/28	Possible camping trip to Camp Norse on the 21st or Murdoch Street on the 28th.  Details to follow soon.
4/18	Tentative troop activity to help setup for herring run festival
5/9 – 5/10	White water rafting, Maine.  Details to follow
6/19 – 6/21	End of year camping trip at Myles Standish
7/12 – 7/18	Summer Camp
TBD	Possible camping trip to Camp Sayre in the Blue Hills
TBD	Reedy’s archery night

Webelos Arrow of Light Ceremony:  This Wednesday, March 4th, is the Webelos Arrow of Light ceremony at the Bishop Feehan High School Auditorium, 70 Holcott Drive, Attleboro, MA.  Check-in starts at 6:30 pm.  Mr. Holt is going and it would be nice if we could have a few Scouts accompany him to welcome our new Troop members.

Order of the Arrow Elections:  On Thursday, March 12th, both Troop 20 & Troop 96 will be holding our Order of the Arrow (OA) elections for this upcoming year. The OA was founded in 1915 as the BSA's National Honor Society and Scouts are elected by their fellow Scouts for membership. A representative from the OA will be showing up to give a short speech about the Order of the Arrow and an election will be held. Election requirements are:

• You must be a registered member of the Boy Scouts of America, Sea Scout, or Venturer.
• You must hold the rank of at least First Class Scout in a BSA Troop.
• You must have experienced 15 nights of Scout camping while registered with a troop within the two years immediately prior to the election. The 15 nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of at least five consecutive nights of overnight camping such as summer camp. Only five nights of the long-term camp may be credited toward the 15-night camping requirement; the balance of the camping (10 nights) must be overnight, weekend, or other short-term camps of, at most, three nights each.

If you believe you meet the requirements, please see Eric Grady a few minutes before the start of the Troop meeting on March 12th, to collect some information before the OA election.  We encourage all youth to attend this meeting and if you are already an OA member, we encourage you to please wear your OA sash.

If you have any questions about the OA or the upcoming election, please email Eric Grady at: ericgrady21@gmail.com


White Water Rafting:  The weekend of May 9-10 will be the Maine White Water rafting trip.  More details to follow.

End of Year Camping Trip:  The weekend of June 19-21 will be the end of year camp out at Myles Standish State Forest, in the Charge Pond group site area.  The weekend will include biking around Myles Standish along with swimming, canoeing, and kayaking in Charge Pond.

Summer Camp:  The Troop has blocked out the week of July 12-18 for summer camp.  We are presently working with the Scouts to finalize where we will be going.The Troop is entertaining thoughts of attending Camp Bell in Gilmanton, NH.  We have leaders who are willing to volunteer their time to attend camp so that our Scouts can go together as a Troop.  What we need is a commitment from at least five (5) Scouts to allow us to register and reserve a spot at camp. This commitment will come in the form of a $100 deposit made by the end of February, which will allow us to obtain the early bird pricing ($50 discount off of the standard cost for camp) which is due at council by March 16th. Final payment of the balance due will be needed by May 15th. There are sibling discounts and camperships available to help Scouts afford the cost of summer camp, parents just need to speak to the Scoutmaster to get things started.

Tentative Activities

Murdoch Street:  The Troop is tentatively planning a weekend camp out at Murdoch Street, possibly March 14-15, to welcome our new Scouts that have crossed over from Webelos, and get them started on the trail to Eagle by completing the majority of their requirements for earning the Scout badge that weekend.

Herring Run Festival:  The Troop is tentatively planning to help with setting up for the annual Herring Run Festival at the Oliver Mill Park, on Saturday, April 18th.  The Troop is also considering using this event as a way to publicize the Troop and recruit some new members. One activity the Troop might consider, in conjunction with this event, is offering canoe rides in the area of the Nemasket River, just below the fish ladder/dam area adjacent to the park.

Camp Sayre:  Another idea that's being considered is a weekend camp out at Camp Sayre in the Blue Hills to include a Blue Hills hike to the observatory at the top and a possible tour of the weather station at the observatory.

Reedy's Archery:  We are looking into scheduling an off-site at Reedy's Archery in Middleborough for the Scouts to spend some time at Reedy's indoor range, learning to shoot a bow and arrow.  We need to coordinate a time that works with Reedy's and line up enough adult coaches to be on hand.  Stay tuned.

We look forward to seeing everyone this Thursday, the 5th!