Troop 1113 July Newsletter
The Past:
June meant summer camp. And summer camp this year at Horseshoe Bend was indeed a great one. Trail rides, death marches, climbing towers and much more. Congratulations to all the scouts that attended, for all their great accomplishments. Please make plans to attend the September Court of Honor and honor them, as well as all of the other scouts, for their advancements so far. We Arrowmen welcome Juan Medina to the brotherhood of Order of the Arrow. Congratulations, Juan! Also a special thanks to Joe Sellers and Hope Clark for taking time out of their busy schedules and providing the required leadership while at camp. It just couldn’t have happened without you! Attention parents!! You too can come to summer camp and share the joys of a long-term camp. See me for details.
The Present:
July brings our troop bowling night on July 8th at Fun Plex, which is located on Beechnut just east of Highway 6. Cost is……… free. You can’t beat a deal like that. So, come one and all for the fun event. Troop meetings will continue with FCE and orienteering. As of press time, it appears there will be a Wood Badge Beading for Donna Sellers on Tuesday July 22nd. This is a very special event. I urge one and all to attend. For an adult leader to complete their wood badge is about the equivalent of a scout completing his Eagle rank.
The Future:
Ready or not, here it comes. August brings the Lazer-Quest lock-in on Saturday, August 9th. The cost this year is $30 each, provided we can get 30 participants. If we do not have 30 the cost is still $900. So please sign up early. We will also have Troop (12th) and Patrol (19th) elections. It’s time to seriously think about the leadership within the troop, and the role you will play. Equally important is the annual event planning, which will be held on the 23rd. That is open to all scouts and I highly recommend that you do attend. That is, if you wish to have a voice in what you will be doing for the next twelve months. And of course we have our semi-annual court of honor which will be held on September 2nd.
SM Minutes:
Everybody loves the Fourth of July. In many communities it's a time for parades, fireworks, ball games and picnics. Real fun! But we ought not to forget what the Fourth of July really is - the birthday of our country - because that's when the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, over 200 years ago. Here's a trick question for you. How many stars were in the US flag on the first Fourth of July? You're probably going to say 13, because there were 13 colonies in America then, but that's wrong.
In fact, there weren't any stars in the flag. The colonists were using the Grand Union Flag, which used the British union symbol and 13 red and white stripes. You can see a picture of it in your Official Boy Scout Handbook. Stars representing the states first appeared in the US flag 11 years later. Since then, starts have been added each time states have joined the union. Today we honor this emblem of our country with its 50 stars and 13 stripes because it is the symbol of the nation's unity. We use flag ceremonies so often that it's easy to forget what the flag means and what the Fourth of July means in this country's history. This is something we should always remember.
Yours in Scouting
Bobby Metcalf