Introduction to Troop 64
Posted by kwilliams
Welcome to Troop 64. Boys should start work on the Scout badge/joining requirements (Scout Oath, Law, etc., on page 17 of the 12th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook) right away, and can get signed off at upcoming meetings.
Meetings & Outings
We have Boy Scout meetings on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Thursdays of the month during the school year from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Portola Valley Town Center in the Alder Room, which is labeled Room A. (This is a change from past years, when we met at Corte Madera School on Wednesdays.) Occasionally an optional offsite meeting is held the 1st or 5th Thursday to cover Scout skills. Regular meetings kick off with an outdoor game to burn off some youthful energy. This is also an opportunity for individual Scouts to have Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster meetings, as time permits. We then move indoors and start the more formal part of the meeting with recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and Scout Oath and announcements. The core of each meeting is typically work on Scout skills or planning for upcoming events. The meeting wraps up with recitation of the Scout Law, important reminders, and the Scoutmaster’s minute. Scouts should bring their Boy Scout Handbooks to all meetings so that completed requirements can be signed off. Each boy’s name should be written on the outside of the front cover for easy identification at a distance.
Courts of Honor
About twice a year, approximately in December and again in June, the regular meeting is replaced by a Court of Honor in the sanctuary at Valley Presbyterian Church. This is a formal ceremony during which boys are officially awarded rank badges and Merit Badges. Parents and families attend the Court of Honor. When a boy receives a rank badge (a patch), his mother or other family member joins him and receives the corresponding pin, which goes on a ribbon that the mother is given when the boy is awarded the Scout badge.