BSA Troop 343, Athens, TX

Sabine Mine and Pirkey Power Plant Tour

Barbara — Mon, 21 May 2012 01:51:48 +0000

We have an opportunity to tour the Sabine Mine and Pirkey Power Plant in Hallsville, Texas this summer. The tour is schedule for June 13 and will be a day trip. Parents, scouts and leaders are welcome.

This will be a great opportunity to see a working facility up close. The boys will complete some of the merit badge requirements for Geology, Energy, Soil and Water Conservation and Forestry, as well.

Contact Chip Perryman if you are interested in attending.

Eagles are flying

webmaster — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:12:01 +0000

Two members of the Troop have had active Eagle projects in the past couple of weeks.

Click to view slideshow.

Life scout Henry LeBeau and a group of scouts finished his wildlife kiosk at the East Texas Arboretum on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 19. The boys had built and finished the woodworking portion of the project during earlier work days. Last Sunday they took it to the Arboretum and put it solidly in place. The kiosk will showcase information about local wildlife. Thanks to all who helped on a fine project that will be enjoyed by visitors to the Arboretum for a long time to come!

Next up: We’ll be helping to build a community garden at First United Methodist Church. The ground was tilled last Saturday and beginning construction on raised beds is planned for this coming weekend.

Many thanks to our great community for supporting these scouts and their projects!

Winter Camp

webmaster — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:48:29 +0000

Every year between Christmas and New Year’s Day, we head out to Camp Trevor Rees-Jones (aka Cherokee) for Winter Camp. Click on the picture to see some of what we did.

photo credit: J. Stegall

Fall 2011 activities

webmaster — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:29:27 +0000

The troop went back to Tyler State Park for a trail-biking weekend in September. Click HERE for more pictures of the bike trip. October was the Camporee out at Clements Scout Ranch.

Service projects included picking up trash on our adopted highway near the Fisheries Center and assisting the VFW with placing flags on the graves of veterans at Athens City Cemetery for Veteran’s Day. Next major event will be Winter Camp – a 4-day campout over Christmas break.

Cool-down kick-off

webmaster — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:04:05 +0000

We’ll kick off the new year with an ice-cream social on Monday! Meet new scouts. Share summer stories. Plan a new year and make it a good one!

PLC will be on Tuesday night this month so we have a chance to include the boys who are in band and cannot come to Monday meetings during marching season. Future schedule will be planned Tuesday night.

Goodbye to a dear friend

webmaster — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:38:26 +0000

Troop 343 lost a true friend and long time supporter this week with the passing of Thomas P. Faulk, III.

Thomas P. Faulk, III

This writer’s earliest memory of Tommy was in 1990 when our first son joined the troop. Tommy was already an entrenched leader by then, already handling troop finances and seeing to it that no boy missed a summer camp or a chance to attend Philmont for lack of money. While we didn’t always have much in the treasury, there was never a real need that wasn’t met, somehow. Tommy’s sons, Thomas IV and Jim Ben, both earned Eagle Scout honors through Troop 343, and at that time most parent volunteers step back from scouting and move to other things. Not so for Tommy. He continued to serve on the troop committee as treasurer and for the last several years as liason with our sponsoring organization, First United Methodist Church.

The scout lodge we now proudly call home exists primarily because of the single-minded, consistent vision of this wonderful man. While many great local friends of the troop donated time, materials and funding, it all came together over a period of more than 20 years, due to the vision of this man.

Many people around Athens, and indeed around Texas, will speak of how much Tommy was loved and respected by those he met in his many endeavors. I’ll speak for how much he has been a part of the lives of so many boys, and their parents and families, as he worked tirelessly to promote and represent Scouting in our area. We can never thank him enough. He is forever loved and will long be missed.

Fundraising and service, all in one

webmaster — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 22:03:24 +0000

Trash Pickup on Highway 19 S.

Summer Camp 2011

webmaster — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:40:29 +0000

First pictures are in from Summer Camp. Thanks, Penny! When others are received, they’ll be added to the show.

Summer Camp 2011

Philmont Slide Show

webmaster — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 11:39:39 +0000

Here are the first pictures to come in. Hopefully a few more will be added as we have a chance to share. Click on the picture to go to our online album. Look for the Slideshow link at the upper left. You can set the length of time each slide will be shown by clicking at the bottom of the screen. Hopefully, summer camp photos will be available soon.

Philmont 2011 slide show

Home again

webmaster — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:14:38 +0000

Our Philmont crew is off the trail and headed home today. The summer campers came in last Sunday. We’ll get pictures posted as quickly as we can. Have a great summer and check back often for updates!