Category Archives: Merit Badges

Information relating to Merit Badges. Earning, registering, etc.

Merit Badge Challenge Update

Week #2 is this Saturday, Feb 3, we’ll meet at 7:45am at the church, then ride together to Butler Tech.  Wear full Class A, bring pre-work, homework, pen/paper, water bottle.  If your Scout can’t be there this week, they should contact their Counselors to see what they will miss and come up with a plan to make it up.  The goal is to get the work done and turned in while Merit Badge Challenge is still going on (partials are often a pain to complete).  Scouts should have the contact info for their Counselors (I might be able to help, if not).

Week #3 has been rescheduled to the morning of Saturday, Feb 17.  We’ll do trampolines after Merit Badge Challenge for a couple of hours (details to follow later this week).

2023 Summer Camp

Summer Camp registrations are due Feb 7!  Please send in your registration info next week so we can get scouts registered in preparation for class registration at the end of the month.  The form is attached.   We’ll be picking merit badges at the Feb 28 meeting.

Recall, Summer Camp is July 9-15 at Camp Friedlander.  Our goal is to have everyone attend Summer Camp. 

2023 Summer Camp VouchersDownload

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our scouts and families.  I hope you had a relaxing holiday with your family and friends and are ready for 2020!
We have a lot coming in the January/February time frame so I wanted to get everything out to families!  March isn’t too far off and will bring new scouts into our group as well.

In this email:First meeting and PLC

Mulch Sign-up and Delivery Date

January Court of Honor

Marengo Cave

Summer Camp Sign-up

Merit Badge Challenge

Scout Sunday

Cross Over ceremony

Email Updates
We will kick off the year tomorrow evening starting with PLC at 5:45 and then our troop meeting at 7pm.  For those in PLC, please ensure that you can be there or have a back-up in attendance.


Please see the note from Greg Kyser yesterday on mulch sign-ups.  Sign up with a note to Greg by 1/11 if your scout would like to participate and earn money towards gear and troop activities.  The other key date is mulch delivery day on 4/4.


January Court of honor will be on 1/28.  This is pushed back a week from the original 1/21 date due to the 6th grade band concert.


Our January outing is the annual favorite trip to Marengo Cave on January 24-26 (this was the chosen activity to repeat from last year).  We will be doing the standard cave tour as well as the wet, wild cave tour and staying in the bunkhouse/cabin.  Forms are due by the Tuesday, January 21st meeting.  Attached are the T209 consent form, Marengo waiver, and what to pack for the cave.


With the new year, it is time to start thinking about summer camp!  First payment/deposit for summer camp is due 1/23, so we need camp deposits by 1/21 as well.  Enclosed is the form with payment dates .  Reminder that summer camp is 7/5-7/11.  We would love to have all the scouts at summer camp earning merit badges and enjoying the outdoors!


Merit Badge Challenge is 2/1, 2/15, and 2/22.   Please ensure that your scout is working on their pre-work!  I will be sending out a sign-up for drivers in the next few days.


Scout Sunday is February 9th. We will be celebrating by hosting a pancake breakfast for MSPC to show our appreciation for their support. All Scouts should plan to attend from 9am-11:30am.


Sunday March 1st from 12pm-3pm will be the Webelos Crossover ceremony. More details to follow, but please hold the date.

Marengo Caves Consent FormDownload
Marengo Caves WaiverDownload
Natural Trip ChecklistDownload
2020 Summer Camp VouchersDownload

Meeting schedule and merit badge counselor list

The Troop had a great week at Summer Camp. Hopefully your Scouts have recovered from all the fun.
In this post:
Meeting Schedule
Mark your calendars
Trailblazer
Blue cards
Partial Merit Badges
Meeting Schedule
7/24 – Meeting
7/31 – Off
8/7 – Meeting & PLC
8/14 – Off
8/21 – Meeting, return to meeting every Tuesday
Mark your calendars 
Summer camp 2019 will be July 7-13. Mark your calendars now because camp is celebrating it’s 100th year and it’s bound to be FUN.
Trailblazer 
Scouts that took Trailblazer (Hot heads) at Summer camp should bring their handbooks to the Troop meeting. They learned many Scout skills and we want to test those skills and sign off, while it’s still fresh. If your Scout can’t the meeting, we will get this done at their next meeting.
Blue cards
Keep those blue cards safe! Blue cards for incomplete badges (partials) were returned to the Scouts at the end of camp. Blue cards are used to track a Scout’s progress towards a Merit Badge. They are the only record of what requirements have been completed and if lost, the work will have to be repeated. Note: The blue cards for merit badges completed at camp were given directly to our Advancement chair so they can be presented at our next COH.
Partial Merit Badges
Scouts have several options for finishing their incomplete merit badges. They can return to camp during camp open time and work with their Summer camp counselor to complete their requirements (call ahead to coordinate). The Troop also has counselors for many of the merit badges, especially Eagle required badges (see the list below). Finally, Scouts can work with any qualified counselor to complete their badge. I can provide a list of qualified counselors to Scouts that ask.
Badge 209 Counselor
Backpacking Zubelik
Camping Wegenhart
Camping Winters
Citizenship in the Community Carpenter
Citizenship in the Community Wegenhart
Citizenship in the Nation Carpenter
Citizenship in the Nation Zubelik
Citizenship in the World Carpenter
Citizenship in the World Zubelik
Communications Carpenter
Cooking Winters
Digital Technology Zubelik
Engineering Shefcik
Engineering Zubelik, K
Environmental Science Wegenhart
Family Life Wegenhart
First Aid Corgan
Fish and Wildlife Management Wegenhart
Hiking Zubelik
Law Carpenter
Medicine Corgan
Nature Wegenhart
Personal Management Zubelik
Programming Zubelik
Scholarship Carpenter
Soil and Water Conservation Wegenhart
Space Exploration Zubelik, K

COH recap and up coming events

This is a recap of the information that Mr.Fitz provided at the Court of Honor on Tuesday (for those that missed or those that just need this in writing).

Medical Forms – due by June 28th
Summer uniform (class B) begins May 31
Summer camp pre-work – begin working on this now. If you need information, see Mr. Zack

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Upcoming Events:

May 22nd 1:00 – 3:30 – Troop Operations Workshop (MSPC) – ALL PLC members are expected to attend
May 30th 9:30am Memorial Day March—meet behind the Middle School in full uniform
June ? Troop Meeting 6:30-8:30 – Madeira Swim Club – swim test, $2-5 non member
June 17-19 – Rafting Trip
June 26 – Madeira Criterium Bike Race – volunteer opportunity (more to come on this)
July 10-16 – summer camp

Summer camp merit badge schedules

Summer camp merit badge schedules were handed out at last night’s meeting. If you didn’t receive yours or you would like to make changes please see Mr. Zack.

Many of the merit badges have pre-work to be completed before camp. Please review the Pre-req document and get started now.

Additionally, some badges have extra gear requirements that must be brought to camp. Please review the Pre-req document to see if any of your merit badges have gear requirements. It is your responsibility to ensure the gear you need makes it to camp. Before you buy gear, check with the Quarter Master to see if you can borrow the item from the troop inventory.

Pre-req doc: http://www.danbeard.org/pubs/2016_Merit_Badge_Pre_Requisites.pdf

Upcoming Events

Boys should be in full Class A uniforms for all below activities.

Tuesday 1/26 7:00-8:00pm– Winter Court of Honor . ALL families are encouraged to attend even if your son is not receiving anything. This is one of 3 times a year that we celebrate achievements. There is also be very important information discussed at this meeting about Directory Sales, Mulch Sales and Friends of Scouting.

Tuesday 1/26 8:00pm – Philmont 2017 information meeting. This will be for anyone who will be 14 or older (or 13 and completed the 8th grade) in 2017 and 1st Class that has interest in going to Philmont in the summer of 2017. Agenda items – trip timeframe, cost, budget, etc.  Greg Kyser and Dave Zubelik are taking the lead on planning this High Adventure Trip (thanks guys).

Saturday 1/30 7:30am – 1:45pm— Merit Badge Challenge (Day 1). We will meet at MSPC at 7:30am to caravan to Sycamore High School. We should return to MSPC around 1:45pm (we are in charge of straightening up classrooms on day 1.)  Boys will need 3 self-addressed stamp envelops, their pre-work, pen/pencil/old notebook and the merit badge book (if available). There is a concession stand that boys usually like to buy snacks/soda from, no more than $5 is necessary. Please let me know if you are able to drive to/from/both (I need 6 more seatbelts both ways).

Saturday 2/6 7:45am-1:15pm – Merit Badge Challenge (Day 2). We will meet at MSPC at 7:45am to caravan to Sycamore High School. We should return to MSPC around 1:15pm. Boys will need 3 self-addressed stamp envelops (if not already handed into counselor), their pre-work (if applicable), pen/pencil/old notebook and the merit badge book (if available). There is a concession stand that boys usually like to buy snacks/soda from, no more than $5 is necessary. Please let me know if you are able to drive to/from/both (I need 6 more seatbelts TO and 10 more seatbelts FROM).

Sunday 2/7 – A Scout is Reverent. Sunday Feb 7 is Scout Sunday. We will be participating in services (9:00 and/or 11:00) at MSPC as well as service a pancake breakfast to the congregation from 9:45 – 11:00. This is a Troop 209 tradition and a very easy/nice way for us to show our appreciation for over 95 years of support from Madeira Silverwood Presbyterian Church. You do NOT need to be Presbyterian to participate. The entire activity will run from 8:45am – noon. We will need readers for both services, please see me, Mr. Wegenhart or Sam Carpenter if you are able to be a reader. Thanks again to the Evans Family (Tommy, Sarah, Mason and Samantha) for your very generous support in preparing and funding the annual pancake breakfast.

Saturday 2/20 7:45am-1:15pm – Merit Badge Challenge (Day 3). We will meet at MSPC at 7:45am to caravan to Sycamore High School. We should return to MSPC around 1:15pm. Boys will need 3 self-addressed stamp envelops (if not already handed into counselor), their pre-work (if applicable), pen/pencil/old notebook and the merit badge book (if available). There is a concession stand that boys usually like to buy snacks/soda from, no more than $5 is necessary. Please let me know if you are able to drive to/from/both (I need 6 more seatbelts TO and 10 more seatbelts FROM).

Merit Badge Challenge: Pre-work

Scouts should be working on their Merit Badge pre-work for Merit Badge Challenge. This is especially true those that have a 90 day requirement. Follow this link MBC Pre-work Details to get specific details about what needs to be done for each Merit Badge.