Winter Camp at Kia Kima - we're going back this year. It's the 27th - 30th of December. And it's going to be fun!!!!

We need definite confirmation at the next meeting (19th) as we will be doing our schedules that night as well.

You can get more information here, or in the Leader's Guide, but the basics are:

• Cost is $95 - $75 for Camp, $20 Troop Outing Fee.

• $15 for a t-shirt, $45 for a fleece jacket, and there is other stuff - check the Leader's Guide.

• It's just like Summer camp, only colder!

• There is a special Mountain Man program and O.U.T. program if you're interested. We need to know asap!

Call Pete (351-3116) or Mike (212-6655) if you need more info.

We Won!!!! And not only did we win, we won BIG!!!

The Crew took first place for Venturing Crews in the COUNCIL!!

and

The Troop's Patrol took first place for Boy Scouts in the whole council, PLUS...

The Troop is the Grand Champion!!!!

with 22k+ points...

(we beat the Crew by 4k points!!)

Congrats to

Crew - Mel, Steph and Stephen

Troop - Joey, Billy, Andrew, Ian, Sam and Austin

and Jenn, Pat, Norm and Mike for Driving everywhere!

The competition was tough. The weekend was long. Frustration, excitement, dedication, and competition.

The crew got an early start while the troop was methodically laying out their plan of attack and got a leisurely start at about 10am on Saturday. But it was the boys that never gave up. They stayed on the trail until 11 pm that night - wandering in the dark grave yards of Mississippi, through the darkening woods, and the less that safe parts of town. They are also now classified as potential terrorists by Memphis's fine police squad as they were the ONLY group to brave the jungles of the lower west side and scale the bluffs to the haunted rooms below Harahan Railroad Bridge!

The Crew was much more organized and got an early start - scouring the city for photos ops and seeing all the sights of Memphis. They learned a lot about Memphis that they hadn't know about, but they do tire easy. By 7pm they were at home making dinner!! They did make a go of it on Sunday though, while the troop finished up paperwork and got some easy clues taken care of.

Check out the pictures!

Chris Kent

Has stepped up to become the Lippoe-Blaknik Chapter Chief for 2008. He won the election easily at the recent OA Lodge Fall Fellowship event at Camp Currier. Only a few guys made it, but we sure had fun.

The chapter chief is responsible for the OA members in Loosahatchie, Nashoba, and Crittenden districts and is the liaison to the Lodge Executive Committee.

Congrats Chris!

And thanks from the Lodge for the cook team of

Pete, Norm, Michelle, Duane, Jenn and Mike

for feeding the entire group for the weekend!

The troop came out last weekend and cooked smoochies, black forest cobbler and apple cobbler to give away to all those in attendance. Good job guys!!