Rifle River Canoe Outing:
The Troop will be canoeing on the Rifle River (north of Midland/Bay City, Michigan) this weekend. We will be staying at Cole Canoe Base (Detroit Area Council). I would like to leave a little earlier than normal Friday evening due to the extra driving distance. Possibly as early as 5:30 PM. We will be canoeing Saturday as well as Sunday. Therefore, we will be returning late on Sunday (around 7:00 PM ???). Scouts should bring something to wear on their feet while canoeing (old pair of shoes, water boots, etc). If your son wears glasses, he should have on some type of holder to keep the glasses on. We will be eating Sunday dinner on the road (fast food place) so your son should have some money to buy his own dinner.

Scouts (especially the new patrol) should bring their scout book with them since there will be plenty of time to work on advancements. Take advantage of the time and the availability of the leaders!

Toledo Mud Hens:
If you did not attend the Toledo Mud Hen game on August 4, you missed out on a great time. Scouts, parents and siblings had box seats along the first base line that afforded a wonderful view of the game. Many thanks to Mr. Blank for setting up and for Dr. Mallory for procuring the box seats at no cost to the Troop. Approximately 40 seats were occupied by our Troop. Keep this in mind for next year as you would not want to miss out again.

Hens Game Report by Michael Hook:
Instead of going to our weekly scout meeting, our troop went to a Toledo Mud Hens game. We had better seats than ever before, compliments of Dr. Mallory. We were in box seats, Hens side, about the fourth row. The Hens started the game off with a great inning. St. Louis-0, Hens-3. Then it was tied at seven, going into the fifth. It was suspenseful in the last two innings, tied at eight. The hens scored in the bottom of the eighth, and shut them out in the top of the ninth to win the game. The Mud Hens WON, 9-8!!! All the scouts had a great time, and if the game wasn’t good enough, there was always the ball game food and beverage.......Pepsi of course.

Merit Badge Counselors and Registered Adult Leaders:
I want to thank the individuals that have volunteered to share their time and talents to be either Merit Badge Counselors or Registered Adults Leaders. As Merit Badge Counselors or Registered Adult Leaders, you have the authority to sign-off requirements signifying the requirements have been met. (Merit Badge Counselors for the merit badge that you are registered for, and Registered Adults Leaders for the individual scout requirements for rank advancement). You can not require the scout to do more than what is specified, nor can you settle for less. If the requirement is to demonstrate, the scout must demonstrate the activity (i.e., he can not simply discuss how he would perform the activity). Also, the scout must show that he knows the subject matter or requirement. As an example, I will show a scout how to tie a particular knot, and he will perform that activity while following me tie the knot. However, he has not satisfied the requirement until he can tie the knot on his own at some future point. This is to account for “short term memory loss”. The goal is to teach scouting skills to the boys that will last for a lifetime, and not just for a few hours or just long enough to get the requirement signed off.

Atomic Jamboree:
The Atomic Energy Camporee is to be held October 8, 9 and 10 at Davis-Besse. At this event the scouts can earn the Atomic Energy merit badge. I originally specified the cost of this outing as $25.00; the actual cost is $20.00. I have a listing of those scouts who have already paid and they will be receiving $5.00 back. It is still not to late to sign up, but I will need a final tally by September 8.

Train the Leaders:
The fall date for Training the Leaders is: October 9, (Sessions I and II) and then October 29, 30, and 31 (Session III). It is strongly recommended that if you are interested in being involved with scouting, that you get trained. This is also one of the requirements BSA has to ensure there are at least two qualified leaders on all outings.

Troop 87 Website:
As part of Todd Humphrey’s Communication Merit Badge, he has established our own Troop 87 Website! This is a wonderful way to showcase the activities of this Troop. Although it is still “under construction” Todd has a lot of ideas. The address is: “http:/members.tripod.com/troop87” Way to go Todd!!!

Todd plans to put the scout newsletter on the website each month as soon as he can. If any of you feel that you no longer need a copy via “snail mail” , please let either Todd or Mrs. Humphrey know to save on postage. Look for it the week after the parent meeting each month.

Congratulations to Michael Young:
Michael attended the last meeting in full scout uniform. Keep it up Mike!

End of year financial status report from Mrs. Seth, troop treasurer:
As of 7/31/99, the troop has $984.66 on hand , expendable funds of $1020.18, which includes over $200 in credit for the boys for selling Christmas wreaths and an outstanding credit of over $200 at the scout shop. We are down to $1515.04 in savings. Mrs. Seth says that we are in the best shape in years for this time of the year. Any questions just ask her - I just hope I got this right!

Next Year’s Calendar:
We will be putting together next year’s calendar in September. Scouts should be thinking of activities they would like to do and places they would like to go.

Submitted by Shawn Rogers, Troop Scribe:
On Sunday, July 11,1999 Troop 87 left for summer camp. The week went well, with us receiving the Baden Powell award along with some cuts, bruises, blisters, and two stitches. We arrived around noon. About one the camp brought our trailer and we set up camp. Later after lunch, a guide came and gave us a tour. Then there was an introduction to the staff and what events we could do. Every morning at seven we got up and got ready for breakfast.

Breakfast was at 8:00 followed by the flag raising at 8:30. We then went to our first three merit badge classes. At noon we went back to camp to relax and get ready for lunch at 12:30. Then we had our 4th merit badge class at 2:00. From 3 to 5 we could do whatever we wanted to do. Dinner was at six and flag lowering was at 6:30. Every night there was a different activity. Monday was free time, Tuesday and Thursday were troop activities, and Wednesday night was Parents Night and OA. The staff put on a great show.

Friday we had a vespers service. Saturday we packed up and headed home. To get Baden Powell we did many requirements. One was to get so many points on camp inspection. We missed the maximum by 2 points. This had to be one of the best camp outs yet. Thanks to all of the adults for their support and encouragement.


Upcoming events to mark your calendar:

Wednesday, September 1:
register for Kelley’s Island (cost is $25 for food, ferry ride, & camping)
September 10, 11, and 12:
Kelley’s Island Weekend
Wednesday, September 15:
Troop Election
Saturday, September 18:
Troop Car Wash
Wednesday, September 22:
Troop Court of Honor and Parent Meeting

Please note: We will not have access to the Banquet Hall September 8th and 15th; we will be in the Guardian Angel Room instead. Please plan ahead if you need anything from the storage room such as forms, merit badge books, blue cards for merit badge completion credit, etc. We will have our Court of Honor the following week, September 22nd.