Service Project- Take Back the Woods on 4/23

Date & Time:     9:00 AM - 1:00 PM EST on Saturday, April 23.

Location:    
Jennings Environmental Center, 2951 Prospect Rd., Slippery Rock, PA 16057 (click address for directions)

Details:
Help restore native habitats in your state park. Invasive plants are a major factor in the decline of native plant species. Spend a spring day pitching in at the park to help manage invasive plants.

Lunch and tasty samples of some recipes featuring invasives will be provided.

Participants must be age 12 or older and must register. Participants must be prepared to work outdoors.

---

Need directions to an event? How to get to our most common destinations.

Check our calendar for upcoming events.

Get a current BSA health form (if required).

Consider a volunteer position with the troop! Info here.

Against all odds, Dylan on the way to Eagle

Dylan Norwood had just turned 2 in 1994 when he had a radical operation called a hemispherectomy. Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgeon Ben Carson removed half of Dylan's brain.
Three-quarters of the right side of Dylan's brain had died when he had a stroke when he was born. But it wasn't until he began having seizures at 6 months old that his parents realized he had a problem.
Dylan, now 18, is a senior at Hereford High School who will be getting his driver's license soon and hopes to go to college. He is also a Boy Scout and wants to become an Eagle Scout before he graduates from Hereford. When he looked for a community service to perform as an Eagle requirement, the answer came easy. "I'm making 20 baskets of toys to give other kids who had the same operation I had," Dylan said. "Because this is my project, I had to be in charge of getting other Scouts to "Here, this is for you," Dylan said as he placed a box filled with crayons, coloring books, toys and socks on her bed. Tatum's parents couldn't keep their eyes off Dylan, who is 6-foot-4 and wore his Boy Scout uniform covered with badges under the protective hospital gown. "It gives us a lot of encouragement looking at you," said Tatum's father, Robert, who made Eagle Scout rank in 1976. "It's our hope our little girl does as well as you have. You've given us inspiration and hope." help me raise money and shop for toys, put the baskets together and deliver them."

Committee Meeting: Tuesday, April 5

Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Location: regular meeting room at St. Camillus
All are welcome to attend.
Just a reminder to our new SPL & ASPL:  the committee will be expecting a review of the past month, and agendas/outlines for the next 4-6 weeks of Monday meetings.  This will need to be done at each Troop Committee Meeting.  If you are unable to attend, please make sure that you designate someone to come to the meeting and provide this information to the committee.
Agenda
1) Review old business from March
2) Report on Spaghetti Dinner (D. Matuch)
3) Report on Philadelphia Trip (C. Chamberlain – Amy Na, Chair)
4) Report from SPL (J. McCracken)
5) Report on Troop website, Facebook page, Twitter, etc (N. Teodoro)
6) Discuss any other new business
7) Discuss upcoming events / Troop calendar

Chaplain Aide - Leadership Position Description

SPECIFIC LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES

Assists the Troop Chaplain with religious services at troop activities.

Tells Scouts about the religious emblem program for their faith.

Makes sure religious holidays are considered during troop program planning.

Helps plan for religious observance in troop activities, especially campouts and Courts of Honor. Therefore is expected to be at 75% of all campouts and 100% of all campouts that go into Sunday.

GENERAL LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES

Uniform: Set the example by wearing your uniform correctly. This means that you will wear all of the parts of the troop uniform, shirttail tucked in, with all required badges in their correct locations.

Behavior: Set the example by living the Scout Oath and Law in your everyday life. Show Scout Spirit in everything you say and do.

Attendance: Set the example by being an active Scout. Be on time for meetings and activities. You must call the Senior Patrol Leader or Scoutmaster if you are not going to be at a meeting or if you suddenly have to miss an outing. You also need to make sure that someone will assume your responsibilities.

Inspiring Court of Honor - April 4, 2011

Starting off with a great job by master of ceremonies, John Cardenas, tonight's Court of Honor inspired.

After Jonathan’s SPL remarks, guest speaker Mr. Manuel Cardenas treated us to a recounting of his dreams and achievements in Ecuador, and how an accident transformed his life and the lives of many others.

Cardenas’ dream, from an early age was to become an elite member of his country’s military, a paratrooper. Though he achieved that dream and became a commander, and jump instructor with over 600 jumps, there was something that not only changed his thinking, but his destiny.

Mr. Cardenas beloved friend, a fellow member of the paratroopers, was injured (and crippled) as a result of a jump, and became paralyzed. As Cardenas explained, he felt powerless to help, despite his position  and authority, there was nothing he could do to aid he best friend. For over two months he tried to find a wheelchair for his comrade, but was unable to obtain one in Ecuador, so he traveled to the U.S, and found his calling – empowering and transforming lives through mobility, and then changing attitudes through sports.

What began as simply a means to help his friend turned into a mission to help others in the same situation. Mr. and Mrs. Cardenas worked tirelessly, and eventually shipped over 800 wheelchairs back to Ecuador at their own expense. Then, realizing the transformational power of sports in building confidence through physical skills, Manuel Cardenas formed an organization called “Momentum International” and, with the aid of a United Nations grant, began manufacturing and providing wheelchairs for sports to the disabled throughout his country, and internationally.

Momentum was a good name for what Cardenas began in a small way, but has grown and contributed to the mobility, freedom, and confidence in many, many people, and has been a part of the Paralympics by creating an organization for disabled athletes in Ecuador.

Since emigrating to the United States, Mr. Cardenas has continued to serve and contribute with Momentum, and by publishing a weekly paper highlighting immigration issues for Spanish-speaking peoples that has now reached a circulation of over 70,000 in the U.S., Spain, and Ecuador.

We picked up several lessons from Manuel Cardenas:

• Despite humble means, you can achieve your dreams if you work at it, and don’t lose sight of the goal.
• Be open to what God is asking of you: Mr. Cardenas said, “As a human, a Christian, and a person, you have a responsibility to help.” The love of his brother in arms and best friend gave him an opportunity to do even more, and he took it.
• We all take for granted that we are mobile, but that is a temporary state, for almost all of us are likely to be disabled in some way – appreciate what you’ve got, and make the most of it. But if calamity befalls you, or someone you know, it’s a change, not the end.
• He is able to run an international newspaper in a niche market with the use of a personal computer from his home. What could all of us, similarly motivated do for our communities or others?
• Consider wheelchair collection as a service project. Your efforts may give a new life to someone in need.

---

Items of interest:

Stephen is congratulated on his Eagle achievement

As of 3/2/2011, Stephen Wolford is our newest Eagle Scout! Please give him (and his parents) congratulations on a job well done!

New 743 OA Members! Aj, Christian, and CJ are now members, and are schedule for the OA Spring Ordeal at the end of this month.

Youth Leadership Positions–series beginning

There are a couple of good resources with information on, and descriptions of the youth leadership positions. Thanks to Doug Smith for the idea of posting resource for the troop.

Troop Positions is a great Word document linked at BSATroop14.com.

Patrol Leadership is a nice overview of each by Troop679.org.

Look for these on the sidebar in Scouting Links.

A good overview from ScoutMaster.org is:

The Troop's Youth Leaders

The troop is actually run by its boy leaders. With the guidance of the Scoutmaster and his assistants, they plan the program, conduct troop meetings, and provide leadership among their peers.

Junior Leader Positions

• Senior patrol leader - top junior leader in the troop.
• Assistant senior patrol leader - fills in for senior patrol leader in his absence. He is also responsible for training and giving direction to the quartermaster, scribe, troop historian, librarian, and instructors.
• Troop Historian - collects and maintains troop memorabilia and information on former troop members.
• Librarian - keeps troop books, pamphlets, magazines, audiovisuals, and merit badge counselor list available for use by troop members.
• Instructor - teaches one or more advancement skills to troop members.
• Chaplain Aide - assists in troop religious services and promotes religious emblems program.
• Junior assistant Scoutmaster - a Scout 16 or older who supervises and supports other boy leaders as assigned.
• Patrol leader - gives leadership to members of his patrol and represents them on the patrol leaders' council.
• Assistant patrol leader - fills in for the patrol leader in his absence.
• Troop guide - advisor and guide to the new Scout patrol.
• Den chief - works with a Cub Scout den as a guide.
• Quartermaster - responsible for troop supplies and equipment.
• Scribe - the troop secretary.