The Troop Annual Plan

I have a calendar that running in my head, geared to the school year calendar that I can’t seem to get rid of.

Decades of programming for young people will do that to you. Last night I was watching our Scouts, talking to our Scoutmaster and I heard myself say, “oh, and by the way. Is the senior patrol leader ready to present the annual calendar to the troop committee at their meeting the first week in August? Has the patrol leaders council planned the August Court of Honor for all of the awards the guys earned this summer? Has the patrol leaders council planned how and when they are going to have elections for senior patrol leader and patrol leader ? Do the guys have a patrol leaders council meeting set up to plan the August program and campout?…” Anyway, after this torrent of questions had escaped from my mouth I turned and looked at our Scoutmaster and he was just staring at me. Oops!

I just did it again; I was doing the Scoutmaster’s job and I shouldn’t – just like he is not supposed to do the senior patrol leader’s job.

Sometimes I just can’t help it, it just spills out. So, just asking, how is your troop annual plan coming along? Did your patrol leaders council have an Annual Planning Conference in May or June? Have they scheduled a time to present their plan to the Troop Committee? Have you planned your summer court of honor? In the middle of August we have a potluck dinner at 6:00pm and court of honor at 7:00pm. Lots of fun.

Families are all invited, especially if they bring lots of food J The Scouts receive their merit badges from camp and since we go to camp in June they may have had time to finish merit badge partials and perhaps even a rank or two. Is the Advancement Chair ready with advancement reports and awards? Has your Outdoor Chairman started working on setting up reservations for the fall program? Is someone planning on going to Roundtable and sign up for Popcorn Kernel, School Night, Scouting for Food and Recharter? Is anyone transitioning on your Troop Committee? We encourage folks to sign up for two years and then we get some new folks to take over, usually in August. Are the August and September campouts scheduled so that parents can put them in their calendars and begin making plans for fall activities? Does your troop have elections in August for senior patrol leader and patrol leader? We encourage the guys to get that done in early August so that everyone knows who is going to lead the troop through the fall program season.

Elections in February are more about who is going to be senior patrol leader for summer camp! Have you signed up for summer camp for next summer?

Figured out what fund raisers you are going to have besides popcorn sales? Is everyone trained or getting trained before recharter? Does anyone know the answer to who is trained? Does someone have the district and council training calendar for fall 2012 to give to troop leaders and committee members? Is all of the accounting from the past year and summer camp totaled up and ready to be rolled over into the new year? Does your troop use troop ledger or another accounting program that needs to be rolled over each budget year? Is your treasurer getting a tentative budget ready for the new year? Has everyone finished paying for summer camp and other activities? Get those delinquent payments in as quickly as possible before all the other stuff (recharter, fund raising, etc.) kicks off. Have you scheduled Junior Leader Training for the new leaders the Scouts will be electing in a few weeks? Do you have a training staff and a quartermaster for the training? Have you reserved a location? Do you have a high adventure group (Venture Patrol, etc) that needs to kick off planning their activity for next summer (SeaBase, Philmont, backpacking, canoeing, trip to Canada, trip toSwitzerland, 50 miler, etc)? Has someone stepped up to lead that venture (not the Scoutmaster !)? Do you need to order troop T-shirts, troop composite number patches, neckerchiefs, hats, etc. for new Scouts that show up? We tend to pick up two or three new Scouts every fall that are not related to Cubs and crossover. Be ready to welcome those guys and make it a big deal when they come on-board. This whole list popped out of my head in about 15 minutes as I was sitting here typing. It’s all stuck in there and I can’t get it out.

Something’s about to happen. If you are ready it’s going to be a good thing. As families start to get back to school and a regular fall schedule, excitement begins to build up through the holidays.

Folks are home from vacation and ready to head into a new year. Take advantage of the energy. Be prepared.