Troop Meeting this Thursday, May 24th, at 7:00pm - Sacred Heart Parish Hall

Hello Troop 20!

We will have our regular Troop Meeting this week on Thursday, the 24th, at 7:00pm - Sacred Heart Parish Hall.

Here are this week's announcements.  We have quite a few so please pay attention.

1) Memorial Day Parade - Monday, May 28th - 10:00am
For this year's Memorial Day Parade we are asking all participants to arrive at the town hall parking lot for 9:30am sharp.  There will be a Memorial Day Ceremony immediately following at the War Memorial Park on Main Street (Town Hall Lawn Area).  In case of inclement weather, the parade will be cancelled and the ceremony will be held at 10:00am in the Town Hall, 2nd Floor.  To check if the parade is cancelled, please call the non-emergency number for the Middleborough Police at 508-947-1212 or check the Town of Middleborough's Veteran's Services Facebook Page.

2) SPL Elections - Will be holding elections for our new SPL in the coming weeks.  We need to know who is intending to run for SPL by May 31st.  Minimum requirements are:

1. NYLT encouraged but not required
2. Scouts must be minimum of Star Rank, previous SPL, or at Scoutmaster's discretion.
3. Any potential candidates will interview with the Assistant Scoutmaster.
4. Adults will narrow down to the best 2-3 candidates who will then run for election with the Troop.
5. The new SPL will pick his own ASPL's for the next year.

Timeline:

• May 31 - Candidates announce their intention to run to the current SPL or ASPL's.
• June 7 - Adult leader interviews
• June 14 - SPL Speeches and Voting
• June 23 - New SPL announced at our end of year CoH

3) At this Thursday's Troop Meeting, we are asking each Scout to please bring $5.00 for some fun activities as one our last 'offsite' / fun meetings. 

4) Troop 20 will be participating in a community service campout on Friday, June 1st to Sunday, June 3rd at Camp Cachalot.  Troop 48 from Carver will be hosting a fishing derby to support veteran's.  The current plan looks something like this: 

• Troop 20 arrive on Friday June 1st, between 5-7pm at Cachalot.  All scouts should plan to have dinner before arriving as food will not be served Friday night.
• Saturday morning, we will cook breakfast as a Troop.  This is a good opportunity for any scouts who may need some cooking time for rank advancement.  After breakfast, the Derby will run from 8:00am until approx. noontime.  Scouts will assist the veterans fishing and help out until the veteran's leave after lunch.
• Lunch will be donated by Troop 48.  Troop 20 will bring desserts, donated by our Scouts.
• After the veteran's depart camp, the scouts can fish or work on requirements.  Dinner will be cooked as a Troop and we will depart after dinner.

This is a great community service opportunity and we hope to see lot's of Troop participation.

5) End of year camping trip - We are planning an end of year campout June 8 - 10 at Camp Norse.  We are planning to have a lot of good food, fun games, and possibly some high adventure activities. Signup sheet will be online shortly.

6) The leadership of Troop 20 will be holding a 'New Scout Parent's Meeting' on Thursday, May 31st.  We will be sending out emails to those parents who should plan to attend.  This is considered a required meeting so please try to arrange your schedules so that at least one parent can be present.

7) Summer camp is rapidly approaching.  Troop 20 will be at Camp Squanto the week of August 5 - 11.  We will have additional details and cost posted to the blog in the coming weeks, as it comes down to us.  All of our Scouts have a great time at camp so we strongly encourage everyone to attend, especially our newest Scouts.  It's a great opportunity to immerse yourself in what Boy Scouts are all about and build lasting friendships with Scouts from Troops all over.

NOTE:  We are in need of adult leaders to help provide leadership and supervision for the week of camp.  We need 2 deep leadership at all times (both during the day as well as overnight).  If you are able to help out, please see Larry Pierce or Mark Swindle at one of our upcoming Troop meetings.

8) End of Year Court of Honor and 25th Anniversary Celebration - MARK YOUR CALENDARS!  Our end of year Court of Honor will be held on Saturday, June 23rd, at the Sacred Heart Parish Hall, from 6:00 - 9:00pm.  This will also be a 25th anniversary celebration for the Troop so it will be an exciting way to end the scouting year!  Please see this document for additional details.  We want to see all of our Scouts and their families for this event.

9) Fleece Jackets:

• Cost is $40.  Checks should be made out to 'Troop 20'.
• You MUST pay up front in cash or check.
• Expected delivery date will be sometime during the first two weeks of June.
• We will have examples of the jackets on display next week.
• The jackets will have the Troop 20 logo embroidered on the left chest and your name on the right sleeve.

10) Merit Badge Check-in - If any scouts have work to show Mr. Devine or Mrs. Swindle for the Communication or Personal Management merit badges, please bring it Thursday.

That's all for now.  We look forward to seeing everyone Thursday evening!