A Message from our Senior Patrol Leader to Scouts and Families

2/2/21

Hello Troop 23 Families!

As most of you know, this weekend is a very special weekend for Troop 23. We have two of our very popular annual events. This Saturday, we have our district Klondike Competition and this Sunday is Scout Sunday! Unfortunately. due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic we have had to make many changes to these annual activities. As we have seen with all activities throughout our everyday lives we can make it work. Troop 23 as a whole is one of the most resilient Troops around. When met with the almost insurmountable challenges of COVID restrictions, your Troop leadership came together to keep scouts going. It is sad to say that this year has not been a good one for anybody. Scout Troops all around our nation and the world are having a harder time than ever. This year the Boy Scouts of America has seen more dissolved Troops, Packs, Crews, and Ships than ever before. With that being said, I am proud to say that Troop 23 is not one of those Troops. Both your Youth Leadership and Adult Leadership came together and continue to come together to put on as best of a program as we possibly can, given all of our COVID guidance. Our Troop continues to move forward and I am excited to say that on top of our normal activities, we are currently planning summer camp for 2021 along with a trip to Florida Sea Base in the spring of 2022! I can’t express how grateful the Troop leadership and I are for your continued patience and support as we continue navigating these uncharted waters.

This Saturday the Chippewa District is hosting its annual Klondike Derby at Cantigny! Due to COVID 19 restrictions, they have limited each Troop to just one patrol. Now this is a very difficult situation for a Troop of our size. With that restriction in mind, our Troop leadership decided that Troop 23 will be sending a “Super Patrol” this year. What a Super Patrol is, is a group of our most experienced guys from a mixture of different patrols. This year we had over 20 scouts show interest in this event and I hate to turn scouts away but we can only bring a group of 8. I assure you these decisions were not made lightly. Our Troop leadership elected to give a preference to our older Scouts as they have fewer Klondikes left in their Scouting future than some of our younger scouts. I appreciate your understanding with our Troops decision. The Scouts who will be representing our Troop at the Klondike are as follows. Bryan S., Colin M., Jacob H., Josh L., Kevin L., Matt M., Patrick Z., and myself.

This Sunday is Scout Sunday! Fortunately, we can have a larger number of people at Scout Sunday than we could at the Klondike. Scout Sunday is a very important event for Troop 23. As many of you know, First Presbyterian Church in Wheaton has graciously chartered our Troop for the last 66 years! This amount of time is almost unheard of when it comes to Scouting Charters. We could not be more grateful for their continued support throughout these many years and we look forward to working with them for years to come. Please consider signing up to help with the adjusted Scout Sunday activities. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0444ACA623A0FC1-draft

As always, I thank you and your families for your continued support throughout this time and the Troop leadership and I cannot wait until we can be back together as one big Troop once again!

Yours In scouting,

Michael H.

Troop 23 Senior Patrol Leader