The 2010 Planning Meeting

Today, we had a planning meeting at the church to plan all of the upcoming events in 2010!

We started off planning goals for the year (certain activities, parties, etc.). Boy, did we think of a lot!

We then took a break and played a game called "Buzz" in the Gym. It's kind of like the game, Covety, that we played in Sunol. The only difference is that you have to keep saying "Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" instead of saying "Covety" over and over.

The rules of the game is that you have two teams in a square divided by two. Each time, one person from one team runs into the other teams' boundary and tries to tag someone and run back while saying "Bzzzz" the whole time. If the other team tackles the person before he gets to the other side, he's out. Whatever team loses all their players, loses the game.

After some good rounds of Buzz, we started planning some more. We planned some of the locations we could have camp outs in.

We know for sure we'll go to Camp Oljato this summer (a camp near the Sierra Nevadas). I thought of Angel Island. Ryan thought of Yosemite. Kyle Makaiwi thought of going to Point Bonita again. Brother Spencer thought of renting a cabin near Stinson Beach. Ryan thought of camping near an army base in Nevada. Ryan and Kyle Worley debated a little bit and literally laid out on top of the table with the map!

The next thing to plan was the different merit badges to work on. We though of a bunch, including: Cooking, Music, Reading, and several other badges.

Then, we took another break and played a game called "Steal the Bacon" in the Gym (click here to learn how to play). Only, we used a chalkboard eraser, not bacon. After playing Steal the Bacon, we went into the kitchen and had an ice cream sundae bar.

We all brought different toppings, and boy were they good!

We then hung around a while, and then went home.

3 New Scouts

Today we got three new scouts and deacons! We got Jeff Reed, who moved here from Arizona two weeks ago. And then we had Dewlin Rosdahl and Ryan Hales, who were ordained into the Deacon's quorum today.

Jeff

Dewlin

Ryan

We're glad to have these new additions to our troop and quorum!

The Bike Ride Adventure

Today, Dallin had an idea to invite Jeff Reed, the new scout that moved here from Mesa, Arizona, on a bike ride. He invited us all to come along too. We all first met at Dallin's house. I came, then Jaren, then Jeremy, Alec, and Rick. Then Dallin went to pick up Jeff.

Jaren had to go to Santa Rosa in a little while, so he told us to go without him. So, sadly, we did. We rode onto the Iron Horse Trail straight into Downtown Danville.

We first ate at Panda Express for lunch.

You can't go wrong with Panda Express!

Rick kept stealing everyone's fortune cookies. Oh well.

After stuffing ourselves with Panda Express, we biked farther down the Iron Horse Trail until we got to the Museum of the San Ramon Valley. From there, we biked on down to At the Candy Shop on Hartz Ave. Apparently, next to At the Candy Shop is the Clock Tower.

We got a bunch of jelly beans and stuff. I found these gummy penguins called "Peachy Penguins". They looked like they would taste like black licorice, but no. Out of all the flavors in the world, it tastes like a peach!

We also got chocolate sodas and root beer.

I dropped a penguin in my bottle of root beer to see if I could drink it out. I eventually did. And I spilled a little bit of root beer too.

Since Rick has a New Year's resolution to never eat candy the whole year, he went to Baskin Robbins (just on the other side of the Clock Tower) to get some ice cream. Jeff got some ice cream as well, and we came too.

Then we heard the ambulance come. Apparently, a lady got some glass stuck in her eye in At the Candy Shop. We walked past to see if we could see anything. We did see the lady and some of the blood.

We rode back to Dallin's house afterwards.

We hung out there for a while. Jeff had to go home, and Dallin had to do his homework and then go to a basketball game. So, Alec, Jeremy, Rick, and I biked to Alec's house, and then we came to my house to watch The Dark Knight. And that's basically, our biking adventure!

Happy New Year!

Well, it's 2010, and tis year marks the 100th Anniversary of Boy Scouts of America! Let me tell you the history of Boy Scouts.

Scouting really started in London, England with Robert Baden-Powell, a British general.

In 1909, a Chicago publisher named W.D. Boyce was lost in London. An unknown Boy Scout helped him by showing him the right direction. A monument now stands for the Unknown Scout in Gilwell Park in London, England.

When W.D. Boyce returned to the United States, he incorporated the Boy Souts of America on February 8, 1910. James E. West became the first Chief Scout Executive and expanded Scouting across the United States.

In 1911, 57 merit badges were made for scouts to learn life skills. Now, only 11 of those are still around: Architecture, Art, Athletics, Chemistry, First Aid, Lifesaving, Music, Plumbing, Public Health, Scholarship, and Surveying. Here's one of the very first merit badges:

In 1913, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (that's our church!) became one of the first sponsoring organizations of Scouting. Now they have the most scouts than any other organization.

Also in 1913, Norman Rockwell started illustrating covers for Boys' Life, the magazine for Boy Scouts.

In World War I, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were encouraged to sell war saving stamps.

From 1934 to 1961, merit badges changed in several ways.

1934

1936

1942

1947

1961

1961

The very first Scout Jamboree was held in 1937 at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C.

In 1952, the Scouting Program wanted to focus "Civics" merit badges, so they made Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, and Family Life.

The 50th Anniversary of Scouting was held in 1960.

In 1981, the Boy Scouts bought Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia for a place to hold Scout Jamborees.

Scouting for Food started in 1986 to help support the local food banks. In 2000, the Service to America was formed to commit the scouts to provide 200,000,000 hours of service! The scouts provided service projects to the National Park Service.

This year, the National Scout Jamboree will be held at Fort A.P. Hill. In 2013, the National Scout Jamboree will be held near Beckley in West Virginia.

Snow Camp 2009

Yesterday, some of the scouts got home from Snow Camp. I didn't go, but I know who went and what happened.

So, Alec, Jeremy, Dallin, the Kyles, Brandon, and Dewlin Rosdahl met at the church on December 28th at the church a 5:00 AM. They drove up to Donner Ski Ranch in the Sierra Nevadas.

They hiked up a ways through an old train tunnel built in the 1860's.

When they got to their camp, they made their snow caves, probably and dinner and stuff, and then when the time came, they slept in their caves.

That's pretty much all I know. I'll need to get some more information and stuff.

Merry Christmas!

Helping the Homeless

In case if you didn't know, Dallin, Jaren, and some other families went into San Francisco and gave sack lunches and socks and other things to the poor and homeless. I'm sure it helped show Christmas Spirit!

The Ward Christmas Breakfast

After Jaren's birthday party sleep over, Cole was picked up by his mom, and then Jaren, Dallin, Teddy, and I went over to the Ward Christmas Breakfast. We at pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs with Alec, Brandon, and Jeremy, until Brother Spencer told us to come with him to practice the chimes. We practiced until we had to go on stage. Rick had to announce every skit thing, so he had to do it with us without practicing.

We did pretty good.

Jaren's Birthday Party

So, Alec, Jeremy, Dallin, Rick, Teddy, and I came to Jaren's sleep over birthday party. We ate pizza and cake, and then Jaren opened his presents. Dallin made him a teenager survival kit with a bunch of fun stuff in it. Jaren also got a lot of gift cards for iTunes and At the Candy Shop. Then, we played games on my Wii that I brought.

Then, Brandon came over after singing in the San Francisco Boys Chorus. He gave Jaren a farting machine with a remote control. We pulled pranks with it by putting right by someone, and then at the perfect time, we'd press the button, and away it went!

After playing some games, Cole Becker, one of our friends, came over. Dallin invented a new drink. He poured about 10 Pixie Stix in water, and drank it. I tried it, but I only put in 3, so mine tasted like watery sugar. Eew. Purple water.

We started to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but some of us couldn't stay for the sleep over. So some of us left. First Rick, then Brandon, then Jeremy, then Alec. Then, it was just down to Jaren, Dallin, Teddy, Cole, and me.

We finished the movie, and then we stayed up until 3:30 AM watching Lord of the Rings on Dallin's iPod. We dubbed over the movie and said some funny stuff. We also found a part in the movie (The Return of the King) where Aragorn says "I do not believe it!" but he sounds like he's Mexican, and then he returns to his English accent. And then this one Orc made a weird noise that sounded like, "URRRGHRRGH!"

Then, at last, we went to sleep.

The Triple Scout Meeting

Well, we just had an eventful Scout Meeting! We started with a Court of Honor. Most of us got the merit badges we earned at Scout Camp, like Citizenship in the Nation, Wilderness Survival, and First Aid. Some of us also got the merit badges from Advance Camp, like Rick, who got his Music merit badge and Jeremy and Alec, who got their Chemistry merit badge.

There was some rank advancements too. Dallin and I advanced to Star Scout, and Alec advanced to Life Scout! Then, I showed the slideshow of Scout Camp.

After the Court of Honor, Brother Ganschow told us what to pack for our next camp out. We get to go snow camping up in Donner Pass. Instead of sleeping in tents or under the stars, we get to sleep in snow caves!

Then finally, we practiced our skit for the show thing for the Ward Christmas Breakfast at Church. All the youth put on skits and we deacons are playing the chimes. Last year we played Silent Night. This year we'll be playing Deck the Halls.

So, there's some things to tune in for later in December!