Troop 315 December Newsletter
from Shawn Benjamin, Troop #315 Scout Master
Re charter
End of the year and re charter approaching. I think I can speak for all of us when I say. I’m ready for 2020 to end. So many canceled events and hardship due to the pandemic. Thanks to the approval of our Charted organization, Our troop has been able to camp and run program within the guidelines of CDC. and if not for the leaders who agreed to continue during the COVID yuk. our troop may have fallen to the same situation as other troops. So many of our brothers in scouting have stopped and went to virtual which led to many troops loosing over 50% of their membership.
This year the dues for a year of scouting membership is $66.00. The Erie shores council has provided a link for families needing assistance with this. Please; I encourage as many of you who need it to apply. The council has been great in past years supporting scouting in this way.
Link Family-Assist-Application-updated-July-2019 (erieshorescouncil.org)
The due date for membership renewal is December 31,2020. Also. Adults need to renew their YPT Youth protection this year. Don’t forget to go online to your My,scouting,org account and renew. National will drop all adult member who do not have this training.
Law Merit Badge Recap & BG Court House Visit (with photos)
The troop enjoyed a day of learning about our Laws and Citizenship in Nation with Judge Matt Reiger during a Merit Badge day in Bowling Green, Mr. Larry Bateson and Judge Matt Reiger invited our troop out on November 21 to the Bowling Green Courthouse along with breakfast and lunch. We are blessed to have people dedicated to educating our young people; both in the professional and volunteer world. Thank you very much for the invitation. Since I find architecture of old buildings neat. Getting a tour of the attic and towers was quite the treat.
The merit badge will finalize in January when the scouts meet back in B.G. for a mock trial which involves petty theft at a local Wal Mart. NOT FOR REAL. Mr Baeson will help the scout prepare for that on December 13 at the meeting
Meat Stick orders
The orders that were turned in November 15 are in. I will have them at the Bowling party and after to pickup. see or call me if you miss them at the party. We will collect one more order before Christmas and have them before the holiday. That date is December 13 at the meeting. Also , any money out for these orders needs to be turned in for scout account credit. I will be updating the accounts right at the end of the years and let all families know what’s in their scouts account.
Training for Camp Alaska
December 6 & 20 will be dedicated to training for Camp Alaska, which has been opted as a floating weekend. The scouts asked to have a couple weekend winter survival camps this year and we plan on going when there is snow on the ground. The training deals with proper clothing and insulation, Setting up a shelter, packing proper food, SKYLER :).. and fire/fire safety. We will let everyone know of dates , based on future weather this winter. This camp is not an easy one and scouts have done everything from wearing sneakers to pajama bottoms and freezing so pay attention and think before you pack .
Video Game night December 31
Yep the announcement everyone is wanting to know details about. Thursday After noon, December 31, We will have the scout house unlocked at 3pm for everyone to set up their game systems. We also have the shelter houses to se can socially distance. . We will be going to Skyzone that afternoon and leaving the scout house at 4pm. Our time slot is from 5pm to 6:30pm Here is a link for Skyzone and the waiver , all scouts need, to jump. I will be buying a group pass so don’t pre buy any tickets. Cost is $20 for 90 minutes of jump time. Also. You will need Skyzone socks or if you have a pair bring them, Socks cost $3.00
Sky Zone Toledo OH | Your #1 Indoor Trampoline Park+
After words we will go to the theater and have a pizza and a movie night. I think I’ll have the new Wonder Woman 84 movie and will allow the scouts an early bird showing. and then…… ROOT BEER CANTINA. music , dancing . This will take us till approx 10:30pm and will return to scout house for video game lockin. . Cleanup will happen at 7am in the morning and all tired scouts can be picked between 7am and 8am. . Happy New year everyone.
The Christmas Scout Story ( I Post this every year for all to read)
In spite of the fun and laughter, 13-year-old Frank Wilson was not happy. It was true he had received all the presents he wanted. And he enjoyed the traditional Christmas Eve reunions with relatives for the purpose of exchanging gifts and good wishes. But, Frank was not happy because this was his first Christmas without his brother, Steve, who during the year, had been killed by a reckless driver.
Frank missed his brother and the close companionship they had together. Frank said good-bye to his relatives and explained to his parents that he was leaving a little early to see a friend; and from there he could walk home. Since it was cold outside, Frank put on his new plaid jacket. It was his FAVORITE gift. He placed the other presents on his new sled. Then Frank headed out, hoping to find the patrol leader of his Boy Scout troop. Frank always felt understood by him. Though rich in wisdom, he lived in the Flats, the section of town where most of the poor lived, and his patrol leader did odd jobs to help support his family.
To Frank’s disappointment, his friend was not at home. As Frank hiked down the street toward home, he caught glimpses of trees and decorations in many of the small houses. Then, through one front window, he glimpsed a shabby room with limp stockings hanging over an empty fireplace. A woman was seated nearby . . . weeping. The stockings reminded him of the way he and his brother had always hung theirs side by side. The next morning, they would be bursting with presents.
A sudden thought struck Frank : he had not done his ‘good deed’ for the day. Before the impulse passed, he knocked on the door. ‘Yes?’ the sad voice of the woman asked. ‘May I come in?’ asked Frank. ‘You are very welcome,’ she said, seeing his sled full of gifts, and assuming he was making a collection, ‘but I have no food or gifts for you. I have nothing for my own children.’
‘That’s not why I am here,’ Frank replied. ‘Please choose whatever presents you would like for your children from the sled.’
‘Why, God bless you!’ the amazed woman answered gratefully. She selected some candies, a game, the toy airplane and a puzzle. When she took the Scout flashlight, Frank almost cried out. Finally, the stockings were full.
‘Won’t you tell me your name?’ she asked, as Frank was leaving.
‘Just call me the Christmas Scout,’ he replied.
The visit left Frank touched, and with an unexpected flicker of joy in his heart. He understood that his sorrow was not the only sorrow in the world. Before he left the Flats, he had given away the remainder of his gifts. The plaid jacket had gone to a shivering boy.
Now Frank trudged homeward, cold and uneasy. How could he explain to his parents that he had given his presents away? ‘Where are your presents, son?’ asked his father as Frank entered the house.
Frank answered, ‘I gave them away.’
‘The airplane from Aunt Susan? Your coat from Grandma? Your flashlight? We thought you were happy with your gifts.’
‘I was very happy,’ the boy answered quietly.
‘But Frank, how could you be so impulsive?’ his mother asked. ‘How will we explain to the relatives who spent so much time and gave so much love shopping for you?’
His father was firm. ‘You made your choice, Frank. We cannot afford any more presents.’
With his brother gone, and his family disappointed in him, Frank suddenly felt dreadfully alone. He had not expected a reward for his generosity, for he knew that a good deed always should be its own reward. It would be tarnished otherwise. So he did not want his gifts back; however he wondered if he would ever again truly recapture joy in his life. He thought he had this evening, but it had been fleeting. Frank thought of his brother, and sobbed himself to sleep.
The next morning, he came downstairs to find his parents listening to Christmas music on the radio. Then the announcer spoke: ‘Merry Christmas, everybody! The nicest Christmas story we have this morning comes from the Flats. A crippled boy down there has a new sled this morning, another youngster has a fine plaid jacket, and several families report that their children were made happy last night by gifts from a teenage boy who simply called himself the Christmas Scout. No one could identify him, but the children of the Flats claim that the Christmas Scout was a personal representative of old Santa Claus himself.’
Frank felt his father’s arms go around his shoulders, and he saw his mother smiling through her tears. ‘Why didn’t you tell us? We didn’t understand. We are so proud of you, son.’
The carols came over the air again filling the room with music: ‘. . .Praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on Earth.’
