Trail Life Parents,

I wanted to give you an update on our troop schedule and registration.  As was announced earlier this week, we will be having an “All Dads/Parents/Guardians” Meeting this Sunday evening at 6pm to discuss our season, scheduling and troop leadership.  (We’d love to see a dad from each family (or mom/guardians) who are continuing with our troop in this new season join us for this meeting).

Specifically we will be discussing how our troop can safely operate within the current COVID guidelines set by our State and County health departments.  (Bottom line is this: we will be meeting in-person outdoors until indoor restrictions are removed, and will be asking our boys to wear masks when in close ranks with other boys (within 6ft.)  We will most likely not resume “virtual” meetings unless absolutely necessary.  We feel the need for our troop to meet in-person and outdoors is vital in this season— and will be planning many more opportunities this season to “hit the trail” and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation - and will be looking for many of our Registered Adult leaders to “take point” in leading one of our many hit the trails this season (so please brainstorm a hike or 2-3 hour outdoor activity and signup for a slot at our Dads meeting).

One consideration for this season that has been proposed is the adjustment of our troop fees.  As you know, in the past our Annual Troop fee each season has covered the operating costs of running the troop (TLUSA troop paid fees, Supplies, Equipment, etc) as well as Awards for each boy.  While this has allowed us to function as a troop, and pay for all the supplies we’ve needed, we’ve never been thrilled with the high cost this has put to each Trailmen participating in our program.  As a ministry, we don’t want to put any obstacle in the way of boys participating in our program.  One option we have (in addition to continuing with our previous year Troop fee) is to reduce our troop fee to a much smaller amount for all boys— and then make our awards optional (by allowing parents to purchase awards actually earned by their Trailmen before or at our awards ceremonies).  We’ll talk more about this idea at our Dads meeting—and would love your input on the matter.

Because our 2020/21 Troop Fees are not finalized, we are waiting until after our Parents meeting to open up registration.  After a consensus is reached, we will open registration for the season.

We look forward to our upcoming awards ceremony, and new season Kick Off, and cant wait to see you all again soon!

Pastor Brian Fox
Troop Lead