Good evening, 635ers,

Back to a normal-sized update this week. Please excuse me if this email wanders a bit--I'm watching it while WWE Monday Night RAW is on the TV so you can imagine how distracted I must be. One note: though these guys are, like me, in optimum physical condition, my acting skills are clearly on a different plane from these monkeys. My word.

Anyway, into the message.

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Ten Things More Interesting Than Professional Wrestling
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(1) Scouting for Food Feedback
(2) Camporee Roundup
(3) Coast Guard Field Trip Plan
(4) Meetings Through June
(5) Bike Hike Permission Slips
(6) Advancement Cutoff
(7) Bike Hike--Adults Needed
(8) June 10th--Memorial Dedication
(9) June 14th--Court of Honor--Need Saturn pick up/drop off
(10) All Parents--Youth Protection Training

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Scouting for Food Feedback
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We have received a letter from the food shelf we helped with Scouting for Food. I've been asked to share it so everyone can see that 3 hours of service by one troop can make a big difference in the lives of a lot of people. The letter:

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The Ecumenical Ministry of Essex Center, Jericho and Underhill would like to thank you for your dedication to this food shelf. Your work in the food drive has become a true blessing for us. The food you delivered last year took us through till September. That is a lot of food!!

By contributing to the food shelf you are letting your neighbors know that the Boy Scouts are a vital part of our community. By working together we all can help those less fortunate than ourselves.

Thank you again for your continuing efforts to make sure the pantry at the food shelf remains full for our neighbors in need.
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Camporee Roundup
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The camporee this weekend was rain-soaked and highly attended (including Webelos we eventually reached 41 attendees.) I wouldn't have blamed the boys if they had gotten a little deflated from walking through the liquid sunshine for hours on end but they were all remarkably resilient and fun to be around. And even if they *had* been a little sullen, it would all have been worthwhile just to see the look on Jonathan Spaeth's face when the chili he and Mike Fraser made together won the chili cookoff. Congratulations to them and thanks to all of the adults who attended--especially Mr. Spaeth, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Fraser. Their extra behind-the-scenes help kept me free to nap and drink coffee in the jacuzzi.

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Coast Guard Field Trip Plan
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(1) We have enough parents to drive--thank you to everyone for being so responsive.
(2) We will start getting boys into their rides as soon as both boys and rides are there. We need to be sure we will be on time, so please do not be late--we cannot afford to wait for late scouts.
(3) Pick up at EMS is at 8:30.
(4) Westford Psychotic Monkey parents--Mr. Ouellet has offered to bring all of the Monkeys back to his house so that you do not have to travel to EMS after the meeting. Please give him a couple of extra minutes to get there to account for the extra travel time from Burlington.

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Meetings Through June
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A quick overview of what lies ahead:
May 24: We will have at least a couple of guest speakers. Scott and Ross' grandfather will come in to talk about his time in Korea. We may have another guest speaker who has served in Iraq (we are still waiting to hear.) We will also hear from a man who currently serves his state and country in a different way--by serving in an elected capacity (in this case as the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont.)
May 31/June 7: Depending upon Colonel Harris' schedule, we will be touring the F16s at the Vermont Air National Guard on either May 31 or June 7. They would like us to be *at* the base by 6:30, so we will just meet in the parking lot. We will confirm the date as soon as we can. On whichever of these weeks we *don't* go to the guard base we will be having our annual summer camp meeting. Only those boys going to summer camp need to come to this meeting.
Bike Hike Bike Check: If we have our summer camp meeting on May 31, Mr. Blakely will be inspecting the bikes of anyone who would like to bring it in advance of attending the bike hike. If we are at the guard base on the 31st, the bike check will be at the House of Sonnick on Thursday, June 1st from 6:30 - 8:00.

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Bike Hike Permission Slips
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We will have permission slips available for our annual bike hike on the Mississquoi River Valley Rail Trail at the meeting on Wednesday, along with having them posted on the web site. If we have enough adult supervision we will have both the 13- and 25-mile routes available on Saturday morning. We'll be home by midday Sunday or so. This is a great time and we encourage everyone to come if they can.

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Advancement Cutoff
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Don't forget that all blue cards and boards of review must be completed by the last meeting in May if you wish to be recognized at the Court of Honor on June 14th.

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Bike Hike--Adults Needed
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As I alluded to above, we need parents who can come on the bike hike on June 3rd. Bikers are, of course, preferable but it's not necessary. Please let me know via email if you can help.

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June 10th--Memorial Dedication
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The troop has been asked to provide 10 older boys to serve in a color guard for the dedication of the Memorial at 5 Corners on June 10th. We do not yet have the time but the Lion's Club has asked me to get to work at finding people who might be available. We will take the 10 boys of highest rank and age who volunteer. It is a great honor to serve in this sort of ceremony. Please email me if you are interested.

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June 14th--Court of Honor--Need Saturn pick up/drop off
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As we've mentioned, we are having our spring Court of Honor on Wednesday, June 14th. We all bring something to grill and to make the grilling easy we reserve the ginormous grill from Saturn in South Burlington. We need an adult who can pick up the grill after 3:00 on the 14th and who can return it no later than the following morning (immediately after the CoH is also ok.) You don't need to have a hitch because you will leave your car at Saturn and drive their Grillmobile to the Court.

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All Parents--Youth Protection Training
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Parents: Please don't forget that we need all of the parents in the troop to go through the Youth Protection Training program online before the end of the scouting year. It takes about half an hour and the web site is below. At the end of the training you will be emailed a document that has your name and the date you completed the training. Please either forward that attachment to this email address or print it out and give it to me at a meeting.

The web site: https://scoutnet.scouting.org/elearning/

Thanks, folks. Time for me to rededicate my full attention to the Mighty Spandexed Drama unfolding before my eyes.

Your Scoutmaster,

Sonnick