The monthly blood drive will be held on Wednesday, January 16.  The time that you put in counts towards Community Service requirements for advancement.
If you are interested, sign-up here

Please see the Troop Upcoming Events page for information on the Feb 9-10 Troop Ski trip to Mt. Cardigan.
Note that some important dates are coming up:
   January 21 - Sign-ups and Deposits Due (see info on Upcoming Events page )
   January 28 - Balance and Permission Slips Due
   February 9 - Ski or Tube

The Mt. Cardigan Trip which will take place on February 17-20th. 

This trip is for approved Star & above Scouts, who have previously registered with Mr. Ham.

The High Cabin sleeps 12 (bunk beds with mattresses). We will be having 2 practice hikes prior to our trip. The practice hikes will be with full back packs in the Blue Hills. 

All participating will be required to participate in the two practice hikes.

During our up-coming  preparations, we will be  sampling freeze-dried meals, reviewing cold weather  hiking & first aid,  checking boot sizes (in order to place an order with  EMS for the rental of snow  shoes prior to our trip), and a variety of topics to  make our trip a really nice  experience. Further information about Mt. Cardigan can  be reviewed on the AMC's website at: www.outdoors.org , click on "Lodging" at the  top, and then click on the "Cabins & Campgrounds"  tab.

Practice Hikes (Jan 6th  & Jan 27th) 
Scouts and adults participating in the Mt. Cardigan Expedition will meet at the Church at 8 a.m. for our hike with full back packs-be sure to review your list as we will be looking through our back packs after the hike. 
 
On the agenda: review our equipment, pick our hiking route for the morning, fill our water  bottles and head off. We will plan to be back at the Church around 1-1:30 p.m.   Everyone will be asked to bring a suitably delicious snack and lunch with them.

Planned Itinerary for the Mt. Cardigan Trip (Feb 17-20)
February 17th
-- Leave Mansfield  around 4 p.m.  (to avoid traffic)
-- Pick up snow shoes at EMS and arrive at the  Epsom New Rye  Congregational Church in N.H. to spend the night
February 18th 
-- Leave the Church by 7 a.m., have a  hearty breakfast at an awesome restaurant
-- Arrive/check in at the Mt.  Cardigan Base Lodge by late morning,
-- 2 mile hike  to the High Cabin and spend the  night
February 19th
-- Day hikes from and to the  High Cabin, spend second night
February 20th
-- Leave the High Cabin by 10 a.m. & check out,
-- Have a meal on the way home,
-- Return snow shoes
-- Back in Mansfield by late afternoon (dependent on traffic)

Congratulations to Jeremy Ham for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout!
You can see some images of  his recent Court of Honor at Troop 17's Eagle Honor Roll page.