WhiteLakeScouting.com - Boy Scout Troop 1048

Troop 1048 Scoutmaster

Scoutmaster - Paul Christensen

A little bit about the Scoutmaster. I've been an Adult Leader within Troop 1048 since February of 2005. During that time I served first as an Assistant Scoutmaster and then as a Committee Member in charge of Advancement. I also served as a Cub Scout Den Leader from 2000 to 2005 within Pack 4048. Like so many of you fellow leaders, when my son began down his scouting trail, I took the bait too: hook, line, and sinker (after all it is only 1 hour a week :) Twenty years ago I married my highschool sweetheart Darci, whom has been by my side supporting me during my trail as a Scout Leader. We have three awesome children each of which are unique and wonderfully made: Jared is 15 and enjoys Scouts (of course!), Band, Football, and Basketball, Emily is 11 and enjoys Band, Basketball, Soccer, and going fishing with Dad, Chloe is 6 and enjoys singing, dancing, playing soccer, and wearing anything that is pink and has feathers. It is a rare and unique priviledge to serve in such an outstanding community. Our White Lake Area has excellent Packs, a great Troop, and an outstanding Crew. I look forward to working together to ensure our young men enjoy a memorable and positive experience as they enter into, grow within, and exit out of the Troop.

Scoutmaster's Minute

Are You Ready For Spring ??

This Spring is going to be an exciting time for Troop 1048. We just wrapped up our winter activities with our last Swim Night and let me tell you it was a great time. In addition to the normal fun of watching scouts of all ages and sizes (me included) go down the water slide, spin around the rapid river, and relax in the hot tub (my personal favorite), this time we also put all the scouts through a basic swim test to see who the floaters were and who the sinkers were. This helped us identify those scouts that might need a little bit of encouragement in their swimming skills.

In late March the boys (and a few courageous leaders) attended the Movie Night Lockin at Cinema Carousel. Unlimited movies, popcorn, pop, and fun. What a combination. Our troop was very well represented. Out of the 160 attendees, 39 of them were from our troop. Well done scouts!

Well our camping season is getting ready to start up. On April 15th our scouts will be going out to the Gerber Scout Reservation to work out the kinks, dust off the cobwebs, and overall have a fun time together. The boys will be learning their way around camp, learning to hike together, cook together, setup tents together, and just have a good time together. You notice I used the word "together" alot. That's because it is the keystone to our unit.

On May 6, our Scouts will get to skip school and travel over the border to Woodstock, Ontario to attend the Dorchester International Brotherhood Camporee (DIBC). In addition to having fun on the roadtrip, the boys will get to choose from over 100 activities to do on Saturday. On Saturday night there will be entertainment for the whole camp. The best part of this campout is that our scouts will get to meet scouts from all of the US and Canada and get to know them.

After our Spring Campouts wrap up our attention will turn to honoring those that have fallen in service of our great nation. Our troop serves at three separate ceremonies in Muskegon and Oceana County. If you son comes home from our meetings in May and grows tired of flag ceremony practice, simply remind him that practice makes perfect and we owe our servicemen our best (after all that is the cub scout motto).

Our leaders have been spending a great deal of time to make sure that your son is prepared for summer camp. It is our mission that every one of our scouts has every opportunity to attend summer camp. To that end we have made two very good fund raisers available to you (first aid kits and popcorn). Thank you to each one of you for taking advantage of these opportunities to have your son earn his way to camp and to add to his scout account. With Dorchester, Summer Camp, and Mackinaw all in the same year, the fundraising will definitely payoff.

So hang in there, get involved, get signed-up, and come camp with us, then come serve with us. You'll figure out the secret that those that camp with us already know: We adults have just as much fun as the boys!

Yours in Scouting - Paul Christensen, Scoutmaster