Good morning parents and leaders - A reminder that there is a Troop Committee Meeting tonight @ 7pm, Avery Street Church (the same place we hold the Wednesday meetings).
We’ll discuss summer camp, fundraisers, and much more! Everyone is welcome and extra hands are always needed to support our scouts and all the troop activities. Hope to see you there!
The scouts had an excellent meeting working on Merit Badges and rank requirements, further improving our scout skills. Here is a recap of the announcements from this meeting:
-Scouts, make sure you are completing your merit badge requirements that counselors are assigning as homework.
Personal Management: Print workbooks and work on Requirement 1
Personal Fitness: Requirement 1a and 4 and on.
-Summer Camp information was sent out before the meeting. If you are interested in coming to camp (which everyone should be) make sure you get the information and process that you will. This includes getting your medical forms and registering for camp.
- Now is your last chance to join us for Yardgoats scouting night, where we will be camping out on the field after the game. If you are interested, let Mrs. Smith know by Noon on Thursday (April 9th).
-We will be sending out information about a troop trip to the Adventure Park in Storrs for people who are interested. This will take place during break, stay tuned for that information.
-The April Campout (April 24-26) is coming up soon. A sign up will be coming out shortly, so make sure to sign up if you are interested.
-If you signed up for Merit Badge Madness, that is happening this Saturday. Make sure you are staying updated because that may be cancelled.
-There is an invasive species clean up at the South Windsor Public Library on the first Saturday of every month. Scouts, if you need conservation hours for ranks and merit badges, this is a great way to obtain those.
-There will be no troop meeting next Wednesday, due to April Break. Have a nice break of April!
-Shout out to my favorite current Troop 186 scout who moved here from Canada a month ago. Congrats to Ishaan for ranking up to Second Class.
"The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down." — Stephen King
LAST last call for YardGoats. Please contact Kari Smith directly BY NOON TOMORROW (Thursday):
(Final count will be submitted tomorrow)
Scout Night at Dunkin' Park Experience includes… • A pre-game parade around the field • The opportunity to participate in the Honor Guard before the game • A movie on the big screen after the game • The opportunity to camp out right on the field at Dunkin' Park after the game
Date: Saturday April 18th, 2026 Time: 6:10 P.M. Cost: $17-$26 per ticket (cost is lower if we purchase more. Once final head count is provided… I can give specific amount)
If you are interested, please text (860) 912-7417 before noon tomorrow.
This is a family event- siblings are welcome! We have 2 scouts signed up and we’re hoping to have more join in on the fun! ❤️
Here’s who we have: Scouts attending- Landyn, Hunter, Kavin, Veer, and Ishaan Adult Volunteers- Mr. Miller, Nikki (Hunter’s mom,) and (Landyn’s mom)
Troop 186 will be going to summer camp again at Camp June Norcross Webster (JNW) in Ashford, CT from Sunday 07/05/2026 - Friday 07/10.
JNW calls this “Week #2”, and it’s our traditional week to go. This year the July 4th holiday weekend is the weekend we go to camp.
The cost for the week is $585 (Early Bird Fee with our Save-A-Spot discount) if paid to us by April 29 to give us a few days to get it into their system. Pay through our Troop Website (coming soon), or make a check payable to “Troop 186” and bring to a Troop meeting. We will sign you up so we’re all together as one contingent and your payment to us goes straight through to Council. Don’t sign up or pay directly through Council.
The Connecticut Rivers Council will continue to award camperships to assist Scouts who need funds to attend camp and might not otherwise do so. Let us know if you fall into that category and we can help.
Make sure Scouts and Adults get their medical checkup within one year of camp and have the Drs office fill out their part of the health form. We’ll be collecting Health Forms, Merit Badge (MB) selections, and other special selections between now and camp.
A few notes about MBs: Some selections have age requirements, extra costs, or prerequisites (for example, you’ll need to complete the Swim Test in order to do any of the aquatic or boating MBs. Please see me or another adult leader if you have any questions or concerns about selections, and we will be having a parent meeting for Q&A.
Our two new/crossover Scouts Vihaan G and Dylan will be signed up for the First Class Path for first year campers, and all our other Scouts can start picking out their Merit Badgesand other selections now.
We need Adult campers, too!
Important dates we’ll fill in as we get closer:
NOW: Save the dates and Schedule your medical checkup now.
NOW: Pick your MBs and other selections.
SOON: Pay through our website.
04/15 Deadline to submit applications for Camperships.
04/29 Deadline to pay $585 for the Early Bird Discount.
TBA Health forms due.
TBA Pre-Camp parent meeting during one of our Troop meetings for Q&A.
TBA Pre-Camp meeting at camp to drop off medical forms and select program elements.
07/05 - 07/10 Summer Camp at JNW!
Summer camp will be here before you know it, and I can’t wait!
The scouts had an excellent meeting adjusting to our new monthly theme of Caving and Climbing, while working on advancements like ranks and merit badges. Here is some information that was given.
We had uniform inspections today, as it was the first meeting of the month. Make sure to acquire the parts of your uniform that you are missing in whatever way is best for you (no you cannot steal other scouts stuff). Also make sure you're wearing a hat and Class A during uniform inspections so we know you have an entire uniform.
The BSA National Council has announced that there is a new point to the scout law: "A Scout is Human". This is implemented in order to protect the youth generation from the use of Artificial Intelligence and other linguistic models. This is a April Fools joke, but originality is always better than GPT.
The new patrols now have new patrol names. Make sure we get accustomed to these new names and we must also continue to create other patrol details like a flag, yell, or motto.
At this meeting we started new spring merit badges. Scouts, make sure you print the workbook pamphlet for the merit badge you are doing. These packets can be found online, just search hard enough and you'll find it (boyscouttrail.com is a good website, or search ____ Merit Badge Workbook to find a PDF). Once that is done, make sure you do the homework your counselor assigned.
Congratulations to our new SPL Ani for ranking up to Life.
Summer Camp information is to come out soon. Stay tuned for communication regarding that.
April Campout information is also to come out soon. Stay tuned for communications regarding that as well.
Joke of the week: Why did the frog take the bus to work?
Quote of the Week: “O God, help me to win, but in thy wisdom if thou willest me not to win, then O God, make me a good loser.” - Robert Baden-Powell
The troop had an excellent meeting listening to our special guest Mr. Paterna discuss some citizenship details. Here are the announcements from the meeting:
Scouts, if you are using the meeting with Mr. Paterna to work towards any rank or merit badge requirements, make sure you write what your issue was so we can sign you off next week.
We have a new scout who joined us tonight! Let's continue to share scouting with others.
We are going to start planning an April campout. Stay tuned for information regarding that.
We will have a PLC meeting on March 29th. More information will be posted soon.
We are also planning to include basic life support classes for scouts who are interested. If this interests you, stay tuned for more information regarding it.
Troop 389 is looking for more Den Chiefs! If you're reading this and saying to yourself right now "Man I really want to be a Den Chief!", then you should talk to Advik.
Next week is the first meeting of the month. You know exactly what that means, so need I say more.
