Traditional Annual Calendar

TRADITIONAL ANNUAL CALENDAR

The following schedule presents the activities that the Troop has traditionally participated in or has undertaken in most years. The Patrol Leaders Council will need to develop the Troop meeting program and the other activities to prepare for the main event. The generic calendar is simply offered to remind everyone at Troop 624 about what we must consider in scheduling our program.

TRADITIONAL TROOP SCHEDULE
May - New Scout Camp	November - Scouting for Food and patrol activities
June - White water rafting & camp	December - Hiking, community service
July - Summer camp	January/February - Winter camp
August - Advancement camp	February - Pancake Breakfast & skiing
September - Hiking & Troop Day	March - Theme outing (e.g., fire building/cooking)
October - Camporee	April - Projectoree

Principles

Every event the Troop participates in is held for a reason. Everything we do has a purpose – although some times it takes a little digging to find it! Remember one of the basic premises of Scouting is to provide leadership for our country. What we do is designed to help our scouts build leadership skills and teach how to work together as a team – the Patrol Method. For example:

· Summer camp commemorates Baden-Powell’s first test of his concept on the Brown Sea Isle where he took the first Scouts;

· Scouts advance to build confidence and to become stronger doing so;

· Scouts assume planning and leadership positions to experience first hand how to lead and some of the pitfalls or attributes of the different styles;

· Camporees and Projectorees demonstrate our ability to compete and function as cohesive units;

· The outdoor program demonstrates how we learn to be self-reliant.

Our principles by which we do these things are embodied in the Scout Oath, Law, Motto and Slogan. Without them, Baden-Powell knew we would only be as good as the juvenile gangs that plagued London at the turn of the century.

There are other principles too:

· Scouts are supposed to run the program (with guidance from the adults)

· Parents are most helpful in the background because the Scouts must do and learn by doing and making their own mistakes – at summer camp Scouts stay in one campsite and adults in another (in fact, adults who take Scouter training programs learn that the most successful Scoutmaster is the one who sits in the corner and watches the Troop meeting be conducted by the Scouts)

· Every event should strive to draw out the excellence of each Scout – cook the best meals, tell the best campfire stories, learn new skills, tie the right knots for the task, stay dry and warm in bad weather, etc.

It is these principles that will be followed during the activities undertaken in this year’s program.