The scouts had an excellent meeting working on requirements and their Wilderness Survival skills. Here are some announcements from the meeting:

1. Last weekend, Troop 186 had a very successful campout at JNW, having 3 patrols participate in the South Windsor annual Troop Challenge on Saturday. Throughout the day, patrols competed as teams in a number of challenges focusing on skills like physical fitness, knots, lashings, structure-building, first aid, and more, while being assessed on the patrols Leadership, Communication, and Cooperation in each challenge. In the end, point systems were used to determine the best patrol out of all 4 South Windsor troops. The Troop Challenge was especially good for the Order of the Cupcakes patrol, as the team of Ani, Keshav, Landyn, Pravarsh, Bhavan, and Kavin were able to become the new Troop Challenge champions, winning 1st place out of all 14 patrols in South Windsor, narrowly edging out the reigning champions Troop 682 by a slim 1.8 points (where both teams had around 220). Our other two patrols did notably well, with the GOAT's and the Jaguars placing 5th and 11th respectively. In terms of the actual event, Troop 186 did an amazing job as this year's organizers, with the amazing help of all the adults who volunteered and put in effort to pull this off (the event was made even better with my DJ skills). 

2. This weekend is Scouting for Food! For those who don't know, Scouting for Food is our regional event where scouts stand outside of grocery stores to collect food donations for charity. Please sign up for a shift if you can, we needed as many scouts to do so. All sign up information can be found in the WhatsApp message. PLEASE WEAR CLASS A FOR YOUR SCOUTING FOR FOOD SHIFT

3. There have been a lot of inquiries about Merit Badges, and leaders are excited to share with you some more information on Merit Badge opportunities. First, Mr. Miller will be running Citizenship in the Nation and Citizenship in the Community after normal meetings on Wednesdays. If you are interested in joining, let Mr. Miller know and check the additional information in WhatsApp. In addition to this, Mrs. Root has done an amazing job providing scouts with extra opportunities to go elsewhere for Merit Badges, If you are interested in doing some of these Merit Badges outside of our normal meetings, once again check WhatsApp for the information she has sent. 

Scouts - We're meeting at the Church at 5:30 PM on Friday.

Eat dinner first, or bring something for the drive.     Make sure you have your flashlight on you as we'll be arriving in the dark.

Dress for COLD weather with layers as it may get warm on Saturday.   Make sure you have a ground pad, warm sleeping bag, maybe extra blankets, knit hat to sleep in,   rain gear,  rugged footwear.

You should bring a small day pack you can keep your water bottle in, and for shedding clothes on Saturday as it warms up.  You might want to bring a snack for during the day.

Anyone whose parent is not staying the entire time must have a signed permission slip.

See you at 5:30!

The scouts had a very exquisite meeting concentrating on some First Aid skill learning, here is some information from this meeting, specifically focusing on our upcoming Troop Challenge:

TROOP CHALLENGE 

Date: 11/7-11/9

Location: June Norcross Webster Scout Reservation

What to bring: (You should bring more than this but these are the important/key ones)

• WARM CLOTHES
• Food assignments (refer to patrol menu assignments)
• Gloves
• Beanie
• Hat
• Jacket
• Layers
• Extra Clothing
• Extra Socks
• Blanket
• Hand Warmers
• NO Class A
• Flashlights

Additional Information:

• A scout is trustworthy and as a scout I will not lie: The weather for this weekend is looking a bit rough, so make sure you are prepared for any weather type and bring the correct clothing and equipment. 
• On Friday, we will be meeting at the church at around 5:30 PM
• On Friday, either eat dinner before coming or bring something for the road. 

Quick note: Thank you to those who read this message, it is very useful for reference so please read it! 

The scouts had an amazing meeting tonight planning menus for the Troop Challenge campout coming up. Here are some announcements from the meeting. 

• At the beginning of this month the scouts did a requirement relating to a 30 day fitness plan where they performed a baseline fitness assessment at the beginning of the month. If you have been keeping up with your fitness plan, make sure to do the 2nd baseline assessment to finish the requirement, and then get it signed off. 
• Menus were planned during the meeting tonight for the Troop Challenge, please buy your assigned ingredients and bring them with you. Menus will be posted in the WhatsApp group chat.
• Speaking of the Troop Challenge: The Troop Challenge is our next up and coming campout from November 7th to November 9th. We will be competing against other troops and patrols from South Windsor to see who the best patrol is. Out troop is also responsible for running the Troop Challenge this year, and our theme is "A Scout is Strong". More information on this campout coming out soon.
• Our recent fundraiser at Rentschler Field was a success. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, and we hope to do more fundraisers like this soon.
• Our last campout got cancelled due to chaperone issues. Sorry about this, and I hope everyone can come to the Troop Challenge.
• For anyone interested, the scoutmaster of Troop 682 is offering to run Cycling Merit Badge with some of our scouts, If you are interested please talk to Mr. Miller. 

Hello families,

November is packed with scout activities and we need your help to pull them off!
Please see the list below for our scheduled activities and find your name.