Community Service Events:

Love Pacs- Sunday January 11th, 2026

Help package food for Love Pacs 3-5pm. LovePacs Sign-up

*Please have an adult sign off on your service hours and the amount while at the event.  

Group Dynamix Event

Our January event is Group Dynamix!  This is a pretty fun place with Team Building using games, activities, and ropes course.  Pizza included. Sign up here: Group Dynamix Sign up

Camping Gear

If you are looking for new or upgrade to your camping gear for Christmas, here are a few resources:

-Hiker Direct:  Hiker Direct is a free program offered to leaders, scouts, and parents in the scouting community. Being a part of Hiker Direct allows you to purchase most of the gear on this website at roughly 40% off MSRP, every day of the year! If you have a friend in the scouting community, tell them about this great program.  I have purchased a lot of gear from here, they have sales and right now and some great deals on 0 deg and 20 deg sleeping bags.  https://hikerdirect.com/

-Amazon:  Several items, one to mention is Teton Sports.  They have some great entry backpacking gear and sleeping bags. Teton Sports Amazon Page

-Sporting Good Stores: Academy has decent pricing, but smaller selection.  Scheels in the Colony has a large selection and a great Return policy, even if you use the gear.  Bass Pro has some sales.  The Scout shop usually has some good pricing for scouts. REI is a good for custom fitting of packs, and great return policy also, pricing tends to be higher. 

Thats not all, but all good places to start.  You can always ask Me or any of the Assisstant Scoutmasters if you have any questions on gear choices. 

Merit Badge College 2026

It’s Merit Badge College time!  Join us for Orion Merit Badge College 2026 at Garden Ridge Church of Christ in Lewisville, TX on January 24th and February 21st from 8:30am - 3:45pm for an opportunity where scouts can work on up to four merit badges. 

Registration is now open and we recommend that all Orion scouts register as soon as possible.  Space is limited and registration will be opened to all districts on December 12th.  

 SCOUT SIGN UP PROCESS

There are two steps to complete registration.  The Longhorn Council site to register and pay for admission and a Google Form to capture the scouts requested courses.  Class schedules will be emailed to all scouts and unit leaders in January.

1. Please sign up and pay the $15 Longhorn Council registration fee at: https://scoutingevent.com/662-99666

2. After completing the Longhorn registration above, select your courses at: https://forms.gle/2isNTCDDMeDyNZQU9

More details on calendar event here: https://www.troopwebhost.org/FormDetail.aspx?Menu_Item_ID=45922&Form_ID=5429&Stack=0&Application_ID=961&ID=339

Scouting America Membership Renewals

Most of you are probably getting emails about membership renewals.  Please don't ignore them!  Your scout needs to be registered every year with Scouting America (Boy Scouts of America). You should be able to do this via the email you receive or checking your registration status at my.scouting.org