Troop 850 and the Webelos 2 will be going to Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve and John Bryan State Park for the 41st Annual Bushwhack on Saturday, January 4th, 2025. We will conclude with the traditional stop at Youngs Dairy for ice cream. The hike is about 10 miles long, going mostly along the Little Miami River, which is a National Scenic River. Please bring a day pack, water bottle, sack lunch, and dress appropriately for the weather. We will meet at St Ignatius at 7am and leave by 7:30 am. We should return approximately 4 pm. All adults attending must be current with Safe Parish certification. The cost for the trip is $10 per scout. We do not have a meeting prior to the hike so please email me back letting me know you if you are going (this is needed to ensure we have enough drivers). You will need to bring your permission slip the morning of the hike.
2025-Bushwack-Permission-slip
Fall backpacking will be held at the Charles Deam Wilderness in Bloomington Indiana, November 8-10. Refer to the gear list for Cold Weather or Spring/Fall Backpacking on the Troop website (under “Info”).
– The Troop has a limited number of backpacks to be loaned out for those who need a backpack/gear, please contact Mr. Menner ASAP if you would like to borrow gear.
– All backpackers need to bring their own trail lunch for Saturday, one cold breakfast and any snacks/energy bars for throughout the trip. The Troop will provide one hot dinner and one hot breakfast.
November_Fall Backping-permission-slip 24
The weekend of October 18-20th, Troop 850 will hold our Gun Club Campout at the Fairfield Sportsmen’s Association. Scouts will be able to earn the Rifle merit badge or, if they have already earned the Rifle merit badge, they can earn the Shotgun merit badge. Scouts who have partials in either merit badge should be able to complete their badge. All courses and shooting are instructed by NRA scout certified instructors.
This is a great opportunity to experience a Scout weekend campout with your son, so we hope to have a great turnout. Additional adult participation is especially needed for this campout for increased safety and to keep our younger Scouts focused. All attendees are required to attend the whole weekend due to the nature of the activity and safety precautions.
Permission slips are due at our Tuesday meeting October 15th.
October Sportsman Permission slip .docx – Google Docs
The national scouting organization has implemented a new system of membership renewal starting September 1, 2024. In the past, each troop or pack renewed both its own “charter” as well as all of its youth and adults’ memberships at the same time every year in the “rechartering” process. The Troop collected the national dues from all of its members and then paid them over to Dan Beard Council which in turn paid them over to National. As a result, we all were registered for the same annual period. Last year that occurred during the fall, effective November 1, 2023 through October 31, 2024 for everybody.
Now, all youth and adults will re-register online directly with National. Sometime soon you can expect to receive emails directly from National with a link to the membership renewal online portal. You will need to complete the process as soon as possible, but in any case, no later than October 31 of this year. PLEASE NOTE: The email will come from noreply@scouting.org. We recommend that you whitelist this address in your email spam filter.
In some cases members who originally registered after rechartering last year, i.e. after October 31, 2023 will receive renewal emails around the one-year anniversary of their original registration.
The cost of the one-year membership renewal will now be $169.95 per Scout (or $185.40 for those subscribing to Scout Life magazine) and $73.13 per adult (or $88.58 for those subscribing to Scout Life). Payment will be made online directly to National. You can save the credit card transaction fees ($4.95 and $2.13 per Scout or adult, respectively) by going to the Scout Shop in Evendale and paying by check.
Last spring we had to cancel the backpacking trip due to weather so we are going to try again on September 13-15 at Two Lakes Trail of Hoosier National Forest, Indiana. This will be lower mileage to allow our first-time backpackers to join us. If you have any interest in backpacking this is the perfect one to start. For any scout that this is their first or second backpacking trip you must bring your backpack loaded with the appropriate gear to the troop meeting on September 10th so we can ensure you do not have too much or too little gear. Refer to the spring/fall backpacking packing list under the info section of the website.
All backpackers need to bring their own trail lunch for Saturday, one cold breakfast and any snacks/energy bars for throughout the trip. The Troop will provide one hot dinner and one hot breakfast. The cost is $15.
September_Spring Backping-permission-slip 24
Troop 850’s Caving Campout will be May 10th-12th at the Great Saltpetre Preserve (GSP) near Mount Vernon, KY. We will be exploring a cave based on age and experience, so this is a great opportunity for adults and Scouts of all ages.
The permission slip, waiver, and $55 fee per person are due on Tuesday May 7th. We need to have an accurate headcount so we have the proper number of guides. The $55 fee includes all food (except for Saturday lunch which you will need to bring to eat in the cave), transportation, camping fees, tips for our guides, and 2 new flashlights. We will be going over necessary gear needed (helmet with chin strap, gloves, back up headlamp, knee pads and old clothes) and watching one of the attached videos at the next meetings.
Caving Waiver May 24 Caving Permission Slip.docx – Google Docs
Caving Waiver
https://www.derekbristol.com/getting-started
Join the troop for a unique experience at the Whitewater Trails Railroading Camp-O-Ree April 26-28. The scouts will get to drive hand powered cars, explore locomotives, learn about railroad careers, learn switch and horn signals, work to lay track, take a train ride and much more. While doing all of this they will be working toward the railroad merit badge which they will earn by the end of the weekend.
We will be staying at Robinson’s Whitewater River Campground in Connersville Indiana. We will meet at the garage on Friday at 5pm with the hopes of leaving by 5:30. On Sunday we will be back a little later than normal since we will attend church in the morning, take a train ride down to Metamora to eat lunch and then back to the campground and depart around 2pm. So, we will be back at school around 3-4pm.
You will need to fill out the typical permission slip along with a release from the railroad company which are both attached along with a flyer with a bunch of information on the campout if you are interested. The scout will need their Class A’s along with close toe shoes for when we are in the rail yard, notebook / pen to take notes. The cost is $45.
Please turn in the permission slip form at the April 16th meeting which is 2 weeks ahead to allow us to update the registration with who is coming along see if we can return or get more spots based on the response of who is going.
Whitewater Trails Railroading Camp-O-Ree
Railroad Waiver
Railroad Camporee leader guide information
The Spring Backpacking trip will be March 8-10 at Two Lakes Trail of Hoosier National Forest, Indiana. This will be lower mileage to allow our first-time backpackers to join us. If you have any interest in backpacking this is the perfect one to start. For any scout that this is their first or second backpacking trip you must bring your backpack loaded with the appropriate gear to the troop meeting on March 5th so we can ensure you do not have to much or to little gear. Refer to the spring/fall backpacking packing list under the info section of the website.
All backpackers need to bring their own trail lunch for Saturday, one cold breakfast and any snacks/energy bars for throughout the trip. The Troop will provide one hot dinner and one hot breakfast. The cost is $15.
2024 Spring Backpacking Permission Slip
Troop 850’s annual Dutch Oven Campout is scheduled for the weekend of February 9-11th at Camp Birch, Yellow Springs, OH (around the corner from John Bryan park where we do the Bushwhack hike). This campout is consistently a favorite of the Scouts, and adult leaders who attend are consistently impressed with the boy’s culinary acumen. This year we will be staying in the Adam’s building at Birch which is heated.
Scouts will spend Saturday creating a 3 course culinary masterpiece; each patrol will make a main dish, a bread, and a dessert from scratch to share with the judges and the rest of the campers. Parents are welcome to come out and sample the dishes on Saturday or to help create their own Dutch Oven feast. After sampling all of the gourmet cuisine, the judges will have the unenviable task of designating which patrol is the best of the best, while all other participants feast on the Dutch Oven fair.
In addition to meal planning and cooking, time will be set aside to allow for Scouts to pursue advancement requirements, to play cards, and for other group activities which are being planned. So wash your serving spoon, polish your dutch oven, and start your menu planning–Dutch Oven Campout time is here!
Parents who plan to attend the meal on Saturday evening please RSPV by the February 6th meeting so we can plan accordingly.
The trip cost is $40/person. All Boys Scouts must attend the entire weekend per Troop policy. Please return the permission slip and payment by the February 6th meeting.
Dutch-Oven-permission-slip 24 (2)
Troop 850 and the Webelos 2 will be going to Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve and John Bryan State Park for the 40th Annual Bushwhack on Saturday, January 6th, 2024. We will conclude with the traditional stop at Youngs Dairy for ice cream. The hike is about 10 miles long, going mostly along the Little Miami River, which is a National Scenic River. Please bring a day pack, water bottle, sack lunch, and dress appropriately for the weather. We will leave St. I’s at 7:30 am and return approximately 4 pm. All adults attending must be current with AOC Safe Parish certification. The cost for the trip is $10 per scout due at the January 2nd meeting along with the attached permission slip.
2023-Bushwack-Permission-slip (1) (1)
