Philmont 2021 - 2 Crews of 10 Scouts & 2 Adults July 8 - July 20 2021!!!

Payments: 1st January 27, 2020 $100,  2nd September 28, 2020 $482, 3rd February 22nd, 2021 $483, 4th TBD for ride

Scouts who will be at least 14 years of age by summer 2021 should consider our planned high adventure trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in July 2021. Mr. Oless is leading this trip and is putting together 2 crews (6-10 scouts/2-4 adults per crew) for this adventure in July 2021 at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Costs will be around $1200 per person plus travel fees and required gear. [Scholarship requests accepted for those in need - see Mrs. Buchanan]. A $100 deposit will be required with sign up. Contact Mr. Oless for questions. For more information about Philmont, visit https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/.

Sign-up under Event Registration on the Right hand column on the home page.

Just a few days ago, on Monday, July 27, Mr. John Willse celebrated his 90th birthday in New Hampshire, where is is hopefully a lot cooler than what we have been experiencing in the desert recently.

As one who has been with this Troop for 25 years, and with time in other Scouting units before that, I can tell you that there are two primary rewards in serving Scouting as an adult leader for a long time.  The first and greatest reward is that of watching and in some ways helping in the growth and development of young men, and now young women, as they move from children at the Elementary School level to becoming responsible and successful young men and women, and then even more beyond that.  The second reward is the association and friendships with other adults who are also in Scouting in support of the first reward.  One example of the second reward has been the chance to know Mr. Willse, who has been with our Troop during the cooler months, usually from about November 1 to late April, for nearly 20 years.  He has worked with a number of Scouts as a Merit Badge Counselor for all 3 types of Citizenship, as well as for Electricity and Woodworking.  On top of that he has supported several of our Scout's Eagle projects by making his woodworking workshop  in his garage in Surprise available, while providing a lot of expert advice.  On top of that he has shared a lot of wisdom and stories  from a Scouting career that has spanned way over a half century, and he has been a good friend and source of advice to many.

Right now the plan is for Mr. Willse to be back here in the fall, but with the way the Corona virus is going it's impossible to predict anything.  Just as he prefers the weather in New Hampshire right now, (and who wouldn't?), he prefers what we in Arizona have going on in the late fall, winter, and early spring to New England weather.  So here's a wish for a very happy 90th to a very special person, who we hope to see in not all that long.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Willse, and thank you!

The following is an announcement from Aaron W. about his upcoming Eagle project and the ways in which you can help:

Hi, this is Aaron W. from Troop 365 in Glendale, Arizona. I am a Life Scout and am currently planning my Eagle Scout Project. My Eagle Scout Project is putting in log fencing in the Coconino National Forest so that the forest is a safer place for the wildlife to live in.  This project was sourced through the Arizona Elk Society, a nonprofit organization that helps to support wildlife.  The Arizona Elk Society does this by generating resources for habitat conservation and restoration to keep the population of wildlife in higher numbers.

The Riparian Meadows is a very important part of the Coconino National Forest's ecosystem because they are scarcely populated with trees, which means that large amounts of natural grass can grow in the forest.  This ends up making these meadows one of the primary places where deer and elk can easily get grass.  When these meadows are destroyed, it ends up ruining the local ecosystem.

In order to restore these meadows, my project is to build small, visually appealing fences to stop people from driving through them.  People driving through the meadows causes the dirt to compact, thus causing plants to not be able to break through the soil.   Once the vehicle barriers are installed, the meadows will be able to regrow in a few years, after the ground is unpacked.  My GoFundMe pages link is at https://gf.me/u/yc7dn2.

We will be meeting at the Costco Wholesale that is at North 27th Avenue in Phoenix, at 6:30 AM on Saturday, August 29th.  We will be arriving back at the Costco at around 7-8 PM after the project is finished.  If you go to this Eagle Scout Project, I ask of you to please bring up a mask and try to follow the CDC guidelines.

REGISTER ONLINE HERE

The NEXT Court of Honor will take place at Dream City Church (baring no state changes) in person as a Troop. We will celebrate the merit badges earned at camp and individually and rank advancements. We will take care to follow current CDC guidelines which will be updated as the time nears. 

Troop 365's response to the times that we are in is to have virtual Zoom meetings -- separate ones for the

• Pirates Patrol (Scouts working on Scout and Tenderfoot ranks) at 7PM,
• Phoenix Patrol (Scouts working on 2nd and 1st Class) at 7:30 PM, and
• Dragons Patrol (1st Class and above) at 8:00 PM. 

Connection information went out via the Announce Tool, so you all should have received it.  We won't repeat it here because distribution here can be seen by the general public.  If you do not know how to get into your Zoom meeting, contact Wyatt. 

"See" you Monday night!