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I've been thinking. Does this blog serve a purpose that our Facebook page doesn't?

If you read this page, whether through a Google Buzz link, or just check in on it every once in a while, please leave a comment and weigh in. I'm going to give it a month, and then decide whether to officially close this down or leave it up.

Until then, check out the Facebook page -

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117031775264

Wint-o-ree 2011!

More to come later, but Troop 327 got a first place overall ribbon at the 2011 Pathfinder District Wint-o-ree! Good job guys!

(I wasn't there, but I'll bug Niel, Brian and the other guys to post something.)

How to Pack a Pack for Camping

Here's an interesting quick article I found on Lifehacker that lined to Wired.

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Pack_a_Backpack_for_Camping

This is geared more for backpacking, which unlike camping is all about hiking with your pack on, and not just setting up somewhere like a cabin, leantos or a cabin. It's not 100% how we do things, but has good tips.

Spring Update - Pancake Breakfast, Ice Skating, Advancement, Upcoming Events

I need to update this site more often, but that's why we're going to ask one of the boys to be the webmaster and do it instead of me!

Last I posted, we announced the Pancake Breakfast. Well I'm happy to report that it went off rather well and was a huge success. Combined with the included bake sale, we raised $767 to help fund trips, purchase new gear for the troop and pay for supplies for events, like our upcoming pinewood derby race. The Scouts, their parents, our Scouters, and the community who supported us are all to thank for pulling this fundraiser off so well. A very special thanks goes to Assistant Scoutmaster Brian Demmerle, without whose drive, financial wisdom, restaurant experience and expert schmoozing, we'd never have gotten the event off the ground. 

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In other news, this year has been a great one for recruiting so far, and at our last parent's night, just about all of our newer scouts earned Scout, their first rank on the climb to Eagle. Seven scouts earned the rank, congrats to you all! 

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This week, our troop went ice skating! For many of our guys, it was their first time on the ice, but everyone took to it well. I heard you guys asking that we do it again soon so remember to bring it up at the next Junior Leader Meeting! Also, since we've already started to learn, why not pursue the Skating Merit Badge?

Here's a couple of videos.

This is pretty much a whole lap of the rink. You'll see Joey, David L, Sebastian, Kevin G, Kevin K, Francesco and Stephano in this long shot.

And this is a short one of David S taking off like a rocket! I don't think he was a first time skater. The other guys will catch up by this time next year!

Here's a couple of pictures.

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Remember, next week is Good Friday, and being sponsored by St. Matthias church means we have no meeting that day. We'll be back on Friday, April 9, 2010 at our usual time and place. We'll be racing the pinewood derby cars that we started building two weeks ago, so be ready to race!

Pancake Breakfast on March 7, 2010

New Scouts & the Bake Sale!

It has been a few good weeks for Troop 327 as we get ready for our camping trip the weekend before Thanksgiving. We've had a number of new Scouts join up, brought in by their friends or family members or just asking when the meetings are and then showing up.

I'd like to take a minute here on the blog to welcome our newest Scouts, Dominik, Sebastian, Joe, David, Stefano and Jeffrey. Some of these guys are returning from time spent in the Cubs, but they're new to us.

Membership is going up, but we want it even higher. The more guys in the troop, the more activities we can plan and fund. Here's a picture from two weeks ago as the venerable Mr. Tom Dowd shows our guys some knot basics.  There's 11 scouts in this picture, and there were a few more there that night, the older boys were working on cleaning up the window outside.

The increased membership paid off well today, as we had our first fundraiser of the year, our bake sale. Every boy and adult brought at least two cakes, trays of cupcakes, cookies or brownies for us to sell. Everything looked really great and we managed to sell out of everything just in time for the last Mass from St. Matthias. Thanks to all the Scouts and especially to all of the parents who helped out today.

All in all, it was a huge success and we raised over $300 that will help to buy new camping gear for the troop, go towards our year end trip in June and towards efforts to repair or replace the Scout office store front windows.

Here's a few pictures from the bake sale:

Parents' Night 10/30/09

We are having a parents' night this Friday at 7:30 at the Boy Scout Office. All scouts, please invite your parents down to the meeting as we will have some awards to give out, announcements to make and we'll make sure to have some refreshments and snacks on hand.

All scouts, please wear your uniforms, as complete as you have. That means full uniforms if you have them, red shirts if that's all you've got.