December 2, 2013
New Web Page
Well, hopefully the link got you to the new web page, had it out there a couple weeks ago as a sampler, but now I am moving communications to this site and will be abandoning the old web page sometime in the near future, let me know how it works for you and your family.
Wreath Sales
Thanks to all those who have made the wreath sales a great success. Between getting the orders, helping with the distribution, to those who worked in the cold for the store sales. Thank you! We will be collecting money this Monday and next, please bring your money in the form of checks if at all possible so that we don’t have a lot of cash on hand. Make checks payable to Troop 161.
Court of Honor
This Monday is Court of Honor, we expect all scouts and at least one parent at the event. The Court of Honor handout is available HERE, but also HERE, remember the password is T161. Read all the fact sheets and be prepared.
Fencing
Next week Saturday is the Scout Expo and Fencing event, don’t forget we moved the meet-up time to be 9:45 so we can add the Scout Expo that will be held at Martin Luther High School in Milwaukee. Both events will be a lot of fun. Don’t forget to dress correctly for the Fencing event, be sure to check this document for all the details.
Junk to cash
The Troop 161 Family Account, a separate, nonprofit group that is strongly tied to the Troop, has just entered into an agreement with a local Vehicle Auction House in the area that will accept cars as a donation and give the Troop 161 Family Account the profits from the sales of these cars. We are in the early stages of this process, but if you know anyone who has an old car, boat or other vehicles that they would like to donate, please let me know, they will pick up the car and you will get notice of the donation that is suitable for tax purposes, it is a great way to turn junk into cash. If you have a vehicle, please let me know, and I will get you the details.
Giving Thanks
I would like to take this time to give thanks to all the people who make Scouting successful at St. Rita, if you have not seen someone working hard, then you are not involved enough to see it, we have a GREAT group of volunteers making EVERY aspect of Scouting work. To see the amount of assistance given and how much it impacts our youth to be better scouts, to be better leaders, to be better citizens is just amazing. I have sat on many Scoutmaster Conferences over the years and I am still amazed to see scouts grow from boys to young men right before our eyes, I just want to take this time during the holidays to say THANK YOU TROOP 161 FAMILIES. You don’t realize how great we have it here at St. Rita till maybe you talk to other Troops who struggle with simple things we take for granted, not to mention the great things that our Troop does that other Troops could only dream about, pass on the word to others and keep the spirit of Scouting alive around us everywhere!
Why has scouting prices gone up?
This might be a question some of our Troop parents are asking. This section might be more for the adults than our scouts, but as youth, you should be aware as well. You will notice a few things in this quarter have gone up in price. Membership fees alone have gone up quite a bit, which is a fee established by the National Boy Scouts of America office in Texas. As with all, the cost of things have gone up in price and that has included things in the BSA. With the price increase, the BSA is still one of the BEST bargains around compared to other youth serving organizations, such as sports leagues.
Local things have gone up as well. Things like say the Christmas campout cabin rental is $800 alone, divided by the 25 or so scouts who attend, the math tells us it is expensive, add to that the cost of fuel, gifts and other things that are involved in the weekend, our cost is much greater than our fees. Some of this is supported by the profits from Troop fundraisers and why these are important aspects of the Troop operations, the actual cost of say the Christmas campout would closer to about $65 per scout without the support of troop budget. Things were a little cheaper when we have a few more scouts and could spread some of those fixed costs over more participants, but that is not the only reason for the increase. As a Troop committee we are very aware of these costs and it is a real challenge to keep the cost to all as low as possible to make sure all scouts can participate in the great programs we have to offer. We try very hard to keep them manageable and have debated some of these costs and have looked at things we could do to reduce them, but it is fine line to struggle keeping the program interesting for the youth and inexpensive for all. We have looked at other resources, such as locations for the Christmas campout and struggled to find something that meets what we have at Camp Sinawa, but we will continue to look.
With all that said, please understand the increase, I could go into much more details on most of this but will not bore you with the details, other than to say we are trying our best to “BE THRIFTY” but at times, we have to deal the cards we are dealt. With these increases, I want to once again remind people that if the reason you are not attending Scouting events is the cost, PLEASE LET ME KNOW, I would be glad to not only discuss it with you but if we can offer assistance in any way, we want that to happen too. Scouting is for all who want to participate, but we need to know that info before a Scout account is turned upside down. We hope Scouting offers enough chances to earn money, but if we are not offering enough, we can also work on that as well. Thank you all for your understanding on this matter, and I am open to hear your thoughts on the matter. I would be glad to hear from you on your sense of the value you get for the money spent on Scouting. I personally think it is a great deal, but I am only one person who’s life is surrounded in most Boy Scouts.
Thanks
That is it for this week!
Mr. F.
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