Crew 699 heading to Philmont Scout Camp in New Mexico

Dear Scouts and parents, To help pay for Scout Camps and Equipment, we set up US flags on 10ft poles along the curbs of homes in specific neighborhoods over 4 holidays as our yearly fundraiser. All our boys who do it feel a sense of patriotism and commraderie and have done a fabulous job in the past! We already have about 80 people who have renewed this year and so we need all of the boys' help. It really is very rewarding, the homeowners love to show their patriotism and appreciate our service. Each set up and take down takes about 2 hours. I need to know which 2 holidays your boy would be able to work -Memorial day & July 4th are assigned, but we need more boys for September 11 or November 11 -we set up a few days before and take down a few days after each holiday so as not to interfere with your holiday time with family. Each set-up begins at the Church to load flags. If you don't have a van and could help drive a couple boys around on May 5th and May 19th to paint stars and locate flag holders - we need 8 more boys and 4 parents for that. Please check your schedules and respond soon so I can make up the schedule or assign boys as needed. My son or I can help set up and take down over this holiday: (check on the line and type their name or yours afterward) May 5th 8-10 a.m. _________ boyscout to spray stars ________ Parent Drive car May 19th 8-10 a.m. ________ boyscout to spray stars/locate holders ________ Parent drive car Memorial Day setup -Thursday, May 24th -Tues 29th 6-8p.m. ________Scouts: Jacob M, Austin C, Eric P, 3 Kemah boys?? I don't know their names Van Drivers - Bro. Kody A., Bro. Mike K., Bro Mike M. July 4th Scouts: (all six Philmont boys - June 30, 8-10a.m., & July 5, 6-8p.m.) ________Van Driver (H. Escobar-will you be back from camp?, ____________, ____________) Patriot's Day - (Sat., Sept 8, 8-10a.m. - Wed. Sept. 12, 6-8p.m.) ________Scouts ________Van Driver (Bishop Anderson, _____________, __________ ) Veteran's Day (Thurs., Nov 8, 5:30-7:30p. - Wed, Nov. 14 5:30-7:30p.m.) _______ Scouts: Riley R, Jimmy W, ______Van Driver (West., Ras. , ____________) Thank you so much for supporting this wonderful fundraiser - the homeowners LOVE IT!!! Alisa R. Troop 699 Fundraising Chair

Our latest campout, Troop and Team 699 colaborated on earning the canoe merit badge at Martin F. Dies Jr. State Park near Jasper, TX. Safe Afloat training requires two important things, supervision and discipline. Well, we definately had the supervision with six adults. Thank you for all your help. Thomas built a fire without matches, proving his scouting skills are still there. In the morning Edgar and Cristian got to work cooking breakfast at 5:49am. That was the earliest we ever had breakfast on a campout. Usually we have breakfast just in time to start making lunch. Three Scouts needed to take the swim test so we took them over to the swim area in the cold water while the other got the canoes. Riley, Austin, and Thomas taught the canoe merit badge very well and we even swamped the boats and had a rescue demonstration. Saw some alligators too. The water got chopy with the wind picking up and headed back to the dock after a camp ranger instructed us to stay close to the shore. Overall, this was a great campout.

We had a lot of fun with 6 adults and 9 Scouts at Martin F Dies Jr SP.

Court of Honor

Tonight we held the first Court of Honor of the new year. As usual the scouts of Troop 699 earned more rank advancements and merit badges since our last Court of Honor in November. The following scouts earned the following ranks:
Thomas - Life
Jacob - Star
Edgar - Second Class
Jaffeth - Second Class

The following scouts earned the following merit badges:
Dalin - Chess
Riley - Cinematography
Erick and Jimmie - Citizenship in the Nation
Cristian, Edgar, Jacob, Jaffeth - Citizenship in the World
Jacob, Thomas - Communication
Jacob, Jimmie - Environmental Science
Jacob - First Aid
Thomas - Music
Austin - Personal Fitness
Austin, Thomas - Personal Management
Jacob - Public Health

Thanks to all the scouts, parents, leaders, and families for making this an eventful night. A special thanks to Dianna Hall for taking the wonderful photos.

Scouting @Sam Merit Badge Day

Today Troop and Team 699 attended merit badge day Scouting @Sam hosted by Sam Houston State University, 11 February, 2012. Even though we got up before the crack of dawn this cold February morning, the boys were met with kolaches and pastries for breakfast while the leaders checked in. The Scouts met in an auditorium, sat in their assigned merit badge groups, and then were escorted to their classrooms on campus. Jacob unwittingly signed up for the cooking merit badge and immediately got to work making lunch for the whole campus. Lunch was held in the campus cafeteria with buffet style areas with lines that filled up quickly for the pizza and hotdog zones. Riley piled up his plates going for seconds, thirds,...25ths,... We got some partial merit badges along with some completes.
Riley completed Cinematography and will have his short news reel posted on You Tube.
Dalin competed in a campus Chess tournament and kept the college students on their toes with his skills.
Edgar, Jaffeth, and Cristian all completed Citizenship in the World, learning about how Australia used to be a prisoner island for the British Empire.
Erick and Jimmie got partials in Citizenship in the Nation.
Jacob scored two for one merit badge day. He completed Public Health and got a partial for Cooking. I guess we didn't stay to do the dishes!!

January 2012 camp out

Here is our first campout in the new year 2012 to Brazos Bend State Park. We survived a clear cold night and conducted an orienteering course for First Class rank requirements. Here are the boys working on their cooking requirements.

Camp dates 2012

Jan 13-14: Brazos Bend 5-mile hike
David Dickamore, Mike Machula
Dan Haddock

Mar 2-3: Father Sons camp out
Tommy Westergard
David Dickamore
Sam Roundy
Jeff McKinney
Steve Grundberg

Mar 23-24: Stephen F Austin- golfing
Bishop Anderson
Tommy Westergard
Jeff McKinney

April 13-14: 5-mile Float Martin F Dies, or other.
Kody Allred
Mike Kauffman
Steve Grundberg

May 11-12: Stake Merit Badge Campout.

4-8th NYLT both Presidents of Deacons quorums.

25-30June: Karankawa Summer Camp,
Kody Allred (Mon-Wed possibly)

14-26 June-Philmont
Bishop Anderson, Chris Canales

July 13-14: Huntsville State Park- swimming
Mike Kauffman

Aug 10-11: Galveston State Park- Fishing
Kody Allred
Tommy Westergard

Sep 21-22: Needville – Texas Klondike Competition
Dan Payne
Mike Kauffman

Oct 19-20: LDS Regional Camporee Bovay
Bishop Anderson

Nov 9-10: Stake Scout Merit Badge Weekend
Dan Payne

Dec 7-8: Enchanted Rock – Backpack camping
Russell Rasmussen

To all adult leaders if you can't attend a camp out that you have signed up for please find a replacement for your self. Thank you.

Coastal District Awards 2011

Coastal District held their annual awards banquet 20 January, 2012, for outstanding work that volunteers performed in 2011 for Scouting. Brother Daniel Haddock recieved the unit Spark Plug Award where he was instrumental in providing the "Spark" that helped make Troop 699 Scout program what it is today. His efforts enabled twelve Scouts from Troop 699 to attend Summer Camp for the third year in a row at El Rancho Cima, he started our flag fundraiser three years ago, and took a personal interest in each Scout which enabled the less active boys in our Troop attend summer camp and monthly campouts. He camped 8 nights providing exceptional leadership and guidance to our youth. We will miss you Brother and Sister Haddock! We wish you all the best in Missouri.

Brazos Bend Campout December 2011

This is the last campout for 2011. Scouts backpacked for 7 miles to prepare for Philmont.

Court of Honor December 2011

On 13 December 2011, Troop 699 held another successful Court of Honor. The Scouts have yet again demonstrated their mettle by continuing to earn their Scout rank advancements and merit badges. Thomas Payne earned the LDS On My Honor award while Bishop Anderson presented this hard earned spiritual badge. Two Scouts earned additional merit badges while attending Bay Area Council's Fall Camp at Camp Karankawa in November. Dallin Haddock earned Citizenship in the World, Cinematography, and Wilderness Survival (delayed from Summer Camp), while Jacob Machula earned Environmental Science merit badge.
Dalin Stanton earned Scout rank.
Christian Hernandez earned Scout and Tenderfoot rank.
Edgar Moreno and Jaffeth Contreras earned Tenderfoot rank.
Jacob Machula earned Second Class and First Class ranks.

If I missed anyone on the distribution list please forward this to them and let me know so I can include them on future notifications.
The training requirements matrix is available for your viewing pleasure 24/7 on google docs if you want to know what trainings are required for each position - send me an email with your google email address and I will add you to the permissions list and send you a link. It may be a little lacking on cub scout training requirements but covers most of the boy scout requirements.
If you have any questions about what trainings you have already completed you can send me an email or check yourself on myscouting.org (go to the website, log in, click the "my scouting" tab on the far right, then on the left under "training" click on "training validation"). If you have paper or electronic copies of training certificates that do not appear on the myscouting training validation page then please scan and email them to me or bring me a copy for our troop records.

Link to the website with more info on the upcoming trainings http://www.flamingarrowdistrict.org/training.html. Go to the website and get registered as soon as possible otherwise some trainings may fill up and become unavailable, or registration deadlines may be missed.

The following trainings will be offered: (positions that require a specific training are listed in brackets [ ] next to it with red colored text)

Saturday, September 24th at the Atascocita building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (our roundtable location – 19618 Atasca Oaks, Humble TX 77346) will be our fall Flaming Arrow District Training Day.

Training the Chartered Organization Representative [Bishop and/or councilor]
BALOO (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation) [Webelos Den Leader]
Scoutmaster Specific [Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster, 11 year old Scout Leader]
Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills (IOLS) Challenge [Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster, 11 year old Scout Leader, Varsity Coaches, assistant Varsity Coaches, Advisors and associate Advisors in crews]
Merit Badge Counselor Orientation [any merit badge counselor]
Varsity Leader Specific [Varsity Coaches, assistant Varsity Coaches, team committee members]
Venturing Leader Specific [Advisors, associate Advisors, crew committee members]


BALOO (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation) [Webelos Den Leader]
BALOO will also be offered September 10th at the Cockrell Scout Center in both Spanish and English. Course will cost $7 and payment will be accepted when participants arrive - please have the correct change. To register, please e-mail Dale Sawyer by September 7th (dale@rice.edu) with your name, district, pack and language preference.


Cub Scout Leader Position-Specific face to face training (separate from the flaming arrow district training):
For Cub Scout leaders who would like to attend a face-to-face training (rather than take the online trainings) for their Cub Scout leader position-specific training, these will be offered at the council offices on Saturday, September 17th and Saturday, September 24th.
If you would like to attend any Cub Scout classes on September 17th, please contact Raquel Collins (rcollins17@comcast.net to register and to get more information.
If you would like to attend any Cub Scout classes on September 24th, please contact Rita Ferguson (713-864-4325, sheblabritaur@att.net ) to register and to get more information.
Courses offered:
Den leader training [Webelos, Bear, Wolf den leaders]
Cubmaster training [Cubmaster, assistant cub master]
Pack committee training [Committee members]
Scoutmaster specific training [see above]
Sea Scout training


OLSWL (Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders) will be offered in the Flaming Arrow District on Saturday, October 8th beginning at 8:00 a.m. with check-in beginning at 7:45 a.m. [Webelos Den Leader]

Court of Honor July 27, 2011

Troop 699 had another successful turnout during our most recent Court of Honor 27 July, 2011. The boys earned a combined total of 30 merit badges this summer at either summer camp or on their own. We advanced two Scouts, three boys to Second Class with two of them also advancing to First Class, two advanced to Star, and two advanced to Life Scout.

Scout - Edgar Moreno, Anthony Castellenos
Tenderfoot
Second Class - Dallin Haddock, Daniel Smith, Jacob Machula
First Class - Dallin Haddock, Daniel Smith
Star - Christian Cruz, Thomas Payne
Life Scout - Erick Portillo, Jimmie Westergard

Our Troop also recieved the Quality Unit Award for 2010.
Special thanks to all the parents, the Scout leaders, the merit badge counsellors, and Brother Cobb for taking these photos.

6/20/2011

699 ready for camp in Wimberly, TX

June 2011

7/27/2010

Court of Honor.

8/25/2009

Court of Honor.