This month, the Troop celebrated the Court of Honor for our 101st Eagle Scout, and the formal confirmation of our 102nd Eagle
The Troop is very proud of Mitch, Steven and the 100 Eagles that have come before them. See the full list here.
A Scout is reverent: Temple visit 2018
In acknowledging the part of the Scout Law that says “a scout is reverent”, Troop 260 encourages its Scouts to visit the places of workship of different religions. Learning and experiencing how people of different faiths practice is essential in building understanding and trust – and avoiding fear.
A couple of weeks ago, it was time to visit the Temple Emanu-El in San Jose to attend Shabbat. Below, three Scouts provide their perspectives:
[su_quote cite=”Enzo”]My time at the Temple of Emanu-El was an interesting experience. Although I have been there several times I always enjoy going there. The people I met are fun; there’s lots of singing, and there’s food and drinks at the end. The temple also is very scenic with a huge half dome roof the puzzles me on how tall it is every time I go there. I would definitely go there again if i had the opportunity.[/su_quote]
[su_quote cite=”Niko”]The Scout Shabbat at Temple Emanu-El is a Jewish celebration where the celebrate us scouts coming to their temple. I enjoyed my time at the service. They sang songs in Hebrew and it sounded nice (although I couldn’t understand what they’re saying). After the mass, we get to have lots of good food. There is a blessing before the feast, kids have apple juice or cider and the adults have wine. Then we eat, talk and reflect on the mass and what we learned.[/su_quote]
[su_quote cite=”Steven”]I have been to Temple Emanu-El for the scout shabbat numerous times, and it is always good to visit. I am really open to understanding different cultures and beliefs, and my experiences there give me a new perspective to Judaism than what is on history textbooks. There’s plenty of singing in Hebrew about giving thanks and living the best life possible. The Rabbi then speaks out on a reading then applies it to today in our life. As soon as worship is over, food is served at another room. The Rabbi then proceeds to give a blessing, and we eat. And as always, the food is great. I would definitely go back to participate in next year’s scout Shabbat.[/su_quote]
Inspiration – Scout Outdoor Code
Given so much of Troop 260’s time is spent in the outdoors, we take the Scouting Outdoor Code seriously. Our State and the wider places we visit offer huge natural riches and we want to ensure that while we enjoy them, we do so responsibly and with future visitors in mind.
The Code asks us to be, amongst other things, conservation minded.
Those of us looking for inspiration of what being conservation minded can achieve, may enjoy this short film about this Texas Fried Chicken mogul turned landscape restoration pioneer.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPkcpGmflE”]
The increasing importance of Scouting
[su_quote cite=”The Economist, 27 Jan 2018″]The number of megacities with populations of more than 10m has doubled to 29 in the past 20 years, and each year nearly 80m people are moving from rural to urban areas[/su_quote]
Our Troop has a focus on being outside: on hiking, backpacking, canoeing. We consider a high-adventure, outdoor experience to be fundamental to scouting.
At least every month we have a weekend away. In the summer our 50-miler and attendance at Camp Hi-Sierra last for a whole week.
Seeing the above statistics on a rapidly urbanizing society, I imagine what we offer as a Troop becoming ever more important.
If you aren’t already taking part, do join us! New scouts and family members are always welcome. If you are already involved – see you next month for Henry Coe 😀
New Year – new website
For almost a decade, stalwart T260 supporter Nic Matulich had been building and maintaining out website. After indicating recently that he was keen for someone else to take a turn, I thought it would also be a good chance to refresh the site.
Some stuff changes, some starts the same. The site is still hosted using an online service (but today it is called ‘the cloud’ 😋). By switching to WordPress I hope to provide better separation between content and Infrastructure. This will enable Scouts and parents to contribute content (posts, page edits) without needing access to the underlying site.
The sure also uses a theme that is designed to scale from desktop to smartphone – something that wasn’t a consideration even 10 years ago.
More to come. Stay tuned.