January 23, 2024

Posted on by Troop 177

In this week’s newsletter

Meeting this Week

We hope everyone has been staying warm this last week. We will be meeting this week and will be reviewing Camping skills.

Advancement Saturday

Our annual Advancement Day will be held on Saturday, February 10 at OGUMC. This is a great way for Scouts to select one or two new Merit Badges they wish to work on as the new year kicks off. We will also be running our excellent Orienteering course for any Scouts that need that requirement.

See the Advancement Day webpage for the class schedule – registration is now open and will close on Tuesday, January 30.

Scout Sunday

Oak Grove United Methodist Church will be celebrating Scout Sunday on February 11. All Scouts and their families are encouraged to attend the 11:00 a.m. traditional service. Additionally, Scouts will be participating in both the both the 8:30 traditional services and the 10:45 modern service. Scouts are encouraged to serve as readers for all three services. We are also looking for volunteers both Scouts and Adult Leaders to join the Chancel Choir or Orchestra for Scout Sunday (rehearsal required). Lastly, Scouts will be serving cobblers to the OGUMC community in Grand Hall from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.

If you would like to participate in the program, please let Mr. Taylor know this week.

2025 Sea Base

THE TRIP WHERE FLIP-FLOPS AND CROCS MIGHT BE ALLOWED!!!

I am happy to FINALLY be distributing some additional information regarding our planned Sea Base High Adventure Trip.  A couple of highlights first, and then a form to fill out to “hold” your spot on this trip.

WHO: Scouts and Adult Leaders for Troop 77, Troop 177, and Venturing Crew 77, who will be 14 OR have completed the 8th Grade by June 3, 2025.  We are taking 3 Crews, so we will have 18 – 24 spots available but must meet a specific Scout to Adult ratios and limitations.  The Crews will be registered for Sea Base through Venturing Crew 77, but it is okay if you are not part of VC77 at this time. We will get you signed-up at the appropriate time.

WHAT: Sea Base’s Out Island Adventure – MUNSON! Crews will paddle a Polynesian war canoe to a primitive barrier island.  Once at Big Munson Island, you and your Crew will camp under a canopy of gumbo limbo trees, mangroves, and lush vegetation. Each day will be action packed. From Big Munson Island your Crew will ocean kayak, take a boat to the Florida Barrier Reef to snorkel, go on an offshore fishing excursion, go shark fishing, paddle to Munson Rocks for a night snorkel, and explore the largest wilderness on Earth. The ocean.

WHERE: The Florida Keys!  The starting point will be at SBSA’s Brinton Environmental Center on Summerland Key.  We are currently working on travel, additional sightseeing, and transportation logistics and should have more details on that over the next couple of months.

WHEN: Tentatively scheduled for June 7, 2025 to June 13, 2025  PLUS a couple of days of travel to and from before and after those dates.  [Note: while we initially planned to make this trip in 2024, we moved the trip to 2025 to include more dates and options for Adventure.]

COST: Right now, the estimated cost of the trip per person is somewhat up in the air pending confirmation that our reservation for Munson gets finalized, how many people sign-up, and what we ultimately decided on in terms of travel logistics.  Our best guess at the moment is the total cost will be somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500 per person.

A trip to Sea Base is a little more fluid (pun totally intended) than some of the other High Adventure Bases.  It has been made more so this year due to some technical issues with Sea Base’s computer system, but we will get it all sorted out one way or another and hopefully it all comes together as planned.  Right now, we have a confirmed reservation, but, at the same time, Sea Base’s website is indicating there are technical difficulties and we may have to re-register, which we should know on Tuesday 1/23.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO NOW?  Click on this link: 2025 Sea Base and fill out the Google Form.  Priority will be given in the order that attendees commit to the trip.  You can commit on the form, or if you are undecided, you can delay submitting the form OR you can fill out the form now, mark yourself as undecided, and then send me an email at ctcole0308@gmail.com when you are ready to commit.  The first payment (currently estimated at $350 per person) will be due around February 15, 2024.

As many of you know and have experienced firsthand, the first few weeks of registering for an SBSA High Adventure trip like this can be a bit of a roller coaster.  So, I ask that everyone be patient and expect things to change in a few places (but hopefully not too much), read and follow the instructions, provide any information requested timely, fill out the forms accurately, and ask questions if you have them (because you probably are not the only one with that question). 

Thanks.  Clinton Cole

High Adventure Coordinator

Merit Badge Opportunities

Atlanta Area Council offers several Merit Badge earning opportunities throughout the year.

  • Upcoming Merit Badge opportunities include:
    • Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge in February. This Merit Badge will take two Saturdays to complete.
      More information about this and other Merit Badge programs at: https://www.atlantabsa.org/meritbadgedays
  • The next Merit Badge Summit will be February 3, 2024 and will focusing on Eagle Required Merit Badges. Registration is open!
    To learn more about this and other Merit Badge Summits, visit: https://www.atlantabsa.org/MeritBadgeSummit

Troop Communication

Please be sure to join our Remind Classes to get notifications on all of the Troop 177 happenings. There is an app, but you can choose to get notifications via text messages or email.

Troop 177 Parents

  • Or text @troop177p to the number 81010

Troop 177 Scouts

  • or text @troop177s to the number 81010