Good evening, everyone. A lot of planning information follows, so please read this carefully.

Topics that Make the Troop Go 'round
(1) Potomoid the Great
(2) PLC Meeting on Tuesday
(3) Christmas Tree Meeting
(4) Event Sign Up
(5) Summer Camp 2007
(6) Buying Merit Badge Sashes
(7) Buying Class B Uniforms
(8) Attachments

***********************
Potomoid the Great
***********************
Thanks to everyone who came to the Court of Honor last week to recognize the hard work of our boys. Special thanks to the Potomoid for running a tight program and getting us out of there ahead of time. I think it's all in the hair.

******************************
PLC Meeting on Tuesday
******************************
PLC at my place on Tuesday the 14th from 6:30 - 8:00. Bring something on which and with which to write and be on time. Or else.

****************************
Christmas Tree Meeting
****************************
This Wednesday's meeting is the Christmas Tree Sign Up. Please make sure you are there. It's one of two required events a year for the boys (the other being Scouting for Food) and we really need a parent for each boy as well.

At this meeting we will go through everything you need to know in order to have a successful shift selling Christmas trees. From the proper way to treat customers, to the procedures for opening and closing the shelter to handling the money.

+++ IMPORTANT NOTE+++ I am still trying to coax a couple of last tree selling schedules out of people so we will not send around the sign up list with empty slots until tomorrow night. I will email it at some point after the PLC and will have a copy of it available at the meeting. One reason for the delay is that, with a couple of notable exceptions, we have been able to schedule pretty good coverage for the dates and if we can manage to schedule three shifts for most everyone, that will be brilliant. Just trying to massage some information in order to get that done.

On that note, we have six big gaps in scheduling. On the Saturdays of the 2nd, 9th and 16th we need at least two more kids for both the 9-1 and the 5-8 shifts. Even if you've already turned in your schedule, if you can handle one of these shifts and are willing to do so, please email me as soon as possible. It would really help us out a lot.

*****************
Event Sign Up
*****************
At the Court of Honor last week I passed around a schedule of events for the coming year so that everyone could review them at their leisure. I will have two spreadsheets at the Christmas Tree Sign Ups so that youth members can choose which events they'd like to organize and adults can sign up to supervise. Please come with an itch to help out with at least one event between now and next September.

************************
Summer Camp 2007
************************
It's never too early to think about Summer Camp for next year, so I passed out the sign up forms for this at the last meeting. We had a good turnout last year and I'd really like to see us top it next summer. If we can get enough older guys and adults to sign up, I have some ideas that will make this the best year we've ever had and given our history of winning the High Speed, Low Drag, Kevlar Coated, Ready to Romp Award, that's saying something. So scouts, please return these forms and adults, think about coming to help out, even if it's only for a couple of days (we'll be there from July 29 - August 4.)

*********************************
Buying Merit Badge Sashes
*********************************
All scouts who have merit badges should have a merit badge sash. After last week's Court of Honor, that's pretty much everybody except the Psychotic Monkeys (and even some of *them* need one.) Mrs. Furland has graciously offered to coordinate a mass purchase. Sashes come in 2 sizes: 30" for $5.15, and 36" for $5.75. Shipping will be about $2 a sash. If you're interested in combining your order with hers, please email her at karenbtv@yahoo.com and bring payment to Wednesday's meeting.

*****************************
Buying Class B Uniforms
*****************************
Fantastic Mrs. Furland is also heading up the re-ordering of our Class B uniforms. Because we're going to order a lot of shirts, we also have the opportunity to buy troop sweatshirts and hoodies which would come in really handy at summer camp and other chilly troop events. The cost of a sweatshirt is $15 and a hoody is $20. If you camp, seriously consider buying at least one of these two. It looks sharp when we're all dressed alike.

Please think this over and email both me and Mrs. Furland if you're interested. We won't put the order in immediately but we'd like to get a general idea of what we're working with on the sooner side if we can.

***************
Attachments
***************
I have attached four documents to this email. They are:

(0) 2006-2007 Schedule of Events
(1) Troop 635 Menu Planner
(2) Troop 635 Event Planner
(3) Summer Camp 2007 Information Sheet

The purposes of 1 and 4 are pretty self-explanatory. I've also attached numbers 2 and 3 so that adults who might be wary of signing up to help supervise an event can get a general feel for what they'll need to ensure the boys are doing. As I've said before, the adults shouldn't have to *do* anything, other than make sure the kids are doing what they're supposed to. Those sheets show you what the kids are supposed to be doing.

That's it for this week. I'll send around the Christmas Tree Schedule as much as it's been completed tomorrow. See you all on Wednesday.

Your Scoutmaster,

Sonnick