Scoutmaster Shane’s Troop 560

Tonight we made mini-marshmallow shooters.  Each scout as given a 3 foot legth of half inch PVC pipe and several fittings with the instructions to design and build their own.  Most started out with elaborate designs but after practicing at our makeshift target range, decided that simple was better.  We went to the Mountain View Park basketball court for team battles and ended up playing a modified game of marshmallow dodgeball.  Here are the names of our creations and pictures from start to finish.  Guess who got pelted with marshmallows after that last shot!
  Nathan: "Blowdart"
  Daniel: "The Tube"
  Connor: "Death Row"
  Zach: "The Demolisher"
  Trace: "The Killer"
  Brandon: "The Maze"
  J.T. "The Ambassador"
  Bro. McCook: "The Jimmy"
  Bro. Layton: "Mad Dog"

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Last night we continued working on the Family Life merit badge by discussing the role of fathers in a family.  We also signed up for the merit badges each scout is taking at December Advancment Days.  You can see a full list by clicking on the "Advancement Day News" link over there on the left.  Each scout should have brought home a requirement list with the prerequisites circled in green.  Be sure to have these things done by December 2nd.

We all got service hours by helping Randy with the last part of his Eagle project.  We put together backpacks full of school equipment to be donated to needy children.  This sure has been a great project and Randy has planned and executed it all in true Eagle Scout fashion.  Randy is an example to every deacon that if you work hard, you can get your Eagle before you turn 14.

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Last night we started the Family Life merit badge.  It is required for Eagle and 5 of the 7 deacons do not have it yet.  We started out discussing what a family is and the importance of families to individuals and to society.  Then each scout listed several reasons why they are important to their family.  Here’s a sample of our favorite responses - some more thought provoking than others:

• "I give love to everyone" -Zach Young
• "I help them with their struggles" -Randy Dayes
• "I’m the weird one" -Nathan Fish
• "My fuzzy hair" -Daniel Peterson
• "I lift Aaron up" -Brandon Steenhoek
• "I’m cute" - Connor McCook
• "Without me, it wouldn’t be the same" -J.T. Barrett

Each scout identified 5 separate chores that they do on a regular basis.  Now they have to keep a 90-day record of each time they do these chores.  Please ask your scout about his "Chore Chart" and help him keep track for the next couple months.  If all goes well, we should all have the Family Life merit badge by December!  We ended the night with a game of "lights-out hackysack football" and went home with red knees and bonked heads.

Congratulations to all of our deacons.  After last night every one of them earned their swimming merit badge.  For the last requirement, each scout created and presented their very own swimming exercise program using the 5 key steps for a successful aerobic excercise.  They also had to make up a name for their program and draw helpful diagrams.  Here’s a sample:

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Tonight we finished all of the in-water requirements for the Swimming merit badge.  Our own swimming coach, Brother Tait helped the Scouts complete their front crawl, back crawl, sidestroke, breathstroke and backstroke lap swimming as well as the headfirst and long shallow dives. 

Learning even more of what to do in a water emergency, everyone floated face up for one minute and then practiced survival floating for another 5 minutes!  The Scouts learned the huddle position to keep warm and stave off hypothermia.  To simulate rough waters the others jumped in the pool around them and Brother McCook made waves with a boogie board - and they stayed together through all of that!  When we meet in 2 weeks (next week is combined Water Olympics) we will finish our last requirement of creating an aerobic exercise swimming program and all of the deacons will have the Swimming merit badge.

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We met at Brother McCook’s house to work on the Swimming Merit Badge last night.  The boys had to come fully dressed over their swim suits because requirement #4 simulates an emergency situation where you are in the open water without a lifejacket.  To prevent the legs getting too tired from treading water continuously, the Scouts had to inflate their shirts and pants and use them as flotation devices and "swim" to shore while resting their legs.  Needless to say, it was quite an adventure. 

It took a while, but each Scout removed their shoes and socks then tied off the legs and arms of their pants and shirts and tried inflating them to form bubbles of air to rest on - all the while treading water.  Most gave up on inflating the shirts and concentrated on just the pants - which seemed to hold the air better.  We’re not sure how many would have actually survived had this been a real emergency but it sure was fun to try.  We also finished requirement #7 where the Scouts had to retrieve items from the bottom of the pool.

We ended the night with our version of Camp Geronimo’s "Big Splash" with a few Scouts paying homage to Brother McCook’s Shark Man by doing belly flops in lieu of cannonballs.  You can just hear the chant of "Shark Man…Shark Man…Shark Man!"

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Last night we started working on the Swimming merit badge.  All of our deacons need this eagle required badge (a few have partials) and the teachers quorum, aka Brendon & Jeremy joined us.  The boys were pretty wired but we got through the first 3 requirements and each boy gave a mini-presentation on various swimming injuries or illnesses and the first aid needed for each.

We also had to demonstrate the proper technique for performing CPR on a training device.  I couldn’t find a manequin or CPR dummy, so we used a big Winnie the Pooh doll as our "scoutmaster approved device".   The scouts had to act out each step in performing CPR including immitating mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions.  I did not realize that this particular Pooh doll had a voice box in it’s belly, so each time the boys started chest compressions it would trigger the recorded messages.  You can imagine their surpise and the impending laughter of everyone in the room when - during the serious act of performing lifesaving CPR - a supposedly unconcious Pooh Bear suddenly laughs and says "I’ve got a rumbly tumbly!" or "Goodness, that tickles!" or "You’re my friend!"  It was the un-planned hit of the night but it’s probably one CPR practice that the scouts will not soon forget.  What if the manequins at the fire department responded like that?

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We had five boys complete a Scoutmaster Conference and a Board of Review for rank advancements last night.  Because we have not been able to schedule a Court of Honor since our last batch of Board of Reveiws in February, five of the boys had already passed the 4 month waiting period between First Class to Star and now they can get both ranks at our Court of Honor on Sunday!

We also planned the breakfast for the Annual Planning Meeting this Saturday. Traditionally, the deacons serve breakfast before the planning starts. Knowing that we could not compete with Brother Garner’s amazing breakfast burritos of last year, we decided on a cold breakfast of muffins and fruit. The deacons are meeting at the Church on Saturday morning at 7:30 to set up.