October 29, 2011 - Last week of our AYSO Concession

AYSO CONCESSION
Last of the Season
October 29, 2011

Our final Saturday of AYSO Soccer began with a frosty morning. It was sunny gradually warming into the 50's by afternoon. Everyone was in good spirits and we enjoyed a day of good sales. For the ten Saturdays, we only experienced one rainy day, which is very fortunate. 2011 was a great season.

October 23, 2011 - Mississippi Palisades Climbing Trip

MISSISSIPPI PALISADES ROCK CLIMBING TRIP - October 23, 2011

Sunday morning some Scouts and adults met for a trip to the Mississippi Palisades State Park to so some rock climbing.

Mississippi Palisades State Park offers the best rock climbing in northern Illinois. We don't have mountains in the Midwest, so this place is a climbing paradise for local climbers. The park is in a scenic setting overlooking the Mississippi River. There are over 150 routes in the limestone (Dolomite) bluffs that range from class 5.2 to 5.12. Most routes are about 50ft in length, some over 100ft.

Located in northwestern Illinois, the 2,500-acre park stretches about 3.5 miles in length. The bluffs run parallel to the river. Some areas are closed due to rock fall danger. Some climbing areas listed from north to south; Twin Sisters, Indian Head, Bee Wall, Butter Walls, Upton's Cave, and Dihedrals.

It was good weather for the trip and everyone had a great time rock climbing on the Palisades of the Mississippi.

October 22, 2011 - AYSO Concession

AYSO CONCESSION
October 22, 2011

It started as a cold day with frost on the ground and warmed by 1:00 p.m. to 60 degrees, warm enough to change from coats to t-shirts. The day was highlighted by Volunteer Recognition Day where referees and coaches were treated to a hot dog and a drink. Overall it was an active sunny day great for playing soccer and running our concession stand.

October 15-16, 2011 Three Fires Council Camporall

October 15-16, 2011
TFC CAMPORALL

The Camporall was attended by thousands of people. There were over 50 activities available for Scouts to enjoy. Among them were archery, riflery, climbing, radio station, solar oven, handicapped awareness, BMX biking, model railroading, Order of the Arrow, special games, exhibits, and Shelter Box USA provided a demonstration area. A highlight at the conclusion of their big arena show was a spectacular fireworks display. It was quite impressive. Troop 33 left early for home after the fireworks due to Cliff's health situation.

October 8, 2011 - John Goes to Georgia

OCT 8, 2011
JOHN GOES
TO GEORGIA

Some Troop 33 members along with neighbors worked to load up a truck for John and Lila Grant's move south to Georgia. John is undergoing chemotherapy and is very weak from the medications. Once loaded, Jim Overmann volunteered to drive the truck to Catersville, Georgia. Jim flew back to Illinois and Bill Todtz drove him back to DeKalb. John's prognosis is positive for recovery, though he has a long and difficult journey ahead of him. Georgia will offer a much warmer winter and an early spring. Hopefully John will be healthier and able to enjoy some rest and recovery in the gentle warmth of the deep south.

October 8, 15, 2011 - AYSO Booths

AYSO
CONCESSIONS
OCT 8, 15, 2011

OCT 8 AYSO
October 8 was a perfect Indian summer day. It was like a last breath of warm weather before fall temperatures. Sales were pretty good.

OCT 15 AYSO
October 15 was cold and windy. We sold a lot of hot chocolate. Fewer people stopped by the booth.

October 7-8-9, 2011 - MISSISSIPPI PALISADES

OCT 7-9, 2011
MISSISSIPPI
PALISADES

This was an introductory backpacking experience at Mississippi Palisade State Park. The weather was perfect with high temperatures in the 80s and plenty of sunshine. Great hiking provided fantastic views of the Mississippi River. Building survival shelters added to the adventure. Cooking meals with lightweight backpack stoves added to the educational benefits. A nighttime visit by a mysterious raccoon made for a great story. Everyone had a great weekend camping experience on a perfect Indian summer weekend.

October 1, 2011 - AYSO Concession

AYSO CONCESSION
Week #6

Our concession stand at the AYSO soccer fields went well. Sales were especially big on hot chocolate. The morning started cold then got warmer. A nice sunny day for the soccer season.

October 1, 2011 - Electronics Recycling

ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

We helped the Electronics Recycling program which was co-sponsored by the DeKalb County Health Department and the DeKalb County Farm Bureau. Our Scouts helped by unloading cars as they arrived. We unloaded computers, printers, fax machines, copiers, scanners, cell phones, stereos, tv, and monitors. In five hours of work we helped collect about 50,000 pounds of electronics, which was enough to fill three trucks. The recycling program helps the environment by preserving landfill space and recycling some precious metals and other materials. After the work was done everyone was treated to pizza and pop.

September 23-24-25, 2011 - SeptemberFest 2011

SEPTEMBERFEST 2011

- An event at St Mary's School, DeKalb, Illinois

SeptemberFest is a large fun fair activity to benefit St Mary's Catholic School. They have a sound stage, beer garden, food booths, games, and carnival rides. Dark clouds filled the skies but luckily it never rained. They enjoyed a good weekend event attended by thousands of people.

Troop 33 provided a few different services at SeptemberFest this year. 1.) We provided a food booth preparing and selling funnel cakes and lemon shake-ups. 2.) We emptied all the trash containers into a central dumpster at night. 3.) Our Scouts slept inside their bigtop tent to provide overnight security.

FOOD BOOTH

We had 28 Scouts and adults working shifts to man our food booth at SeptemberFest. We were doing set up mostly on Friday and weren't ready for sales until the end. We experienced steady sales on both Saturday and Sunday. Our schedule was pretty good and people worked hard to do a great job. We did a special delivery funnel cake to John Grant at the rehab center. I don't know if funnel cakes are medicinal, but the gesture is.

OVERNIGHTS

Both overnights were staffed by a crew of a dozen or more people. We were treated to leftovers from the main food booth. We emptied trash containers from around the festival. Scouts made themselves a sleeping area on tables, under tables, on cots, camp chairs, ground cloths, anywhere and everwhere they felt comfortable. A video projector showed movies covering an entire wall of the bigtop tent. One by one everyone eventually drifted off to sleep.

We had a full and successful weekend. Scouts earned money for their Scout Accounts by working at the booth. The overnights were fun. While this event happened we also ran another food booth at AYSO. It was a very busy weekend.

September 24, 2011 - AYSO Concession Week #5

AYSO CONCESSION WEEK #5

We had a cold morning and introduced hot chocolate that day to our menu. It was a good day for sales, a cold morning warming up to be a fairly nice day.