As you may have seen from a previous e-mail, we received the following announcement from the MBU organizers:  "Due to unforeseen circumstances, Texas A&M University Merit Badge University 2012 must be postponed from its original scheduled date of February 25th to April 7th. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and hope that you can still participate on the new date."

The Summer Camp Leader Guide is now available and may be downloaded by clicking the link.  Scouts will be especially interested in the Program Guide that begins on page 28.  The badges and programs are divided into the areas of Aquatics (page 31), Waterfront Activities (33), Living History (34), Shooting Sports (35), Nature/Environment/Conservation (36), Scoutcraft (37), Recreational Sports (38), and Handicraft (39), and Climbing (41).  The camp also offers some special activitites such as a C.O.P.E. course, ATV, and the Scuba Merit Badge.  We have already reserves spots but we will need firm committments from all who wish to attend by the Troop Meeting of February 27th.  (Registration is now available).  Scouts should also begin thinking about which merit badges you wish to pursue as the deadline for those selections will be the Troop Meeting of April 9th. 

We have had a few more badges added since our update last month, including the newest badge, Chess, which was introduced in 2011.  The new list may be accessed here.  We are blessed as a troop to be able to counsel so many badges, but we could always use more!  If you are interested, please complete a merit badge application and an adult leader application and return it to a committee member at a meeting.

We are now able to sync the Troop Calendar from the website to personal calendars.  It appears that the syncing function is available for the following applications/systems:

The Troop Committee has elected to move the date of the Troop Committee Meetings from the first Monday of the month to the second Monday of the month.  This will provide the Committee opportunity to incorporate any ideas developed during the PLC meeting into the Committee's agenda, and will have the added benefit of providing a more convenient forum for parents to participate in the Committee process. For more information regarding the Troop Committee, please see the Troop Committee Organization and Responsibilities page.

The Aggie Eagle Program is offered once each fall and spring semester. The next session is scheduled for January 27-28 and includes a ticket to the A&M-Oklahoma State basketball game.  The Aggie Eagle Program is a recruiting event for the Corps of Cadets which is held once each fall and spring semester. Traditionally, the Corps has 300+ members who hold the BSA Eagle Scout rank or the GSUSA Gold Award. The AEP recognizes that the same traits that motivate a youngster to join scouts also encourage them, as collegians, to join the Corps. Participants will: