Raven Knob 2017 is a Wrap!

The annual trip to Raven Knob for summer camp turned out to be an awesome week! In total 45 merit badges were completed with several others in process. Jack Brewer and Bryce Morse worked on their Bugling Merit Badge and had the honor of playing the Star Spangled Banner for the entire camp on Friday Morning! William Winslow completed his mile swim, and the trrop earned Honor troop status during the week. It was bitter-sweet as we watched Sam Houghton experience his final summer camp as a scout. You can take a look at the pictures from the week HERE. (Look for more to be added)

Time for elections for troop positions this week.

COPE/Climbing Training

COPE/Climbing training will be held April 23. The training is for adult leaders who wish to be able to take their Scouts climbing on the Councils climbing wall, or to use the Council’s Natural Rock equipment. The training will also include an introduction to the COPE course so you can assist your unit in using the COPE course. Registration information can be found on the Council's calendar. Registration is limited to 18 adults.
More information can be found at the links below:

• COPE application
• COPE flyer

National Youth Leadership Training

New format for 2010: Two Weekend Course
June 25-28 and July 9-11, 2010
This year NYLT will be conducted over two weekends (as opposed to a week-long course previously). NYLT is an outdoor experience for current and future leaders in support of the Scoutmaster’s responsibility for the training of his Youth Leaders. The conference utilizes the standard troop structure using the patrol method. Patrol leadership changes daily to give all Scouts a chance to be a Patrol Leader or Assistant. The participants will write their own Vision Statements in which they will plan how to use their newly acquired skills in their home troops. The Conference has been developed by the National Council BSA. The conference is the highest leadership training offered to Youth Leaders at the Council level.
Who may attend?
Participants may be any current or future leader in any Scouting position. Also to be eligible attend they must be at least First Class in rank and thirteen years old by the start of the course. Each Scout must also have a working knowledge of camping, hiking and cooking over an open fire in all weather conditions and have the written approval of his Scoutmaster. Enrollment is limited to 48 qualified participants.
What is the cost of the course?
The total cost for NYLT is $210, which covers course materials, T-Shirt, hat and food for the course. A fee of $75 is required with the application form and the remaining $135 is due no later than June 11th. You are encouraged to sign up early to hold your slot.
What's the date?
First weekend: Check in is at 7 pm Friday, June 25th and will end at 6 pm Monday, June 28th, 2010. Location to be determined.
Second weekend: Check in is at 7 pm Friday, July 9th and participants will be ready to depart following the closing ceremony on Sunday, July 11, 2010 (around 6 pm). Participants must attend both weekends to complete the course. Parents and Scoutmasters will be invited to attend the closing ceremony on July 11th to celebrate their Scout’s accomplishments. Location: Camp Reeves, Carthage, NC.
How can I register for this course?
Applications can be found online through the Council calendar for June or contact Kathy Connelly to obtain an application via email. For more information please contact Kathy Connelly-NYLT Coordinator at kathyconnelly@nc.rr.com or call her at 919-779-6784.
Interested in being on staff?
We are now accepting applications for youth and adult staff. If interested please contact Kathy Connelly for an application form. Don’t hesitate, staff development starts in April. More information can be found on the Council website under the calendar section for June. Contact: Kathy Connelly at kathyconnelly@nc.rr.com.
More Information 

• Youth
• Participant

Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster training

Where: St. Paul’s Luthern Church
1200 W Cornwallis Rd, Durham, NC
When: April 10, 2010
More Information

American Red Cross wilderness first aid training

Where: Triangle Area Chapter, Red Cross, 100 N Peartree Lane, Raleigh, NC
When: March 6 - 7, 2010
Contact: 919-231-1602 x2802
Register: www.trianglearc.org
More Information

Adult Training Schedule 2010

The following training events are approved and scheduled at various locations around the council. Check the Council training calendar at ocscouts.org for specific location and registration information.
Mar. 4 Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills (IOLS) Session 1
Mar. 12-14 IOLS Session 2
Mar. 13-14 OLSWL
Mar. 13 Trainer Development Conference (TDC)
April 17 Trainer’s Edge
April 23-26 COPE/Climbing/Natural Rock
May 8 Commissioner College
May 13 IOLS Session 1
May 21-23 IOLS Session 2
May 22 BALOO
May 22-23 OLSWL
May 22-23 LAST
Sept. 16 IOLS Session 1
Sept. 24-26 IOLS Session 2
Sept. 25 BALOO
Sept. 25-26 OLSWL
Sept. 25-26 LAST
Sept.10-12 Wood Badge 1st Weekend
Oct. 1-3 Wood Badge 2nd Weekend
Nov. 6 University of Scouting

NCSU holding merit badge college April 10

Occoneechee Council and NC State University are sponsoring a Merit Badge College on Saturday, April 10, 2010. Each merit badge will be taught for a full day by one of the leading experts in the state. This is an outstanding educational opportunity for Scouts interested in the sciences or natural resources. To ensure the best possible experience class sizes are capped, so register early. The cost is $15 and includes lunch and a patch.
Complete information is available on our council calendar here.

Eagle Project at the Mordecai House

My Eagle Project is this weekend, Saturday from 10 - 4 and Sunday from 1 - 4. Try to come and help out.  The project will involve replacing the soil and the wood edging of the kitchen garden. You will need gloves and shovels. Lunch and drinks will be provided. It is at the Mordecai House in downtown Raleigh. Here is the link to the map.

http://tinyurl.com/ycrzyjf

Information about the house and park can be found at:
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/raleigh/mor.htm

Thanks
-Aaron Wells SPL

A Year of Celebration Award

Scouts can earn the "Year of Celebration" patch and related ribbons between September 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010.



For 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America has created a strong foundation of leadership, service, and community for millions of America's youth. Through A Year of Celebration, A Century of Making a Difference, we will demonstrate the incredible impact of a century of living the Scout Law.


Program participants will earn recognition for making a difference in their communities due to their dedication to five of Scouting's core values: Leadership, Character, Community Service, Achievement, and the Outdoors. Through that commitment, participants can earn each of five award ribbons to display from our 100th Anniversary commemorative patch. (From: http://ww2.scouting.org/100years/100years/AYearOfCelebration.aspx )


The Boy Scout details on the patch requirements can be found at:
http://ww2.scouting.org/100years/100years/sitefiles/1000/YourSource/PlanningTools/YOC/PatchReq_Boy_Scouts.pdf

Scout Sunday

Last week Scouts from both the Boy Scout Pack and Troop as well as the Girl Scouts expressed their appreciation to the Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church for so many years of support by attending a morning service.

Did you know that our Cub Scout Pack was chartered in 1966 and the Boy Scout Troop was chartered in 1969? For 44 years WBPC has generously provided the Scouts with a place to meet. Over that time Troop 398 has had 38 Boy Scouts earn their Eagle, and several have completed Eagle projects at the church.

2010 Raleigh MBU participation from Troop 398 scouts

The following scouts of Troop 398 have signed up to take the following sessions during the 2010 Raleigh Merit Badge University event.

• Owen Clapp - Communications
• Sam Dubois - Fingerprinting (AM)/ Fire Safety (PM)
• Gray Keith - Citizenship in Community
• Gabriel Price - Personal Management (AM)/ Genelogy (PM)
• David Reese - Citizenship in the World
• Eric Stallings - Fingerprinting (AM) / Fire Safety (PM)
• Walter Vozzo - First Aid
• Stuart Wells - Personal Management (AM) / Genelogy (PM)
• Macon Wessell - Communications

Details of the sessions and what requirements need to be completed prior to arrival on February 27, 2010 can be found at: http://www.raleighmbu.com/

Adopt-a-Trail on 12/19/2009 at 1:30 PM

If you are in town, I hope you can attend our final adopt-a-trail cleanup of 2009.  It sounds as though the weather will be better in the afternoon of Saturday, 12/19. We will meet at the parking lot on Hunt Drive, just south from Western Blvd. at 1:30 PM. We usually take about 1.5 hours for the cleanup.


Hunt Drive is just south of Central Prison and is one entrance into the Dorothea Dix property. A link to the approximate location is:
Parking lot location on Hunt Drive for Adopt-a-Trail

Bring gloves and plastic grocery bags to help with gathering the trash. If someone in the neighborhood needs a ride, let me know.  The Wells vehicle will have room for 1 or 2 folks.

Otherwise, have a safe and joyful Christmas and New Years!

Yours in Scouting,
Joe Wells

Troop 398 – Week ahead for 12/14/09

As you probably have seen in the photos that David Price took, we had a good size group on our December backpacking trip in Umstead State Park. As I was dropping Sam off at his home on Sunday, his dad commented that the weather that day was fairly typical of a summer day in Belgium. Hope most of the gear will be dried out by the end of Tuesday (12/15)! Thanks go to Tim Hunt for organizing and carrying out the event.

We have reserved 6 lanes at Western Lanes for this Wednesday night. If folks want to car pool to Western Lanes, the youth going are: Gray, Athre, Joseph, Will, David Reese, Luke, Walter, Eric, Macon, Tristan, Owen, Ben, Gabe, Sam, Ollie Wessell and the adults: Steven Vozzo, Roger Russell, Don Munn, David Price, Cindy Keith, David Hedberg, Wanda and Joe Wells

Nine scouts have signed up for Raleigh Merit Badge University. I’ll let you know when we receive a confirmation on what merit badges Walter, Eric, Gray, Stuart, Gabe, Owen, David, Macon and Sam will be taking so you can start working on the prerequisites for the merit badges.

Our next adopt-a-trail day will be December 19th at 9 AM. We will meet at the parking lot at Hunt Drive and Western Blvd.

The next regular Troop meeting will be January 6, 2010. Bring any troop gear using with the backpacking trip to that meeting!

Yours in Scouting,
Joe Wells

Camping Prep for trip to Jordan Lake

Gray did a great job this evening in coordinating the planning for the troop outing to Jordan Lake that is scheduled for this weekend. It appears that 12 scouts will be on this outing, with Gray, Macon and Stuart serving as primary cooks for the 3 cook groups.

Don't forget to bring a sack lunch for Saturday.
You can obtain a gear packing list, in PDF form, from "Camping Checkoff" link found in the "Other Forms" area of:
http://www.scouts398.org/resources/

Those scouts who will be working on 2nd class cooking will need to bring $3 to contribute to the primary cook/food buyer of your group, while others need to bring $6 to contribute to the cooks for food costs. Please bring your money on Saturday!

Mr. Vozzo, Mr. Russell and Mr. Wells will be driving.

We will meet at Western Blvd. Presbyterian Church at 8 A.M. on Saturday and we will return between 12:30 and 1 P.M. on Sunday.

Yours in Scouting,


Joe Wells
http://www.scouts398.org/

11/04/09 Spaghetti Dinner overveiw

Next weekend we will be going to Jordan Lake. This trip will be from Saturday to Sunday.

Last weekend was the Spaghetti Dinner. We raised about $1800 dollars. Last night we made a plus delta on it.
Some of the pluses were:
- Passing out flyers
- A lot of people
- Good food
- made a lot of money
- waiting tables
- ordering systems
- deserts
- Good weather
- teamwork
- containers
some of the deltas were:
- lull from 1-4
- long day
- spilled drink
- music
- deliveries

The troops anuall ski trip is coming up and we need to know who is going and we need sleeping money. one night is $16.95 and $34.00. Ski's are $65.00 and Boards are $84.00.

10/21 -Nat-E-Con Overveiw and Spaghetti Dinner

10/21/09

Wednesday night we talked about the spaghetti dinner and made a Plus/Delta for Nat-E-Con

Some of the Pluses were

-Started merit badges
-Food eating kits complete
-Food
-Greg Fishel
-Extra Free Time
-Football
-Clean bathrooms
-*wash station assignments

Some of the deltas were,

-Talking at night
-Playing around to much
-Tent setup
-Organization
-Merit badge unsatisfactory
-Wash stations thoroughness

Spaghetti Dinner

Friday 30th 8am to 8pm

Morning shift: Macon
Afternoon shift: Owen after 3pm
Night shift: Owen
All day shifts: Eric, Sam, Ben, Walter, Gabe, Aaron, Stuart

This weekend we will being handing out door hangers for the spaghetti Dinner. Please try to be at the Church Saturday 10am to 12pm

Any other spaghetti dinner questions email Mr. Hedberg, Mr. Vozzo, or Mr. Wells

Minutes from meeting of October 8, 2009

Minutes from 10/8/2009 - Preparation for camporee.

Meet at Church at 3:45 Friday
Leave church at 4:15
Arrive at campsite around 5:45
Arrive back at church around 1:00 Sunday


Bring a sack dinner for Friday.

Food cost $8 to $10

Spaghetti dinner tickets for October 30,2009. Sell those tickets. Write the persons name and email address on a piece of paper. Ticket cost $5.


NO scouts next week. Western Blvd. Presbyterian Church will be hosting WIHN.


Macon Wessell,

Scribe

09 Council Camporee - Nat-E-Con and other updates

On the short list:
*  The church is having the Concert on the Lawn at Western Blvd. Presbyterian Church on Sunday 10/4/2009 from 4-6:30pm.  All are welcome to attend. Details at:
http://wbpresbyterian.com/2009/06/26/60th-anniversay-celebration/

*  On Saturday October 17 from 8 until noon the church will be having a work day.  Scouts are encouraged to help out, if they are able.

   // // //     \\ \\ \\

Our October outing is a Council Camporee at Camp Reeves ( beside Camp Durant, in Moore County). The theme is Nat-E-Con. (Nature, Environment, and Conservation.)  The program emphasis is not on advancement, although many of the activities fulfill various elements of advancement.  A whole lot of planning and sponsoring is going into this event and it looks like it will be an exciting time for Occoneechee scouts to come together to study nature, environment, and conservation!

If you have not signed up but want to go, please let the Wells know by 5pm today (10/2/2009).  The camporee cost is $20 for late registration.  We can collect the money on Wednesday, but registration
needs to happen today.

Scouts attending will have the opportunity to work on 4 merit badges on Saturday, with sessions from 8:15-11:45 am, and again from 1:30-3:30 pm.  Most likely the scouts will NOT be able to complete the
merit badges, but they will be off to a great start for working on them.  Please select, in rank order (1 is most preferred, 2 is second most preferred, etc.) the top 12 merit badges you would like to work
on out of the list of 21.

Send me your top 12 list by Tuesday, October 6th.


 Astronomy
 Bird Study
 Energy
 Environmental Science
 Fishing
 Fly Fishing
 Fish & Wildlife Management
 Forestry
 Gardening
 Geology
 Insect Study
 Landscape Architecture
 Mammal Study
 Nature
 Nuclear Science
 Oceanography
 Plant Science
 Public Health
 Reptile & Amphibian Study
 Soil & Water Conservation
 Weather


Additional information related to the merit badges and the camporee can be found below:

The requirements for these merit badges are extensive in scope and it is not the intention of this Camporee to have Scouts that have not adequately prepared the necessary work before the event complete the merit badges. However, the skills and expertise of the presenters will greatly assist prepared Scouts to rapidly complete the requirements for the selected merit badges. ALL requirements must be completed as written for award of the merit badge.

Boy Scout Merit Badges that will be available during the Environmental Round-Robins:
http://nat-e-con.info/BSActivityProgram.aspx

Merit Badge Priority Sheet:
http://nat-e-con.info/Documents/Merit%20Badge%20Priority%20Sheet.pdf

Boy Scout Schedule:
http://nat-e-con.info/BSProgram.aspx

Lots more info in the Boy Scout Leaders Guide, on the website :
http://nat-e-con.info/BSLGdoc.aspx

Food costs will be in addition to camporee costs.  We will work out the logistics of travel, tenting and food on Wednesday, October 7th.

Update for the week of 9/21/2009

Greetings,

With the 2009 Fall Court of Honor occurring on 9/30/2009, there will be a number of Board of Reviews going on over the course of this week’s meeting period.  Patrol break outs will include preparing for the Court of Honor and supply room inventory.

Scouts participating in Board of Reviews need to appear in full “class A” uniform.

Yours in Scouting, Joe Wells