A busy October

What a wonderfully crazy month October has been!
Not only did we get everything in Sandusky set up but we also had a fundraiser and received some very nice donations! ---And the 2008 Annual Report came out!!

Every year the Heart of America Council Boy Scout Office puts out an annual report which updates our community leaders and businesses on how well the scouting program is going. These reports also feature different units and scouts for their efforts in their community. We were asked to do a photo shoot and interview for the report because of our 2008 trip to Mt Rushmore. Evan and Danny did a fabulous job at the interview and Justin and Jeff did a great job at the photo shoot. We not only got the usual front/back page but we also were featured on another full page with a picture of the whole group at Mt Rushmore and a story about our pending 2010 trip!! Very cool! According to Justin 'We're totally ballin' now!' - which translated in adult language means we're FAB! LOL! gotta love the phrases these teens use nowadays!

The fundraiser was hard work; guys had a good time! They would rather do manual labor than go door to door selling something. One of our parents started the 'Rent a Scout' fundraiser and we had our first job last weekend. We helped move a family from an apartment to a new house. Congrats to the new home owner!!

We also received some nice donations from Musselman & Hall and Merriam Christian Church. Thank you!!

We're getting closer but are still about $900 away from being able to reserve the airfare. We're hoping to resolve that in November!
In November we have another Rent a Scout program planned which should bring in about $60. And a weekend of selling Hy-Vee Coupon books which should bring in another $400.
Leaving us with about $450 yet to raise.

We've also just been asked to speak at the Heritage Society reception of the Council Annual Dinner November 18.
November is shaping up to be another exciting month!!

Please remember to pray for our troops everyday. Thanks for ALL that you do!

Sandusky Ohio ROCKS!!!

I cannot even explain just how Blessed we've been in Sandusky, OH. I don't even know where to start!!!
I was fortunate enough to make contact with Steve D. the Director of Erie County Metro Parks. He had some great ideas for locations in Sandusky and has given us some invaluable contact information. He even sent an email to the City Manager's office giving them an outline of our trip. Michele H. is an Angel!! She was so exuberant to speak with and she had so many fantastic ideas - and talk about organized - sheesh!! She's got it goin' on!!!
I told her that we couldn't afford to stay in Sandusky but would probably be staying in one of their 'burbs. She gave me a few companies to call to see if we could get into Sandusky if that's what we'd rather do. My first and only call was to Mike S. at the Quality Inn & Suites...and boy did he hook us up!!
Linda J. with the Ohio Veteran's Home was very helpful and quick! I think it took all of 10 minutes to get the Pavillion scheduled! She was great!
With everyone's help we now have a location to have the Flag Retirement Ceremony, a location in which to have the Ash ceremony and a great place to stay!!
We're also hoping to get discounted tickets for the veterans and scouts that attend the ceremonies at Cedar Point and some of the other local attractions!
What a great reception and we're not even there yet!!! :-)

City of Shawnee

Our efforts to notify businesses around Shawnee were somewhat surprising. We received monies from some individuals right there and then! Everyone seemed truly excited for us and wished us well.
We've given out our blog site to many new people over the last week so for those of you who don't want to reread all of the posts; here's the outline.
We have a group of 12 scouts going around the country to perform Flag Retirement Ceremonies in our effort to support and thank the veterans and active duty soldiers who are protecting our freedom and our country. We will be stopping in Cleveland, DC/Baltimore, Galveston and Portland. ---all four sides of the U.S. just as the soldiers protect our boundaries...
We're calling our trip SCOUTS C2C. Scouts Commemorating Our Units, Troops & Soldiers Coast to Coast.
In DC we will be performing the Wreath Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at 9:15 a.m. on Flag Day. In Baltimore we will be performing the Flag Retirement Ceremony at Fort McHenry during their Flag Day Celebrations.
If you would like to support us in our efforts please click on the Donate button or send a check to Troop 246, 5325 Nieman Rd, Shawnee KS 66203.

Bummer

Well, we've been turned down by Payless Shoe Source and KC Southern. Our WalMart was not able to submit our request in August. She said she can only submit 6 of them and we were number 7. We should be able to get our request submitted in February. We'll see.

It is funny to me to note that there are a lot of companies out there that will not support us in our endeavors to honor the veterans just because we belong to Boy Scouts. I'm surprised that anyone cares what organization wants to do something to honor the vets...the fact that the vets are being honored should be what people are supporting. Why withhold support from vets because of their issues with BSA? Kinda like not marrying the woman of your dreams because you can't stand her sister...who cares...you'll only see the sister once or twice a year...is that worth passing up a lifetime of happiness?

Cabella's

Cabella's answered our request for assistance by sending us a dozen very nice baseball caps and a binocular valued at $150. NICE!! Now we just need to figure out what to do with these...auction? gift for highest donation? no idea yet.

Applebee's update

The Applebee's fundraisers went really well...especially the pancake breakfast. We had budgeted 2 fundraisers there - one before school and one in the spring - and we thought we'd make $600 combined.
How wrong we were...pleasantly so!!
Over the last 2 weeks we sold 114 tickets for the pancake breakfast on Sat. and we handed out 300 flyers on the Dining to Donate on Sun. Between both days we raised just over $800!! With some luck we'll be putting the extra 'over budget' money and the money from the one we'll do in the spring towards the SPL planned 'fun events' while we're traveling.

The guys really hustled and made this a huge success. Thanks to the parents for helping out on Saturday also!!
Many thanks to all of you who purchased tickets, gave donations and dined at Applebee's this weekend!!

Announcements

What a nerve-racking week it has been for the guys!! Evan, David & Danny all went to St. Luke's Episcopal Church on Sunday to announce to the congregation our plans for this trip. They were so supportive in 2008 that we wanted them to be the first ones we made our BIG announcement to.

This morning Danny and Evan and I drove up to Mimi's in Zona Rosa to discuss our plans with the Club North executives. What a great bunch of people!! They were sooo nice to us - very patient and understanding when we made our way thru our presentation. Thanks to Al and Mary for working with us to organize this presentation. Everyone was very supportive and excited to see what we are doing.

We were thrilled to hear of so many people who only fly SWA --- and they were thrilled to hear that SWA supports activities such as ours!! Good stuff.

Pancake breakfast this Saturday and Sunday is the day that we will receive 10% of your receipts. Eat at APPLEBEE'S IN SHAWNEE!!! mmmm...more good stuff!

Update on Fundraisers

We've been out selling tickets for 2 days now and have already raised $143. We have 3 more nights of ticket sales scheduled and of course the scouts are selling them to their friends, family and neighbors.

We are also dropping off fliers about the Dining To Donate at Applebees on the 16th. Applebee's will donate 10% of your bill to us for everyone who walks in with one of these fliers on the 16th. I've attached a flier to this post, hoping you'll be able to print it out and take it with you to Applebee's in Shawnee on 8/16.

We've also found a few ads on Craigslist...folks wanting manual labor. We're scheduled to go out to a farm on Sunday to put in a bid for cleaning up a tree line. This is the stuff that our troop is really good at. The scouts would rather put in a hard days work than go door to door selling something. Wish us luck!!

to print the flier, first save to your hard-drive and then print.

Let the Fundraising begin!

August is our official kick off month.

We will be starting off with 2 Applebee's fundraisers.
1. Pancake Breakfast August 15 8AM - 10AM
Tickets are $5 each. We will be selling these door to door throughout the neighborhoods around St. Luke's Episcopal Church. If you would like to purchase a ticket please leave a comment with your contact information and we'll get one to you.

2. Dining to Donate - August 16
If you dine at our Applebee's at any time on 8/16 10% of your purchase will be donated to our troop. You MUST turn in a flier with your order or else we will not be credited for your purchase. A copy of the flier will be posted on this blog within the next day or two. If you need something sooner, leave a comment and we'll send you a flier via email.

Both of these are at the Shawnee Applebee's located between Nieman and Quivira on Shawnee Mission Parkway.

We have also posted an ad on Craigslist looking for any manual labor types of projects. Hauling brush, cleaning up a construction site, tearing down office cubicles, etc.

Remember those Gold Books? We will be selling an e-version of those. We will have a 'Scout Card' that will have you log into a website where you will be able to print off coupons or find out about discounts for various stores in our area. We're looking at this fundraiser for September or October.

If any of these items interest you, please leave us a comment with your contact information and we'll get in touch with you right away.

Awwwww....Bummer

Received official word from Continental that they will not be able to be a sponsor. uggghhh.
However they do support scouting on a national level so they're still cool!! :-)

Fuel costs have been sponsored!

Jami with Deffenbaugh Industries just emailed me to let us know that Deffenbaugh will be sponsoring our trip by paying for our fuel costs!!
Her quote "We are happy to help this local troop and believe in what you are doing."

Jim and I are VERY excited and can't wait to tell the scouts about this donation at our scout meeting tonite!

Midwest Airlines Update

Today we contacted Midwest Airlines again. We just had a hard time believing what we were told the last time we called. This time we talked to Barb. WOW! What a difference a positive attitude and friendly voice makes!! She was very friendly and requested that we send her our letter so that she could 'fly it up the flag pole' and see what they can do for us. Although it would be tough to be turned down by this company at least Barb made us feel like she was going to do everything she could for us and because of that and her positive attitude I'm considering today a GREAT day!!

Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Disappointments vs. Excitement

OK, so not everything is going smoothly. Jim and I are experiencing a few moments of frustration while dealing with some of these airlines and ground transportation people. It's hard to believe these guys are turning us down. I really thought that with the excitement and support that Southwest showed us that the rest of these airlines would've wanted to jump on board! Southwest is sponsoring 2 legs of this trip. We were hoping some of these other airlines would support us and we were only requesting they support one leg.

Midwest told us that they are too small to try to support us. Really? I thought they were one of top airlines going out of KC. I've always heard positive things about them. One would've thought that they would want to support a small group on such a big adventure? One would've thought that they would want to send out that message to everyone else that it is important to support those groups who actually WANT to honor our veterans and servicemen/women?!!

United told us they have given out their donations but finally gave us their form to fill out for 2010. We'll see what happens.

We haven't made contact with Continental yet. Hoping to have better luck with them since their CEO is on the BSA Board.

Enterprise Corporate office won't even talk to us. We were told to go to our local offices. Can you believe that? The gentleman that started that company is a war veteran from the USS Enterprise...he's a hero...he and others like him deserve to have someone honor him and commemorate his contributions to our country and his corporate office doesn't believe this is a big enough venture to even generate a conversation with the corporate office? WHAT?!! When was the last time you heard of a scout group traveling across the US to honor our veterans? When was the last time you heard of a scout group participating in the Flag Day celebrations at Ft. McHenry with their own Flag Retirement Ceremony??!! - Never, cuz they haven't done it before!!! Maybe I'm a little too close to the subject. But thankfully the folks in charge at Enterprise were there to remind me that what we are doing is no big deal.

And then you go from that frustration to a very friendly conversation with a sweet lady at BRT Charter in the Cleveland area. She seemed very excited about our venture and is taking our information directly to the owner to see what he can do to assist our little group. Now these guys charter large buses...capacity of 47 is the smallest bus I saw on their site. I'm not sure if they'll be able to help us out because we are such a small group but she sure had a positive attitude about our adventure!

Ft. Rilea is very excited about the idea of having us stay in their barracks. They're also gearing up to accept more reservations for barrack stays as veterans/soldiers in that area may want to stay close by the ceremony site.

It's always good to talk to folks who are also excited about this endeavor of ours!!

Schedule and Ceremony

Over the last 2 weeks the scouts have hammered out quite a nice flag retirement ceremony. They've taken parts and pieces from the military ceremony and scout ceremonies.
We've also hammered out a 'doable' schedule...this is a temporary schedule. The final schedule will be dependent on the flight schedule.
Not all of the locations have been solidified yet...this is basically our hopes laid out for all to see.
If you know of a more 'ceremony' friendly monument/park/area in any of these cities please send us a comment so we can check into it.

Thanks so much for the help of our Portland contacts who steered us toward the barracks at Ft. Rilea and the grounds of Ft. Stevens for a dusk ceremony. Sounds very cool and we're really excited about it...the only beach-side ceremony at sundown that we'll be doing. Should be very stunning.

June 11
Depart KC – arrive in Cleveland
Flag Retirement Ceremony (FRC) on 6/12

June 13 late AM
Depart Cleveland – arrive in DC
Tour DC

June 14
9:15AM Wreath Ceremony @ the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington VA
Tour Pentagon
FRC at Ft McHenry

June 15
Depart DC – arrive in Houston

June 16
FRC at Vietnam Memorial in Galveston

June 17
Depart Houston – arrive in Portland
Check in at Ft. Rilea barracks

June 18
Evening FRC at Ft Stevens

June 20
Depart Portland – arrive in Kansas City
Final FRC – evening ceremony at Liberty Memorial (WWI)

We Got Arlington!!

We've received confirmation that our troop will be performing the Wreath Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Flag Day 2010!!! We are soooo pumped!!

Guys are starting to get that nervous/excited jitter when we discuss our plans...hilarious to see!!

To date we have the following secured:
20 one-way tickets via Southwest Airlines
Wreath Ceremony at Arlington
Flag Retirement Ceremony at Fort McHenry - also on Flag Day!

DC has come together rather well. Time to move on to the other cities...

DC excitement

During a conversation about this trip one evening we were discussing different cities and the things we could do in each city. Justin mentioned that he would like the see the changing of the guard at Arlington. Jeff told him that groups can actually participate in a Wreath Laying Ceremony at Arlington. This really sparked Justin's interest; he really wanted to do this. I told him that we'd look into it and so with a little bit of research we found what we were looking for but we couldn't apply for this honor until June...they only take requests 1 year out. So we'd have to wait.

In the meantime I'm introduced to Major Bob at the Pentagon...what a hilarious guy!! He's a complete brainiac when it comes to history...never knew a history buff could have such a great sense of humor! We asked Bob tons of questions about DC and transportation and told him our ideas for the ceremony locations. Our guys really wanted to dip their toes in the Atlantic Ocean and to have a ceremony there on the beach. However, Bob threw an idea past us that was too good to pass up. We made a few phone calls and finally was able to discuss this option with Vince. Once we were able to answer all of his concerns he was on board. At this point we had just secured the first scout-led Flag Retirement Ceremony at Fort McHenry!! Our ceremony will be part of their annual Flag Day ceremony, parade of flags and fireworks. They usually have between 5,000-6,000 people in attendance. LOL!! You should've seen the adam's apples bobbing when we told the scouts this news!! They were VERY excited...this was a much better idea than our original beach idea. Thanks Major Bob!!!

Major Bob has also given us a few other great ideas - which at this point we are keeping a secret from the guys. You'll need to check out this blog while we're on our trip to see what Chuck has reserved for us!! Soooooo cool! Can't wait to see their faces when we pull up to it!!

Back to Arlington and the Wreath Laying Ceremony...
At the first of June we submitted our written request for 9:15 AM on June 14, 2010. Today we received confirmation that we got our request! We're doing the Wreath Ceremony on Flag Day in 2010!!! How cool is that??!!
At this point our scouts are scattered...one in CA, another working staff at scout camp and others are working...summer vacations, ya know. So I sent everyone a text message letting them know 'We got Arlington'!! the reactions were all about the same...'Sweet!' 'Holy cow are you serious?' and 'Yesss!'

We're all VERY excited!! This means that Flag Day in 2010 will be such an honor!!

Arlington perform the Wreath Laying Ceremony
Tour of the Pentagon - with a chance to meet Major Bob and shake his hand!
Flag Retirement Ceremony at Ft. McHenry
and ending the day with a big surprise!!

I can't wait to see what the guys want to do in the other cities!!

'the idea' of a lifetime!

The really cool part about all of this is that on the way home the boys started talking about what they could do in 2010. They wanted a way to pay back the VFW's, Women's Auxiliary, DAV's, etc that helped them to get to Mount Rushmore. Being as creative as they are they came up with a REALLY cool idea. Let's do something on all four bodies of water around the U.S. For those of us trying to figure out what the 4th body of water is...it's the Great Lakes!! We looked into it after our return and it just seemed too expensive and out of our reach so we let it go.

March 2009...we get a call from Randy Kidder who we know from the Adventures in Scouting paper and now e-paper! :-) Our troop has been picked as one of the top 10 units in our Council!! Us? Our teeny lil group? But it's true! Our current SPL Danny and our 2008 SPL Evan did an interview and a couple of the scouts from the trip participated in a photo shoot for this Executive Report that will be going out in the next 4-6 weeks. They did a great job and I can't wait to see it!!

Of course all of this brings 'the idea' back to the forefront. We started digging into it a little more than we did the first time. We came up with a few cost-saving ideas and then decided that this might actually work. First thing we did was to list out all of our expenses - biggest expense at the top of the list and started thinking of ways to be able to lower those costs.
The most expensive item on our list was airfare. Then Jim thought of trying to find a way to give folks the ability to donate frequent flyer miles to us. We contacted a few websites out there that are currently doing that but they weren't able to help us. The list of regulations and stumbling blocks seemed a little outrageous so we decided to take the bull by the horns and contact the airlines directly to see if they could help us organize this donation of FFM. First on our list of phone calls was Southwest because that is my preferred airline. Imagine my surprise when I dialed the number to the VP of Communications and Strategic Outreach and she actually answered the phone herself!! I about fell outta my chair!! Linda was sooo nice and almost as excited about the trip as we were! She took down all of our information and had Marilee take charge of our request and in May they came back with an unbelievable amount of support!! 20...yes count them...20 one-way tickets. One company took care of 1/3 of our airfare needs! Holy cow!! Once again I about fell outta my chair!! The scouts are stoked!! We all consider Southwest, Linda and Marilee 'beastly' - a very good term for those who don't speak 'teen'!!

And with that fabulous information Jim and I were even more driven to make this fantastic idea a reality...which is our job as adult leaders in the troop. The scouts think of things they want to do and we figure out how to make it doable. And then it's up to the scouts to follow through and DO IT.

In the beginning...

This blog will cover our troop’s efforts and updates for our 2010 FRC (Flag Retirement Ceremony) trip around the nation. But we wanted to give you a little background first. In 2008 we invited 3 scouts from another troop to join 5 of our older scouts on a trip to South Dakota to participate in the Mt. Rushmore Flag Lowering Ceremony. We had a FANTASTIC time!

Getting the approval to participate in Mt. Rushmore’s ceremony was no easy task. We sent a fax, emails and were on the phone on the designated date. We dialed their number every 2 minutes for 1 hour and 42 minutes until we were able to get through to the ranger. We were the third group to be assigned a date. Thankfully we were able to get the date that we wanted – Flag Day (June 14) 2008. We were thrilled when we found out that they had over 400 requests for only 120 spots – and we got in!!! Us…a little troop from Shawnee, KS. We told the scouts that if 2 ‘old’ folks can be this persistent then they should be just as tenacious in their efforts to raise the funds needed to attend.

The scouts did a little bit of everything from selling popcorn and poinsettias to working the kitchen at Lakeside Speedway, picking up trash at the American Royal BBQ to cleaning up construction sites or having a fundraiser at Applebee’s. Our church and local VFW’s, DAV and Women’s Auxiliary also donated to our trip. We were thrilled and honored at their generosity.

The Scouts worked for weeks on the simple positioning of everyone, who stood where, who did what, etc. Once the Eagle Project was completed and we had a flag pole at the church they practiced for weeks on the entire ceremony. They felt they were prepared and ready to go for it after their last practice. High fives all around!! Little did they know what awaited them at Mt. Rushmore.

For 6 months the Senior Patrol Leader (Evan) worked with the adults to plan the other activities. Everything was kept hush-hush. Earlier in the planning the scouts told me that they didn’t want to hear about all of the details. I told them about the secret trips I would take with my boys. I would tell them what kind of clothes to pack but everything else was a surprise. They liked that idea and requested that we take that angle. I warned them that if they agreed to this now then they wouldn’t be able to ask for details as the trip got closer. They didn’t care…at that time. Sure enough as the time drew nearer they wanted more information and it really bugged the tar out of them that one of their own – Evan knew everything and wouldn’t disclose any information to them. Evan was bribed, threatened and begged to reveal information. Everything was done in jest and it was hilarious!! The buildup made for an even more exciting trip!!

We took the secrecy one step further. The scouts did not know on a day-to-day basis what was going on or what they were doing. Evan would tell them the night before what they were to wear or bring the next day and then the guessing games would begin!! Hilarious!! This was so much fun and exciting that the boys voted to do this again for our 2010 trip! Evan had a great plan; we went to the Badlands, grouped into teams and went through a maze, drove to Wyoming to see Devil’s tower, went to Bear Country USA – and then the big event…Mt Rushmore.

We arrived a little early and thank goodness we did. The program changed at the last minute so the guys had to do some last minute switches and practicing. They were VERY stressed. They’d done all of that practicing and felt like it was for nothing. One of their level-heads told them that only a few things had changed. Most of what they had practiced was still the same. Except of course the last minute knowledge that Evan would be leading the Pledge of Allegiance. HELLO!! You should’ve seen the look in that boys’ eyes!! HA!! I don’t think I’ve ever seen his eyes get that wide before!!!! After they were comfortable with the new program they went into the crowd and starting thanking the veterans and current servicemen. The ceremony itself was VERY nerve-wracking but the time spent in the crowd was really cool and is a very large part of their memory of the event. The scouts sorta dawdled out of there. It was like they just wanted to absorb a few more minutes of ‘the moment’. The servicemen from the Hawaii Army Reserves and the South Dakota & Missouri National Guards were great and stopped to pose for pictures with the boys before they left. They were laughing and joking around so much that I think we were able to get one picture of everyone looking at the camera. All of the other shots were of the servicemen laughing and talking with the scouts. I like those pictures best…Very cool!

Our remaining days in SD were spent at Evan’s Plunge, Needles Highway, and Reptile Gardens. Our older scouts went Wild Caving while the younger ones took the public cave tour. While in SD we managed to address some of our fears. Whether it was fear of heights, snakes, dark spaces or driving on a very narrow and steep highway (most of us didn’t realize this was a fear we had until the moment presented itself!!)…everyone stepped up to the challenge, attacked them and came out on top! The folks up in South Dakota were very hospitable and extremely friendly people. The cabins at the High Country Guest Ranch were VERY clean, the food was great and such fabulous folks-we would highly recommend them!