| 2003, Troop
272's First Full Charter Year |
| Troop 272's first charter year began with an outing at the
Optimist Youth Camp on Friday-Saturday, January 3-4, 2003.
On Saturday, we drove up to Bertha Brock
Park in Ionia, Michigan for some winter sports. It was good to visit a bit with our friends
from Troop 33 who were staying in Palmer Lodge that weekend. On the following weekend, we conducted our first
Annual Troop Program Planning
Conference on Friday-Saturday, January 10-11, 2003. The Patrol
Leaders Council did a great job planning a program for the
year. |
| In February, on Friday-Saturday, February 14-15, 2003, Troop 272 conducted
an outing to the Pokagon State
Park Toboggan Run. Although we had originally planned to stay through Saturday night, the
weather was bitter cold and we returned home on Saturday evening. |
| On March 18, we conducted our first Court of Honor
for the year. Scoutmaster McIntosh of Troop 43 recognized Chris for having achieved the rank of Life Scout
before he transferred from Troop 43 to Troop 272. |
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| Later that month, on Saturday, March 29, we conducted a Popcorn Sale fundraiser at Lowe's Home Improvement
Warehouse in South Lansing. |
| On Friday-Sunday, April 4-6, we conducted an Orienteering Outing at Yankee Springs
Recreation Area. The following week was devoted to our first annual
Scouting for Food drive.
We distributed flyers for this drive on Tuesday, April 8, and returned to collect donated items on Saturday, April
12, 2004. |
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| On the following Saturday, April 19, we set up tables for the Easter Sunday breakfast
at our chartered organization, Charlotte Christian Reformed Church, as a service project. |
| On Tuesday, May 13, we conducted a Bring a Friend Day, which was unsuccessful as a
recruitment effort. On the following weekend, Friday-Sunday, May 14-16, we conducted an outing to the
Mawanjidiwin District Spring Camporee at
Bennett Park in Charlotte, Michigan. |
| On Tuesday, June 3, we conducted elections for the Patrol Leaders Council. Chris was elected as Senior Patrol
Leader and Ethan was elected as Murphy Patrol Leader. Chris then appointed Steven as Assistant
Senior Patrol Leader. |
|
| Two weeks later, on Tuesday, June 17, we conducted our second Court of Honor for the year.
We recognized Anthony for achieving the rank of Tenderfoot and Ethan for achieving the rank of Life Scout. |
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| The following weekend, Thursday-Saturday, June 19-21, we conducted an outing to
Fenner Nature Center. That Friday, we conducted a car wash and
candy sale fundraiser at the
Wal-Mart
at 409 N. Marketplace Blvd in Lansing, Michigan. |
| By the end of June, Anthony had left our troop. At this point, we no longer had any members from
Charlotte, Michigan. At the Patrol Leaders Council meeting on Tuesday,
June 24, the PLC decided to conduct our remaining troop meetings at
Olivet Baptist Church in Holt, Michigan, with
the understanding that the troop would plan to pursue a charter with
Olivet Baptist Church, if the
troop was able to take out a charter for 2004 and decided to continue as a troop. |
| In July, on Thursday, July 17, we conducted a bottle drive in Holt. At the end of July, we
began our first high adventure outing, a week long trip to the
Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota, on
Thursday-Thursday, July 31- August 7. |
| At the end of August, on Friday-Sunday, August 22-24, 2003, we conducted an outing to
Lake Michigan. On Saturday, we enjoyed the water activities at
Michigan's Adventure. |
| In September, on Friday-Sunday, September 19-21, 2003, we joined Troop 33 for the
Camp Rotary Cope Course. |
| In October, on Friday-Saturday, October 17-18, 2003, we conducted a campout at
Olivet Baptist Church to prepare
for our Troop Open House on Tuesday, November 18. At this campout, we
worked on the pioneering projects
for this open house. |
|
| We were much encouraged when Michael joined our troop shortly after he attended this
Troop Open House. Michael's joining the troop gave us just
enough Scouts to renew our charter in 2004. |
| In December, we applied for and received our renewed charter from the Boy Scouts of America.
Once again, the Lord had led us through hard times, when it seemed the end was in sight, to a new beginning.
Praise the Lord! On Tuesday, December 16, 2003, we conducted a landscaping
service project for our new chartered organization,
Olivet Baptist Church!! |
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| Last Revised 8/13/04 |
| John D. McCarthy |