Eagle69

I was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout as a kid. I served on Camp Staff, got my Eagle, and was a Vigil Member of the OA. A year or so after college I decided to get involved as an ASM with a troop because I wan't doing anything else. This was in the era of the Urban Scout and I was horrified to see how the Outing had been removed from Scouting. A couple of years later I was approached to become SM of another troop and 25 years later I'm still at it. I stay in because I believe in the program and want to try and make a difference in a boys life by showing him the values of scouting.

I think the Eureka line of tents are some of the best that scouts can get at reasonable prices. My troop used Timberlines for years and then switched over to the dome style Tetragon 7. You can order them from http://www.campmor.com at good prices.

JIMMYD are you are talking about Camp Pioneer in Mena, Arkansas(AR) Mena, Alaska(AK). Cove Creek Scout Reservation located outside of Damascus, AR converted to flush toilets and hot showers in the campsites just a few years ago. The cost is horrendous, which is why most camps haven't done it. I think the hot showers aren't in every site, but there is a shower facility in each group of sites based on their geographic location. The main shower house is still down at the pool area.

Camp Cedar Valley 64-66 Hardy, AR Pine Trail Reservation Staff 68-69 Viloa, AR Camp Kia Kima 67 Hardy, AR

I totally agree with the posts about Lodge Dutch Ovens as opposed to other brands. The bottom line is you get what you pay for. I think the Lodge being made out of better quality iron stands up to rough treatment a lot better. On the question of using a pan in the bottom to raise what you are cooking, I only do that for something like pizza, biscuits, bread, etc. I think cast iron skillets are an excellent addition to a troops gear. My troop has 3-4 of them and we use them to cook breakfast and for things like browing ground beef for spaghetti or tacos. They are far better to use

The first place this needs to be caught is at the Troop level when reviewing the project and if it gets by there then the district/council needs to catch it. Providing leadership is an important part of the Eagle Project and is what distinguishes it from the other service projects they had to do for lower ranks. It is always fun to watch a kid that is used to adults telling him what to do, have adults stand around and look at him and ask what do you want us to do. As noted above lots of times we know what needs to be done and could go ahead and do it, but that defeats the purpose of project

Go with the Potable Aqua or something similar. When my troop backpacked in the early 80's that is what we used the whole time we out when we couldn't get pure water. We never boiled, but depended on the tablets.

The Polarguard bags are the better way to go in my opinion and I have been using one for 25 years. The problem you are facing is that it makes no sense for the parents of an 11 year old kid to go buy an expensieve sleeping bag because they will outgrow it. Parents don't like paying $100+ for a bag that a boy uses two years then has to have another one because this one is too small. You don't want to get a bag that they will "grow into" because then they can't keep it warm in the winter time. In Northern Illinois I'm sure it gets cold in the winter so you would want a bag with at least a 20

I am currently SM of T-336 in Little Rock, AR and have held this position for 25 years. Prior to that I served 2 years as ASM with another troop. I used to be a Beaver, courtesy of Walking Wood Badge SC134 in 1978, I have been awarded the District Award of Merit and Silver Beaver. I am an Eagle Scout and a Vigil Member of the OA. I am single and have stayed involved with Scouting for so long because I believe in the program.

The only things that matter are: 1. Rank dates match what council has on record and the appropriate time spread was met. 2. Specific merit badges required for a rank were completed prior to awarding said rank. If it says you have to have 1st Aid to get Star and you list the Star rank date as 01/23/2003 and the 1st Aid Date as 06/30/2003 then they will/should flag it. 3. Merit Badge dates match what is on file with the council. For Merit badges it isn't the board of review date, but the date on the advancement form beside the merit badge that matters. It is a good idea to periodi

BSA policy is that if you start a merit badge under the old requirements and they change it, you can complete it under the old. My troop also got caught by the change in Personal Management MB this year. I bought a "current" copy of the merit badge book from our scout shop early in January, then later happened to catch a thread on here that mentioned it had changed. I found the new requirements online at one site and another site was still showing the old ones and continued to as recently as today. Since we started under the copy I bought in January from the Scout Shop I decided that was h

I am a SM and we been using Eureka tents for 20 years. We started out with the Timberline, which is not a "pup" tent, but a free standing "A" frame and have not switched to the Tetragon 7. We supply all tents for boys. We have had a few boys in the past buy nice tents of their own and use them. For the adults it's either troop tents or your own. Eureka makes good quality tents.

I am thinking about bringing a trip from Ark over to SE Tenn to do a float trip on the Ocoee this Summer. Has anybody done this and if so what outfitter did you use? We would probably camp in order to save money so I'm also interested in campgrounds in the area.

I am thinking about bringing a trip from Ark over to SE Tenn to do a float trip on the Ocoee this Summer. Has anybody done this and if so what outfitter did you use? We would probably camp in order to save money so I'm also interested in campgrounds in the area.

Has the National Camping Award that you used to turn in the paper work for every year at recharter time been replaced by something else?

It's been over 21 years ago, but I brought a scout troop from Arkansas up there for a week of backpacking. I think I still have the Topo Maps of the area. We camped in the park. From what I recall it was a bit pricey as far as fees went. We had a good time and got a nice backpack trip out of it. It turned out to be harder than we expected, mainly because the maps didn't really give us a true picture of the terrain.

I find all of this talk about "Registered" Merit Badge Counselors highly amusing. There is no such thing in my council as a District/Council Merit Badge Counselor list and I doubt if they have ever had a Registered Merit Badge Counselor and would know what to do if someone tried to do so. Camp Staff Registered as Merit Badge Counselors is another hoot. I commiserate with the original poster because I have seen the same thing happen. Kids come back from camp with a merit badge signed off as completed when you know based on the requirements that there is NO WAY it could have been. Right

Personally I would stay away from a $80 tent. I have been a SM for 25 years and when I first took over the Troop we were backpacking using tents from J.C. Penny. We soon learned that money had been wasted and went to the Eureka Timberline and used it for about 20 years before switching to the the Eureka Tetragon 7, which is a dome tent. I agree with the comments above about wanting a free standing tent that uses clips. I have watched somebody take an hour to put up a dome tent that had sleeves.

I know of two deaf eagles in Arkansas so it sure isn't the first in the country.

8-10 Years as a Youth (Cubs & Boy Scouts). 2 Years as ASM and will soon be starting my 25th as SM.

The order of things on doing an Eagle project is that. 1. The Scout comes up with an idea and discusses it with the SM and possibly the Troop Advancement Chairman. 2. If the SM approves the idea then the Scout should get an Eagle Project Workbook from the Council and review it to see what all information he is going to have to have. If not approved to back to step1. 3. Begin to discuss with the project sponsor exactly what they want done, what materials may be needed, who will pay for said materials, etc. 4. Begin working on the write up of the project and when the first draft is

My troop used to do a High Adventure Trip in the Summer and we would stay overnigh at Army Reserve Centers when we were traveling. One morning at breakfast after we had spent the night at one of these facilities one of my ASM's started talking about how nice the swimming pool had been the night before. We didn't know where he was going with this, but we were awake enough to play along. He knew we had a booth full of Scouts next to us that heard every word we said and by Noon of that day they had told the other kids that their had been a swimming pool in the Reserve Center and we hadn't told

I second the motion about Eureka tents. My troop has used the Timberlines(an A frame style of tent) and have now switched to the Tetragon 7 which is a dome style tent. Campmor is an excellent place to buy them.

I used the Eureka Timberlines for years and found them to be a pretty good tent. However several years ago when they wore out we replaced them with the Eureka Tetragon 7. It seems to give the kids more floor space being that it is dome shaped and to their way of thinking is easier to put up. I sleep all by myself in an Eureka Timberline 4 with double doors. It holds my cot nicely and I can almost stand straight up in it to get dressed. As far as backpacking with Timberlines my troop did it for 8 years in Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Virgina.

Thumbs up for BW, thumbs down for FOG. If you don't like the advice you get here, don't look and don't post. It achieves no purpose to get into a name calling argument with somebody on the board. This is a Scouting forum so we need to remember the Scout Law when posting.