This Tuesday we will be holding Scoutmaster Conferences and Boards of Review for those scouts ready to advance.

Our next big adventure is Winter Camp, held January 17 / 20 over the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday weekend. I know this seems a long way away but it really isn't. Don't wait too long to make up your mind.

This camp takes the form of a miniature (shortened) summer camp. It is merit badge focused where scouts can earn 2 to 5 merit badges. Have you signed up ????? Mr Call reports that 13 scouts are registered. Please let him know if you are interested ASAP and get on that list. We will be cooking in camp with several scouts working on cooking merit badge. Total cost for the camp is $80. This includes all program fees and food cost. Again, if you want to be part of this adventure, contact Mr Call right away.

Thanks to all that came out to help with the trash pickup this past Saturday morning.  We will have a wrap up on Tuesday.

This coming weekend is a camping weekend, November 15 thru 17. The current plan is to camp at the Hanover Courthouse Ruritan property on the Pamunkey River. The AOL scouts from Pack 521 have been invited to attend as we did last year. For those who are not familiar with the property, it gives us a great deal of things we can do, both working with the AOL's and helping with our Scouts advancement. We have a lot of covered space, some indoor space, flush toilets, a stage area, etc.There is also a pond for fishing for those that want to fish.

This event is a "normal" outing for us, leaving Cool Spring Friday evening and returning on Sunday about 12:30p. The property is only 10 minutes beyond Hanover Courthouse so we can accommodate almost anyone's schedule. We will be finalizing menus and what to bring notes on Tuesday.

This Tuesday we will have our normal Tuesday night meeting.

This would normally be holding our Troop committee meeting but with what Mr. Hurd has going on, we don't think he will be able to be there.

This Saturday, November 9th, we will conduct a trash pick up on our 2.9 mile section of Sliding Hill Road. More details will be out at the meeting. As always we will meet behind the Grand Prix Auto Wash in the Atlee Commerce Center. After we pick up trash, we will head to Cool Spring for a quick breakfast and we will hold a merit badge workshop. A list of merit badges will be circulated Tuesday. Scouts should let the Senior Patrol Leader know if there is a badge they may be "itching' to work on and we will see if we can find a counselor for that badge. The stop time will depend on the badge and the counselor.

The Patrols Leaders Council (PLC) will meet at 5:30 this Tuesday. During our regular meeting, we will complete our Troop elections. Congratulations to our new Senior Patrol Leader, Andrew C. We will now look at minor Patrol realignment, as well as Patrol Leader elections. Andrew will be selecting his staff so if you have a desire to be on staff, let him know.

Saturday, November 9th, we will be conducting a roadside trash pick up and a merit badge workshop at Cool Spring. There will be more info coming out after the PLC on these events.

We need your input!

This Tuesday  we will be holding our semi-annual election for Senior Patrol Leader. This is the highest youth office in the Troop. The Senior Patrol leader actually is the scout that runs the Troop (not the adults who advise). Please make every effort to attend this meeting. You will be choosing your leader for the next six months. Next week we will be choosing patrols and electing Patrol Leaders.

The Senior Patrol Leader elections will be in a format similar to what we have done in the past. This includes a presentation (talk) by the the candidate, then a follow up question and answer session.

Those scouts and adults attending Rail Camp, please be prepared to pay for the camp at Tuesday's meeting. We will be working on the final plans for rail camp at this meeting.

The cost for attending rail camp is $30 per person. This fee includes most food. The Troop did very well at the fund raiser a few weeks ago and the committee will be subsidizing the trip.

This Tuesday will be your last chance to sign up. Please be sure you are on the list! We are still looking for drivers to get the group to Spencer.

We now will turn our attention to the next adventure .... Rail Camp.

On October 18th we will travel to Spencer ,North Carolina where the North Carolina transportation museum will hold a camp on their property. Scouts will be able to work on the railroading merit badge, see many different kinds of rail equipment and take a ride on an actual train. Foe more information go to https://www.nctransportationmuseum.org/bsa-rail-camp/. We will need some help from parents on transportation for the camp. School is out on the 18th so we want to leave early if we can get folks that can get the day off. It's about a 4 hour drive and it would be nice is we could be there before 8 pm.This event is usually attended by 500 + scouts. Cost to attend is approximately $30 per person including food. We will get all of the details ironed out at this Tuesday's meeting.