Troop 60 went on walkabout for the first part of the meeting, touring the Natchitoches Historic District and three of its oldest landmarks: the old Courthouse, Immaculate Conseption, and the Prudhomme-Roquier House, which is the only known example of a genuine two-story bousillage building in the United States. 

Then Scouts discussed what they learned and wrote up their comments. 

They received the mailing addresses of their senators and representative and should be thinking about what they would write about to their congressional representatives.

This Saturday at 8:00, Scouts will meet with the Kiwanis Club at Ross Williams Park at 1401 Dean St as part of the “4 in 4” Service project to clean up local parks. Scouts should come in class B uniform, and will receive gloves, grabbers, and trash bags when they arrive. A parent needs to remain to transport their Scout between parks.

Monday night Troop 60 is putting on a flag ceremony at the Masonic Lodge. Please help your Scout arrive in Class A uniform by 5:45 at 110 Masonic Drive (left off Keyser past Walmart). Dinner will be served at 6.

Next week we meet at Magale Recital Hall for the Fall Fest events! 

This week, attending Troop 60 Scouts continued work on their Citizenship in the Nation merit badge, exploring the balance of powers in the United States government by playing the “Power Grab” game. Scouts were sorted into three groups, each representing one branch of government, and then tried to “grab” power. So, for example, the Congress team said, “We vote to address “Lady Gaga” as “Her Majesty the Magnificent Lady Gaga” from this day forward,” and then the Courts and President teams searched their Constitutions to identify which section forbade the Congress from conferring titles of nobility (Art. 1, Sec. 9, Cl. 8). 

After playing several rounds, the Troop reconvened to discuss what they learned and to formalize the lesson in item 7 of their workbooks. By now, participating Scouts should have completed items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and named their Congressional members in item 8. 

Next week, the Troop will go on a walking tour of historic places, so please bring a flashlight to the meeting. And it’s the last meeting of the month, so Scouts can wear their new class B shirts!

Also note the updated schedule in our EVENTS & CALENDAR tab.

Scouts received their new Troop “class B” shirts tonight, and will begin wearing them for the last meetings of the month. They look great! We will take a picture at the October 26th meeting of our new alternate uniform. 🙂

Participants also received their Eclipse 2017 patch, which can hang from the right pocket flap as a temporary patch. They look really cool!

For the meeting discussion this week, Scouts focused on item 6 toward the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge: “With your counselor’s approval, choose a speech of national historical importance. Find out about the author, and tell your counselor about the person who gave the speech. Explain the importance of the speech at the time it was given, and tell how it applies to American citizens today. Choose a sentence or two from the speech that has significant meaning to you, and tell your counselor why.” Examining President Lincoln’s famous speech at Gettysburg in 1863, Scouts discussed how Mr Lincoln’s brilliant text is one of the most influential statements about our nation’s purpose ever written and challenges all Americans to ensure that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Gentle reminders: this Saturday from about 8:30-10ish is the Cane River Food Pantry service opportunity, and from 12:30-2ish we are fundraising at Walmart on Keyser. Hope your Scout can help with these important service obligations to our community and Troop!

A representative from Alliance Compressors made a generous donation to Norwela Council tonight, and Troop 60 is grateful for the company’s support of Boy Scouts! Watch the local papers for a write up and picture, and please join us in thanking Alliance Compressor for their support of Scouting.

Our Senior Patrol Leader began tonight’s meeting by opening discussion with the patrol members about troop behavior expectations. The Scouts came up with a great list of expectations for every Scout that they called the Big Three: 

1. Hands Off! Roughhousing or other physical contact is inappropriate.
2. Respect other people.
3. Respect property and the environment. 

Every member of Troop 60 agrees to abide by these rules.

In the rest of the meeting, the SPL led the group through a discussion of the Bill of Rights and their impacts on the lives of Americans. Great conversations arose around the question of how things might be different without the rights articulated in the first amendments of the Constitution!

Scouts were told to work on item 3 at home, as follows: Watch the national evening news or read the front page of a major daily newspaper five days in a row. Discuss the national issues you learned about with your counselor. Choose one of the issues and explain how it affects you and your family. 

Using your booklet spaces for item 3, write about what you discovered is important to the United States in the news and be prepared to share with your patrol next week.

Finally, a gentle reminder that this Saturday is anotehr popcorn fundraiser, this time at the Brookshires on Keyser from 10-2. Please wear your Class A uniform shirt and help with this important fundraiser!