October 10, 2006

Archery Event

Our October outing is to BSA's Rancho Las Flores on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base the weekend of 10/20--22. The camp's on-site manager, Jerome Harrington, and Steve Kernes, who are registered as an Archery Merit Badge Counselors, will assist us.  In addition to working on the Archery Merit Badge, scouts can shoot just for fun, or earn Camp Archery Association pins: "The Camp Archery Association of the United States (4 Cambridge Court W., Old Saybrook, Conn., 06475) has an excellent program of archery advancement in which the archer begins shooting at a distance of 15 yards from the target and progresses through scoring increments up to 50 yards from shooting line to target. Attractive pins and brassards indicating the bowman's rank or degree of proficiency are available at nominal cost."

Position Changes - Off With Their Heads

I'd like to take this opportunity to extend a BIG thank you to the following people: Jerry Love, Mike James, and Jim Whitehouse, who have recently stepped down as Assistant Scoutmasters. Thanks to all of you for helping our boys grow into men of character! Robert Harraka was approved at our Troop Committee Meeting as T801's newest ASM. Steve Kernes has also stepped down as Advancements Coordinator, a job he did meticulously for over five years. Scott Smith, who brings a lot of enthusiasm to his new position, is succeeding him. Also recently stepping down was Kandi Book as "Hot Dishes" Coordinator. Our very own Pampered Chef Rep Karen Russell will now be coordinating our Courts of Honor. A position still in need of a volunteer is Troop Chaplain. This adult works with our scout Chaplain's Aid, who conducts the Scouts' Own non-denominational services on outings. If you would like more details, please let me know.

Recruitment

Troop 801 has two very good recruitment years in a row. In 2005 and 2006 we recruited approximately 12 new scouts each year. However, out of those 24 new families, only four adults have taken leadership positions in the troop. Because Boy Scouting is a volunteer organization, we can only be as good as the number and quality of our volunteers. The level of commitment in each position varies quite a lot. Some "jobs" take only a few hours a year, some are more substantial, but it takes a whole team to provide the kind of quality that we have come to expect of Boy Scouting in general and Troop 801 in particular. We all want to leave our troop, like a campsite, better than we found it! Please take a close look at your monthly calendar and see if you can't squeeze out a few hours to contribute back to the organization that has done so much for all of our sons. Begin by regularly attending announcements at troop meetings, begin your training by taking New Leader Essentials, and come to Troop Committee Meetings at least to observe, even if you're not ready to participate. All parents are welcome; only registered committee members are eligible to vote. All of us who volunteer, no matter how much, and no matter in what capacity, have received immeasurable rewards. "This is a limited time offer; your son(s) will soon be grown and gone!"

Adult Training

At the October 12 Roundtable New Leader Essentials will be offered free of charge. This class is the "entry level" class for all adults interested in participating in Scouting. After NLE, the Leader Specific classes are Troop Committee Challenge and SM/ASM.  Please refer to Robert Silva's earlier, in-depth e-mail on training.

What a Gas

Three people volunteered to take the troop's propane off of Mr. Lee's hands, and Dave Nunley will be the Keeper of the Propane next!  Terrorists please note,  "I live on West Dorothy (in Brea) which is between Berry and Puente north of Central. My driveway goes to my backyard which is secluded and I can always with prior notice leave the tanks on my driveway behind the garage and people can go by the house without me there to pick them up." Thank you, Dave!

Order of the Arrow

 The Wiatava Lodge's Fall Ordeal will be held at Oso Lake the last weekend in October. If your son is an Ordeal Member, please encourage him to consider attending the Ordeal and earn Brotherhold. For questions, please have him talk to our Troop OA Rep, Parker Love. Our Modoc Chapter Annual Banquet will be held on Friday, November 17 at the Yorba Linda Community Center. As always, chapter meetings are at 7:30pm every fourth Thursday of the month at the United Methodist Church on Valencia Avenue in Placentia.

Yours in Scouting,
Amy Kernes

Our new Troop 801 Policy Guide, formerly referred to as bylaws, were e-mail to everyone subscribing to troop801@yahoogroups.com and is available to view on our web page. A link is provided under Hot Links, Policy/Procedure. In it you will find a lot of useful information and the rules that we as a troop have agreed on. It will help you understand how the troop operates. This document takes effect immediately, and everyone is requested to read and become familiar with it.

At the meeting on Monday, March 6, we will be saying "Thank You" to Phil Perez for all his hard work as Scoutmaster, and inducting our new Scoutmaster, Chuck Lee. Please attend this ceremony to give both these gentlemen your appreciation!

We are beginning the process of looking into ways to make Boy Scouting more affordable for all of us. At the Committee meeting, several people expressed an interest in getting together to brainstorm ideas on keeping costs down and raising our revenue. The first meeting of the Budget Committee was on Monday, at 7:00pm. If you are willing to participate in this effort, please let me know, and I will advise you of future meetings. The following people showed interest in looking into new fundraisers: Dru Wilson, Bob Lee, Rick Arp, Mike Pokorny, and Claudia Evert. Thanks for your help!

Several families are past due in their troop dues, which were due January 1. Any scout whose dues are not paid within sixty days from the due date will not be allowed to participate in outings until their account is brought up-to-date. 

We are fortunate to have been very successful in our recruitment efforts this year, and are expecting approximately 15 new scouts. Thank you, Marty, for all your hard work and a job well done! A New Parent Meeting will be held by troop leadership this Wednesday, February 22 to welcome them into the troop.

One of my duties as Committee Chair is to secure top-notch, trained individuals for camp leadership. Towards that goal, I am in the process of recruiting adults to go to summer camp this year. If you are interested in going to camp as an Adult Leader, please submit your name to me for consideration.

Our good luck in recruitment unfortunately has a down side. Currently we have a reservation for 25 scouts and 5 adults at Emerald Bay on Catalina for the week of August 6--12. Because our sign-up list for scouts is full, before our newly bridged scouts have even had the chance to sign-up, we are investigating a couple options. Most desirable would be to get more space at Emerald Bay, and we are on a waiting-list. If that is not possible, we may opt for running a second summer camp, possibly at Lost Valley, for the newer scouts. As an Adult Leader, if you have a preference as to which camp you'd rather attend, let me know, and we as a troop will do our best to make everyone happy.

Yours in Scouting,
Amy

Under an e-mail to troop801.ocbsa.org, you will find the troop committee meeting minutes from November, and the latest copy of the calendar. Please take a moment to talk to your son about signing-up for outings. Please make sure that he understands that he needs to check with your own family's calendar and get your permission before he signs up. We have been experiencing some trouble with last minute adds and deletes from outings, which makes planning for meals and seatbelts very difficult. Thank you for your support in this area.

I'd like to thank Chuck Lee for agreeing to take care of rechartering again for us this next year. Chuck will receive all the information at the next District Roundtable on Thursday, December 8, and will distribute it to all of us shortly thereafter. We will all need to pay him in the early part of January. Please remember that in addition to the rechartering fees that troop dues are due January 1, so you should be giving your $60 semi-annual payments to Treasurer Robert Harraka in December.

Marty Heffernan is in charge of Den Chiefs and Recruitment, and has asked to be relieved of the Uniform Exchange job. He collects the scouts' outgrown uniforms and boots and makes them available to other growing boys. If you would be willing to replace him, please let me know.

Steve Kernes still has one remaining set of the Court of Honor CDs available. It contains the all the slide shows from September 2004--2005. He is asking for $6 for it to reimburse the troop. If you would like it, just let us know.

I have forwarded an email from Mr. Hisao Igarashi, the chairman of Hanno Group 2 Scouts in Brea's sister city in Japan. He'd sent us two of their neckerchiefs, which I showed to everyone at our last troop Court of Honor in August. In return, I sent him one of our neckerchiefs, an Orange County Council shoulder strip patch, a Troop 801 T-shirt, and a set of CDs. I thought you might enjoy comparing American versus Japanese Scouting just as much as I did. 

Their website is at http://hanno2.s60.xrea.com/. It's in Japanese, but there's quite a few pictures if you surf around.

Enjoy!

Amy Kernes, Chairperson
Troop 801 Committee

Some of the training is offered on-line.

TROOP TRAILER

At our last Committee meeting, we continued to discuss the possibility of purchasing a trailer. It was determined that more information is needed before we can put it to a vote, which will be at the November meeting. Do any of you have access to a trailer that the troop could borrow from time to time in lieu of purchasing one? If so, please let me know.

In closing I'd like for you to know that as your Committee Chair, I am open to any questions or input you have at any time. It has occurred to me that I get very few complaints from parents, so I'm either doing a whiz-bang job (it's a nice dream!) or people haven't felt comfortable in bringing their concerns to me. 

The most important part of my and the Committee's job is to support the Scoutmaster, so I'd like to ask you to bring any concerns to me first before you talk to him. This could be anything from the calendar to troop policy to difficulty with another member. With the Committee's support I'll do my best to resolve anything that comes up. I try to check my email every day Monday through Friday, and you may call me at home at 671-2051 any time before 9:00pm or click here to e-mail me.

Yours in Scouting, 

Amy Kernes
Committee Chair