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Troop 767
We are happy to say that Caelan has moved from our local Pack to our Troop. Many were in attendance last Wednesday to whiteness not only his crossover, but his award ceremony for the Arrow of Light.
Well done!
The Order of the Arrow was founded by E. Turner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson in 1915. It was made as a reinforcement to the scout law and oath and also to recognize scouts who uphold these important traits. It also encourages continued participation in Scouting and Camping.
“The Order of the Arrow is a ‘thing of the spirit’ rather than of mechanics. Organization, operational procedure, and paraphernalia are necessary in any large and growing movement, but they are not what count in the end. The things of the spirit count: Brotherhood, in a day when there is too much hatred at home and abroad; Cheerfulness, in a day when the pessimists have the floor; Service, in a day when millions are interested only in getting or grasping rather than giving.” – E. Turner Goodman.
Today, the Order of the Arrow community hasn’t strayed far from its origin of Native folklore, cheerful service and recognizing honorable scouts who live the scout oath and law. In present, there are more than 180,000 scouts in the Order of the Arrow, which is about one-seventh of all scouts.
In order to join the Order of the Arrow, scouts must be nominated by fellow scouters. Each youth member of the troop votes on who they feel best exemplifies the scout oath and law. Once a scout is nominated, they must go through an “Ordeal” which is a process to test the scouts, and is what they must endure to join the Order of the Arrow, and to become members of the honor society for the Boy Scouts of America.
Just last month, our troop held Order of the Arrow elections where several scouts were nominated to join the Order of the Arrow. While not all scouts were able to go on the first ordeal, Myself, Gavin and John were able to experience the Ordeal and become members of the Order. We persisted through a set of tasks, but, nonetheless it was still an amazing experience to go through.
“If you loosen five or six adjoining spokes on a bicycle wheel, it will warp out of shape so that it no longer makes a true circle. Pretty soon you’re going to have a bumpy ride.
Your character is something like a bike wheel.
The spokes are a series of rules that in Scouting we call the Scout Law. The points of our Scout Law are guides to help you stay straight and true.
If you get loose and sloppy on any point of the Law, the result will be the same as loosening the spokes on a bike wheel. Your personality will be warped and out of shape.One way to stay true to yourself is to keep your observance of the Scout Law always foremost in your mind. When doubts creep in and you might consider violating one of the points of the Law, think about the warped, out-of-shape bike wheel and resolve to live up to the ideals of Scouting.”
Source: Woods of Wisdom
The law and oath is one of the many reasons the Scouting program is great. By living the law and oath, you make yourself a better person. You become someone who people can look up to, respect, and trust. You become a leader!
Remember that as scouts and priesthood holders, you should not only live the scout law and oath at scouting events, it should be part of your everyday life. Anything otherwise, and you are living a lie and you can’t, in good conscious, call yourself a scout.
I challenge you to recite the law every day in your mind. Think about what each point means, and do your best to make it truly apart of your life.
Campouts are one of the funniest things to do as scout. Part of a camp that is always present is the memories that are made. From the nicknames we so grudgingly bear, to the memories of the awards given, we remember the campouts we go on.
On March 21 2015 we had a campout for the ages that we will share with some of our younger scouts. The campout started out as always with Beckette and I doing our best to sound as annoying as possible. In this case we had chosen old man voices and could only speak as olden Wizards would. Much to the dismay of the other campers this continued for another hour before we were told to stop. The tents were the next issues as it had started getting dark. Thankfully most of us could set up tents in the dark and the ones who couldn’t received help.
The night wore on as dinner and fire became priority numero uno. I was stationed at cooking dinner, Bacon wrapped chicken and I felt the heat as it was just going to be me. The preparation became harder as the cold numbed my fingers, and the constant washing of hands meant the cold water would only hinder it further. Finally dinner was made and stories exchanged around the campfire. Sleep began to drift into the scouts mind as several of the scout began to make their way to the tents. There was one group of scouts who stood up later than the rest and played a rousing game of Dungeons and Dragons.
The next morning the scouts awoke to the smell of sausage, eggs, potatoes, onions, and peppers wafting from the stove. A few of our scouts missed their chance to be woken up lightly and as such had to be reminded what it felt like to have a horn blasted into their ears. After breakfast the scouts became eager to catch a fish.
On the lake we saw that the fish would elude us all day but that didn’t stop our scouts from having many of adventures, including tossing a Frisbee into the water and holding casting competitions to see who could cast farther.
Afternoon rolled around and the sun reared its golden face our direction in full force as the shining rays burned many of our faces. Around ten a group of scouts who had not slept the night with us had joined the fun and at 12 to 1 we went back to eat lunch.
Much to my dismay lunch proved to be the hardest challenge of cooking I had faced yet on the campout. Sudden flare-ups, burning burgers, oil drops burning my skin and a wind that kept blowing out the fire led to the hardest fought burgers I had every made in my life. Lunch was enjoyed and more fishing was done to round up the day.
As I conclude this adventure I fall asleep and dream of home.
A letter written by Mike Rowe (host of Dirty Jobs) at the request of a parent of a scout who had lost interest in earning the Eagle rank:
Kelby,
Your Dad asked me to drop you a line and say something inspirational that might persuade you to dig down deep and find the determination to make the rank of Eagle Scout. It’s a reasonable request, from a father who obviously wants to see his son succeed. But here’s the thing – The Eagle Award is not really meant for people who need to be dragged across the finish line. It’s meant for a select few, and I have no idea if you have the guts to see it through.
Statistically, I suspect you do not. Only one out of a hundred Scouts make Eagle, so if you fail, there will be lots of other people with whom you can share excuses. Quitting now might disappoint your Dad, but I doubt that he or anyone else will be overly surprised. Anytime 99 out of 100 people do the same thing, it’s not exactly a shock.
I’m not trying to be cute with a bunch of reverse psychology. When I was 15, there was nothing that anyone could have said to me that would have inspired me to do something I didn’t want to do, especially a stranger with a TV show. So I’m not going to assume you’re any different, or pretend that I have some influence or insight that you haven’t already heard from a dozen other people who actually know and care about you. I’ll just tell you straight up, that doing something extraordinary can be very lonely, and most people simply aren’t cut out for it. Being an Eagle Scout requires you to be different than most everyone around you, and being different is really, really hard. That’s why the award is called “an accomplishment.”
Personally, and for whatever it’s worth, the best decisions I’ve made in my own life, are those decisions that put me on the outside of being cool. Singing in the Opera, working in home shopping, starring in the school play when the entire football team laughed at me, and especially earning my Eagle, were all choices that required sacrifice, hard work, and delayed gratification. I have no idea if you possess those qualities, or even envy them.
But I can tell you for certain, that NOT getting your Eagle, will be one of the easiest things you’ve ever done.
Anyway, I have no idea if you would prefer an easy life of predictability and mediocrity, or if have the passion to follow the road less traveled. Only you get to decide that.
Good Luck,
Mike
Becoming Eagle Scout is a hard task that dedicated scouters can conquer. They must go through many merit badges that teach them many of the things necessary to survive outdoors and also many life strategies outside of scouting, or outdoors. A total of 21 merit badges, 13 of which are required.
After earning the Eagle title, you can advance by earning Eagle Palms. They are earned through various methods. Some including being active three months after advancing to Eagle, earning five more merit badges (up to fifteen, earning three palms), and living the scout oath and law in your daily life.
As stated before, Eagle Scouts can earn Eagle Palms if they’re active in the troop, or other means. But, being active can consist of them helping other scouts on earning their Eagle, (of course) participating until they’ve achieved more merit badges, and (also, of course) serving in campouts as normal, and other such activities.
TJ and Jamie had a combined Eagle Court of Honor on October 22, 2014.
More info to come soon.
Troop 767 serves members and non-members in the Scotchtown Ward boundaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We meet every Wednesday (excluding the first Wednesday of the month) at 7:00pm at the Ward building located at:
14573 Scotchtown Rd.
Montpelier, VA 23192
Our Troop is a boy led troop with emphasis on advancement, high adventure and having fun. We welcome all visitors to join us at our weekly Troop meeting.
If you have any questions, please feel free to head to our contact page and send us an email. We would love to hear from you!
Updated by John Oliver on 4/21/15
Hello Everyone! I hope this message finds you all well. As mentioned in the last newsletter, medical forms are needed for all scouts and leaders in order to participate in the great adventures we go on. If you got an email a few weeks back, please take the time to fill out the medical forms (at least parts A and B) for your youth so that we don’t end up having to send people home (no fun).
You can find a link to the medical forms on our link page. Please provide these before sending your youth on the next campout in June.
We look forward to camping with the youth this coming summer! Our boys have planned a lot of great events.
