eagle90

Amen, Packsaddle. Well said!! Happy Thanksgiving! Dale

We always use our own tents for summer camp. They are in much better condition than the camp-supplied tents, and have full mosquito netting, which our camp tents don't. And in the Wisconsin northwoods, that is imperative. Trust me, the kids can stand a week on the ground with an air mattress or pad. They are normally so tired at night they will sleep good no matter what. Now us old guys, I need a cot!! Dale

I understand your concern. We have slowly moved from a troop of about 25 boys to now over 50. Some things we have found a challenge - Logistics - Just moving people from one place to another. More drivers needed, more supervision. Transporting troop gear and personal gear can be a problem. You really have to rely on the Patrol Method. Activities that were perfect for a group of 25 are now almost impossible for a group of 50. Be it scoutcraft activities or a game of basketball or softball. Attention span and distractions during activities increase multi-fold. You have to be more organized. Who is driving with who, which adults are eating with which patrol, etc. It can be a problem, but what a great problem to have!! Dale

At this time of the year, make mine Pumpkin!

Once in a while there is nothing wrong with a SM saying, "This is a once in a lifetime activity. We are doing it!" By the way, The Great lakes Jamboree was an outstanding event. As much as we would like, 100% boy led is a myth. The adults are there for a reason. Their experience is invaluable.

I think we are missing an important point here - THE SCOUT DREW A KNIFE ON ANOTHER SCOUT. YP or not, that is the crux of this situation. The safety and protection of the scouts is more important than "Did the dad violate youth protection?" This scout is a danger to the other boys. We had a scout do this exact same thing at Summer Camp, and our Troop just made a very difficult decision and removed the scout from the troop. The safety of the other scouts is more important than one unpredictable scout. Dale

We have been to Sea Base 3 times in the last 6 years. Flew from Chicago to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and used Emerald Transport for service to the base. The only extra expenses once there were for snacks and souvenirs, and lunch to and from the airport. Our trip featured a day in Key West, so the scouts bought sandals and other souvenirs and had dinner there. Dale

The little town near our Summer Camp has "The World's Largest Soup Kettle" in its town square area. We always have to look at it!

Just a suggestion, but whenever I have to burn/re-season a DO, I do it on my outdoor gas grille. Sure saves the house from that odor problem. Dale

Buffalo - My ASM had a Big Agnes pad (the standard one, not insulated) that he used in the Boundary Waters last summer and loved it, and it rolls up MUCH smaller than the Thermarest pads. Very durable, too. Held air every night on the trip. I bought one this year and it has been great. Very comfortable and very portable. I have the standard size, so I'm sure the Mummy style would be lighter and fold even smaller. I bought mine at REI.

And we wonder why this generation of Scouts are wimpier than those in the past.

Check out the Big Agnes blow up pads. Very durable, very comfortable, and they fold up surprisingly small, about the size of a Pringles can.

We meet in a school gymnasium, so an hour of our meeting is devoted to Scouting activities, and the last half hour or so is an organized game (soccer, basketball, indoor softball, etc.). On campouts we occasionally will have a football or baseball game. Sports can be another way to encourage patrol unity and cohesiveness.

A number of years ago I had a scout earn his Eagle, and at his COH his father (also an Eagle) showed up wearing HIS scout uniform from his youth. Dad was not registered, as he was an area pastor, and time commitments would not allow. But it was very inspirational to see him in his uniform from 30+ years ago. Our scouts were impressed. The only disgusting thing was that after all those years, IT STILL FIT! DALE

For those of us up north, this is very common in winter months on campouts. I normally will wear a sweatshirt under my short sleeve uniform shirt to still show off the uniform. I say wear anything that keeps you warm.

When I was a Boy Scout, most of our cooking was done over wood. However in our area of the country, most of the parks have restrictions against scrounging for wood in the forest, and you cannot bring in your own due to the Emerald Ash Borer problems, so wood fires would be very hard to do. Another lost art, I'm afraid.

How does your troop handle propane for patrol cooking? We are in the process of instituting patrol cooking for all campouts and it is going very well so far. Each patrol has a stove, but we have been using 1 lb. tanks at an alarming rate. Besides being expensive, it is not ecologically friendly either. We have 7 patrols, so I would hate having to haul around seven 20 lb. tanks, and the small 5 lb. tanks are super expensive. What does your troop do? Thanks for any ideas and input.

I picked up some Life to Eagle packets for some new Life Scouts today, and in the packet was a slip saying "Due to a recent procedure change we now need you to submit your Eagle Project on a DVD or thumb drive in addition to the hard copy". Has anyone else seen this? Is this just our council? Can they do anything else to make the process harder for young men? What about the scouts who do not have computers? (Yes we have a few in our troop). It seems to me a well done, completed workbook written or typed should be more than sufficient. Just wanted some other thoughts. Thanks Dale

Same as Jeffrey here too

We leave tomorrow morning at 4:00 AM (Yawn!)for the Keys Adventure. Two crews, 12 scouts four adults.

Is there somewhere we can catch the arena show on line now? I was out at a ball game last night (with the scout troop, natch!) and missed it. Thanks! Dale

Troop 90 is back from a week at Lefeber Northwoods Camp in northern Wisconsin. We had a great week, with good weather except for one day, on which there were two evacuations about three hours apart. Our scouts earned 119 Merit badges, 23 progress awards, two mile swims, 2 World Conservation awards. We earned the Super Troop Award and one of our adults won the chili cook-off! All of this in a patrol method camp where scouts cooked all their own meals. Dale

The car is packed; the alarm is set for 4:00 AM, and I'm meeting Spiney Norman at 5:15 tomorrow morning to hook up the trailer. It's off to Lefeber Northwoods Camp in northern Wisconsin with 51 scouts and 15 adults. Good night!

We were in Dayton, Ohio returning from a Whitewater Rafting trip in WV and stopped at a national motel chain for the night. The gentleman who checked us in saw we were in uniform and gave us a ten percent discount on 5 rooms, a very nice unexpected savings. It sometimes pays to be in uniform!

At Troop meetings the scouts wear scout shirts with either a clean, neat pair of jeans or scout shorts. No sweats, cut offs, basketball shorts, etc. At COH's it's full uniform as is summer camp.