Please note that, even though Monday, January 19 is a holiday, we will be holding our GT8 troop meeting at our normal time and location. Please attend if you can. We plan to hold elections and do final preparations for the Klondike Derby. Scouts should bring any items they agreed to bring last week for the survival kits. For the elections, please consider what leadership role you might run for and prepare a speech to deliver. Scouts working on the Star, Life and Eagle ranks should consider if there is a role they can run for to meet the leadership requirements for those ranks, if needed.

Scouts interested in earning their Climbing Merit Badge can sign up for a Troop 8 session at Sportrock in Gaithersburg this upcoming Monday, January 19, from 9AM to 3PM.

The fitness test for the Tenderfoot requirement will be held on Saturday, January 17 at 9:30 AM at Silver Creek Middle School in Kensington.

The fitness test is a Tenderfoot requirement which requires a baseline test of push-ups, sit-ups, flexibility and a mile run and a retest after 30 days after planning a month-long fitness improvement plan and executing the plan. There will be an opportunity to do the second test after the scouts complete their 30-day exercise plan.

The Klondike Derby is January 23-25! More information and the signup page are at on the calendar page for the ev

Come join us in removing invasive plants (English ivy, Japanese honeysuckle vine, wintercreeper) along the C&O canal! SSL hours available and all supplies are provided, including pruners, work gloves, and trash bags. Poison ivy may be present, so please take care to wear proper clothing/shoes. Parents must accompany minor children, and both parents and children should register in advance at the link below.

American Labor - Thank you to all the Scouts who participated in Monday's visit with AFLCIO President Liz Shuler. As a follow-up, please feel free to bring a thank-you note to President Shuler to this Monday's meeting, and they will be bundled and delivered to AFLCIO HQ next week. The next meeting for the American Labor Merit Badge will be after the regular meetings on January 19, and February 2. The plan for completing the requirements is as follows: