Troop 5, Middlebury, CT

This Saturday, May 5th at 3 PM Troop 5 will be assisting our sponsoring organization Middlebury Congregational Church in its Flea Market clean-up. If you can help, please e-mail me at committeechair@troop5middlebury.org

This is the only service project that the church asks us to participate in each year. They provide so much for us, and we need to do our good turn to show our appreciation.

I am told it is a lot of fun throwing televisions and computer terminals into dumpsters and getting free leftover stuff. We will be at Shepardson Community Center for 1-2 hours. Please join us!

Also, check out the new photos at www.troop5middlebury.org website. It looks like the climbing weekend was a great time.

Mrs. Marcucci

This Thursday, May 3rd, at 7:00 P.M. there will be a
Troop 5 Committee meeting at the Middlebury
Congregational Church.

–Troop 5 Bike Trip June 22-24th:

Please e-mail Tom Curry if you
will be attending this trip. He needs a headcount.
There will be a non-refundable $25 deposit for this
trip with expected cost being approximately $85 per
attendee.

–Scout in the news (from a Troop 5 parent)

CNN reported that a male student at Virginia Tech
survived by using skills that he learned as a Boy
Scout. Kevin Stern was shot in the leg and applied a
tourniquet to his wounded leg. The young man’s scout
master was interviewed on TV. He reported that Kevin
was expected to survive his wounds.

The balance of payments for those scouts who have
signed up for summer camp is due this Thursday, April
26th. Scouts should have received a letter from me
detailing the balance due.

Please make checks payable to Troop 5 – we will
combine them into one check for the Scout Office.

If you have applied for a campership, and have not
heard from the Connecticut Rivers Council, you should
wait until you receive notification of your award
before making any additional payments. NO LATE FEE
WILL BE CHARGED.

Our goal is to have all of our troop members attend
summer camp with the troop. It is a week filled with
fun activities and presents opportunities for growth
and advancement. Talk to any of the boys who have gone
in past years – they will tell you how much fun it is.

If you have not signed up for camp, it is not too
late. Call Jeff to discuss your attendance.

Jeff Lukens
Assistant Scoutmaster
jeff “at” troop5middlebury.org

A) Assistant Scoutmaster Bill Ready will be offering the following merit badges:

Fingerprinting
Crime Prevention

Parents, please note that the crime prevention merit
badge will include a group visit to a prison or
detention facility. This requirement will be
arranged/coordinated by Tom Curry and he asks that
only the Scouts that are 14 years and older attend
this visit. The younger Scouts who cannot visit the
detention facility, however can still complete this
requirement (#7) using another option.

B) In the near future, Assistant Scoutmasters Bill Ready and Andy Riddle will be offering:

Personal Fitness (Eagle Required)

***Any interested Scouts should contact Mr. Ready in
person at a troop meeting.***

Scouts, you can work on merit badges throughout the
year, not just at summer camp, and it is good to start
working on merit badges from the very beginning, even
while working on Tenderfoot requirements.

Parents, please show this to your Scout. Due to
holidays and vacation weeks, I have been unable to
announce this at a Troop meeting – thank you!

SERVICE HOUR OPPORTUNITY: On April 22nd from 3-5
PM, Troop 5 Scouts will assist in an Earth Day
Clean-up on the Middlebury Greenway, sponsored by the
Middlebury Community Women’s Club. Tefta Bushka and
Marti Peterson of Troop 5 will be in charge of this
effort. Gloves will be provided. Scouts may be
dropped off.

Scouts, if you can help out and want to earn
service hours, please contact Tefta Bushka

All Scouts should wear
class B uniforms (a Scout t-shirt).

***Second Class, Star, and Life rank advancement
requires service hours. First Class rank advancement
requires participation in ten Troop or Patrol
activities, of which this could count.***

Hello Troop 5:

Who wants to go biking on Cape Cod??? I know the
weather does not remind us of the summer, BUT Troop 5
has a wonderful bike trip planned for the weekend of
June 22-24th. At this point, we have three drivers.
If you think you will be able to drive and attend this
fun-filled weekend, please e-mail Tom Curry

There will be a non-refundable $25
deposit for this trip with expected cost being
approximately $85 per attendee. ***We need at least
three more drivers.***

Per Tommy, SPL, “At this point we are
anticipating a number of 15 scouts to attend and am
trying to do a budget using this number. We are also
anticipating a total number of drivers of 6 in order
to get all boys as well as gear up there. We will
leave on Friday June 22 as early as possible, as it is
at least a four hour drive, possibly 4pm and return on
Sunday June 24th between 6pm and 9pm. The scouts will
also need to bring a little extra money for a food
stop on the way home Sunday evening. I am trying to
get a trailer for the weekend to transport gear.”

Thanks!!!

Maureen Marcucci

Hello Troop 5:

I) CONGRATULATIONS TO TROOP 5′S 47TH EAGLE SCOUT!!!
National has approved Eddie R.’s application. Please
mark June 10th on your calendars for his Eagle Scout
ceremony at Middlebury Congregational Church.

II) Congratulations to Jeff Lukens for winning the
Mad River District Award of Merit!!! This is the
highest award given to a District Scouter.

III) Congratulations to Tom Curry for winning the
Lord Baden Powell Mad River District Award!!! This
award is given to dedicated committee members and
scoutmasters who assist at the local level.

4) Thank you to the fourteen Troop 5 families who
pledged a combined total of $2,605 for the Friends of
Scouting Campaign!!! If you have not sent in your
pledge, please consider returning it ASAP to help in
this worthy effort. FOS helps Scouts with financial
needs attend summer camp, as well as funding
inner-city Scouting programs and support of camping
facilities, etc.

5) ****Parents and Scoutmasters, please consider
attending the May campout. So far, we have two
adults, BUT MANY more are needed to make this a
successful campout. Please e-mail if interested in
helping. April could use another parent as well, but
May is more crucial.

6) The May campout has been changed to one night:
May 19-May 20th at Mattatuck.

7) SERVICE HOUR OPPORTUNITY: On April 22nd from 3-5
PM, Troop 5 Scouts will assist in an Earth Day
Clean-up on the Middlebury Greenway, sponsored by the
Middlebury Community Women’s Club. Tefta Bushka and
Marti Peterson of Troop 5 will be in charge of this
effort. Scouts, if you can help out and want to earn
service hours, please contact Tefta Bushka. All Scouts should wear
class B uniforms (a Scout t-shirt).

Please mark May 5th at 3 PM on your calendars.
Troop 5 has been asked to help our sponsoring
organization Middlebury Congregational Church in its
clean-up from the flea market fundraiser at Shepardson
Center. Details to follow.

9) Thank you to the following:

Bushka, Dooling, Marcucci, Baldwin, Amodeo, Connery,
and Koskelowski who attended the March campout

Tom DeAngelis for raising $608.85 at the bottle drive

Tefta Bushka for raising $1,055.51 with the candy
drive

All Troop 5 adults who will be serving as chairman and
officers for 2007-2008

Mr. Pekovich for volunteering to attend the April
campout and Mr. Burns for volunteering to attend the
May campout

Shelley Pille, for volunteering to work on the Troop 5
Pasta Supper adbook

If I missed your name, thank you!!!

Maureen Marcucci, Committee Chairman

Attention all Scouts who will be First Class and 14 years old by January 1, 2008:Do you want to go to Philmont? Do you want to learn
more about the crew that Troop 5 will be sending?
Then come to a meeting of all those interested in
going to Philmont on Thursday, April 19th at 7 PM at
the Middlebury Congregational Church. We will be
going over the details of all the requirements for the
trek, including:

Costs & Payment Dates ($250 due May 10th)
Height & Weight requirements
Physical & Emotional requirements
Fundraising
Commitment to the Crew

This is an initial meeting, and many questions will be
answered, and some won’t be. Because we are part of
the Connecticut Rivers Council Contingent, we will be
traveling with scouts from across the state. The crew
advisors will be meeting with the other advisors in
the next few months and will have many more details
then.

We are aware that this meeting is during Spring Break,
and many of you will be on vacation. If you cannot
make the meeting, please contact me ASAP to get your
name on the list (if you haven’t already done so).
The following Scouts and advisors have expressed
interest in going to Philmont:

Scouts:
Nick M.
Patrick M.
Tom C.
Marc R.
Ryan B.
Erik R.
Joe P.
Collin R.
Graham R.
John D.
Chris M.

Advisors:
Jeff Lukens
Pat Dooling
Dom Romano
Tom Curry

Yours in Scouting,

Jeff Lukens, Assistant Scoutmaster
jeff@troop5middlebury.org

A friendly reminder to all the new Scouts, and any Scout who has not turned in a deposit for Summer Camp:

A $50 deposit is due this Thursday, April 12th, to secure your spot with Troop 5 at Camp Mattatuck, August 12-18th.

The balance of your payment will be due April 26th.  A letter informing you of your balance will be mailed this weekend.

No scout from Troop 5 should stay home from camp for financial reasons, there are many sources of campership money available to us.  If you did not submit a request for a campership, please speak to me.  All discussions will be held in confidence.

Yours in Scouting,

Jeff Lukens, Assistant Scoutmaster
jeff@troop5middlebury.org