Eamonn

Some years back a little Lad arrived at the Scout Hall. I was busy, Scouts were paying into their Scout Bank accounts, flags were being made ready, the SPL was searching for something. A ASM was running a game. I was too busy to make this little Lad feel welcome. As luck would have it he had come with his best friend and the next week they both arrived back. If he hadn't the fault would have been mine. When I served as District Cub Scout Training Chairman. I accepted the offer from the local VFW to use their upstairs hall for what was then the Cub Scout Basic training. I had been in the downstairs hall. But I never checked out the room until the night of the training. That night I found that there was only one electrical outlet, which didn't work and there was no light in the bathroom, as if this wasn't bad enough the stairs were very steep and badly lit. The training was a disaster. I'm sure that the impression that I made on these new Den Leaders was not good. Two years ago I was one of the people in our Council who was not only for bringing in a food service company to take care of feeding our summer campers, I was a driving force. Last summer the food was good, this year all the reports I have had lead me to believe that the food was worse than bad. Selling summer camp will be a chore next year. While I am in no way perfect. I really do try to live by the Scout Oath and Law. I don't cheat. I think that cheating is wrong. When the District I serve has made Quality District, it has done so fair and square. There is no way anyone can "Pull a fast one" I'm on top of all the membership reports and have tracked them for over ten years. I admit that I have at times applied pressure on people to start new units. Of the six Crews that started over the past few years five didn't recharter. The one that remains informs me that they will have approx 90 members this Fall. Camps are being sold because the funds are just not there to maintain them. In our Council we have a lot of good people who willingly will give up time to pound nails, and build buildings, however they just don't see that the nails and bricks need to be paid for and some of them are a little shy when it comes to putting their hand in their pocket. I see things very differently than it seems you do. I don't see this as any sort of "Us and Them". We (Me) are here to serve the youth in our programs. I am the BSA. I like to think that I'm doing my best to do what I can to help and support Scouting in the area in which I live. I try really hard not to forget that we do what we do for our youth members. If that means that I attend meetings of the local Lions Club and allow the local newspaper to take photos of me accepting their check. I smile for the photo. If it means eating over-cooked turkey at the Rotary meeting and telling tales from the Jamboree, I can be very entertaining. The little Lad that will join Tiger Cubs, has joined to have fun. The Den Leader wants him to "Search, Discover and Share". His Parents like the idea that Cub Scouting has:Citizenship Compassion Cooperation Courage Faith Health and fitness Honesty Perseverance Positive attitude Resourcefulness Respect Responsibility as its core values. His parents don't give a monkeys uncle about corporate standards to them and the little fellow the BSA is his Den, his Pack and the adults who deliver the program. My son is now a fairly intelligent 17 year old. He hears a lot about the "Non-program" end of Scouting in our Council. Last night we had dinner with our Scout Exec. and Council Commissioner. He was there when we discussed the hurt the United Way has cast upon our Council, but even at 17 and even with all this chatter, he wanted to talk about the fun the Camp Staff had when they finished tear down and went to a local amusement park. The quality of the program that attracts youth members and retains them doesn't come from Irving, Texas or from your Council Service Center or even the home of the District Chairman, it all happens at the unit level. In the eyes of the most important people in the BSA,the corporate guys are the people are the adults who work with them and for them week in and week out. Eamonn

Wow a ten year vacation - I got ten days at the Jamboree!! (OK, So I loved every minute of it and got to meet Hops and Bob White - two great guys.) Welcome to the Forum. There's room for everyone in this world, everyone make some room. Love given freely can spare this world, let friendly feelings bloom! Just give an inch, give a yard, never flinch when the time comes to offer a hand, and let's all make sure we give everyone somewhere to stand, just the way God planned it, just the way God planned. Eamonn.

Hi & Welcome, Hope the knee is not painful. As a former pharmaceutical salesman I'm sure you know: In ev'ry job that must be done There is an element of fun you find the fun and snap! The job's a game And ev'ry task you undertake Becomes a piece of cake A lark! Aspree! It's very clear to me That a... Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down The medicine go down-wown The medicine go down Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down In a most delightful way Eamonn.

Did someone mention hug? Oh, the more we get together, Together, together, Oh, the more we get together, The happier we'll be. For your friends are my friends, And my friends are your friends. Oh, the more we get together, The happier we'll be! Welcome to the forum - A crusty bunch but kind hearted. Eamonn.

I know in both the Council and District in which I serve we strongly encourage units to go out and recruit, not just at this time of the year but all through the year. I know if you came to me and said that you wanted to do your own thing, I would do everything that I could to help. I would have the DE copying the flyer's, seeing if the kits were available, raiding every resource that might be in the Service Center. As District Chairman, I want to see the District make Quality. As little old me I believe that the more youth that join the better our chances are of meeting the vision and mission of the BSA, and the more fun these youth will have. So I say "Go For It" Invite every kid in the school to join you at the fishing derby!! Eamonn.

How involved do your DE's get as far as recruiting? Maybe we should change the question!! How active is the District Membership Committee? I was very lucky that I had a great DE. The lines of communication were about the best. District events, including recruiting were planned by the District Membership Committee and discussed at the District Committee meeting. She understood "The System". Sad to say her replacement is learning things the hard way!! He is trying very hard to be a one man band and worse he isn't communicating with anyone. Then the poor Lad gets upset when things don't work. I keep telling him that we can't help him if we don't know what he is doing!! If I were you I would have a word with your COR and ask him to find out what the problem is ? When he attends the next District Committee meeting. Eamonn.

Sad to say my knowledge of American geography isn't that good, so I can't offer any real suitable alternate locations. I own a few hundred acres here in southwestern Pennsylvania, we might fit in a sub-camp or two and half an action area. My psychic powers are not up to snuff. I have no idea what the political climate will be in 2010. Who knows the ACLU Executive Board might be taken over by fundamental right wing Christians and their offices might become the new studio for the 700 Club. Maybe the BSA might change some of the policies that are now in place? I don't see it happening but I'm happy to leave that in the hands of the powers that be. While at the Jamboree I sat in on several meetings about the 2007 Jamboree. While the meetings were about the 2007 Jamboree, from what was said I really got the impression that the expectation is that 2010 will be back at the Hill. Buying land that could be developed and used for an event that only happens every four years would seem daffy to me. Having it open all the time might take away some of the things that make the Jamboree special. Of course then there is the question; do we need a Jamboree? In 1975 Nordjamb seen five Countries band together to stage the World Jamboree. This year the UK tried to see if they could use the site that they have for 2007 for Eurojam and use at least some of the infrastructure twice and save the odd pound. Maybe a permanent home for world jamborees and doing away with big National Jamborees is something that will need to be looked at? Right now I'm happy to leave the 2010 Jamboree in the hands of the people charged with planning it. If they need my help they have my number. Eamonn. If they do need to change the location, I still want Palm Trees!!

While I agree with most of the movies on your list, I can't remember much about the Cowboys and don't think I have ever seen Lost in the Barrens !! I really don't see much value in Follow Me Boy's. Sure it's a nice fun Disney type movie, but I don't see much that can be learned from it, unless of course you use it as example of how not to do things. Yes I do have the DVD !! There are some really good parts in the Lord Of The Rings that can be taken out and used as examples of leadership. The entire movies are maybe a little bit too much, but there is some great stuff. Eamonn.

Hi, While a couple of years back both the District and the Council did introduce the Trails End planner to our members. I have to admit that we never used it. I think that it is important that everyone understands that there is no free ride or free lunch. Each and every cent that is spent has to come from somewhere. We used to have our annual pack planning meeting, this was the only meeting of the year where both the program guys and the support guys all met at the same time in the same room. It was also the only meeting of the year that was allowed to go over 90 minutes!! The first big question was "What do we want to do?" We looked at themes and made changes as we felt were necessary or seemed to fit in better with us. We looked at District and Council activities as well as things that were happening in our community. In our case I felt very strongly that we ought to support the District and District activities. When we knew what we wanted to do we moved on to "How are we going to pay for it? And what is it going to cost?" Some activities were put into the budget. We included Day Camp and the District Cub Scouts Olympics, this added $30.00 to money that we needed to get. Some pack activities were not in the budget, things like attending a baseball game. We knew that the pack was going and knew that the tickets cost whatever, but we didn't include them in the budget. We looked at how much things were going to cost. Would the B & G be a covered dish or would we have it catered? If we changed themes and had a Fishing theme and a pack fishing derby would we award prizes and how much would they cost? Next we looked at the total amount of money needed per Cub Scout. At that time it worked out to be about $125 -$160 per boy. Some parents had said that they didn't want to participate in any fund raising. We were chartered by our local Catholic church and many of the boys attended the Catholic school, which did a lot of fund raising. Some parents wanted to raise money. We looked at 3 or 4 fund raising events a year, one of which was the Popcorn sale. The deal was that each parent was responsible for somehow, someway coming up with the amount of money needed to pay for their Son's participation in the activities of the pack. They could write a check for the full amount or participate in the fund raising events or do a combination of both. As long as they came up with the money that was fine with the pack committee. The pack committee dealt with any cases of hardship and with families that had more than one son in the program. At times membership did make a difference to our budget. If we had 50 boys when we did the budget and say we had budgeted $50 for fishing prizes and then the pack grew to 75 boys, we didn't change the $50 amount. Still the $1.00 per boy had gone down to 67 cents and we were ahead of the game plan!! If some Lads didn't participate in budgeted activities we also made out. We didn't include the cost of resident Cub Scout Camp in our budget, but some parents used the fund raising opportunities offered to raise the money needed to send their Lads to camp. Some Leaders thought that having things like Day camp and District activities in the budget was not right, but my feeling is that as Cub Scouts and as part of the District we needed to participate in Cub Scout and District activities. I was more concerned about the program than trying to keep out of pocket expenses down. At the risk of blowing my own trumpet it really worked, people seen the Cub Scouts from pack 155 active and doing things and they wanted to be part of this winning team, they really wanted to see their son in a pack that was going somewhere. In less than 3 years we seen the pack grow from under 25 Cub Scouts to 70. The pack gave birth to a Troop and many of the parents who seen how things worked when they were involved in Cub Scouting now see that the system works in the Troop. Eamonn

At times people have said that I need to lighten up and not take things so much to heart. At times in the forum we tease Bob White about being a stickler for wanting people to use the "Troop that I serve." And not "My Troop" Up until I got involved with the new Wood Badge course, I never really paid much attention to the idea of servant leadership. Looking back at my Scouting "Career", I now see that even in the early days as a Sixer (Denner) back in Cub Scouting and all the way through Boy Scouting and Venture Scouting (Yes that was the correct name in the UK.)It was all about servant leadership. I did lose my way for a while when I became a Scoutmaster and did allow my ego to become the driving force for the Troop and the activities of the Troop, but managed to see what I was doing wasn't right. Not because of servant leadership, but because I seen that what I was doing wasn't the way things should be done. I never wanted to be a Scoutmaster!! In fact I was very happy doing my thing as an Assistant Cubmaster when I was asked /invited to return to my old Troop (Mine because I had been a Scout in it!) Still for the nearly 12 years I was Scoutmaster, I had a ball, I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the other adults and loved working with the Scouts in the Troop. While I was aware that I was the leader and aware that the buck stopped with me. I never seen myself as the big white chief. We were all a big group of friends: The other leaders and myself were the best of friends. We knew just about everything there was to know about each other. The Scouts and their parents were also part of this friendly gathering. Some Lads over time became almost like our own kids. While I never forgot that they weren't mine, we had and in some cases still have a bond that I don't think will ever be broken. Maybe love is the right word? When I moved across the pond I thought my Scouting days were over. I hadn't counted on being shanghaied, to serve on a committee. I never wanted to be a Cubmaster, but again it seemed that I was left with little choice, the same can be said about being a District Commissioner (The one we had moved away) Or District Chairman (The one we had didn't like the SE and up and quit). I was overjoyed to be asked to serve as Council Training Chairman and have over the years been honored and privileged to serve on Wood Badge courses. Still behind all of this there has always been me saying that when it stops being fun I'll quit. If this isn't selfish, I don't know what is. I still think Scouting is fun. I like the people that Scouting attracts. We share the same values, maybe not in the same order, but the same values. Over the years I have been recognized with different awards, beads and knots. While these are nice they mean less to me than the friends that Scouting has made available to me. Working with the Jamboree Troop at both the pre-jambo meetings and the event itself did make me see that I really would like to be back working with our youth members again. Cub Scouts are a lot of fun, working with a good group of Den Leaders is very rewarding. I really enjoy watching Webelos Scouts as they take that first tiny step to becoming Boy Scouts. Working with a PLC, seeing the members take on real responsibility and hearing them as they make their case for what their Patrol wants and needs gives true meaning to them being the future leaders of our community and nation. Right now I'm a little unsure what I should be doing!! Selfish as it may be I think that having served for a little over 11 years at the District level, it is time for me to move on. Not to leave them in the lurch, but hopefully kind of fade away. I see that we in our area are not doing a very good job of holding the interest of our older Scouts and they want to try something new. While I'm sure given more time I could look for and select someone better qualified and more able than I am. Still I keep telling myself that time is a luxury that we don't have. But deep down I know that part of me; that selfish part, wants to go back and see if once again the bond that was so very special can be given new life, with new youth. While I try and see if I can meet a new challenge. The big hope is that when it does happen I will be able to post something that isn't about me and doesn't use the word "I " as often as this posting has!! Eamonn.

There was a time, when our good friend OGE would offer a song when the going got rough. I'm not that great at singing -Not that I have ever shied away from a good camp fire, a dance or a free drink in my life. Still maybe a poem, would lighten things up? Sea Fever by John Masefield. Poet Laureate 1930-67. He was 22 years old when he wrote this. (One worth committing to memory.) I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sails shaking, And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide, Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life. To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. Eamonn.

Thanks to everyone for their help. Particularly to Seabear for the CD and the patch. For now I will be happy to do what I can to help this up and running. We don't at this time have a Sea Scout unit in our Council and while I'm not 100% sure, I think that there isn't one in any of the 13 councils that our Area Committee serves. The Area committee does have Wagionvigil as the Venturing representative on the Area Committee. It always struck me as odd that we have a Venturing rep,but both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts are left with no representation.Still knowing the members of this Forum I feel sure that some wise person will explain this to me. Again thanks for the PM's,advise and words of encouragement. All I have to do now is just do it. Eamonn.

I did visit the area and didn't see the newspaper article. So I can't say much about it. Nearly all the people who maned the different areas in the relationships area were in uniform. Ed who was with me (He served as a ASM) is real big in the Elks. He is past whatever the top Elk is in our area. He was disappointed with the Elk exhibit. I thought it was fine. However Ed who isn't a member of the American really liked their exhibit. Ed didn't blame the BSA for what he saw as a poor showing by his fellow Elks, nor did he think that the BSA has anything to do with the American Legion. I was at the Jamboree and wore my uniform, if anyone had asked me I could have voiced my pet peeves about Scouting and the BSA, still I would only be speaking for myself, I in no way could say that the wise words I spoke represented anyone other than me. Of course no one was dumb enough to ask for wise words from me - I wonder why? As too: A better question would have been to ask if any Scouter should be attacking anybody under the guise of promoting religion. As I say I didn't see the article, but being as you say it was a newspaper article, I'm guessing the guy who wrote it was writing it for the newspaper and not for the BSA, this being the case the guy who wrote it was just like me and my wise words, only he had got paid for his. The fact that a volunteer choose to display his words and choose not to tape mine, must have been a oversight!! Of course because we have made an oath that states that we will help other people at all times, tends to make me think that we really ought not be attacking anyone. I will try and remember those wise words the next time I have to deal with someone who is acting like a twit. Eamonn.

Hi and Welcome, How about just letting the Scout make his own schedule and get on with it? Eamonn.

Man oh man, I wish we didn't have to deal with the financial side of Scouting. Having not long ago come home after a very long and very heated Executive Board meeting, an extraordinary meeting, called to deal with the financial crisis our Council is facing, please believe me when I say that the heat of the Jamboree was far more enjoyable. I suppose that we could have sat around and pointed fingers ans appointed blame, I'm really glad that we didn't. We did agree to some cuts that really are not going to hurt anyone. Simple things like not going out of house to print calenders, Annual reports, cutting back on awards and recognitions, up-dating the Council web site and doing away with the Council newspaper. We will save a little over $50,000 by the end of the year. Sad to say we need to find or cut another $106,000. A list of other cuts was shown things like cutting professional staff, cutting program and programs, selling camps. In part thanks to the input that I have received from the wise people in this forum, when the discussions about which area would be cut started, I said that I thought what we were doing was wrong and if we went ahead we would not be meeting the mission of the BSA. In fact some board members nearly swallowed their false teeth when I said that if we went ahead with these cuts we might as well admit that we had failed and we needed to look into merging the Council. We have close to sixty people on the board if we all kick in an extra $500.00, that should bring in $30,000. We will once again have to hold back some money that should go into the endowment fund. There was some heated debate about this. When I said it was a no brainer and us having a healthy endowment fund and a sick Council made no sense, there was still talk about how we couldn't take money away from endowment!! Dieing rich has never ranked very highly with me!! We have set up a small committee that will look at the Council Strategic Long Term Plan and see if there are areas that can be pruned, without causing too much damage. We know that we will have to not put in all the money that should go into endowment, but that's life. I wish I had put more money into my investments when I was younger, instead I went around the world and had a wonderful time. The fact is that we can't have it both ways. Next years budget will be gone over so closely by everyone, I think that we will be lucky to get out of that meeting before midnight. We are going to have to raise more money, find more grant money and maybe dig a little deeper into our own pockets. All in all I think we came out of the meeting with a new resolve to do a better job and strange as it may seem I think we all came out wanting to serve the youth that we serve better than we have been doing so. Now I have to explain to Her That Must Be Obeyed, that I need another $500!! Does anyone want to buy a Golden Retriever? On second thoughts if he goes, who will share the dog house with me. No Rory is not for sale. I'll have to sell my patches on E-bay, but that's OJ's inheritance. Eamonn.

I really wish that I was privy to the magic Venturing formula. Sad to report I'm not. I have been guilty of blaming the Venturing Program for the failures we have seen in the District and have to admit that I'm way too much of an old traditional Scoutmaster to really embrace Venturing as it should be. Please don't beat on me for this!! I don't like peanut butter either!! The Crews that we seen start in the District fell into two groups. One group was the one where we the District leaned on and pressured Boy Scout Troops to start a Crew. I like to think that we really did want the program to work, but I do see that little devil on my shoulder whispering the word "Quality" in my ear. The other group were Crews that sprung up thanks too unhappy ASM's. These guys didn't like what was going on in the Troop and thought that Venturing might somehow make them look cool. Cool only latest a little while and the Boy Scouts that signed up soon seen through the lack of activity and either drifted back into the Troop or just quit Scouting. When it came to Venturing I was very much a merchant of doom and gloom. When four Crews didn't recharter this year my view of Venturing really went down the toilet. However I wasn't paying attention. Years ago by far the best Troop in the District was Troop 111, but they had fallen on hard times. First they lost the key adult who was the driving force of 111. Then the Pack went and slowly the Troop died a slow and painful death.Despite the best efforts of everyone we just couldn't find the leadership. However while looking for leaders for the Troop we talked to a fellow who had been an ASM in the days when 111 ruled. He said that he might be interested in starting a Crew. He wanted to start small with no more than 20 members. Soon the Crew was "Full" and the members which was /is a mix of males and females were doing things. They were climbing and rappelling, hiking and camping and doing well. The Advisor is a teacher in a local high school and I think that maybe he may have handpicked the youth that joined the Crew when it started. I talked to the Advisor at the Jamboree, he was working on the rappelling wall and he tells me that they are now ready to expand the Crew and will be going into the junior high this year. While we as a Council do next to nothing to support Venturing and the Venturing programs. Making Venturing work is no different than Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting, stick in a good leader and provide a good program and the youth will come and stay. Eamonn.

Hey Bob, Sign me up for a walking stick! After all the walking I did at the Jambo I need one. Eamonn.

While I have never had to deal situation. I do think that we need to look at what we are reviewing? At some stage it was decided that this little fellow was capable of understanding the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Sad to say if he is unable to understand these the Lad really has no business being a Scout. ( Yes I know that sounds harsh.) When it comes to the review the review must fit the Scout. My big question that I would want to try and get an answer for would be has this Lad done his best. Deal with him, don't try and compare him to anyone else. After all it is his best, his Oath. Eamonn.

Sad to say there are Troops in the District I serve, that if it wasn't for District and Council events would have no program what so ever. Trying to get the District Committee to judge an event on its merit and not by the attendance has long been an up hill battle. I see District events as the District supporting the unit. If the unit is busy doing things elsewhere or following a theme that the District isn't, the unit should do it's own thing and us District types ought to be giving the unit a pat on the back. Of course the trick is having District events that everyone wants to attend. Having the SPL's attend R/T meetings and plan Camporees has worked wonders in our District. Even some of the miserable old goats that hadn't attended a District event in decades are now participating. Boy Power really works. Eamonn.

I love the way some Scouts never lose anything. Everything they are unable to find is stolen. I have lost count of the times a Lad has informed me that someone has stolen his : Underwear or socks. When we discuss the matter and I point out that I really don't think that anyone is going to intentionally steal the missing item, things tend to be looked at in a different light. We got home last Wednesday on Saturday a Jamboree parent E-mailed me to inform me that her son had lost the bag with his dirty laundry in. I don't know why she waited so long? On Sunday I went to camp where we unloaded the equipment and there was the bag full of smelly dirty gear. I am glad that your son has his patches back. Eamonn.

It would seem that this Lad has made some very bad choices and he has admitted that he made them. He has been sentenced for his crime and will pay the consequences. I don't have any problem with any of that. If what has been posted is true the Lad got what he deserves. I don't remember seeing if anyone said how old the Lad is? I would hope that if he is still young enough, that we the adults in Scouting would be willing to do everything that we can to help this Lad and do our best to make sure that he is given every opportunity to start making good choices. Of course I don't know the Lad and maybe the Scout Exec or the CO will decide that he really should not be in Scouting. - As Bob White says that will be their call. It is very easy for me to sit here at my computer and pass judgment, but not knowing the Lad or knowing nothing about his home life, it is wrong of me to judge anyone. I do agree that pinning an Eagle Rank patch on his chest on the way out of the court would seem very silly, but if we believe in a forgiving God,surely we can try to allow to let this Lad make up for his past mistakes. We could "Chuck Him" (Yuck!!) And leave him out there to continue to make bad choices, but then are we doing our best to help other people at all times? I hope we never forget our Oath. Eamonn.

Talking with some of the older Scouts who were at the Jamboree from our Council, they seem to be interested in joining Sea Scouts. As yet I have only looked at what I could find on the web and have not read the Sea Scout Manual. I will of course do so in the very near future. We do not have a Ship in our Council, the nearest one is next door in Greater Pittsburgh and there is one in Wheeling West Virgina. I do aim to contact both and see if they will let me along with a few of those interested visit and see how they have set things up. It does seem that trying to get a new ship up and running is going to very a fairly expensive undertaking. While I am sure we could get a lot of support from the local community, the Council is having a very hard time when it comes to finances and I sure as heck do not want to do anything that would take money away from the Council. This is very much in the idea phase at the moment. But I think we could without too much effort recruit 30 -50 youth members and there is no shortage of organizations that would be willing to sign on as a Chartering Organization. Along with others who would be willing to donate money. While I would be a lot happier if we could find someone with more knowledge about Sea Scouting, for the start I would be willing to be the Advisor /skipper. While I'm good at knots and that sort of thing. I know very little about ships and boats. I will be trying to come up with some sort of a budget. Does anyone know what the cost of uniforming a youth member is? Eamonn.

Back when I was Cubmaster, we did serve a snack at the end of pack meetings. This was more along the lines of a treat than anything else. To be very honest we paid no never mind to sugar, nutritional values or any of the good stuff (Heck I deal with that all day long at work.) Our biggest concern was the mess it would make and keeping the cost down. We did look at Themes at our Annual Planning Meeting and used most of them, making changes if we had something better or if there was something happening locally which was a better fit. This normally resulted in our using about 70% of the themes. Eamonn.

The Committee in charge of the Council Jamboree contingent had promised that there would be fund raising events to help Scouts pay for the event. The price tag was $895 plus the cost of whatever extra uniforms and equipment the Scouts needed. Uniforms were sold at cost from our little Council shop. What ended up happening was each troop did its own thing. We had four sales and the participation was not that great. The Scouts were also allowed to use the money from popcorn sales and the commission was at the highest level the Council offers, but without having to meet the level required. This did upset some of the home troops as they use popcorn monies to pay for rechartering. The Scouts kept 100% of the money earned and any money over and above was given back to them before the Jamboree as spending money. I had a couple of families that said they would have liked to see more fund raising events and some Lads that said they were happy to not fund raise and use the money they earned from paper routes and other part time jobs. One Lad did raise enough to pay his fee and cover the cost of extra uniforms as well as getting $200 back for spending money, then there were families who were just happy to write one big check when their son signed up for the Jamboree. One Lad is the top pop corn seller in the Council and has over $6,000 in his account that is managed by his home troop, he just asked the Troop Treasurer to cut checks for what he needed.. I haven't done the math and a lot of the uniform costs depended on if the Scout came from a Troop that was or wasn't a Troop that wore full uniform. Most of the checks I seen for uniforming were in the $200 -$300 range. Many of the Scouts had to buy a cot. I ordered a lot from Alpine, these cost $37.50, but some opted to get them as Christmas presents, sad to say the ones they got from Dick's Sporting goods were no more than metal kindling and Dick's will be dealing with some very unhappy parents of campers. The total cost of attending the Jamboree was approx $1,200. Eamonn.

Hi GopherJudy, The age for a National Jamboree is 12, along with being a First Class Scout. The age for the World Jamboree is 14. One of the Lads from the Jamboree had his Eagle Scout COH yesterday. It was great to see the guys who were at the Jamboree wearing the rockers they had earned. These Lads were so proud and dare I say slightly cleaner then when I last seen them. They all to a man wanted to go back!! I have recovered but have to admit to being close to being "Scouted Out" by the time we got on the bus to go home. Sad to say on the Sunday night /Monday morning, my ASM got a call that his son who is serving in Iraq had been in a vehicle that had been blown up. Thank God no one died, but his son's knee was messed up. He of course was more than ready to get home and comfort his wife and family. Eamonn