Troop 497 Announcements

Last Update: 6 May 2025. Click your browser's refresh button to ensure you are looking at the most recent update to this page. It is updated several times most weeks. Click underlined text to follow the link to additional information.

Adults Sign Up for Canada Merit Badges and Coordinators

Adults sign up for the Merit Badges and Coordinators positions you would like to fill during our Summer Camp at Haliburton. The Scoutmaster would like all adults to signup again even if you had signed up the previously time (months ago). Please do this ASAP so he can take your preferences into account when making assignments.

Shed Clean Out, Saturday, 10 May, Adult Help Needed

There will be a shed clean out on Saturday, May 10th from 9-3. Mr Brando is looking for 8-10 adults to assist. Lunch will be provided. Please contact Robert Brando at 410-200-8220 or rbrando1960@gmail.com with any questions.

Troop Meeting, Thursday, 8 May

Adults, please email the Senior Patrol Leader if you are interested and would like to participate. More information will be available during the Committee Meeting on 5 May.

Troop Meeting, Thursday, 15 May, Career Day

Adults, please email the Senior Patrol Leader if you are interested and would like to participate. More information will be available during the Committee Meeting on 5 May.

Rodney Scout Reservation, 16-18 May 2025, Sign up Online and Pay at Troop Meetings

Updated 6 May 2025

Please register to participate using the Online Event Registration Form and pay the Treasurer at a Troop meeting.

Our next camping trip is to Rodney Scout Reservation in North East, MD. We last camped here in March 2007! The weekend activities include Geocaching, Archery, and COPE. (Check back for updates.)

Actions required by participants before the trip:

Complete the Event Registration Form and pay the Troop Treasurer at a Troop Meeting.
The registration form should be completed by all Scouts and Adults participating during any part of the weekend including just driving.
Only Adults, who are registered with the BSA and Troop 497, are permitted to camp overnight with Troop 497 Scouts.
Re-register if you need to make updates or cancel your participation after you submit your initial registration.
The cost for the trip is $20 for Scouts and $10 Adults. Pay the troop treasurer at a Troop meeting.

General Information

The main activities for the weekend are Geocaching, Archery, and COPE.
This is your last opportunity for a PASS Meal until the October trip. Send you menu to Mr Kakel today!
Check this link for a Weekend Personal Clothing and Gear List.
Carry a flashlight in your pocket for when you arrive.
We will return to the shed on Sunday at 2 PM and take care of the gear used on the trip. Parents should arrive at 1:45 to pick up their sons who had carpooled with another adult.

Shelter

We will be tenting this weekend. Scouts must sleep in troop tents and adhere to normal BSA guidelines for tenting with other scouts as we do on any other camping trip. Adults may tent in their personal tents or a troop tent.

Food

This is a Patrol cooking trip.Turn your menus into Mr. Michels by 2 May.
Special dietary restrictions: Special dietary restrictions: If your son has special dietary restrictions you would like the patrol to attempt to accommodate contact the Patrol Leader. PLEASE BRING SPECIAL FOOD AS NEEDED.

Adult Menu Check for an update closer to the trip

Lunch on the road

Transportation

Drivers should bring your EZ Pass. The Susquehanna Bridge Toll is $6 with the pass and $12 without it!
Please register to drive using the Online Event Registration Form.
These are the suggested driving directions. The route is about 58 miles and should take about 1:05 hour depending on traffic. The route has tolls.
You should still complete the online registration process if you are a Virtus approved driver and you are volunteering to drive but don't plan to camp.
The Troop's transportation coordinator may actively recruit parents to drive to/from the camping location if we don't have sufficient adult volunteers to drive. You may be asked to drive one or both ways.

Car Wash – 7th June 2025

See this file with the past corporate sponsors, it would be smart to try to get them as your sponsor in 2025!

The annual car wash is quickly approaching. We will start distributing the Car Wash donation packets to the scouts at the Troop meeting on Thursday, April 10th. If you do not receive your packet, you have two options, either go to the Forms/Current Events page and print the forms, or contact Mr. Mann to arrange a pickup of your packet. Please get started right away on getting sponsors. Each scout is expected to raise at least $200.00 in pledges and/or corporate sponsorships. The first $100.00 in pledges goes 100% to the troop, this is new for 2025. Every pledge over the first $100 goes to the scout’s family account, which can be used to pay for summer camp, monthly camping trips, and any supplies related to scouting. For every $25 in donations that each scout turns in each week, they will get one ticket for that week’s prize drawings.

We are in need of donations for the weekly prize drawings. The prizes can be anything you think the boys will like, from a $5.00 gift card to Dunkin', to the unused Christmas gift that is sitting in your basement. No prize is too small!

Please respond to Mr. Mann (Jeff@Mann-Home.com or 443-377-6699) to let him know if you are able to offer any prize donation. Please bring your prize donations to the weekly Troop meetings.

Thanks for helping motivate the boys on achieving their goal, and for helping to make this car wash a success!

Please send us your Summer Camp 2024 photos

Eric Reynolds is collecting pictures from Summer Camp 2024 (June Norcross Webster Scout Reservation).

Scouts and adults can send Eric ejreynolds518@gmail.com a link to their photos.

Summer Camp Information

Bring two copies of your completed and signed medical and insurance forms and give them to Mr. Reidler at the next Troop Meeting. See the Information/Major Events page for detailed information.

Summer Camp Information will appear under the Information/Major Events page of this web site as it becomes available or changes. Generally this page will have an announcement about any new major information for about two weeks. The Major Events page is the repository for all the detailed information that can be shared publicly and that information will continue to grow as we get nearer to summer camp. Any private information will be sent in the troop emails. Currently the major Events page has information about passports, medicals, medications, and payments.

Consent Letter to Allow a Minor Child to Cross the U.S. Canadian Border

BOTH Parents or Guardians must complete this Consent Letter to Allow a Minor Child to Cross the U.S. Canadian Border. It must be signed in the presence of a Notary Public and Notarized. We will have a Notary at the check-in the Thursday before we leave for Canada. You can also have it notarized at most banks before then.

Passports Required for Summer Camp at Haliburton Scout Reserve in Ontario, Canada

Everyone traveling into Canada and returning to the US should have a Passport Book valid at the time of entry. Visit this US Department of State web site for information on obtaining a passport book. Don't get a Passport Card - it is not valid for international travel by air which may be necessary in the event of an emergency. Apply NOW, it takes time to obtain a passport and is much more expensive if you need it quickly.

A Birth Certificate is required to apply for your passport. Obtain a birth certificate NOW if you don't have one that meets these requirements. It must have the seal or stamp from the city, county, or state which issued it.

All Scouts and adult leaders will need to provide a copy of the identification (picture) page of your passport as backup.

PAYMENT INFORMATION

Northern Tier 2025 - Final planning is underway for the 2025 Northern Tier trip for registered Scouts/Leaders. Current estimated costs for Scouts/Leaders attending Northern Tier is $3,000 per participant. Payment in full is requested by the end of April 2025.

Emails from BAC concerning Registration Expiring

Please disregard any emails you may receive from the Baltimore Area Council concerning scout or adult registrations expiring.
All scout and adult leaders registration fees that were due at the end of 2024 were paid by the troop in the middle of December.

The Baltimore Area Council is in the process of updating their electronic system.

Additional Resources for Scouts, Parents, and Adults

Please visit the Resources page under the Information menu above for additional information about Troop 497 programs and activities.