November 1999

Upcoming Events
19-21Hawk Mountain
22Meeting/Court of Honor
27Leaf Raking
29Meeting

Troop Hosting Annual Pancake Breakfast

The major Troop5 fundraiser for theyear has been set for Saturday, December 4 from 8:00 to 11:30 am, featuring al-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage, coffee, milk and OJ. The funds raised through this event go toward buying equipment and helping to offset the camping fees.

Mr. K. did such a great job last year running the show, he has been asked to return as The Sultan of Sausage, the Lord of the Links, The Prince of Pancakes, well you get the idea. By now you have received your call to volunteer action. Parent volunteers may choose between two shifts. The early-bird-gets-the-freshest-coffee shift runs from 7:00 to 9:30am. Meanwhile, the I-was-up-too-late-last-night-for-this shift extends from 9:30 to 12:00noon. If these times don't fit your busy schedule, consider offering to help ste up the night before or come in for the clean up.

Each scout family is required to sell (or eat?) 10 tickets to the Pancake Breakfast. Additional tickets are available from Kr. K. There will be grand prizes awarded to the two scouts that sell the most tickets. Additionally, every individual Scout that sells 15 or more tickets will receive a prize as well. A family with two scouts must sell a minimum of 20 tickets to receive a prize.

Are the rumors true that there is a movement afoot to dethrone Mr. C, last year's winner of the "Best Pancake Breakfast Attire" trophy?

Saturday November 27

Leaf raking at the Church

This is the Troop's opportunity to show our appreciation to the Church for chartering and hosting Troop 5.

Saturday December 11

Washington's Corssing Hike

Come and enjoy a day hike at Washington's Crossing and earn a trail medal. Meet at the church at 8:30am. Pack your own lunch

Scouting for Food Competiion

This month Boy Scouts across America are collecting non-perishable food items as part of the nation-wide Scouting for Food Campaign. Every year the Bucks County Council of Boy Scouts sponsors this food drive to add to the inventories at local food pantries. This year, there is a great need for cereal.

Troop 5 is proud to support this worthy effort. This year, the troop will make Scouting for Food into a patrol competition. The patrol that brings in the most food items will earn 10 extra points on the yearly competition and will also get a chance to be the leadership for one of the December meetings. This means the Patrol Leader will be the SPL, the Assistant PL will become the XO, and the curent leadership will fit into that patrol. The food drive ends November 22. Check the article on New LEadership for all the parks that come with being SPL!

Ultimate Commandos

The air was brisk and the leaves curnched underfoot as over 30 scouts and adults gathered for the October camping trip to Resica Falls. The annual Ultimate Commandos weekend was underway.

On Saturday morning, each of the two teams was required to use lashings to construct "objects" for the competition: two triangles, two squares, and a flag. The rules were simple, the objects had to be made from wood and binders twine. Each object had to have the team's ribbon and a glow stick on it. The objects were to be hidden anywhere on the team's own territory as long as 50% of the object was visible.

The game, similar to Capture the Flag, started after lunch on Saturday. Scouts were garbed in camo and drak clothing. Each player was outfitted with two armbands with different colors indictating different rank or position. Another requirement was for each team to preapre a hot dinner that had to be eaten by all. While thigns were heating up on the battlefield, things were also getting rough in the adult's neutral zone as the cappachino machine was on the fritz.

Play continued until 9pm Saturday. Josh's team was declared teh winner. Congratulations guys.

Holiday Service Project

Scouting has always had a commitment to community srvice. Troop 5 shares this commitment. One of the more serious activities the boys get involved wth each year is collecting food and clothing to aid a needy Bucks County Family.

In early December, each patrol will be assigned a member of an anonymous family for which to gather gifts. The patrols will also be responsible for deciding which food items they will be providing. At the December 20 meeting, scouts will get into the holiday spirit by wrapping the presents. These special gifts and food will be delivered by the troop to the family before Christmas. Thanks for your help in sharing the spirit of the season.

Coats for the Needy

Matt P's Eagle Scout Project

During this time of year, the less fortunate have to face the sad reality that they have fewer than needed warm clothes to help them through the cold months. That is why I'm having a coat drive as my Eagle Scout Project. The coats will be collected in several churches throughout the month of November. I'm asking for the help of the Scouts in collecting and sorting these coats. The original date for sorting them was planned for December 6. Unfortunately, I have found the number of donated coats overwhelming in the first week. So Due to space, I had to deliver them as soon as possible. But the coats were not without welcome where they were going. The Outreach Ministries, where I took the donations was more than overjoyed at the sight of the badly needed coats.

I'd like to thank all those who have helped me, Brett and Jon. But I still need more help and I urge all of you who have free time to please sign up on the bulletin boad to help me. Thank you very much.