Troop

Welcome to the Troop 48 Website! Troop 48 is chartered by the Church of St. Jude the Apostle in Hamburg, NJ, and draws young men from the surrounding area. We will be meeting regularly, typically on Monday evenings. We will post our schedule updates on this site as they become available. Click here for a map to our meeting place (and the meeting place of the Sussex District Roundtable).

Troop 48 is chartered with the intent of providing young men a fun outdoor-oriented experience, and promotion of a devotion to God, Family and Community.

Pierogi Sale: Thanks to those that patronized the Troop 48 Pierogi Sale! Your generosity (and appetite!), helped make this fundraiser a success for us. The Scouts and Scout Families put in the greatest effort on the pierogi sale, and the results will benefit our program significantly. We are currently deciding if the sale will be an annual event. Please let us know your interest by sending and order for for next year on the order form here. There is contact information on the form.

Posted April 3, 2007: We have added some photos of the Appalachian Trail in the area Troop 48 will be hiking! Also, the PDF copy of the schedule is up-to-date.

The Scouts of Troop 48 have had an eventful couple of weeks! The Scouts trekked on an "urban" hike into Manhattan, visiting the Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium. Many of the Scouts experienced their first ferry and subway rides. A great time was had by all, Scouts and adults alike! Following that, the Scouts of Troop 48 spent 10 hours on the pierogi sale, with an impressive display of effort and focus. The result was a product enjoyed by those that partook! Congratulations to the Scout's effort and result! Troop 48 also received a number of generous donations, slated to our goal of purchasing a trailer. Thanks so much to those families!

In that period since the last posting, Scouts from Troop 48 have become certified in CPR, completed a service project and campout at Camp Munsee (Thanks Fr. Mark!), camped at Winnebago, been ice fishing, and welcomed new Scouts. This coming weekend (Sunday March 18th) is our urban hike into New York City, going to Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium. Don't forget our open house on Monday March 19th!(see below)

Posted October 25th: The schedule has been updated. Note the upcoming camping trip and CPR training! The spring items are on paper, and will be added as there is room on the website. There is some flexibility, and the Scouts are actively offering input. Some potential items include a trip to eastern Connecticut and backpacking along the AT.

Posted September 27th: We have added some photos to the site, and over the weekend, will add some additional photos from the canoe trip and update the schedule. Click here for the photos. The camping trip in in November is also posted. This trip will be a camping service project, with the Scouts and Leaders assisting with maintaining Camp Munsee, operated by the Benedictine Fathers of the Newark Abbey.

Posted September 20th: On September 15th, Troop 48 held its first Court of Honor! A Court of Honor is a ceremony recognizing the Scouts for their achievements over the previous period. All of the Scouts of Troop 48 advanced in rank, and received their various awards earned at Summer Camp. All of these Scouts also were awarded at least one Merit Badge each, a significant achievement for such a young Troop. They are all off and running on the trail to Eagle!

Posted September 12th: We have survived the mighty Delaware River! The Scouts of Troop 48 traveled by canoe more than 20 miles (some more than others...) this past weekend on the Delaware. Leaving from Milford Beach, and ending at the Walpack Bend, we enjoyed beautiful weather and fine paddling conditions. The Troop camped overnight, in primitive wilderness conditions, for two nights. The first night was on Minisink Island, with the second above the Bushkill. Being the off-season, we largely had the river to ourselves, with the occasional fisherman or random kayak. The Scouts paddling skills steadily improved throughout the trip, and we all learned from the experience (including the Scoutmaster). The Troop would especially like to thank Mrs. Cooke and Mr. Gallagher for joining us on this adventure. We hope they'll be with us on the next trip!

Troop 48 is always open for enrollment. If your son (or you) would enjoy and benefit from an active outdoor program, please don't hesitate to come on down. The following form, while for our March open house, has contact information: Join Troop 48

Date	Activity	Location	Start Time	Description
3/18/2007	Urban Hike	NYC	10:00 AM	meet at Bagel Tree: caravan to ferry
3/19/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM	Open house
4/2/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM	Physical Fitness: Walkill / Backpack
4/16/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM	backpack shakedown (fully packed!)
4/21-22/2007	Backpack trip	AT	7:00 AM	backpacking hike: overnight
5/7/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM
5/18-20/2008	Campout	Rocky Neck, CT	4:00 PM	Prelim: Mystic/Sub Base/Coast Guard
5/21/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM
6/4/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM	bike safety
6/8-10/2007	Camping	TDB	5:00 PM	Bike Hike
6/18/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM
6/30/2007	Parade	TBD	10:00 AM	Franklin Day Parade
7/2/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM	Summer Camp Preparation
7/15-21/2007	Summer Camp	Winnebago	12:00 N	Session 2
8/18/2007	Family Picnic	TBD	TBD	TBD
8/27/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM	Canoe Trip shakedown
9/7-9/2007	Canoe Trip	Delaware	4:00 PM	Milford Bridge launch
9/17/2007	Troop Meeting	St. Jude's	7:00 PM
10/5-7/2007	Camping	Sea Girt	4:00 PM	State Police Camporee

If you are interested in receiving information about Troop 48, please feel free to contact:

The following link is the the MSWord document that is our basic Troop Camping Trip Packing list. As time goes on, this will be updated to add specific pages for different types of trips, such as canoeing or backpacking. Please use this link: camping list. The list can work right from the computer, checking off what you decide is needed, then check again as it's packed. The list for the Personal First Aid kit is here

Some of our Scouts and parents have been asking about the type of equipment to by for our camping and outdoor activities. While it's always nice to buy the best quality equipment possible, the Scouts are growing so quickly at this time that they may outgrow it tomorrow. For something that will last a few years, go for the quality. For something they are going to outgrow quickly (except boots! go decent and use extra socks) or LOSE, go economy.

Mr. Rueckel has a marked-up Campmor catalog for those requiring more guidance.

Congratulations and thanks to the Troop 48 Leaders (Mr. G., Mr. P., and Mr. R.) that recently completed Risk Zone training. This safety awareness training for Scout Leaders ensures that Troop 48 Leaders have the tools needed to Scout safely!

The application flyer for Boy Scout Leader Specific and Outdoor skills training is available. It can be found in the Adult Training section of the http://www.ppbsa.org/

Troop 48 Summer Camp commitments are due April 1st! Please get you payment in on time to take advantage of the early-pay discount! The early pay is $280.00 versus $305.00 for the later payment. Call Mr. Rueckel if you have questions!

The Scouts of Troop 48 had a great Summer Camp experience at the Winnebago Scout Reservation during the summer of 2006. Winnebago was a great place for young Scouts to gain experience in outdoor skills, have fun, and spend a week away. For most of these young men, this was the longest they have been away from home, and they were impressive in they're ability to learn and have FUN. Save the dates for Summer camp 2007!

Last summer all of the Scouts and Leaders of Troop 48 qualified as swimmers. This resulted in all being able to experience the water trampoline, and various types of canoeing and boating. We also went on a backpacking Outpost Camp, and a sunrise hike to Indian Cliffs. The shooting sports areas were very popular. Troop 48 had the youngest team by far competing in the Camp Triathlon and the Camp-wide games.

A deposit has been made to secure our position for Summer Camp at the Winnebago Scout Reservation during the third week of July (July 15-21st). The Scouts will have ample opportunity to to have fun and work on advancement during our week in camp. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Mr. Rueckel. The camp at WSR is the facility that we enjoyed this last summer, and was attended by some of our new Scouts for Cub Scout Resident Summer Camp, so they should be familiar and comfortable with the surroundings. The program at WSR is again run by Kitty Reinhard, so we are virtually assured of a great week in camp.

The Summer Camp experience will focus on HAVING FUN, earning a few merit badges, doing some hiking and waterfront activity. The scope of activities that the boys can enjoy will be expanded from the Cub level, so there will be many new adventures. As time gets closer, we will post more information, equipment and packing lists, and other information.

Our goal is to get all of our sons out to camp this summer. If there are financial impediments, please apply for one of the Warren Wheeler "Adventureships", which may help cover some of the costs (if awarded). The application is due prior to March 15th, and can be found online at: http://www.ppbsa.org/abo/Forms/adventureship.doc. Please feel free to discuss this with any of us.

Please Note: This site is maintained by volunteer Scouts. Although it contains useful information on local Scouting programs, it is not an official BSA website. The information provided here has not been approved by the Patriot's Path Council or the Boy Scouts of America. Further, we are not responsible for the the contents of the above sites (links), which may not reflect the view and opinions of the BSA, and do not endorse any products or services they may provide.