Welcome back to another great scouting year in Troop 444B/G, everyone!

The calendar for both troops is now updated on t444.org. Thanks to all who attended Sunday's committee meeting and shared their feedback about the draft calendar, which led to several changes you see reflected here. 

Please sync your calendar if you haven't already; you can do this via the website by logging in and going to "Calendar Sync" at the top of the menu on the left side of the page.

IMPORTANT:  We need campout leads for EVERY CAMPOUT.  If you've never done this before, that's OK - we have plenty of experienced folks who can walk you through it!  This role simply serves as logistics lead for each campout.  If you can't commit to a full year committee position, this is a great way to help out.  Please reach out to Alan Melson - alanmelson (at) gmail.com - if you're interested.  

***Update: One spot left - please let Alan Melson know by end of day 8/7/22 ***

Majors Flying Club
SCOUT AVIATION WORKSHOP
Greenville Municipal Airport
Saturday, September 24, 2022
7:45 AM – 3 PM or until every Scout allowed to fly has flown and completes an oral exam.

- Learn about the world of flight from people who own their own planes, work on aircraft
for a living and/or just love aviation.
- Accomplish most if not all requirements for an Aviation Merit Badge
- Participate in Ground School prior to the workshop (location/time TBD)
- Those Scouts whose parents are willing to sign a liability release form may get the
chance to fly in a 2 seat or 4 seat aircraft, weather permitting.
- Cost: $40.00/Scout due at time of registration, $45.00/Scout for late registration.

-Participants must be registered Scouts 11 to 18 years old.
-Troops are welcome to camp at the airport Friday night. No camping Saturday night.
-Troops will be responsible for their own Saturday breakfast, Blue Cards and Aviation Merit Badge.
-Saturday mid-morning snack, lunch, and a fun patch provided.
-Ground school handouts, use of aircraft, fuel and pilot’s time all donated.
-Youth scouts must submit a Majors Flying Club Dependent Release of Claims and Talent Release form
signed by their parent at time of registration. Troops shall attend a safety briefing prior to participation in
activities at the municipal airport. Troop Leaders will be asked to sign a safety waiver.
-This event intended for scouts who have not yet earned their Aviation Merit Badge.

Join Circle Ten for a Popcorn Kickoff on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 1pm at Camp Wisdom. Scouts will get instruction on the sales app (managing your sale and updates), discussing goal setting and prizes and your sales pitch.

Additional activities include a round of archery, a dunk tank, fishing (equipment provided), and a cold treat. Complete all training stations and receive your “popcorn trained” patch!

Register at calendar link: https://www.t444.org/node/2204

We are building a crew to take a trip to Florida Sea Base over spring break in 2023.  Dan Gray will be the main adult lead for the trip. We will need at least one more adult to fill a crew. If there is enough interest and at least 2 more adults, we can start a second crew roster.  Scouts must be 13 before the first day of the trip to be eligible to sign up. No exceptions to this BSA rule.

So far we have 2 adults and 5 scouts on the roster, and 1 more adult and 3 scouts who are considering joining. If you want to go, speak up ASAP so we can request a crew spot.

 

Currently, there are openings for the Bahamas sailing trips for:  

- up to two 10-12 person crews (March 11-18) 

- up to two 6-8 person crews (March 12-17)

 

Sea Base fees are around $1200/person. 

$100 deposit/person will be due within 30 days of applying for a crew. We will establish payment dates for remaining amounts due, but the trip will need to paid for by the end of the year.

The wild card will be airfare to south Florida and ground transportation to Sea Base - currently, prices are high for these ($500-800 round trip airfare) and we can not predict how that will change this year. There may also be at least one night stay in a hotel. We will do our best to keep the prices for these things low.

 

If you would like to sign up, or have questions, please contact Katrina Gray at thegrayfamily@sbcglobal.net - ASAP!!

 

Here is a video that Sea Base BSA created to give you an idea of what the trip would be like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwguJ4cjFJc

Check out these photos from the 2018 Troop 444 Crew to Sea Base: https://t444.smugmug.com/2018/Sea-Base-Bahamas/

As our troops grow and we continue to ramp up our activity schedule, we have some key positions we need to fill for next year:

• Volunteer coordinator to help fill roles as needed for events and other things that come up. 
• Recruiting co-coordinator to assist Katrina Gray with our work reaching out to Cub Scout packs and coordinating visits for other potential new members of both troops. This role can be done mostly by email on  your own time and is most busy between September-November, leading up to our Webelo Visit Night.
• Assistant quartermaster to work with Kevin McClelland to ensure our Scout Hut and supplies are in good order and ready to support both troops.
• Camping coordinator to work with our scoutmasters and scout leaders to help line up campout leads for each of the campouts in each troop throughout the year. 

If you’re interested in any of these – OR you want to nominate someone you think will be good in one of these roles – please let me know at alanmelson (at) gmail.com.  Thanks!