The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the scouting national honor society and recognizes Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives. This recognition provided encouragement for others to live these ideals as well. Arrowmen are known for maintaining camping traditions and spirit, promoting year-round and long-term resident camping, and providing cheerful service to others.

For the December outing, GT8 will be camping at Five Forks. The Scouts will be working on advancement requirements and camping skills. We will be meeting at the WCCC at 8:00 am on Sunday, December 16 to carpool to Five Forks and returning to the WCCC before noon on Sunday, December 17.

A Court of Honor celebrating the achievements of Meera Hamza, Joseph Krauth, Geoff Manson, and Timothy Swartz will be held on Saturday, Dec 9, 2023 from 1:30-5pm at the Silver Creek Middle School. These are the newest Eagle Scouts from Boys Troop 8; Meera is the first Eagle Scout from Girls Troop 8.

GT8 is going to Bechtel Reserve High Adventure Base in the wilds of West Virginia this summer (July 21-27, 2024). Bechtel is about 320 miles away. This is a seven-day/six-night program. It consists of half-day introductory level experiences at each of the nine Summit high adventure venues (https://www.summitbsa.org/programs/national-high-adventure-base/summit-e...). If interested, send an email to ASM Hamza (ihamza@gmail.com) or SM O'Donnell (b.odonnell@hotmail.com) ASAP.

At the end of the troop meeting this week, we will hold the November Patrol Leaders Council meeting for the SPL, ASPL, and Patrol leaders to plan the next month of meetings and outings.

GT8 is in need of merit badge counselors for Eagle-required merit badges, so that we can offer these from within the troop rather than requiring scouts to look for external resources.