Well, some time has certainly gone by since the last Troop 804 newsletter. We have had many fun times in the past few months, and several rank advancements have been made. The purpose of this newsletter, however, is to detail some future events for all Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Leaders, and Parents. With spring and summer on the way, there are many events to plan for. Some of these involve permission slips, medical exams, and other types of preparations. We don't want anyone left out due to a lack of preparation, so please read through the following information carefully.

There have been some new additions to the front page of our website, http://www.biztaxpros.com/troop804 . There are links to medical exam forms and permission slips, as well as other important information. Don't forget that you can view past newsletters there as well. There is also a handy Google calendar of events that you can use to help schedule your time. If you use a Google calendar for your personal schedule, you can integrate the Troop 804 calendar with your own.

Medical exam forms are necessary for all scouts and leaders. There are three classes, numbered 1, 2, and 3. All three are available from our website. Class 1 forms may be filled out by a parent and are necessary for every Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and leader. Class 2 forms must be filled out by a physician, and they are required for all Boy Scouts and anyone else who will be on any outing for 73 or more consecutive hours. Class 3 exam forms must be filled out by a physician and are necessary for high adventure events. Although we do not anticipate needing class 3 exams in the near future, they are not much more complicated than the class 2 forms, so if you are going to have a class 2 filled out, you might as well have a class 3 filled out as well at the same time. For those without a regular doctor or health insurance, these forms can be filled out at a community clinic. The class 1 form is good for one year, and the class 2 and 3 forms are good for three years.

A permission slip will be required for all overnight campouts and for certain other trips as well. A blank permission slip can be found on our website. They are rather easy to fill out. One blank is for our council, which is the Central Florida Council (just look at the left shoulder of our uniforms.) The rest of the blanks are for personal information, signatures, dates, and the name of the event.

Family Fest cards are an official council fundraiser. They are essentially coupon cards that we sell for $10 each. They contain quite attractive coupon offers worth far more than ten dollars. They also contain an admission to "Family Fest." Family Fest is a district scouting event held on 5 May, 2007 at Earl Brown Park. This event is open to the public. There are many fun things to do, and interesting scout crafts presented by all of the troops and packs in the area. We will be hosting a booth as well. We have arranged for the right to sell the cards to the public in front of Lowe's, Blockbuster, Winn-Dixie, and Tractor Supply on certain dates at certain times. A copy of the sign-up sheet is available on our website. Please take a look at the sheet and contact scoutmaster Troy Eckhardt (scoutmaster@biztaxpros.com) with the times and dates you'd like. You cannot save your information directly to this sheet - instead email the scoutmaster and he will update the sheet for you. Remember that we get to keep a substantial amount of the money we collect, and this money will be used to fund the expensive camps and trips we have planned. As always, the boys who work are the boys who will be rewarded. We will be picking up the cards on Thursday, 15 March 2007, and distributing them at the next meeting. The sale will end in the beginning of May.

The Glenwood Presbyterian Church has asked that we host a refreshment booth at their sale on Saturday, 17 March, 2007. In order to do this we need scouts in uniform to man the booth from 8:00am until 11:00am. We also need volunteers to provide baked goods and other refreshments to sell. We have received rather short notice, unfortunately, but we just can't turn down any request for assistance, and with so many expensive events coming up in the next few months, we want to provide every possible opportunity for boys to earn money. We will be selling Family Fest cards at this booth as well, and any boys who come will get their cards early.

There is a Pack/Troop/Family campout scheduled for the weekend of 13 -15 April, 2007. Everyone is invited, including all Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in 804, and their family members. The campout will be held either at Clearwater Lake near Paisley, or at the Duval Ranch near DeLeon Springs. The camp will feature a modified patrol method for meals, meaning that the two Boy Scout patrols plus a special Cub Scout Patrol will each be responsible for planning, purchasing, and cooking a portion of the meals. Medical exams forms and permission slips are required for all scouts as detailed above. All Cub Scouts and non-scouts (siblings) must have a parent in attendance as well. The cost for food is expected to be $15 per person for the weekend, and children under 7 years old can eat for free.

Cub Scouts should be working on their Pinewood Derby cars. Any Boy Scouts that want to compete may build a car as well, but please remember that Boy Scouts cannot compete at the district level. The official rules can be found on our website. Dads can build cars as well, but the district won't let them compete either. However, because Pinewood Derby cars are so cool, anyone who wants to compete at the Pack/Troop level may do so. Pinewood Derby kits can be purchased at the Camp La-No-Che store or some more expensive kits are available at Sears in DeLand. Some unofficial kits are available at Lowe's. The word is out so far that at least one Boy Scout will bring his old car, and at least one old scoutmaster will bring two or three of his VERY old cars, provided he can find them in the attic. As we did with the raingutter regatta, the pack and troop will be together for the pack level races. The pack races will start at 6:30 on 26 March, 2007, and the district level races will be on 21 April, 2007. There will also be a pot luck dessert table after the Pack/Troop Pinewood Derby races. Each family should bring a dessert to share. 804 will supply drinks, cups, plates and sporks.

Cub Scout Day Camp will be held from 8:30am - 4:30 pm on 25-29 June, 2007 at the Plymouth Avenue Christian Church. Class 1 medical exams and permission slips are required. Any parent who would like to volunteer is urged to do so. Full time volunteer parents will receive a $25 refund on the price of one child's admission. Day camp is a very memorable part of Cub Scouting, and any Cub who can attend should do so. Remember that the work days we have planned will offset the cost of camp, and it is quite possible to work your cost down to nothing. Any adults planning to volunteer should contact the scoutmaster or cubmaster as soon as possible so that we can order the shirts, which are free to volunteers.

Boy Scout summer camp will be held at camp La-No-Che this year. Our reservations are for the week of 8 - 15 July, 2007. Summer camp is a very memorable part of Boy Scouting, and any scout who can attend should do so. Remember that the work days we have planned will offset the cost of camp, and it is quite possible to work your cost down to nothing. Boys should strive to have as complete a uniform as possible before the camp. We will be having inspections of uniforms in the upcoming weeks to correct a few patch placement problems that have been noticed, and to instruct the boys concerning how to look their best in uniform. Official inspection forms are available on our website. The scoutmaster will also do everything possible to get activity uniforms (that means troop t-shirts) ready before we go to camp. A class 2 medical exam and permission slip are required.