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Boy Scout Troop 889 :: The Woodlands, Texas, Boy Scouts of America
 Welcome to Troop 889 of the Tall Timbers District, Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. We are chartered by Christ Church United Methodist and in 2008 we celebrated our 10th year.Troop 889 is a boy-run troop. The troop currently has 92 boys and 54 trained adult leaders on our committee and Scoutmaster corps. We camp a minimum of 20 nights per year, but we also attend Camporee, visit several options for summer camps per year, plus participate in Winter Camp. Our camping trips include fishing trips (with a fish hatchery tour), rock climbing trips, hiking trips, canoe and water trips, bicycling campouts and spelunking/cave touring trips to name a few. In 2009 we had a large contingent of Scouts headed to Philmont Scout Ranch, three crews to Florida Sea Base in 2010, and have future trips to Philmont and Northern Tier scheduled as well. |
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Good afternoon Scouts and Scouters.
Hope everyone had a good Spring Break! Now, back to reality...........there will be a mandatory parent meeting at the Troop Meeting on Monday March 19th. This meeting should take around 45 minutes and is intended to be a Q&A session about camp offerings, logistics, etc.
What’s Summer Camp??
As was previously announced, the Troop is heading to El Rancho Cima near Wimberley Texas (northwest of San Marcos). We have reserved 50 slots at the Cockrell River Camp on the banks of the nice, cool Blanco River.
For those of you that are new to the Troop and/or Boy Scouts, you may be wondering “What’s Summer Camp?”. In a word: FUN. The boys and some adult leaders will head-off to Cima for a week of learning and fun. The first year Scouts will participate in the Blanco Blast, which is Cima’s First Class Emphasis (FCE) program that will get our first year Scouts started down the path to Eagle Scout by satisfying several requirements for Tenderfoot, Second Class & First Class Scout. Along with FCE, all Scouts attending will have the opportunity to participate in Merit Badge classes to work on a variety of fun and exciting Merit Badges. This is also a great opportunity for the older scouts to knock a few Eagle required Merit Badges off the list or to explore something new and interesting.
The Blanco Blast program will run in the mornings. The 2nd half of the day will be the first year scouts initial opportunities to work on a couple of Merit Badges.
Along with the hard work throughout the day, there will be free time to swim and explore Cima and the surrounding area.
We will be attending Summer Camp from July 8th to July 14th
Sounds Great!!! How much???
The cost for a Scout to attend is $250 for the week + transportation. The cost for an Adult Leader to attend is $100 + transportation. For transportation, we’ll rent four or five 15-passenger vans to drive to Wimberley. This will minimize the size of the caravan heading out of town and will allow us to have transportation while at camp should the need arise for vehicles. We have placed a deposit for 50 attendees.
Required Adult Leader Training
Parents, if you’d like to attend Summer Camp with your son(s), there will be any opportunity for several parents to come along. We try to keep a good ratio between adult and scout to ensure Scout safety while providing opportunities for the Scouts to develop leadership skills and, well, just have a good time. If a parent would like to attend, he/she MUST complete Youth Protection Training prior to Summer Camp. This is non-negotiable. The training is offered online at www.scouting.org and takes about an hour.
There's also a new requirement for training this year. Any adults attending a long-term (more than 72 hours) scouting activity, must attend a YPT classroom training course. Details of when the class is offered will be forwarded as soon as they are finalized.
BSA Swim Tests
Everyone attending Summer Camp (including adults) must complete a BSA Swim Test. We are working with the Shadowbend YMCA to schedule the swim tests around Troop activities and holidays in April. I'll have firm dates on that at the parent meeting and will also communicate the dates in a separate email.
We’ve setup an online registration system for scouts and adults to register for Summer Camp.
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(From the SPL)
Here are the following patrols who's chuck box's are already color coded:
Also attached to that is their respective number:
Bulldogs: Orange- 3
Razorbacks: Yellow- 4
Cobras: Green- 5
Nomads: Blue- 6
Gators: White- 9
Here are all of patrols that WILL soon be labeled and number in this way:
Beasts of England (Older Patrol): Brown-1
Bison: Red- 2
Scorpions: Purple- 7
Liger: Gray- 8
Phoenix: Black/Gold Stripe-10
Wolves: Brown/Gold Stripe- 11
All of the patrols with a number in the "teens" (11,12,13, etc.) colors
follow the same pattern but a gold stripe is added in addition. |
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Crossover campout took place the weekend of the March 1-3, 2012. Crossover is essentially the new scout’s first step into scouting. The troop left Friday evening and set up camp. The scouts awoke, ate breakfast, then assembled the new patrols. After lunch the assemble a game of capture the flag. That night the older scouts preformed an “initiation” for the new scouts then the patrols had campfire. The next morning the troop drove home to piles of procrastinated homework. Thomas Mancuso
Troop Webmaster
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Written by Thomas Mancuso
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The Huntsville St Park Back-Packing campout took place the weekend of February 17-19, 2012. The scouts arrived on a rainy 7 o’clock Friday night and pitched up the tents. On Saturday, the scouts split up into crews and set off on their 7 mile hikes. When finished, they ate dinner, had a campfire and went off to bed. On Sunday, the tired back-packers returned to the Woodlands at 12 then took a well-deserved 4 hour nap at 12:01. Thomas Mancuso
Troop Webmaster
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 Eleven Troop 889 Scouts have earned the coveted "Triple Crown of High Adventure Award". The Boy Scouts of America (in conjunction with Charles L. Sommers Alumni Association (SAA)) have authorized the issuance of a special certificate and patch to honor those Scouts and Scouters who have participated in at least one program at each of the three National High Adventure Bases operated by the Boy Scouts of America. These Bases are Philmont Scout Ranch (including the Double H Ranch), Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases (Ely, Atikokan, and Bissett), and the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.
The SAA created the Triple Crown Award in 1996 to both promote all National High Adventure programs (Philmont, Northern Tier, and Sea Base) and help identify those Scouts with a thirst for High Adventure who may potentially be interested in serving on the staff of the Northern Tier and other High Adventure programs.
Scouts who have completed the Triple Crown are: Ross McNulty, Keith Baker, Matt Johnson, Austin Terry, Zach Winkel, Eric Menees, Chris Ditter, Grant Kern, Grant Jacobsen, Adam Hale, and Cody Smith
In addition, assistant Scoutmaster Rob Menees has also earned this prestigious honor.
A special presentation will be made at the August 2011 Troop 889 Court of Honor.
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In July, the Troop 889 Northern Tier crew has headed north to cooler climates. http://www.ntier.org/index-home.html
Scouts
Keith Baker
Craig Collins
Jack DeCaire
Anaurag Choudhury
Chris Ditter
Adam Hale
Danny Johnson
Matt Johnson
Grant Jacobson
Grant Kern
Taylor Kern
Ross McNulty
Eric Menees | Cody Smith
Cole Swingholm
Austin Terry
Zack Winkel
Adults
Joe Baker
John Decaire
Rob Johnson
Rob Menees
Isaac Shaul
Al Terry
Chip Winkel |
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Congratulations to the 2011 Troop 889 Philmont Crews (15 Scouts and 7 adults) for their successful trek and safe return.
Philmont Northern Crew
Scouts
Eric Menees (Crew Lead)
Ben Bennett
Ryan Gallagher
Andrew Gomez
Caleb Sweet
Cary Ulrich
Jake Yagley
Willy Zitterich
Adults
Dave Bennett
Mariano Gomez
Rob Menees
Tim Yagley | Philmont Southern Crew
Scouts
Alex Gumm (Crew Lead)
Drew Noren
Chase Noren
Connor Buffington
David Stekla
Derrick Hill
Lincoln Bridges
Adults
Colt Bridges
Damon Buffington
Chip Winkel |
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ALERT! This note could save your eyeballs from a gruesome demise!!
 Summer is here and, of course, school is out. That means you won't be using your EYEBALLS as much. You will subject your delicate vision orbs to a life of sleeping late, TV drivel and Xbox games. Then you'll drag them outside into the 100F temperatures then attempt to drown them in the pool. Gasp!
This type of summertime torture could cause your eyes to shrivel into tiny raisin-like blobs!! (Scientific fact...I saw it in an email chain letter!!)
Save Your Eyes!! Earn the READING MERIT BADGE this summer!!
 It's super-honkin' easy!.
Save an eyeball! Read a book! Get a merit badge! It's a win-win-win situation.
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Dutch oven cooking is easy and fun! And it easily feeds a hungry patrol.
Here are some basic tips to help you become an expert dutch oven cook. Always remember the number "3"!
Temperature: To calculate the approximate temperature of 333°F (or between 325°-350°F), you simply take the size of your dutch oven (for example 12") and subtract 3 from that number to get the number of charcoal briquettes to put under it (12-3=9) and add 3 to that number to get the number of charcoal briquettes to put on the lid of it (12+3=15).
Each group of additional 3 briquettes adds about 30°F.
Holding your hand 3" from the lid of your dutch oven for approximately 3 seconds means you are at approximately 333°F. Less time means you're heat is a little too high, more time means you're temperature is lower.
So on your next campout, request the use of one of the troop dutch ovens and make a masterpiece.
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The centennial edition of the Boy Scout Handbook will soon be available, and with the new handbook come several rank requirement changes that will be in effect as of January 1, 2010.
Tenderfoot
- A Scout must teach another person how to tie a square knot using the EDGE model (explain, demonstrate, guide, and enable). He must also be able to discuss four specific examples of how he lived the points of the Scout Law in his daily life.
Second Class
- A Scout must discuss the principles of Leave No Trace and explain the factors to consider when choosing a patrol site and where to pitch a tent.
- He must explain what respect is due the flag of the United States.
- He must again discuss four examples of how he lived four different points of the Scout Law in his daily life.
- He must earn an amount of money agreed upon by the Scout and his parents and save at least 50 percent of it.
First Class
- An additional requirement to the 10 separate troop/patrol activities states he must demonstrate the principles of Leave No Trace on these outings.
- He must discuss four more examples of how he lived the remaining four points of the Scout Law in his daily life.
Life
- A Scout must use the EDGE model to teach a younger Scout a specified skill.
Star, Life, and Eagle
- Troop Webmaster and Leave No Trace trainer are two new leadership positions.
Helpful Links:
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 A TROOP'S BEST patrols exhibit enthusiasm, teamwork, and camaraderie—that special spark known as patrol spirit.
How does your patrol measure up? Here are some tips for building patrol spirit and a way to reward success:
- Choose a good name. This is a key step toward building patrol identity. Use descriptive words, like Roaring River Rats or Fearless Falcons.
- Create a distinctive patrol yell. Let the troop hear that yell often to show your spirit.
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