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.