The Troop Committee will meet Tuesday at 7:30 at the parish center. All adult leaders and parents are welcome to participate.

Our next camping trip is to Running Bear (formerly ALKOR). The scouts will be camping in unheated cabins on the hillside. The adults will be sleeping in the pavilion or tents. Bring your warmest sleeping bag, extra blankets and a foam pad for insulation. This is going to be cold weather camping and sleeping. Adults planning on sleeping in the drafty pavilion may want to bring a cot to be off the concrete floor. You should still  use an insulating pad on top of the cot.

The adults will be cooking for everyone on this trip. The cost of the trip is $20 and includes all your food. We will be eating in a dining hall heated to 55 degrees.

This is a great site when we have some snow. The camp is only about twelve miles away. Here are the directions.

We will be sharing the camp with a small troop whose members will be camping in tents, doing outdoor cooking, and sharing the bathrooms.  They will NOT be using the dining hall or the cabins.  They will camp in an area away from us, but that area has not yet been designated by the camp owner.

Sea Base Trip 2013

Sea Base 2013 - Any Scout interested in going to Sea Base in 2013 should see Mr. Krach as soon as possible. 

·       Sea Base is a high adventure Scout Camp located in the Florida Keys. 

·       To be eligible for this trip, you must be 13 and finished the 8th Grade or be 14 by the time of the trip (estimated, late June, early July, 2013). 

·       We need a head count of interested participants to enter a lottery for potential crew slots.  Depending on the adventure selected the crew sizes vary from 8 (6 scouts and 2 adults) to up to 22 (18 scouts and 4 adults)

·       Parents who would like more information may speak with Mr. Krach or visit the Sea Base website - http://www.bsaseabase.org . 

·       Adult leaders are needed for this trip – please contact Mr. Krach if interested.  Adult leaders are required to be registered with the BSA and the archdiocese of Maryland.

·       The total cost of the trip will depend on factors not yet determined, such as airfare and car rentals and other activities.  The most recent Sea Base trip (2009) cost approximately $1200/person.

Pancake Breakfast, Sunday, February 12th

Troop fundraiser & Parish Event!  

To increase our success, each Scout Family is needed to:
 

Sell at least 10 tickets. Please include scout’s name on ticket!

• PLEASE turn in ticket money & any unsold tickets by Feb 9 Scout Meeting.

Volunteer at the Pancake breakfast

• Need each scout and 1 parent per family.  The more the merrier too!  Choose from:

• Setup Feb 11th 6- 7:30pm 

• OR Pancake Breakfast Feb 12

• 7:30-9:30am

• 9:30–11:30am or

• 11:30am-1pm 

• Sign-up at Scout meeting or e-mail anneckrach@verizon.net

Bake table item

• Donate

• whole cakes or pies

• individually wrapped cookies, brownies etc.

• any other yummies!

• Bring donations to the MPR on Sat Feb 11^th 6-7pm

• OR Sun at 7:30 a.m.

• OR donate $5 by Feb 9^th Scout Meeting for Parent Club to purchase baked goods on your behalf.

Questions?  Contact Anne Krach 410-252-865 or anneckrach@verizon.net

We will hold our annual open house for prospective Scouts during our Troop meeting on February 9th. Scouts should invite their friends to come and check out the Troop. Contact Mr Downs for more information or to arrange a special invitation

We have three openings for our confirmed trip to Philmont in 2012. We are also attempting to send a crew in 2013. Please contact Mr. Palmer or Mr. Krach if you are interested in either of these two trips.

We are going to Seven Springs Mountain Resort in 2012. All Seniors, Patrol Leaders or Those Who Have Been Patrol Leaders and Venture Scouts are eligible to participate. The cost of the trip is $230. See the flyer for additional information.

This is the presentation given by the Scoutmaster at the Parents Meeting in September 2011.

Youth Safety is the No.1 concern of the BSA, and the Boy Scouts have updated the following policies effective June 1. 2010 – Note: all adult registered volunteers must comply with the following:

1. Youth protection training (YPT) is required for all registered volunteers
2. New leaders are required to take YPT before they submit an application for registration
3. YPT must be taken every 2 years – if training is not current they will not be registered at the time of annual charter renewal
4. YPT is available on line – go to http://www.myscouting.org to take the training you will need your member ID number which is found on your BSA card.
5. If you do not know your number contact Walt Anderson
6. Be sure to have your YPT up to date

Anyone who would like to designate all or part of their  United Way Campaign contribution to Troop 497 should do so through the Parents Club. You should include the full name of the organization and the Private Sector Designation Number ( may also be called an Agency Number).

Parents Club of Boy Scout troop 497, Inc. # 7537

Help us keep contact information up to date:

• If you change your e-mail address – NOTIFY us of the change – just send an email to moosemen@verizon.net with the new e-mail address.

Monthly boards of review for Star and Life
Monthly boards of review for Star and Life are held during the first Troop meeting of each month. A scout who would like to plan a review must contact Dr. John Milto, our Troop Advancement Chairman, to schedule the Board of Review at least one week ahead of time. You will need to be in full uniform, have your Scout Handbook, dues paid in full, and merit badges confirmed.

Camping Trips and Activities
All dates/locations/activities subject to change. "Tentative" means reservations have not been secured for these dates and they are more likely to change then dates that are not tentative.

See the announcements for each trip for more detailed information as a trip approaches. We have posted a generic camping trip personal gear list to our forms page on this site. Print it out and use it as a reminder list when packing for a weekend camping trip.