Vol. 15, No. 1             February  2010

                        

               THE NEWS AT TWELVE

                 TROOP 12 - ST. PETER'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF LIVINGSTON

                                                                      http://www.troop12livingstonnj.org

"All the News that Fits"

 

                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                        2009-10 CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES

 

     The following is the calendar of future events in which members of Troop 12 will participate during the 2007/08 season:

2/26 -2/28: Allamuchy Cabin Campout

3/19 – 3/21: JLTC Weekend at Winnebago

3/27: Scouting for Food Collection

4/8: Ted He Eagle Presentation

4/16 – 4/18: Gettysburg campout

4/24: Canoe Brook Service Project

5/1 – 5/2: Backpacking campout

5/7 – 5/9: OA weekend for members and candidates

5/13: Andrew Keene Eagle Presentation

5/20 – 5/23: NNJC Exposition

5/29: Flag Planting for Veterans

5/31: Memorial Day Parade

6/3: Abhi Shah Eagle Presentation

6/4 – 6/6: Palisades campout

6/10: Court of Honor

6/17: Family Picnic

6/18 – 6/20: OA weekend for members and candidates

6/23: Picnic rain date

7/7: Annual Planning Meeting

7/25 – 8/1: Summer Camp at Yawgoog

 

We will hold a Patrol Leaders' Council (PLC) meeting the first Monday of each month

First Wednesday of each month we will hold a Troop Committee meeting

The first Thursday of each month we will conduct a Board of Review   

     We publish this calendar of events in order to give your son ample

opportunity to get the most out of the Scouting program this season.

This calendar was developed to give each Scout a chance to develop his

skill and confidence in the outdoors along with opportunities to serve as a

leader and, of course, just have fun. The adult leaders are committed to attend these outings but we need the

boys to participate on a regular basis. Please cut this calendar out

and post it in a prominent location in order to avoid conflicts between your

boy's Scouting events and your family's activities. The Troop

Committee and Junior Leaders decided on these activities and dates at the planning meeting in July. They are

subject to our ability to get the reservations for the activities on the dates selected.

                                                                                COMING EVENTS

     Our March event will be our annual Junior Leader Training Course combined with a regular troop campout. Most of the troop will be working on some of the skills that we found, based on the Klondike, need some improvement. A select group of other Scouts will participate in the finest troop-level JLTC course in the Northern New Jersey Council. Our training staff includes seven Scouts who run the course at the council level. The following Scouts have been invited to participate in the training:

Robbie Brandt

Aaron Brummer

Dustin Cece

Dan Collins

Jack Collins

Dan Fernandes

Victor Hui

Ben Kim

Jonathan Kui

Conrad Kurowski

Dan Lai

Jeff Lee

James McGovern

Matt Scavetta

Aria Soltani

Royce Tjin

Trevor Wood

Tim Xu

     Since we only conduct this course once a year, these Scouts should make every effort to attend because they cannot serve as leaders in the troop until they have been trained.

     Also in March, Troop 12 will participate in the annual Scouting for Food program. On March 18, we will hand out bags for the boys to distribute to neighbors. Then, on March 27, we’ll ask the boys to pick up the food-laden bags and deliver them to a central location. From there, we’ll take the collected items down to the food bank in Hillside.

 

FRIGID KLONDIKE DERBY

     On January 29, Troop 12 headed to Camp Lewis for the annual Orange Mountains District Klondike Derby. Although the Klondike is only a one-day event, the 34 Scouts and 15 adults of Troop 12 were the only ones in the District to camp for the entire weekend. The boys and some of the adults set up their tents while the rest of the adults settled in the Hayden Villa cabin for the weekend. After all the tents were pitched, the Scouts came into the cabin to warm up and enjoy some hot cocoa before going to bed.

     Saturday morning the temperature was 0°. The boys cooked a hot breakfast on their camp stoves and then packed the gear they would need for the day’s activities. The Scouts were grouped in patrols and throughout the day they would pull replicas of dogsleds to various stations to participate in skill contests. The four Troop 12 patrols attending the Klondike joined 26 patrols from other troops for the opening ceremony before they hit the trail.

     Two of our Klondike sleds were built recently by the older Scouts and were the best-looking equipment at the event. Although there was a slight coating of snow on the trails, the patrols took advantage of the new sled design that enabled them to remove the runners and replace them with wheels. The Scouts visited stations named after Yukon towns such as Slippery Gulch, Dawson City, Chilkoot Pass, and Fort Sparks. The skills they needed to succeed included pioneering, fire building, first aid, and teamwork.

     While the patrols were on the trail, the senior Scouts of the Eagle Patrol ran the search and rescue challenge at Yukon City. At this “town”, participants had to use their compass skills to find an injured person and then perform first aid on the “victim”. Several Scouts who came to Yukon Pass were pretty cold, so we brought them into the cabin to warm up for a while.

     At the end of the day a closing ceremony was held at the Camp Lewis mess hall, where the winning patrols were announced. Awards were given to patrols that had scored the highest points in each of the eight “towns”. The Dragon Patrol, led by Colin Gardner, won for pioneering. The Frontiersmen, led by Peter Keene, won for compass. The Patriot Patrol, led by Maurice Wong, won for fire building. The Dragon Patrol also won overall second place for the lower division, which was called the “Panners”. In the upper division, called the “Prospectors”, the Cobra Patrol, led by Brendan Hickey, won third place.

     After all the other participants packed up and went home, the members of Troop 12 returned to their campsite to cook dinner. After dinner, everyone came into the cabin for a campfire program led by Dustin Cece and Mike Thompson. We enjoyed plenty of skits and songs while sitting around a blazing fire in the fireplace. The evening ended with two scary stories, one of which was that this was Collin Stocks’s last campout as a Boy Scout because he was about to be demoted to adult.

     Sunday morning, the temperature had dropped to -3°. Our Scoutmaster checked the thermometer in his tent and discovered that it was 15°, which showed how much of a difference body heat can make inside a tent. After the boys packed their gear and rolled up their tents, they made breakfast. Senior Patrol Leader Justin Yu conducted an evaluation of the weekend with the boys before we headed home to thaw out.

TROOP SHOWS APPRECIATION TO CHURCH

     On February 7, Troop 12 showed its appreciation to St. Peter’s Church by participating in their service on Scout Sunday. Twenty-two Scouts and eight committee members, along with several parents attended the service.  As Jonathan Couper led a responsive reading of the Scout Law, the rest of the Scouts lined up in the front of the sanctuary to read the responses. Later in the service Daniel Collins led the congregation in a responsive prayer. The new rector, Rev. Elizabeth Wigg, also presented the troop’s charter to Mr. Barnard. Following the service, the troop was invited to share in the coffee hour. Our participation was a way of saying thanks to the congregation for providing us a meeting hall and a place to stow our camping gear.

 

TROOP 12 PARTICIPATES IN BSA’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

     February 8 was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America. It was celebrated by Orange Mountains District at the Grace Lutheran Church. Scouts from Troop 12, Troop 16, and Troop 5 participated along with Girl Scouts, veterans organizations, and other service organizations. Justin Yu led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Dustin Cece led us in the singing of “God Bless America”. Marlene Lynn of Troop 16 emceed the ceremony. Matt  Saudino read a history of Scouting and Kenyon Sandy spoke on behalf of the Northern New Jersey Council. Denver Wallace, the former executive of Orange Mountain Council also spoke.

     Because there was a township council meeting on the 8th, the members of the council could not participate in the ceremony. However, they invited the Scouts to the council meeting on February 22 in order to congratulate them and express their support for the Boy Scouts in Livingston. Scouts from Troop 12 and Troop 16 were present and Tim Cece led us in the Scout Oath.  Mayor Arlene Johnson invited the Scoutmasters and Committee Chairmen from each troop to come forward and say a few words about their troops.

ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER

     On February 11, Troop 12 conducted its annual Awards Dinner at the Hanover Manner. The dinner was attended by 128 members of Troop 12 and their families. Following the meal, the presentation of awards began. There was a New Scout Investiture and a Tenderfoot Investiture ceremony. Then the older Scouts presented ranks and merit badges to those who had earned them.

     Next came the presentation of the unique Troop 12 awards. The Steve Amron Award for leadership was presented to Mike Kulik, James Pisciotti, and Abhi Shah. The John Pollock Award for citizenship was presented to David Brummer, Jonathan Couper, and Andrew Keene. The Robert W. Kean Award for all around Scouting excellence was presented to Joe Dellosso, Colin Gardner, and Maurice Wong. The Robert H. Carl Memorial was presented to those Scouts who will attend the NNJC National Youth Leadership Training course this summer and serve as instructors at Troop 12’s Junior Leader Training Course in the future.  The recipient of the Carl Memorial was Sam Yang.

 

THANK YOU

     Mr. Barnard and Mr. Brady thank the members of Troop 12 for their generous gifts in recognition of their service this past season.

 

DONATION RECEIVED

     Evelyn Reinhard, a member of St. Peter’s Church made a generous donation to Troop 12 as she has done for many years on Scout Sunday.

 

NEW SCOUTS JOIN TROOP 12

 

     Recently, seven boys have started on the trail to Eagle. Troop 12’s newest member is Samuel Kim.

Let us all encourage him on this trail to success.

 

                                                                    SCOUTS ADVANCE IN RANK

 

     The following Scouts recently passed a Board of Review and advanced in rank:

Tenderfoot         Max Brustein

2nd Class      Jonathan Kui

1st Class      Tim Xu

 

         

 

TROOP COMMITTEE

Scoutmaster:

Richard Barnard     597-0355

 

Committee Chairman:

Bill Brady 740-1571

 

Historians:

Matt & Jeannie Couper

 

Assistant Scoutmaster (Troop Guide Coordinator):

Andy Keene    

 

Assistant Scoutmasters:

John Anderson

Geoff Barnard    

 

Treasurer:

Janice Lyons

 

Advancement Committee:

Phil Pondiscio    

Wayne & Laurie Dellosso    

 

Camping / Activities Chairman:

Tony Emering

 

Quartermaster Adviser:

Ian Stocks    

 

Service Projects Chairpersons:

Gail Stocks

Bernice Thor

 

Publicity Chairpersons:

Mike & Diane Sikora   

 

Transportation Chairpersons:

Lisa Barnard   

Colleen Pisciotti    

 

Eagle Coordinator:

Vacant

 

Web Page Coordinator:

Don Lane    

 

Den Chief Coordinator:

Pak Lew   

 

Scout Accounts Coordinator:

Kristen Barnard    

 

Popcorn Sales:

Linda May Brown    

Rich Waxman      

 

Members of the Committee:

Dale Dickinson 

Jack Hickey    

Vince Kulik    

Phil Pisciotti   

Cindy Cohrs-Brandt

 

 

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