The Mighty Eagles Patrol had wonderful weather Saturday for our first bike ride of the season.  We met at the Paul Bunyan Trailhead at 1pm and biked to Nisswa where we enjoyed a Dairy Queen treat before heading home.  This fulfills one of our 15 mile rides required for the Cycling Merit Badge.

Thanks to all who helped with the spring yard cleanup at Don's house last night.  It is true that many hands make light work.  We finished Don's yard in record time- about an hour!  Afterwards, the troop headed back to the church to see if we could take care of some of the leaves there.  Parents, thank you for bringing shovels, rakes, tillers, lawn carts, trailers, etc.  Your help was phenomenal!  What a great example you set for our scouts!

We planned the rest of the month out tonight and we have a lot of stuff going on. 

April 12th- We will be meeting at 6pm at Don Howitz's house to help his widow with a little spring cleanup.  Please bring rakes, shovels, gloves, anything that will make cleanup easier.  The Troop will provide refreshments.  In case of heavy rain we will meet at the church instead.

April 19th- The Webelos will be joining us tonight for a nature walk.  Make sure you dress for the weather as we will be outside for the entire meeting.  Some of the boys need to observe animals and trees/plants for requirements on their Second Class and First Class ranks.

April 23rd-25th will be our Huntersville campout.  The boys will be canoeing during this trip so life jackets will be needed as well as camping supplies for the weekend.  The fee to cover the cost of food for the weekend is $10.00 per person.  More details will be available at the meetings.

April 26th- Deadline to get your money and registration in for summer camp.  Those who have helped with fundraising and have some money in their scout account may use that.

May 3rd- Deadline for Rank Advancements.  It's coming up soon!

May 17th- Movie Night.  Our SPL will be choosing the movie for this event.

May 24th- Court of Honor.  This will be a potluck so check with your son to see what you are supposed to be bringing.

Yje rest of the meeting was spent inventorying our supplies and packing the trailer for our Huntersville campout.

Devin did a terrific job last week teaching the boys about safe swimming.  He also helped tonight teaching them rescue methods.  The Webelos joined us tonight and everyone had a great time in the water.

We had a lot of info to cover at our planning meeting this month:

February 7th is Scout Sunday.  We would like as many scouts as possible show their appreciation to Trinity Lutheran Church for being our charter organization.  Please be in uniform and be to the church 15 minutes before service start to hold doors and greet the people as they enter the church.  We still need more scouts to greet at first service.  If you have not signed up for a time yet please call Dan and get on the list.

February 8th:  We will be meeting at Washington for the school board meeting.  This is a requirement for our Citizen merit badges and for Eagle rank.  Please meet in the school by Tornstrom Auditoreum by 6:45 as the school board meeting starts at 7pm.  Everybody must be in uniform and the scarves would be a nice touch too.

February 15th: the Webelos will be joining us this night to learn how to build fires.  each patrol will be responsible for bringing 2 soup cans.  Dress for the weather as we will be outside the whole time.

March19-21st is the Merit Badge weekend at Parker.  More details on this when Dan gets the info for council.

April 23-25th we will be camping at Huntersville

May 24th is Spring Court of Honor.

During our re

I have to apologize that the website has not been updated for the last several weeks.  I have become very busy with a new opportunity that has come my way and I put updating this on the back burner for a while.  I will try to be berrter at getting the fresh news on here since this is the only way some of you get your information.  So- today I am playing catch up.

January 11th We had Officer LaVoy in to talk about drug education and afterwards we had enough time to elect officers.  Congratulations to the following:

Senior Patrol Leader- Kevin Gohman

Assistant Senior Patrol Leader- Andrew Doucette

Mighty Eagles Patrol Leader- Zachary Simmonds

Mighty Eagle Asst. Patrol Leader- Eric Doucette

Apaches Patrol Leader- Cody Tusler

Apaches Asst. Patrol Leader- James Kope

Pyros Patrol Leader- Isaac High

Pyros Asst. Patrol Leader- Dylon Larkin

January 18th Mr. Gage our knife safety expert came to visit us along with the Webelos.  They had fun earning their Whittlin' Chit cards as well as carving out a fun toy.  Thank you Mr. Gage for sharing your knowledge with us.

January 24th We met at Hole in the Day Bay on Gull Lake to clean up the ice after the Ice Fishing Extravaganza.  Most boys were in attendace and several brought along parents as well.  Thanks for all your hard work.  Walking the lake was difficult and wet but I think under the circumstances we did a really thorough job.

Tonight we had a guest speaker from the Minnesota State Patrol, Sargeant Curt Mowers.

Sargeant Mowers spoke for an hour on Pedestrian Safety, School Bus Safety, Bike Safety and Seatbelt & Airbag safety.  He welcomed all questions (and some boys had a lot!) and at the end of his presentation he gave lanyards and keychains to everyone. Thank you Sargeant Mowers for taking the time to speak to us.

Dan gave a reminder that Boy Scout dues are due for the year so those of you who have not paid need to get the $25.00 to Mr Fiebelkorn or Mr Despot right away.  This mostly affects the new scouts who don't have money in their scout accounts.

The boys who went skiing gave this recap on the day- "It was awesome!"

Their was a change of date for our departure to Camp Cuyuna.  We will be leaving August 1st.

We took some time to break into patrols at the end of the mmeting and then Mr Fiebelkorn closed with the Scoutmaster's Minute.

Remember next week is our annual Christmas party.  Remember to bring:

1.  Christmas Treat to share

2.  Gift valued at no more then $5.00

3.  Sled and warm clothing/boots.

Have a great week!

Next time you see Dan V. or Heidi please thank them for giving up a Saturday afternoon and chaperoning the boys at Boy Scout Day at Powder Ridge.

We left Trinity at a little after 8am and arrived in Kimball about 9:30.  Aside from coming in a couple of times to eat (not warm up, the cold didn't bother them at all!) we hardly saw the boys all day.

We checked in, got them through the equipment lines and they hit the hills.

Dan braved the slopes (Go Dan!) while Heidi and I stayed in the chalet and kept the chairs warm for the boys ;o)

It was a fun afternoon for all and everyone came home a little tired, but safe.

For more pictures go to www.kadybug.wordpress.com

Our planning meeting went really well tonight.  We esentially have December and January planned. 

December 14th our Scoutmaster has arranged for a man to come in and tell us about safety.

December 21st we will have our annual Christmas party. Please bring a gift to exchange (limit $5.00) and your favorite Christmas treat to share.

The rest of the meeting was spent with the boys and the adults watching their seperate Youth Protection videos.

My apologies for not getting the website updated last week.  We had a rough week at our house.  I do want to recognize the boys who achieved their ranks last week though before I move on to this weeks news.

Congratulations go out to Isaac on achieving your Scout rank, to Zach V for earning Tenderfoot and Cody for completing Second Class.  Great job guys!

The wreath sale at Trinity on Sunday morning went well.  Thanks for everyone who showed up to help with that fundraiser.

Court of Honor is Sunday.  The boys need to arrive at the church at 5pm to practice their skits, flag ceremony, and Court of Honor ceremony.  On Monday the 30th will be a night of relaxation for the boys after all the hard work of the last few months.  It will be movie and pizza night.  Because of the movie we will need to start at 6pm.  Everyone needs to bring $5.00 for pizza and pop.

There was a surprise uniform inspection tonight.  We have noticed that the boys have been very lax incoming in uniform.  It is very important that they come ready each week.  The Apache patrol looked the sharpest.  Everyone in that patrol was dressed in uniform.  Nice job Apaches.

We had 2 Scouts step up to the plate and offer to be Den Chiefs for a new Cub Scout Pack that just started this year.  James and Kevin have volunteered to help them out and get them going.  Great leadership James and Kevin!

James' next Eagle Scout Project date will be December 5-6th.  This will be an overnighter at Lonnie's house.  We will need 2 adults to spend the night with the group as well.  Please get with Lonnie, Dan or Angie and let us know if you would be willing to do this.

Congratulations go out tonight to Dar and Tristan who earned their Scout rank tonight.  Way to work!

I hope all of you have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving and we will see you at Court of Honor Sunday evening!

The ski trip to Powder Ridge is Saturday, December 12th.  We will leave the church at 8am in order to arrive there at 9:30.  Cost for the trip will be: $32.00 for lift ticket + skis or $38.00 for lift ticket + snowboard.  We need to know by Monday, November 16th who will be going so we can send in our registration form.  Please let Dan or Angie know if you are going and if you will be needing skis or snowboard.

James gave us an update on how his Eagle Scout project is going.  He will let us know when the next time to help out is.

Wreath sales update:  we are behind last year's total and we have more scouts this year then last year.  We need to be out there selling!  This helps support our programs throughout the year, helps buy our awards, as well as puts money in your scout account!  EVERYONE needs to do their part.

Congratulations go out to Josiah for earning his Tenderfoot rank as well as Austin for earning his Scout rank.  Great job guys!

We took some time to break into patrols and after that, while the Pyros were working outside with the fire, the Mighty Eagles and the Apaches played a game of Boy Scout Trivia Baseball.

A few reminders for next week:  Monday the 16th is the absolute last day for advancements and finishing up merit badges before Fall Court of Honor.  Angie will be starting the Family Life Merit Badge.  This is a required badge for eagle.  Anyone who still needs this badge will need to print off the merit badge worksheet at www.boyscouttrail.com. 

Our November planning started at 6pm with most scouts in attendance.  It is nice to see such an interest in helping the adult leaders and boy leaders plan the upcoming months!

Our meeting started with talk of the Fall Court of Honor November 29th.  The boys need to be at the church by 5pm to set up and do a final run through on the flag ceremony and their skits.  In fact, later in the regular meeting we did practice the flag ceremony.  Please make sure you bring food to feed more then just your family. 

Apaches/Flying Tigers bring salads

Pyros bring desserts

Mighty Eagles bring hotdishes

Our November outing will be the wreath sale at Trinity Lutheran Church November 22nd from 8am-noon.  A sign up sheet will be going around at our next meeting.  Would you like to work the 1st 2 hour block, the next 2 hour vlock or the whole 4 hours.  The scouts in attendance will get to split the profits made this day and the money will go into their scout accounts.

Our December outing is skiing at Powder Ridge Saturday, December 12th.  Cost is $32.00 for lift ticket and ski rental or $38.00 for lift ticket and snowboard rental.  There is a merit badge class offered that day for Skiing if your son is interested.  We will be leaving the church at 8am.  We will need to know by next week if you are interested so we can arrange for transportation.

Our January outing is still undecided.  Choices are Huntersville, Klondike Derby, or maybe even Okpik, the High Adventure Base in Ely.

Starting in January the Webelos from Pack 74 will be joining us on the 3rd Monday of every month to see what our Troop is all about.  we will have some fun activities planned for those nights.

Mr. Feibelkorn is lookng at setting up CPR classes after the first of the year.  These classes will be availabale not only for the scouts but for parents and siblings as well.  Let us know if you are interested.  We would like to fill at least 1 class of ten.  Fee will be determined later.

Also in January we will be having our yearly officer elections.  If you are interested in becoming a Senior Patrol Leader, Assisitant Senior Patrol Leader, or Patrol Leader please get with Dan to let him know.  There are applications for some of these positions.  All other positions will be appointed.  Every Scout will have some kind of position within the troop.  Some of the positions available are: troop guide, chaplain aide, instructor, librarian, historian, scribe, etc.

All adult registered volunteers should plan on being th the December 7th meeting.  we will be watching the youth protection video on this date.

The rest of the regular meeting the older scouts worked on James' eagle Scout project and the younger scouts worked on rank advancements.

Congratulations to Josiah for earning his Scout rank!!

Next week we will work on Salesmanship.

Dan started out the meeting tonight discussing an unfortunate incident that was in the news recently involving a Scoutmaster who allegedly sexually assaulted Scouts in his troop.  Dan spent plenty of time discussing why rules are in place and the importance of 2 deep leadership at every scout event.  We will be revisiting the youth protection video soon.

There was again another reminder about wreath sales.  We need preliminary numbers of wreaths sold turned in next week.  The boys will still be able to sell up until the 3rd week in November but we need an idea of how many have been sold thus far.

After the announcements were completed we broke into groups to work on the 2nd half of the physical fitness tests we started 30 days ago.  Many of the boys made improvements.  Good work!

After the tests were completed we spent some time in our patrols.

In closing announcements Dan let the Mighty Eagles Patrol talk about their campout last weekend.  Read the previous blog to see how their weekend went.

James also asked for help with his Eagle Scout project at the Oak Lawn Town Hall this Friday, October 30th at 5pm.  Cement footings will be poured so wear old clothes.  This project shouldn't take more then an hour.  Please show up if you can.  Remember- someday you'll need help for your project as well!

We want to thank the adults who stepped up to the plate and filled out adult applications:  Alvin Bacon and Elizabeth Rosekrans. We have an awesome group of parent volunteers!!

The Mighty Eagles patrol had a busy but fun weekend at Rock Lake.  Our two new scouts spent a few hours working on their Scout and Tenderfoot ranks.  All the boys participated in a 15 mile bike ride for their Cycling Merit Badge.  We enjoyed the campfire, listened to a pack of coyotes, ate great food from the dutch ovens and woke up soaked.  After participating in a worship service (for a scout is reverent) we packed up our wet gear and headed for home.  View more pics at www.kadybug.wordpress.com

Our last meeting was a busy one!  We reviewed the fun we had at the Muzzleloader Campout for those who were unable to attend.  We issued reminders for everyone to get out and sell those wreaths!  Knock at neighborhood doors, have mom & dad bring it to work, ask your fellow church members, school teachers, relatives and friends.  Go around to local businesses.  They are getting ready to decorate for the holidays and would love a wreath for their door.  Remember:  some of the profit earned will go into their scout accounts and will help pay for things like skiing, campouts, and summer camp.

There are 2 weeks to go for the cut off to get rank advancements in so make sure you are getting with your assistant scoutmasters and getting your books signed off.  We would love for everyone to advance this fall.

Speaking of advancements- congratulations to Andrew, Kevin & Blake for earning thier Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge (which is required for Eagle) and to Blake for finishing up his Rifle Shooting Merit Badge.

Big kudos to Blake for also making the rank of Life last week.  One step away from Eagle!!  Go Blake!

Thanks go to Cameron for bringing a new scout into the troop.  We welcome Tristan to the Apache patrol and for his great work Cameron will get a recruiter patch.  Way to go Cameron!!

Whew!  And on top of this we also had our Cook-Off which I wrote about in the previous blog so take a look at that one too.

Have a great week and we'll see you in the 26th.

Last Monday night the troop had a cook-off using the skills the boys had learned with either their tin can stoves or over an open fire.  We had many interesting dishes and while no one was declared an official winner they all did a fantastic job!

Go to www.kadybug.wordpress.com  for more on this fun event!

The Scouts that decided to attend this year's Muzzleloader Weekend had a great time.  They ate good on their tin can stoves and from the desserts some of the parent's provided (Cherry Chocolate cake and Apple Crisp).  They shot for quite a while on the rifle range and kicked around the football during their downtime.

for more pictures visit www.kadybug.wordpress.com

Last night the Boy Scouts made tin can stoves to be used at the campout this weekend at the muzzleloader campout.  Bob demonstrated how to make 2 different kinds of cookers and told us all how to store our food in them and what kinds of meals each type would be good for.  Remember, you need to be packing for supper Friday night as well as breakfast and lunch the next day!

The Trinity Lutheran Church bulletin had an announcement about us collecting cans to raise money for the troop.  If you have aluminum cans at home that need recycling bring them with you on Monday nights and throw them in our trailer.  Every little bit helps!

Roxanne handed out a preliminary wreath order for to all scouts last night.  Next week she will have a new one with pictures on it.  But don't wait for that one. start selling now!  Some groups selling wraeths have already been out and about.  Don't let them get the jump on you.  Roxanne would like the first order form handed in by Novenmber 2nd so we can get an approximate number of wreaths to order but you can still sell up until November 21st.

Dan  discussed how to stay healthy during flu season.  Please, if you are sick, stay home!  If it gets so bad that we have a lot of scouts sick and have to cancel the meeting we will use the phone tree to get the wod out.  Dan explained again how the phone tree works.  Make sure you are calling those that you are responsible for and getting back to the SPL or Dan.

Next Monday we are having a Cook-off.  Bring your favorite recipe and food that you can cook over an open fire, on a stick,  in foil, or using your new tin can stove.  Let's see who has the tastiest recipe.

Welcome to Austin D., Troop 43's newest Scout!  We are excited to have you in the Mighty Eagle's Patrol.

Congratulations to Devin P. who completed his Camping merit badge last night.  Devin has now completed all his Eagle required badges!

The planning meeting went well with many of the scouts in attendance.  Wreath sales will be starting soon.  Remember you can start talking to people about them before we get the order sheets. We have kept the price the same as last year.  The small wreaths will be $11 and the large $28.  We make more profit off the large ones so definitely get with our local businesses on these.

We looked into the future and made tentative plans for some of our winter events.  The boys voted to go skiing at Powder Ridge again so that will  be some time in December.  In January we have Klondike Derby and in February we have Scout Sunday.  Be sure to check the calendar on this website for more details.

Our overnight campout at the Muzzleloader cabin is next weekend.  The boys will be responsible for bringing their own food and cooking it.  Bob will be helping them all make tin can stoves/ovens next week.  All scouts must bring an industrial sized food can or a metal coffee can and wire (a wire coat hanger or a little bit thinner wire) for the handle, to the next meeting.  The shooting range will be open on Saturday so they may bring a 22 and ammo if they want to shoot.  If they are bringing a deer rifle they must have a parent with them.  They may also bring food targets like pumpkins, squash, etc to shoot at.

Dan also discussed the importance of being prepared for each meeting.  That means always having your Scout book, a pencil, a length of rope for practicing knots and a compass.  Always come prepared for the weather.  Hat, gloves, boots are essential for winter since we never know when we will be doing something outside.  If one scout does not have their outdoor gear then none of the scouts can go outside.

Thank you to Jack and James who volunteered to sweep the leaves out of the can trailer.  We appreciate your help!

For the month of October the Flying Tigers Patrol have set up and clean up duty so make sure you come to all October Meetings a few minutes early.

See you all next Monday at 7pm!

Saturday morning a good group of Scouts showed up to pick up the Scouting for Food bags despite the fact that Homecoming festivities were already starting. 

Although we were a little disappointed with the drop in donations (yet another year) we were very thankful for those that did donate.  The bags we picked up did not have just one or two cans in them- they were full.  In fact at a couple of houses there was more then one bag full. 

At another house Andrew tried picking up a bag of dirty diapers (!) but that's a whole other story!

                                            Last night Troop 43 did a National Good Turn by participating in the Scouting For Food Bag Drop Off.  We had 12 Scouts show up and with the help of our awesome parent drivers we got our part of the city done in a little over an hour!

We will meet again Saturday at 9am to pick up the filled bags and transport them to Cub Foods to be distributed to the food shelves.

After dropping off the bags we had time for a regular meeting where we spent some time in our patrols and then worked more on rank advancements.  Congratulations to Andrew who had his Board of Review and is our troops newest Life Scout!

We would also like to welcome Cameron and Zach V to the Flying Tigers patrol (formerly the Apaches) and Josiah to the Mighty Eagles Patrol.

Last night our troop worked on rank advancements to get ready for Fall Court of Honor.  Many of the scouts made good progress this summer with camp and there will be some who will be advancing.

One of these who is advancing is Devin.  Congratulations!

Also, congrats to Devin, Andrew, and Eric who completed Personal Management!

Last weekend Troop 43 was able to attend a Merit Badge weekend put on by Central Minnesota Council.  The boys all signed up for 2 merit badges: Citizenship in the World and Computers.

The Merit Badge weekend was held at Parker Scout Reservation on North Long Lake.  One of the improvements that they have recently added to Parker is a brick castle.  The castle is awesome.  In it you will find coats of arms, banners and knights.

The boys had a great time and earned their 2 merit badges.  How many people can say they studied computers in an authentic looking castle?