Mutual 12/5/12

This week we will be at the noble building at 7pm to keep working on the Emergency Prep Merit Badge. You will need to bring the forms that you were given last week to be able to work on the badge so DO NOT FORGET.

Mutual 11/28/12

We will meet at the Noble Building at 7 and begin the emergency preparedness merit badge.

Mutual 11/21/12

Tonight we have a combined activity with the young women. We will be meeting at the Moody's house at the usual time, 7pm. We are going to be watching a movie outside so dress warm and bring a chair! You should also bring snacks or any thing else you might want.

Mutual 11/14/12

Tonight we are meeting at the Noble Building at 7pm for the fly fishing merit badge.

Also, for the parents, we handed out calendars for this month and next on sunday. If you didn't get one or would like another copy, let me know!

11/7/12

This week we are working on the fly fishing merit badge. Meet at the Noble Building at 7pm. If you have a fly rod bring it with you but if you dont there will be some provided.

Activities this week 10/29

Hey guys,

Remember that we will NOT have mutual on wednesday so have fun trick-or-treating!

We do have Stake Youth Conference this weekend and I have included the schedule below. Don't forget that you will need to bring your sunday clothes with you saturday morning. IF you have any questions let me know.



Here is the Schedule for youth conference; Nov 2-3, 2012.

Friday, Nov 2nd

7p to 9:45p    Supper & Country Western theme hay ride/dance @ Pres Keyes' (map provided previously).  Dress for a hayride.  

10p                Host families pick up youth at the Stake Center

Youth will be brought to the activity by adult advisers.  After the activity the advisers will deliver the kids to the Stake Center for pick up.  The youth will need to have Sleeping bags, pillows, toiletries, etc. for the weekend.

Saturday, Nov 3rd

Host families feed the youth breakfast and deliver them to the church for check in.  Youth will need to bring all their belongings with them to the church.

8:30a            Check in (youth will receive their t-shirts at check in.  Please plan to wear them Saturday)

9a                Opening prayer and activity

9:30a            Workshops

11:30a        Lunch (provided)

12p            Depart for service project at Food Pantry in OKC.  We must be under way no later than 12:15.        The service project will end at 4p.

5p            Clean up and change into Sunday dress for evening activities.  All this will be done at the                            Stake Center. Extra mirrors, etc will be provided.

5:30p        Dinner

6:15p       Testimony meeting and talk by President Keyes.

???          When President Keyes determines that the testimony meeting should be concluded we will                then hold a dance.

10p        Depart

10/24/12

Hey guys,

We will be meeting at 7pm at the Noble building for a scouting activity. Priests will be working on eagle projects so please bring everything you have so far.

Hey Ride 10/17

Hey guys, this week we are having a hey ride activity with the young women and the other wards. We will be meeting at 6:30pm at Pres Keys property, which is off Post Oak Road just east of 96th.

Pay attention to the weather and dress prepared. SHould be fun!

10/10

This week we will be meeting at 7pm at the Noble building to finish the communications merit badge. We are going to be working on web pages so bring a laptop if you have one!

Campout

Just a reminder that we will be meeting at the Norman North athletic parking lot at at 5:45pm to go on our campout. We need to leave by 6pm so please be there and be ready to go!

There is a pretty decent chance of rain this weekend so please bring clothing and rain gear suitable for the potential weather.

Also important, you will need to pack a sack lunch for saturday afternoon. We will be going to the Wildlife expo so if you would rather you can bring some money and buy something to eat there but prices will likely be state fair/sporting event high so we encourage you to pack a sandwich or something. We will have a cooler with ice to keep anything perishable cool.

Mutual 9/19/12

Just a reminder that we are meeting at 7pm at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery located on Indian Hills and NE 24th tonight for a service project with the young women. We are going to be taking pictures and documenting headstones for record keeping an genealogy purposes so if you have a camera or a phone that takes good picture be sure to bring it with you.

9/12/12

Tonight we will be doing a couple of service projects. The Deacons will be meeting at Bro. Layton's house to help remove a dead tree. You will need to bring your own gloves and bring a shovel if you have one. The Teachers and Priests will be meeting at the Feland's house for mowing and trimming. We should have enough mowers and such but if you can and you want to bring one that'd be fine.

Both groups are going to meet early to give us enough time. We want to start working by 6:30pm so please try to be there by 6:15pm.

Temple Trip 8/28

As you know tomorrow we have a temple trip. We will meet at the Stake Center at 5pm and leave by 5:15pm. Food will be provided! For those of you that have sports after school we have arranged for you to be picked up and then you will meet us at the temple.

This week 7/18/12

This week will be meeting at 7pm at the Noble building to play ultimate frisbee. Be prepared to run and have fun! Recommend you bring athletic shoes and maybe some water. See ya there

KAYAK ADVENTURE!!!

This week we are leaving for our kayaking trip!!! You will need to meet at the Stake Center at 4:45 with all your gear (a complete list of what you should bring can be found in your scout book). We will have food provided and try to leave as soon as possible so make sure that you are there no later than 5pm. We have a whole week of whitewater kayaking, hiking, swimming, fishing, and great food planned! We plan to return on saturday around 4-5pm.

Also saturday for lunch we will be eating on the road so make sure you have some money for lunch saturday!

JULY 5th

As you know we will not be meeting tomorrow due to the holiday. We will however meet Thursday night at 7pm at the Tucker's house to finish our work from the silent auction. We will also use this as an opportunity to plan, make a menu, and make assignments for the float trip next week. Time permitting we will finish off with a game of capture the flag. Should be a fun and productive night. Hope to see you all there.

Mutual 6/20

This week we will be meeting together with the YW for time on the lake! We are going to meet at the Sailboat Launch at 6pm. We will be boating, tubing, swimming, and having a good time! Please be sure to bring a lifejacket if you have one (if you don't there will be some provided), your swim suit and a towel, and shoes you can go in the lake with (you do NOT want to go barefoot!). For those of you that have not completed the swimming merit badge, we will have a chance to work on the requirements while we are there.

This week 5/30/12

This week we will be meeting at 4pm at the Stake Center for our temple trip. We will have pizza provided and take care of the interviews before we leave, which will be around 5pm. As usual we will have Braum's after!

See you there!

This Week 5/16/12

This week we will be meeting at the Stake Center at 7:00pm for the combined Norman Wards activity. We are meeting with all the Norman Wards, Noble Ward, as well as the Spanish Ward for the "Amazing Race". Should be a lot of fun, see you there!

This Week 5/8/12

This week we are going to be meeting at 7pm at the Noble building. We will be learning about "me speeches" from expert Rob Harper. This will help us work towards the communications merit badge and will be a valuable tool in your lives. Following Bro. Harper's presentation we will be working on thank you notes for everyone that helped us make the chili cook-off such a succes.

Scout Physicals

Scouts and Parents,

As mentioned on Wednesday, there will be free medical physicals offered this Saturday at the Orthopedic and Sports medicine center at 805 E Robinson in Norman.  Our time slot is at 9:00 AM.  You should arrive a little early to ensure prompt attention.  This will allow those that are going to the camp rally at the stake center as well as those going to the merit badge fair to still get their physicals.  Attached to the email is the BSA scout physical form.  You can fill this out prior to hopefully expedite your physicals.  These physicals are required to attend the Young Men's Encampment in June.

Check your email for the physical form.

Here is the explanation and assignment for our activity wednesday. 7pm at the Noble building

1. On their own time, the youth will visit the following website: https://www.lds.org/youth/family-history/discover?lang=eng#step-5-go-to-the-temple-again-and-again

There are five instructive videos on the website. Each young woman and young man were assigned a particular (2 minute) video. Here are those assignments:

Step 1: Jackson Balkman and Ali Yervino

Step 2: Blake Stephens and Jocelyn Mortensen

Step 3: Hunter Moody and Sade Blackburn

Step 4: Connor Anderson and Jessalyn Johnson

Step 5:Mitchell Mortensen and Heather Spears
2. At 7pm, when the activity starts, I will give a short spiritual message, and then everyone present will break into 5 groups. There will be 5 stations, one for each of the steps, as listed above. The young men and young women will, with their partner, share how to do the step, as they learned previously from the video. They will have laptops available to them, if they wish to demonstrate what they learned (as they hopefully will).

3. Each station will be 5 minutes long- to explain the step, and to take questions. Then, each group will rotate to the next station, and the young men and women will do their presentation again. They will do it 5 times, one for each group rotation.

4. At the end of the 5 rotations (which should take about 30 minutes total), we will try to get everyone to have their four generations completed, as it is one of the ward goals. Those who already have their four generations can help those around them, trying to get everyone's done in their group.

5. We ask that as many people as have laptops and/or extension cords or power strips bring them. 

This Week's Activities

Tonight, sunday 4/22 we have our court of honor/firseside at the Tucker's house at 6:30. You will need to be in either Class A uniform or sunday dress.

Wednesday night we will meet at the Stake Center @ 6pm. From there we will drive up to the Chesapeake Arena for THUNDER ALLEY! We did this last year and it was a ton of fun. You will want to bring some money or eat dinner before you go as we will NOT be providing food. Be sure to bring your lawn chair and check the weather to dress appropriately.

Saturday the Stake is hosting a young men's basketball tournament. Be sure to meet at the Stake Center at 5pm ready to play!

This week 4/11/12

This week we will meet at the Noble building at 7pm. Weather permitting we will plant flowers on the church grounds, so bring some clothes that can get dirty, gloves, and small spade type shovels if you have them. Afterward the priests are going to play disc golf and the scouts that have not completed the communications merit badge will work on that. See you there!

Upcoming Merit Badge Fair Opportunity

We encourage all the boys to take advantage of this opportunity to earn badges and progress towards Eagle!

Metro Dance 4/14

Here is the info about the upcoming Metro Youth Dance!

This Week's Activities 4/4/12

This week we will be doing more preparation for our Chili Cook-Off/Silent Auction fundraiser. As part of the event we will be performing a skit, so Wednesday night we will be planning and practicing that. We will also review our donation assignments and do some training on how best to approach potential donors and what to say when talking with them.

As always contact me with any questions, see you Wednesday night!

This week 3/28/12

This week we will meet at the Noble building at 7pm to finish up our work on the City Council meeting we attended. After this is complete we will do some planning for the Chili Cook-Off and Silent Auction that is coming up on April 20th. This is going to be our main fundraiser for the year and we need to do our best so we can fund all of the exciting events and activities we have planned for the rest of the year! As always please contact me if you have any questions!

March Madness Standings as of Final Four

Jordan - 81 points, 5 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kansas and Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over Syracuse

Hunter - 78 points, 6 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Syracuse over Kentucky

Bishop - 74 points, 5 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over UNC

Wes - 74 points, 6 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Syracuse over Kentucky

Sis Moody - 72 points, 6 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over Syracuse

CJ - 68 points, 3 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over Syracuse

Thad - 64 points, 2 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC:Kentucky over UNC 

Jackson - 63 points, 4 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over Syracuse

Hawkins - 62 points, 4 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over Syracuse

Bro Stephens - 61 points, 3 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over Syracuse

Adeline - 56 points, 3 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over Kansas St.

Brad - 47 points, 2 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: Kentucky over Cincinnati

Blake - 44 points. 2 of 8 Elite 8 teams, Kentucky remaining. NC: kentucky over Cincinnati

Mitchel - 30 points, no teams remaining 

March Madness Standings as of Sweet 16

T1 - CJ  48 points all final four teams remaining
T1 - Thad 48 points all final four teams remaining
T3 - Bishop 46 points 3 final 4 remaining
T3 - Hunter 46 points 4 final four remaining
5 - Jordan 45 points 4 final four remaining
6 - Wes 44 points 3 final four remaining
7 - Brian Stephens 41 points 3 final four remaining
8 - Sis Moody 40 points 4 final four left
9 - Jackson 39 points
10 - Hawk 38 points
11- Adeline 36 points
12 - Brad 31 points
13 - Mitchell 30 points
14 - Blake 28 points

Blue River Campout - March 22-24

This week WE WILL HAVE NO WEDNESDAY NIGHT MUTUAL. Some of you have been assigned duties for wednesday night to help prepare for the campout.

-Hawkins, Jackson, and Blake will go with Bro. Humphrey, Bro. Barnes, and Bro. Smith to get groceries.
-Bradley and Hunter will go with Bishop and myself to get the camping gear and load the truck.

-Everyone will meet at Bishop's house at 7am, we will leave from there NO LATER THAN 7:30am!
-The Blue River is located just northeast of Tishomingo, OK and is about a 1:30 drive. We should arrive at the campsite around 9:30.
-The Blue River offers some very good fishing, hiking, and swimming opportunities SO COME PREPARED. I have posted a copy of BSA's person gear check list for you to refer to.
-We are planning on taking a day hike in preparation for the 14 mile trek this summer at the young men's encampment, so bring a backpack and hiking boots if you have them. At the very least you will need comfortable walking shoes.
-We are planning on returning saturday around 1-2, however if you need to come back earlier there are a couple leaders returning on friday evening.

This should be a great campout and I hope everyone is excited! as always if you have any questions please let me know. DON"T FORGET TO PRAY FOR GOOD WEATHER!

THIS WEEKS ACTIVITIES 3/13/12

This week we are meeting at 6:00pm TUESDAY @ City Hall. We will be leading the City Council in the Pledge of Allegiance and then viewing a portion of the meeting. To fulfill the merit badge requirements you will be asked to take notes on the debate and then write a one page report summarizing the issue of the debate and the differing viewpoints. You will need to be in full Class A uniform. You guys did great representing us at the Republican Convention and have a chance to do the same tuesday night! We will not meet wednesday night.

We have also asked the quorum leaders as well as the patrol leader to meet wednesday night at 7pm to plan the spring break campout. While we are not having a regular meeting with everyone wednesday night, if you want to come and help us plan the campout you are welcome to come.

3/5/12

We have a lot going on this week! Wednesday we will be going to the temple. We will meet at the Stake Center at 4:30pm and we are leaving by 5:00pm. Tacos will be provided so bring your appetite fellas!

Don't forget guys we are in charge of doing the flag ceremony at the JD McCarty Center saturday morning at 9am. We want to get there early to get ready and practice, probably around 8:30. You will need to wear your complete class A uniform and a pair of nice jeans.

Finally Sunday night we are having a fireside at Bro Balkman's house. Our speaker will be Bro. Blake Sonne. Brother Sonne lives in the Norman Second Ward where he is currently a member of the Bishopric. He is a practicing attorney in Norman and  graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business management from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 2001.  While pursuing his undergraduate degree, he was named a Verizon Academic All-American in basketball while serving as the team’s captain. Brother Sonne will share his insights learned from his days as a college basketball player, a lawyer and most importantly as a servant of Christ.

This will be an outdoor fireside beside an actual fireside so dress accordingly. We will make assignments regarding refreshments wednesday night.

As always if you have any questions please contact me!

This Weeks Activities 2/29/12

This week we will be assisting the Cub Scouts with running their annual pinewood derby. The event starts at 6:00pm at the Noble building so we are asking that you guys get there around 5:45 or so. After the race is over we will join with the young women to view a presentation of the pictures from your youth conference scavenger hunt. If you all have any of your old, championship pine wood derby cars from your cub scout days you should bring them!

For those of you that attended the Winter Formal, the pictures are available for viewing at the following link.
Winter Formal Photos

Swimming Merit Badge 2/22/12

This week we are completing the swimming merit badge. We will meet at the OU pool on Asp. Because the pool closes at 8pm, we will need to meet at 6pm to give us enough time to finish the requirements. You will need to bring your swim suit and a towel. In order to complete the survival requirement (below) you will also need to bring long pants with a belt, shoes, socks, and a long sleeve shirt. If you do not bring these items you will not be able to complete the badge.

"Demonstrate survival skills by jumping feetfirst into deep water wearing clothes (shoes, socks, swim trunks, long pants, belt, and long-sleeved shirt). Remove shoes and socks, inflate the shirt, and show that you can float using the shirt for support. Remove and inflate the pants for support. Swim 50 feet using the inflated pants for support, then show how to reinflate the pants while still afloat."


As always contact me with any questions, See you all on wednesday!

4 Ward Combined Activity 2/15

This week we are meeting at the Stake Center at 7pm with the youth from the other Norman wards and the Noble ward. Noble ward is in charge and they are going to be giving us some dance instruction. Should be a fun activity and a good chance to fellowship with our friends from the other wards. See you all there!

THIS WEEKS ACTIVITIES 2/8/12

THis week we will be working on professional skills. This will include several aspects that you guys will need to learn and master in order to be successful in the world of work. This will also be a part of the communications merit badge. This is going to be a very useful night so come and be ready to learn!

2/1/12

This week we will all meet at the Noble building at 7pm. The scouts will be doing training for your positions. The priests will go to the Tucker's house to learn welding from Pres. Tucker and Bro. Gilson. If you have any questions just get in touch! See you all wednesday!

This week 1-25-12

This week we will meet at 7:00 at the Noble building. We will be doing the first half of the swimming merit badge with Bro. Chambers. We are going to the OU pool later this month to complete the badge so make sure you come this week to get all the requirements. Swimming is an Eagle required merit badge so this is a great opportunity. If you already have the badge we will have a different activity for you.

Hope to see you all Wednesday!

THIS WEEKS ACTIVITIES 1/18/12

This week we are meeting at the Noble building at 7:00. We are combining with the young women to make videos on the topic of our new 2012 mutual theme "Arise and Shine Forth". Feel free to bring any props of costumes you might want and come ready to be creative!

Multi-Stake Dance 1/14/12

For those of you who are 14 and up, we have been invited to participate in a multi-stake youth dance this Saturday the 14th at OKC North Stake Center. Sunday Dress is required. If you are interested in attending please let Bro. Balkman or myself know as we are required to provide adult leadership if our youth attend.

THIS WEEKS ACTIVITIES 1/8/12

We have an exciting week ahead of us! Wednesday night the 11th we will be going to the police shooting range here in Norman with Officer Eric Lehenbauer of Second Ward. In order to give us as much time as possible to shoot we are going to meet at the range at 7:00pm rather than the church. The range is located on Jenkins, south of HWY 9 near the water treatment facility. For a map follow the link below. We want to represent our troop well while we are there so we expect everyone to be in their CLASS A UNIFORMS (look sharp guys, iron them, tuck them in). This is going to be a very fun activity so make sure you are there!

Norman Police Shooting Range Map

This Saturday there is the opportunity to participate in a merit badge fair right here at the stake center. You should already be registered, however if you are not, forms and information are available at the link below. We encourage everyone to take advantage as this is a great opportunity to earn several badges, several of which are required for eagle. I believe the fair is from 8:30 to 6:00, and requires a 20 dollar donation.

Saturday Merit Badge Fair

For those who are not going to be participating in the merit badge fair, we have a chance to help our former scoutmaster Chris Lee move. The move is scheduled for Saturday morning at 9:00am. There are currently about a dozen people signed up so it should be pretty quick and will be a great opportunity to help out Bro. Lee. If you are interested in helping but need directions/don't know where he lives just contact myself or Bro. Balkman.

Fun, busy week ahead, hope to see all of you there! Also, if you are reading this, THANK YOU for reading the blog!!!

Wednesday 1/4/5

This week we will be meeting as a patrol to announce new leadership positions for the new year. After we have taken care of our leadership change we are going to play putt putt at the church, so make sure that you bring a putter and a golf ball if you have one. If you don't don't worry we should have extras. It should be very fun so be there!