Troop 31 meets year round on Sundays from 4:00-5:30pm at the FOP Cop’er Canyon Scout Cabin. Visit our facebook page: Troop 31 – Boy Scouts or e-mail Committee Chair – Chrystal Pedler : bristolboyscouts31@gmail.com.

Our troop is proud to announce that our Advancement Chair Melissa Pittenger received Scouter of the Month for October 2011 through La Salle Council – Pioneer Trails District! Great Job Melissa!

Troop & Pack 31 is honored to announce that Bristol Police has posted pictures of our Scouts on their website: www.bristol  police.org. Check it out! There is some great information on there. Our units are very excited & thankful for their participation & support this past year.

Over the past year our Troop & Pack has received a lot of support from the town of Bristol & surrounding area businesses. We want to thank all of you for believing in our units. It gives us much pride to know we are a part of a community that supports our efforts in Scouting. It has been our pleasure to serve this great community over the past year & we hope that we can be of even greater assistance in the coming year as our units continue to grow.

CUB SCOUT PACK 31:

Pack 31 meets on Thursdays from 6:30-7:30pm at Bristol

Elementary School.  Visit our facebook page: Pack 31 – Cub Scouts or e-mail Committee Chair -  Tony Benedict: trb2008 @live.com.

The Cub Scout Pack is gearing up for their February Pinewood Derby Race!!!  We extended our invitation in our last article & so far we have the Bristol Posse taking on the challenge. This race will be better than ever as we have added an Outlaw division for the adults. Our boys and parents alike are excited & have begun working on their designing ideas of their cars.

VENTURE CREW 31:

Bristol now has a Co-Ed Venturing Crew! Youth ages 14-20 that have a desire to explore the idea of high adventure are

welcome to come check us out @ Cop’er Canyon Scout Cabin. The crew has had one meeting beginning their 2012 planning. Interested? Visit our new facebook : Venture Crew 31 or

e-mail Committee Chair – Chrystal Pedler: venturecrew31@ gmail.com.

-Mrs. Chrystal Pedler,

Committee Chairman Troop 31 & Committee Member Pack 31

In private conversations before the meeting, board members stated that no changes were proposed at the executive session, and therefore the suspensions will stand as imposed at a special meeting on September 6. It was noted that Hathaway had returned to work on December 5, having recovered from his injury at the wastewater treatment plant.

Marshal Michael Swallow reported that 34 children were accompanied on a shopping night at Meijers by members of the Bristol Police Department. He said the event was “a big success” and was very “rewarding” for the officers who participated.

Audience member Paul Guzman invited BTC members to the Christmas Cabaret at the Stone Soup Emporium. He stated that the free entertainment provided occasionally at Stone Soup has been well attended and appreciated by the public.

Town manager Bill Wuthrich reported that he had obtained a bid for $1,775 to install inverted tile to alleviate a water retention problem on Indiana Street near Hilbish. The council voted to accept the bid.

The BTC approved sending a letter to the renters of the old fire department building, informing them to vacate the building by January 15, if they have not paid their back rent by then.

Glenn Duncan, legal counsel, reported that he has not received the 2012 contract from the Bristol Fire Department. The BTC voted that no further payments be made to the department until the contract is received.

The Beautification Award for December was given to the KibbeChem company for its improvements to the former Bristol Pipe building and grounds on East Vistula Street.

The next meeting of the council will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 17, at the town hall.

Dale Stickel, chairman of the Elkhart County Republican Party, has appointed Ron Norman, age 55, to complete the unexpired term of Ann Andre, who resigned from the Bristol Town Council. The appointment was effective on January 1, 2012 and will run to the end of 2014.

Four other Bristol residents had also applied for the open position, namely, Robert Cunningham, Mark Leib, George Meyer, and Thomas Russell. Because there were so many applicants, Dale Stickel wrote this about his appointment: “This was a challenging exercise for me and I appreciate the number and quality of candidates.”

Stickel went on to comment: “I used several criteria in my selection and hopefully Ron will be a great asset to Bristol. I feel Ron has a grasp of the challenges towns such as Bristol will face in the future. I am optimistic he can work with resources available and can contribute to a positive future for Bristol.”

Ron and his wife, Beth, have lived in Bristol for 15 years. He has been a self-employed contractor for 23 years, operating Ron Norman Roofing and Construction Services out of his home. He does no advertising, depending solely on referrals from satisfied customers.

Ron is member of the Elkhart Harley Owners Group and ABATE of Indiana. He has served as a volunteer at the charity event “Breakfast with Santa” at the Elkhart Fire Department.

Mr. Norman applied for the appointment because he “is interested in the future of Bristol.” He is particularly interested in promoting a bypass for State Road 15, so that truck traffic can be lessened in downtown Bristol. He would also like to see the town council be proactive in meeting federal mandates regarding separation of storm sewers and the sewer system for the wastewater treatment plant.

Community Events

This column lists upcoming local meetings

and events that we have received notice of.

• Pet Toe Nail Trim Fundraiser Jan. 9 from 3:30—5:30 at Martin’s Pet & Garden, 116 West Jackson, Elkhart.
• Pet Showcase Adoption Event Jan. 28, 12—2 PM at Family Video, 1126 Johnson St., Elkhart.
• Humane Society Red Barn Sale 54687 County Road 19 Jan. 13, 14, 27 & 28, 10AM-4PM.
• Community Adult Co-Ed Volleyball from 6:30- 8:30 Monday evenings at York Elementary school, St. Rd 120 & C.R. 35 Bristol IN. Cost is free. Contact Person: Andy Gould, 574-238-9880 or kishego@frontier.com.
• Taco Haystack Dinner at the Masonic Lodge in Bristol- Sat. January 28th from 4 to 8.
• Homeschool Expo on March 23-24, 2012. Open Friday from 5:PM to 9PM and Saturday from 8AM-4PM.  $5 per family $2 per individual. Contact Indiana Homeschool Support at 574-831-3770, 68080 Division St. New Paris, IN.

Annual Free Throw Contest

St. Mary’s of the Annunciation Knights of Columbus Council 11574 Bristol, announces our Annual Free Throw Tourney.  Open to boys & girls ages 10 to 14 years old.  Must be 10 years old by 12/31/11.  Sunday January 29 at 12:30pm  at Bristol Elementary School, 705 Indiana Ave., Bristol.   A copy of a birth certificate is required along with a guardian present at time of sign-up.  Winners will go to district, state and nationals.  If questions call Nick DeLucenay 574-848-5772 after 5 PM or e-mail at nldsales@hotmail.com.

Updates from Local Organizations

Include updates, upcoming events and community news in the February 4, 2012 issue by calling our office at 848-1404 or emailing: Bristolnews@aol.com by February 1.

St. John provides community support

During December St. John of the Cross in Bristol has been providing support to the Bristol community.  Socks, hats, and mittens were collected and donated to the Bristol Elementary School.  The first Sunday in December a large quantity of food was given to the Bristol Pantry for their clients.  And then a basket of food including ham, milk and fruit was taken to a Bristol family that needed some extra things for the holidays.  St. John of the Cross is a small church with a big heart!

Lions Club works on fund raisers

The Bristol Lions Club had a great 2011. We worked on several fund raisers throughout the year and were able to donate to many organizations: Big Brothers/Sisters; Bristol Public Library; Ryan’s Place; CCS; Dictionaries for Bristol third graders; Bristol Food Pantry; Council on Aging and many, many more. Join us on the first Tuesday of the month. We meet at he Bristol Masonic Lodge with dinner at 6:30 PM and meeting at 7:00 PM. For more information call 848-4071.