Last night, Dr. Clifton D. Taylor took over the reigns as Scoutmaster for Troop 14.  Dr. Taylor has been an Assistant Scoutmaster for the troop for more than four years.  He replaces Russ Hayes, who has been Scoutmaster for the past two years, and who intends to continue as an Assistant Scoutmaster.

Both men have sons who are currently Eagle Scouts in the troop.  

Keeping up with Troop 14's news and activities is now even easier.  Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Troop_14 to be notified of website updates, reminders, or anything else we can think of to do with it.  We're open for suggestions!  There's even a link to our feed from our news page:

http://www.starkvilletroop14.org/news.html

(Of course you knew that already, since you're reading this!)

This weekend, four boys from Troop 14 completed the Den Chief training course offered by Pushmataha Area Council.  Ethan Holder, Elijah Maiers, Warren Smith, and Luke Snell all completed the course, and will now serve one year appointments to various Cub Scout dens where they will assist the adult leaders with den activities.

On August 13, 2012, Scott Comish accepted the position of Troop Committee Chairman.  He has previously served the troop as a committee member and organized  troop boards of review.

Mr. Comish replaces Bill Kibler, who recently resigned the position.  Dr.  Kibler will continue to serve the troop as an assistant scoutmaster.

The troop has had a very busy Summer.  Things started out during the week of June 10-16 when six boys attended the Pushmataha Area Council Summer camp at Camp Seminole.  Two more boys  served on staff and two adult leaders (Rick Maiers and Tom Holder) served as a merit badge instructors.  The group completed 14 merit badges, plus two of our first year scouts completed the Trailblazer program.  The group brought home  several awards that week, including the Honor Troop Award.

July 1-7,  a contingent of 15 boys and 5 adult leaders attended summer camp at Kia Kima Scout Reservation in Hardy, Arkansas.  The boys earned a total of 60 merit badges that week in such varied areas as lifesaving, whitewater,  kayaking, rock climbing, chess, small boat sailing, model design, geocaching, and Indian lore. We also had three boys participate in the COPE program (Challenging Outdoor Personal experience), and one boy and one leader who completed the mountain man program, which included activities such as iron forging and black powder rifle shooting.  Two adult leaders (Tom Holder and Roger Smith) completed the BSA Paddle Craft Safety and the Swimming and Water Rescue courses.  Mr. Bubba won the Scoutmaster cook-off competition in the dessert category.  Eleven boys and four leaders earned the Kia Kima Participation Award, and once again the troop earned the Honor Troop Award.

Finally, on July 25-28, the troop took its annual summer trip.  This year, the group camped at Camp Wilkes in Biloxi, Mississippi.  The first full day of the trip was spent deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico on a 52 foot catamaran.  All of the boys managed to catch a fish.  The catch included  Spanish Mackerel, Crevalle Jack and Redfish.  Dinner that night consisted of lots of delicious fresh fish.  The second day started at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport where Chris Breazeale lead an expedition to West Ship Island for a day of exploration and scientific experimentation.  Five boys were able to finish the Oceanography merit badge during the trip.

There are lots of photos of these events in the photo gallery.