From the Committee Chair

Random thoughts from Troop 11's Committee Chairperson

Archive for category Fundraising

Final Mulch Delivery

Mar 31

Posted by dick.barnes in Boy Scouting, Eagle, Fundraising, OA, Troop 11, Troop Traditions | No Comments

Well, we delivered our final 1500 bags or so of mulch this past Saturday. The turnout as not as good as we had hoped for, but all the bags were delivered to the customers by around 3 pm or so. Our partnership with Peninsula Hardwood Mulch for a second year in a row was the way to go. Previously we had dealt directly with the manufacturer, and had to order in trailerloads. This way, we could order exactly what we wanted with no leftovers.

I supervised an OA election for Troop 242 this evening, and all went well. They only had one eligible candidate, and he was elected. One for one!

The weekend before, the Troop did a day trip to Washington DC in conjunction with the Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge. Bruce has promised me some video of the trip, so when he comes through, I’ll post it.

We’ve got 2 Eagle projects coming up Saturday. Most of the projects has been “prebuilt”, and we’ll finish up Saturday. To top that off, Saturday is my Daughter’s 14th birthday so I’ll be busy!

Yours in Scouting,

Dick

Earlybird Mulch Delivery

Mar 6

Posted by dick.barnes in Boy Scouting, Fundraising | 1 Comment

This year, we decided to to an “earlybird” delivery for those who wanted to get a head start on spreading mulch. We will deliver the remaining mulch on the 27th of March.

Adopt-a-Spot and Mulch Flyers

Feb 17

Posted by dick.barnes in Boy Scouting, Fundraising, Service, Troop 11 | 1 Comment

Well, we picked a great weekend :-) . Snowed on us … not as bad as the previous weekend … just flurries this time! Before going out to deliver fliers for our annual Mulch Fundraiser, we did the Adopt-a-Spot (the road in front of our Charter Partner). Then we spent about four hours blanketing neighborhoods with our fundraiser fliers … over 3500 delivered!

A Busy Saturday

Apr 20

Posted by dick.barnes in Backpacking, Camping, Cub Scouting, Fundraising, Pack 11, Troop 11 | No Comments

Wakeup came early on Saturday. I was up at 6:30am, getting ready for the final day of our big fundraising event … mulch delivery. Sales were up this year, with quite a few repeat customers. I arrived at the church to meet the rest of the Troop at 7:45 and we quickly got under way loading the smaller pickups and trailers for local deliveries. The two large Ryder trucks left for our supplier to pick up more 2-cubic foot bags.

This continued, over and over again, all day, with the full trucks making the rounds, the Scouts delivering the bags at each customer’s house, and then back to resupply with more mulch. There were a few breaks when the trucks had to pick up another load and for lunch, but everyone kept pretty busy all day. The final bag of mulch was placed in a customer’s driveway at 6:30pm that evening.

That wasn’t the end of the day, however! Myself and Bruce,  along with four Scouts were at Sandy Bottom Nature Park at 7:30pm for the Pack 11 Arrow of Light and WEBELOS crossover. Of course, I forgot the Troop flag and had to run back to the church to pick it up :-( . Anyway, to make a long story short, we welcomed three new members into the Troop, finally getting home at 9pm, making for a very long day.

The first weekend in May, we’re backpacking on the C&O Canal … leave early Saturday morning, drive to the DC area, on the trail around 10am, camp Saturday night on the trail, and then backpack to the destination for the trip home on Sunday. Springtime is just full of activities!

Yours in Scouting,

Dick

Shipman Adventures

Apr 1

Posted by dick.barnes in Backpacking, Camping, Cub Scouting, Fundraising, OA, Pack 11, Service, Troop 11, Uncategorized | No Comments

Last weekend, the Troop made its way to Shipman, VA, which is between Charlottesville and Lynchburg on US 29. It was sort of an introduction to basic backpacking and primitive camping for the newest members of the Troop. They backpacked in about a mile and then set up camp around a small lake.

For most of them, it was their first experience with dehydrated or freeze-dried foods, but the general consensus was that it was edible and really wasn’t too bad. I think they sampled chicken & rice, beef stew, spaghetti, and a few other entrees in addition to GORP, energy bars and the usual backpacking fare.

As you can see in the video, we had a perfect camping spot … a small pond with grassy banks in the middle of a wooded area. Saturday all day was gray with occasional drizzles, and then late Saturday night into early Sunday morning, we had some heavier showers. Of course, as we were breaking camp, the sun came out and the clouds dissipated … typical Spring camping  :-) .

The area we camped in is private property and we are indebted to the owners for allowing us to camp there. Nelson County is bordered by the Blue Ridge mountains, and is the location of Walton’s Mountain, for those of you that remember the TV show or the book. Nearby is the Wintergreen Ski Resort.

It was a great weekend, but the Scouts were glad to get home Sunday afternoon. This month, we have a planned trip to backpack a section of the C & O Canal, and of course, the Section SR-7A Conclave is being hosted by our OA Lodge at the end of the month.

Yours in Scouting,

Dick Barnes

OA Elections & Troop 11 Website Work

Mar 10

Posted by dick.barnes in Fundraising, OA, Troop 11 | No Comments

Well, I’ve been busy this week. I supervised an OA election on Monday night, and I can’t remember one that I was more unprepared for. I got off very late from work and had to rush to get to the Troop’s meeting place in time for the election. First I couldn’t find my sash … then I couldn’t find the scripts for the participants … never did find them before I had to leave the house. I did find the generic ceremony in the Guide for Officers and Advisers and rushed out with that. To make a long story short, I did make it just in time, and the generic ceremony worked just fine, but I really gained a lot more respect for the phrase, “Be Prepared”. I did find my sash this evening in my sock drawer :-) .

Tonight, I added some Summer Camp forms to the Library page, updated the Troop Information Booklet, added a link to the Mulch Sales page on the index page, and added a pdf of the Mulch Sales Form. Mulch sales (our big spring fundraiser) is going well, and hopefully sales will be good in these tight financial times. We take orders for mulch in March, and then deliver in April.

There are a couple of new videos up at my YouTube page. There’s a link on the left side of the page under Resources. Take the time to go there and view them.

Yours in Scouting,

Dick Barnes

vigil

Tags: , , ,