A Message from your SPL

This is your SPL, Daniel. This week on Thursday, April 23 we will hold a virtual Troop
Meeting using Zoom.

If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please do not hesitate to contact me or your ASPL, Andre. Please feel free to contact your Patrol leader if you need help with rank advancement or if you have any other questions. Below is a schedule of events:

Time (P.M.)	Event	Leaders
6:00 – 6:50	New Scout Meeting. Tenderfoot First Aid.	Russel Andre Mr. Wilcox
7:00-7:50	Law merit badge	Mrs. Saindon Mrs. Landry
8:00-8:50	Open Forum for any questions, rank advancement or merit badge work.	Mr. Corkill Mr. Jackson

Here are the details for the New Scout Meetings (again, to join these Zoom meetings, use the link in received in email):
● Time: Thursday from 6:00 – 6:50 (NOTE TIME CHANGE). New scouts please join us every Thursday from 6:00 – 6:50 pm to work on early rank
advancement. This week Tenderfoot First Aid. To join, use the link below. If you have questions, please contact Mr. Wilcox.
● Senior Scouts Needed to Plan and Run the New Scout Meetings:
We need senior scouts to plan the meetings for the new scouts. These meetings will cover various early rank advancement topics (knot tying, first aid, outdoor skills, etc.). If you would like to plan and lead one of these meetings, please contact Mr. Wilcox at wilcoxn@yahoo.com.

Here are the details for the Law Merit Badge Meeting. Mrs. Saindon will be picking up where we stopped.

Be Prepared. Bring your work packages.

Starting on Thursday, April 16, we will be holding weekly virtual meetings for all new scouts to work on early rank advancement (Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class). Any scouts who have not achieved these ranks are welcome to join us to work on advancement. The meetings will be from 7:00 – 8:00 pm.

For our first meeting, we will work on Tenderfoot Knot Tying (Tenderfoot requirements 4 a – d). You may use the link below to access the Zoom meeting.
The ZOOM meeting ID will be in your email or you can contact Mr. Corkill or Mr. Wilcox for the information.

Troop 345! Our summer camp is scheduled for June 21st until June 27th.

If you can not signed up yet and you need more information, you can read all about in the Camp Cris Dobbins Program Guide (Program Guide).

The Program Guide contains some great information and will get you exicted about summer camp. Key information includes:

• Page 17 decribes the merit badge options.
• Page 32 talks about the White Water Rafting option.
• Page 41-43 talks about the times available for the merit badges.
• Be sure to check out Page 47, it has a check list of Forms that will need to be sent to “info at troop 345 denver dot org.”

It is time for you to start planning your activites for summer camp. Your mom or dad has received a worksheet that needs to be filled out and returned to “advancement at troop 345 denver dot org” no later than Friday May 17th!

Troop 345 held the PLC on April 5. At the meeting we decided to postpone the Patrol Leader elections for a month in hopes that we could have the elections in person. The Current list of Patrol Leaders is listed below.

Please feel free to contact your Patrol Leader if you need help wil rank advancement or if you have any other questions. Also, we are expanding the the postion of APL to include Troop Guide to new scouts. This will be discussed further next month when we have the Patrol Leader elections.

Other open leadership positions include: Troop Guides, Den Chiefs (which start in August), Scribe, Librarian, Quartermaster, Order of the Arrow Representative, Webmaster, Bugler and Chaplain Aide. If you are interested in any of these positions contact the SPL.

Troop 345’s Current Patrol Leaders Are:

Patrol	Patrol Leader
Super Patrol	Unknown
Elite Lions	Alex F.
Turtles	Grant G.
Eagles	Henry W.
Pegasus	Tamsin M.
Platypus	Russell L.
New Scouts Patrol	William S (Troop Guide)

Each Month a different Assitant Senior Patrol Leader will be in charge of planning and running the meetings.

The meeting month and the Assitant Patrol Leaders are:

Month	ASPL
April 2020	Andre C.
May 2020	Erik G.
June 2020	David P.
July 2020	David P.
August 2020	Brian G.
September 2020	Brian G.
October 2020	Erik G.

Important Information

• We are finding new and exciting ways to help scouts continue to work on rank advancement and merit badges. This will most likely occur using Zoom, and app similar to Facetime. If you have rank advancement or merit badge that you are ready to complete, please contact Mr. Corkill, Mr. Jackson or Dr. Hruska.
• Mr. Corkill has all of the troop merit badge booklets at home. Please contact him if you require one.
• Mr. Jackson is currently finishing the Snow Sports merit badge and is beginning Communications. Contact Mr. Jackson if you are interested.
• We are working with Mrs. Saindon to resume the Law merit Badge.

Summer Activities Updated

The 2020 Calendar has been updated. Due to the current conditions, the Air Force Campout has been cancelled. The dates for the Lost Creek Wilderness Backpaking Trip, New Scout Campout, Camp Cris Dobbins, Alpine Trek and the Rafting trip can all be found within the 2020 Calendar.

If you wish to attend any of these events please email Mr. Corkill with:

• The name of the event you want to attend.
• The name of the Scout attending.
• The Scout’s Patrol.
• Will the Scout need a ride? (yes/no)
• Name of Parent (if attending).
• Is the Parent able to drive? (yes/no)
• If driving, list the number of available seatbelts.

Bryan on Scouting put together a great blog on the merit bages that can be completed at home. Here is a link to that blog.

Completing a merit badge during this time is not that different for scouts. Here are the steps to help you out.

1. Find a registered merit badge counselor. Scouts should work with their Scoutmaster to identify a merit badge counselor for the badge or badges they want to earn. Troop 345 has a list of merit badge counselors that you should have received in an email from the SPL.
2. Use the official Requirements. The official requirements for all 137 merit badges can be found Scouting.Org’s Merit Badge Page. All merit badges have some requirements that can be completed during this time. Byan on Scouting’s blog (above) lists those that can be completed during Social Distancing.
3. HAVE FUN! Earning merit badges is one of the all time favorite activities of scouting. Other than merit badges required for Eagle, scouts get to pick any merit badge that interests them. The decision is yours! Remember, if it seems like homework…you are doing it wrong!!