Safety

At our Troop meetings and activities, we need to emphasize safety and adhering to the accepted practices for use of knives, axes and other tools. We encourage the participation of parents and adults in the Troop activities provided accepted BSA safety practices are used. The Scout Handbook and the "Whittling Chip" requirements have the accepted practices for knives, axes and other tools.

September Committee Meeting

This meeting will be held in the conference room next to O'Donnell Center (St. Bridget Brennan Room) on 9/5/02 at 7:30. Our usual meeting place (School Hall) is unavailable that evening.

August Activities

• The first longterm hike will depart on August 5 with 9 people scheduled. This hike will be to the Whitney Loop.
• On August 9, three adults and nine scouts will depart for the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico for a ten-day trek.
• On August 25, a longterm hike will depart to hike the Silver Moccasin Trail in Sequoia in the Sierras. Food packing for this trip will take place August 3 at 9 am at the Scout house.
• The group going to the Emerald Bay summer camp is departing on August 25 and returning on August 31.

September Activities

• The Mystery Trip is scheduled for September 14-15. The specifics are being shrouded in mystery as they develop.
• The Fall Court of Honor is scheduled for Tuesday, September 24 at 7:30 PM at O'Donnell Center to celebrate the achievements of the scouts.

Discussions of Past Events

• The last scheduled hike weekend was July 12-14. Two hikes were longterm training hikes scheduled to Icehouse Canyon and Dry Lake. The third hike was to Chilao car camping with a day hike to a nearby peak. The Icehouse Canyon hike became a day hike to Ontario Peak because two scouts became ill and had to be returned home. The Dry Lake group was able to climb Lake Peak.
• On July 23 a Cooking Outing at Hermosa Valley Park was held for the Troop. A report of unsafe ax handling with one scout receiving a minor cut was discussed at the committee meeting. One observation was that the adults in attendance were not adhering to safe practices and the "blood circles". In the future, we will emphasize having a safety talk as part of the kick off for meetings where there are obvious hazards, and emphasize that the teachings in the BSA handbook are the proper way to handle things. . . NO MATTER WHAT METHODS THE ADULTS HAVE LEARNED OVER THE YEARS!

Committee Chairman Report

• We have yet to hear whether we have two booths for the hometown fair. We have a volunteer to lead and coordinate the Hamburger Booth and are looking for a volunteer(s) to lead and coordinate a second booth (probably hot dogs or pizza).
• The re-registration letter sent to the returning scout parents last year stated our goal is to provide a quality program to those Scouts who are committed to active participation in the Troop. Specifically, during 2002 we are requiring each scout to participate with the Troop in one overnight backpack trip, two additional weekend outings, and twelve hours of service projects. Scouts that do not meet this minimum participation level may not be invited to re-register in 2003. If your son has not yet met the minimum requirements, please review the Troop calendar for activities planned for the remainder of the year and discuss the situation with your son.
• All but one subcommittee chair position has been named. We are still looking for a "Ceremonies" subcommittee chair.
• Subcommittee chairs should be seeking out their subcommittee members and developing a draft subcommittee role and purpose document. All subcommittee chairs should be ready to report on their subcommittee plans/actions at each Committee meeting.

Scoutmaster Reports

• Regarding safety involving knives and axes, in the future, we will emphasize having a safety talk as part of the kick off for our meetings where these are used, and that the BSA handbook contains the proper methods.

Subcommittee Reports

• Service Project Subcommittee - There is only one potential Eagle Project being discussed for the remainder of the year. Service hours are needed for scouts to fulfill their rank requirements and their service obligation to the Troop. Ideas for service projects should be brought to the September Committee meeting.

Other Discussion Items

• It has been recommended that from May until September, the Tuesday meetings be combined Troop meetings or Hike Preparation because of the reduced attendance or the need to have scouts from both groups in attendance. We plan to institute this in 2003.
• HAT (High Adventure Team) Backpack Leader Training for Troop 849 adults was discussed. The District HAT training is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of February 14 to 16, 2003. We are investigating our options to have our own training for Troop adults. It was noted that past history shows we have been able to add only one or two new hike leaders a year. Because of the number of hikes and weekends we are now doing, we need to add at a higher rate than in the past.
• We are encouraging all parents and scouts to sign-up for our broadcast system at announce@troop849.org. We need to use this system to communicate more thoroughly and completely because of the size of the Troop. If you are not on the list, please sign up by going to www.troop849.org/homeMailingList.html.
• Suggestions/ideas for improving the Troop are always welcomed and should be directed to the Committee Chairman or Asst. Committee Chairman.

The next Troop Committee Meeting will be Thursday, September 5th, 2002, in the St. Bridget Brennan Room (next to O'Donnell Center), at American Martyrs at 7:30 PM. (PLEASE NOTE LOCATION CHANGE FOR THIS MONTH ONLY).

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