Eamonn

This could be titled: A sad story with a happy ending. For a number of years while I was busy trying to make some money I wasn't that active in Scouting. I sat on a couple of committees that didn't meet too often. Mainly stuff that had to do with camp. I was on the Council charter and did make a donation. Along came OJ. Along came Cub Scouting.I was busy, far too busy to get involved. At Pack meetings I made sure that I sat at the back of the hall and left all the day to day stuff that a parent does to my beloved Wife. I was taking no chances. Soon the word went out that the Cubmaster was moving on, as was the Assistant Cubmaster and the Webelos Scout Den Leaders. I sat firm at the back of the hall. I was busy. Soon the word was that the Pack was going to fold. When OJ had all the money that he had paid into camp returned I thought to myself that these guys were serious and the pack was going to fold. I spoke with the priest and soon there I was the new Cubmaster. The New Cubmaster with not an idea how a American Cub Scout Pack was to be managed. 18 Cub Scouts. No Committee. 4 Den Leaders and after rechartering $21.85 in funds. The departing Cubmaster had been very much a one man show. She held Leader meetings / Committee??? Meetings (We did have a charter rep.) In her home as and when she decided there was a need. That year at School Sign up night we signed up 28 new Cub Scouts. Thanks in part to us making sure we were the pack that went into the Schools to do the Boy Talk. We sang silly songs. Read Green Eggs and Ham with puppets. We worked hard at it. We had pack picnics in my back yard and spent time with the parents and signed them on. We lucked out by having the greatest band of Tiger Cub parents ever all join at once. They were great. In fact most still are. We pushed resident Cub Scout camp and Day Camp. Within 3 years we had 78 Cub Scouts and 22 Leaders all in uniform. We went through 3 Committee Chairs. And seen the pack be the driving force that re-opened the troop that had closed some 15 years before. The pack is down a little bit right now with only about 60 Cub Scouts. At the last Wood Badge Course there were 8 Cub scouter's from the pack participating. All this in a small town of under 5,000. With five other packs. The Cubmaster who followed me was Chairman for the local under 11 year old soccer league at the time he said that there was 350 kids turning out for soccer. I don't know how many kids there are in other sports and to be honest there isn't a lot of stuff close at hand for kids to do. How is Cub Scouting doing in your neck of the woods? Eamonn

I don't spend a lot of time watching TV. There used to be a silly "Blow'em up show" The A Team. Every week the team leader would say "I love it when a plan comes together." Imagine my surprise when I arrive at the school 15 minutes early and have a hard time finding a parking place. I wish I could say it was thanks to my Venturing meeting but the truth is that Youth Protection is a bigger draw then I. (And rightly so!) My hat is off to the Commissioner staff and the Training Team. I have never seen such a large turn out for a round table meeting. It was standing room only. I met with the Venturing types in an other room there was 26 of them. Lucky enough I had made meeting notes and knew where I was going and what I wanted. By the time we closed we had decided to hold monthly Venturing Round Tables. Had a volunteer to start a District Venturing Web Page. Planned a night of swimming and started planning a District Venturing Caving and Repelling weekend. Formed a Committee to look at super activities and as an added bonus got commitments for two new crews. This will mean four new crews by the end of the month. We are looking into a Halloween Dance. I was overjoyed to have got so much done. After we ended our meeting we went for refreshments, not there was much left. I was a little surprised to see a good friend of mine who serves on the board. We got to chatting and he said that he was thinking of coming to our South Dinner not the North dinner which he has always attended.( The Council has a North and a South dinner) I said for him to let me know as soon as possible in order that I could make sure that he got a ticket. I went on to say how it was a shame that because he was a board member that the District wouldn't get the credit for his ticket. This didn't make him very happy. So he called the Council President on his cell. While I was standing next to him. I gathered that the CP said that I was wrong and that he could direct his donation any which way he wanted. The Scout Exec is in charge of the North Dinner. We had lunch the other day and he was telling me that he had $40,000.00 in so far. I don't know why but these guys are very touchy about who gets credit for what. When he finished talking to the CP I said that the Scout Exec wasn't going to be happy. He said that if that was the case he would buy a table ($1,200.00) I said well if you want to make him really unhappy add another $300.00 and go to the private reception as well. He wrote me a check made out to the District FOS Campaign. I know that I am going to catch it from the Scout Exec. But I don't care. Nothing can mar a great night. Eamonn

Thanks for the input. I do have a new Therm-rest pad. Got on sale at Gander Mountain. 25% off plus they give Scouts 10% for camping gear. Back home I used to use Primus Stoves a lot. I liked them a lot. We used to give the Scouts Camping Gaz stoves but they were hard on fuel and disposal of the fuel containers was a problem at times. Good thing was you could buy them almost anywhere in Europe. I never gave Hiking Poles a thought. When I was a Scout we used to have Scout Staves. These were a pain. But now these old knees are just that - Old!! As to the Venturing thing. I have invited everyone to the meeting. I really don't know how well organized all the crews are. The Crew that OJ is in seems to spent more time electing officers who don't get much done. I do like the list that Matua has given us. It is covered in some of the training's but it never hurts to have a refresher. The meeting is tomorrow so I will let you know how it goes. Sad thing is that I met a friend in the street who has a Lad in a Crew, he informed me that the Lad is quiting. This Lad is very artistic, very musical (He even sings along with me in my car to my stuff.) He is a bit of a "Rebel." But a real nice Lad. I hate to lose him. In fact I will do all that I can to get him back. I'm thinking that the time for a crew that has Music as the area of interest is the way to go. Eamonn

Its Me Hey there hold up. Bob White listed the BSA policy. Please note this was /is policy. If you were a member of the district that I serve and had asked me the rules about Cub Scout camping. I would have dug out my copy of the Guide To Safe Scouting and gave you the very same answer. If it came to my attention that you had still proceed with the camp, my next port of call would be a visit to your unit commissioner, who I would hope would bring the matter to the pack committee and the charter rep. If a permit had been issued by the council I would follow up on that. I don't care if you like the policy or not. It is a policy and until such a time as it is changed you ought to follow it. In fact if you choose to not follow it after having it pointed out to you I would recommend to the organization that charters the pack that you are in that they remove you as soon as possible as your actions are leaving them open to the liability for any harm that might befall these young Lads. Eamonn

www.chsscout.net Has a good page on fire safety for Scouts in the Lessons for Scouts section. Eamonn

Scout Pioneering by John Sweet has a few gateways and is a good little pioneering book. It is still available from Scouts Canada. However if you can get the UK original the book is a little bigger and easier to read it comes up every now and then on E-bay. Eamonn

My primary registration is District Chairman. I also serve on the Area 4 Northeast Region Committee. Eamonn

Thoughts? Herding cats would be a lot easier. Have to admit that I paid no never mind to the stars. There is a diverse group of regulars some who I think make good sense, some who I think go out of their way to push buttons and one that I have no idea about. At times I do admit that I tend to forget that there are young people who visit these pages and I really ought to watch what I say. I am not going to miss the stars. Most of the time I didn't vote for anyone one way or the other. Eamonn

I was unsure if this should go here or in Venturing. But It is here, so... First here is the idea. We as a district now have six crews and plans for at least three more within the coming months. With the exception of one all these crews are chartered by the same organizations that charter troops. Most are small and sad to say are not doing very much. All these crews think that they are high adventure. I say think because I don't think anyone ever took the time to ask them what they wanted to do and so far there has been such little activity that there is no evidence of any adventure let alone high adventure. I with the approval of the District Committee have send a letter to each crew and each member asking them to attend the next Round Table. Where I will meet with them away from everyone else. My letter stated that as a District we did not in any way want to interfere with their unit program but did want to see what we could do to help them in any which way. At the last District Committee meeting I asked the Activity chair to plan and book something. I didn't care what as long as it was fun and was booked. He talked about renting the local swimming pool. I went as far as to offer to pay for it. I desperately want these guys as yet we only have one girl, to do something and do it ASAP. I asked the Assistant District Commissioner Venture ring to ask each unit to come up with an activity that they could / would /might invite all the other Crews to attend. Again I said that I didn't care what it was. He has a Crew that does a lot of shooting stuff so he could start with that. Just so it didn't look like I was doing nothing I said that I would look into a couple of indoor challenges that I would present to them. I wouldn't organize them just plant ideas and see if they grew. I would also present some ideas of Super Activities for 2006. Again just ideas that could or might work if they decided to run with them. My list which I know is mine at this stage is open to be discarded, changed or worked I have no feelings about it one way or the other. The main reason for it is to get them thinking of what can be done. The list has Seabase, Kandersteg, London and Canada on it. I am open to ideas, critasiums and comments. Now to the Camping and High Adventure. I am giving a lot of thought to doing some back packing, either with my son and a few of his pals not as a Scouting activity, even though most of his pals and the pals that would go would be members of the BSA. I would make it very clear that it would not be a Scouting / Venturing activity.Or if I can find an other adult we might offer to take a small group of Lads with us or them take us?? I have over the past few months bought some light weight tents (two man Eurekas) I have a few light weight sleeping bags. A new internal frame pack. Boots that I have broken in all sorts of gortex rain gear and I am looking at stoves and cooking gear. I am a little unsure about the stoves and need any help that you can offer. At this time I'm looking at maybe a MSR International stove along with maybe a Coleman multi fuel. While I am not yet over the hill I am no longer a spring chicken. I hope that by maybe doing a couple of not overly strenuous hikes I will have a good time and maybe open the door to this activity to the Lads who come along. What other things do I need to be thinking of?? I have a lot of everyday car camping stuff along with a fair amount of scout stuff: Compasses and that sort of thing. I don't want to take this up as a new career, just something to do a few times a year when it is not cold. - I don't like the cold. Eamonn

Changing the subject ... slightly. With all respect to Heacox. I really don't like the idea of a family doing its' own fund raising. Sure if the Scout wants to earn the money on his own that is fine. It might also be fine if a Lad knocked on my door and asked if he could mow my grass or do some other job. I would be free to say yes or no. If he informed me that he was saving the money to go toward the Jambo. I might be more lightly to say yes. However if someone at work was to leave a Pie Sale sheet which was organized by one family I don't think that I would buy any pies. In the troop that we have going to the Jambo. The ASM has two sons who are also going. Yes I know that this is going to be a costly outing for that family. But so did he before he signed up. As it happens his wife is a very good friend of Her That Must Be Obeyed and she informs her that spending over $3,000.00 is a push. They are a typical blue collar middle class family with three kids a mortgage a truck that needs replaced and a minivan that isn't paid for yet. Dad is willing to make the truck last one more year to pay for this Jamboree. Why? Because he and his family think that it is important. I agree that any fund raising activity is more complicated when there is more then one family member selling stuff or doing stuff. Still at this time I have four sets of brothers signed up for the Jamboree. My son is attending and I have said that I will pay half. I could without any hardship pay the full amount. But I want him to learn the value of a dollar. He is also attending NOAC this summer, Summer camp and some school trips. All have the same condition me only forking out half the fee. He went and got a job at Mac Donald's.Something that isn't easy to do when you are only 15. Most Councils offer some sort of Campership or financial aid to those who really need it. For the two troops that our Council is sending we received $800.00 from the region. We used the money to send one Lad who never could afford it and then only offered him half as it was the feeling of the Jamboree Committee that he could raise the other half. My point to all this is that I really don't like the idea of any family setting itself up as a Scouting fund raiser when the only benefit is for that family. Eamonn

Ed Next time I think that I will jump in the car head down the pike and grab a sandwich at Parmanti Brothers along with a green bottle with the number on it. Eamonn I was going to post the strip district but some people might get the wrong idea.

To the Gentleman from the NW. Yes Sir it sounds as if you are right. I have also seen Jamboree staff members wear the Regional Patch. I asked after looking at cbmstr922 profile, which doesn't include any of the positions that would entail wearing the patch. Eamonn

Not to be nosey but.... I thought that only Regional staff wore this patch. Eamonn

I was going to post a link but Marty has covered it all. There is a lot of stuff on the web and UK- scoutbase has a lot of the rules that they have in place. I was looking and was a little taken back at all the famous people who were in Gang Shows: Peter Sellers and Sir Richard Attenbrough and Sir Harry secombe. Some were not that well known outside the UK but they say that the Gang Shows gave them their yearning for grease paint. Eamonn PS I waited for the offers of a movie deal after my stint - 30 years and I'm still waiting.

Some sort of a Trail Mix with nuts, M&Ms,dried fruit and that sort of thing. Have buckets and give the kids a bag and let them make their own. You could go the Healthy Route or the not so Healthy Route depending on the point that you are trying to make. If you have hot water there are a ton of things that can be done with Jello. There is something called Dirt. Looks like the main ingredient is crushed Oreo type cookies. Bake some Cup cakes and have your class decorate them. Or cooked pasta and have them add the dressing from a jar along with chopped meat, cheese, olives... In fact a salad of almost any type. More kid friendly might be something like a Ambrosia: Canned oranges, pineapple, coconut,marshmallows and whipped topping. Sandwiches are easy use fun type bread that is colored or just different. Allow time for eating and the dreaded clean up!! Eamonn

While I can't pretend to talk for the guys and gals at the National Office or the volunteers that put out the guidelines for Cub Scout Camping. If I was asked to be part of that here are a few things that I would be thinking of. Cub Scouting happens in the family and the community. Is it fair that one small group of Cub Scouts get to go to camp only because they have the leader that can? What about the Den Leader that is unable to take his or her Den are they not part of the Cub Scouting community. I suppose that I could make up a set of Standards that have to be met, just like Day Camp and Resident Camp has? This might go a long way to ensuring that all the rules are followed but as anyone who has dealt with National Standards knows these can be a real pain. Still they do work. If Den camping becomes the norm are we taking something away from our other programs? Do we want to do that? I think not. While Patrol camps and patrol camping might be something that every Patrol might want to strive for most Boy Scouts camp as a troop. If a Den becomes accustomed to just being the little elite group will they want to camp with a troop? I don't know. But why take that chance? Lastly we need to remember that the Cub Scout belongs to the Pack not the Den, the Den is part of the pack. Would I want to harm this set up? Again I think not. Seem to me that there is a lot of things to look at. Maybe the place to start is at the very beginning and the methods of Cub Scouting. Eamonn

Along the same lines as JimmyD. Some years back there was a Den Coach in our pack that was all out for Scouting. She was active in the pack as well as being on the Round Table staff for another District. This Lady was everywhere always in full uniform. She was dating the District Commissioner of the other district. I often thought that their idea of a good time was to go out and do a FOS presentation!! I never ever saw her out of some sort of Scout uniform. Along came the Council Recognition Dinner. Nearly everyone wears a uniform. She was so sure that her District Commissioner friend was getting the Silver Beaver she was all dressed up the only thing missing was the family tiara!! Sad to say he didn't get it. He went on to be hired by the council and later quit Scouting. She is still on the troop committee where her son is a troop member. Eamonn

Please don't quote me on this as I am not 100% sure. I think that there are two knots that are being called the Friendship Knot. One is in fact a crown knot and is often used by Girl Scouts and Girl Guides in place of a nekerchief slide or woggle. The other is a two strand lanyard knot that is also known as the sailor's lanyard knot or the Bosun's whistle knot. The crown knot is not very hard to tie but the other one does take a little practice. You might want to take a look at The Ashley Book Of Knots. Eamonn Eamonn

I have just got off the phone from talking too Dave. No word as yet about any Fried Egg sandwiches, but he seems to be happy and settling in really well. At this time he doesn't have his computer so he asked what was going on in the forum. Of course I gave him a totally unbiased report!! He does say Hi to all. Eamonn

I have a three Swiss Army knives that we use. At times one of the "We" forgets to put the one that he has used back in the drawer where they are supposed to live. I also have a very small Swiss Army knife that had a small light in it that I carried on my key ring but with all the check points at the airports I took it off and put it on the key ring with the tractor keys. A safe place but as I only use the tractor to mow the grass I don't use it very much and it is too small to do anything with in the yard. The area president gave me one of those multi-tools. It was a cheap one that didn't work that well. Come to think of it he gave me one of the Swiss Army knives when we were staffing a Wood Badge course back in 1998. It is a real one, just two blades but the price was right. I love the can opener on the Swiss Army knife. I use it for so many things as well as opening the odd can. Eamonn

In England, Australia and other parts of the world Scout Gang Shows are still going strong and doing well. There is a ton of material out there although I am a little unsure of the copyright. These shows are a lot of fun for everyone and some have even been known to make money. I have never seen or heard about one that has been staged on this side of the pond and I think that at some place and some time I have heard that the BSA does not allow them. While I have no ambition to rush off and start one I was wondering if what I have heard is right and I'm curious as too why? Also wondering if anyone has ever been to one or been in one? I was in two at Fulham Town Hall staged by the Fulham District. It did wonders to bring the district together and did bring Scouting into the public eye. One of my fondest memories is one of the final song on the last night. The curtain went up on a blacked out stage. One Cub Scout shone a small flashlight near his face and started to sing "Together" Then a few more Cub Scouts then some Boy Scouts until the stage was full of the entire cast Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venture Scouts, and Adult Leaders - All singing : Together, when we're all together you know how happy we are. The world around us is every thing. The sound of music the songs we sing. And even after the coldest winter The warmest summer arrives We share together when we're together The best years of our lives. It is said that there is a Gang Show on every day of every week of every month in many countries. Why not here in the United States? Eamonn

Her That Must Be Obeyed is the chair. For the Council Recognition Dinner to be held later this month. In order to boost attendance at the dinner the committee requested that the names of the Silver Beaver recipients not be made public. In the past we never posted the names and then we started to announce them. The Silver Beaver committee (Yes I was on it) said that they were going to announce the names. (Yes I'm in the dog house.) The feeling of the Beaver committee was that if the person knew he or she would be sure to be at the dinner. One guy nearly didn't make it one year he was on his way to the airport when his wife had to break down and tell him. The dinner committee felt that more people would attend the dinner if all the people who thought that they were getting something were there. At the district level we at present do not have a District dinner due to lack of attendance. We present two District Awards of Merit at the Corn Roast in August. The committee who selects the awardees doesn't tell anyone till the event. Her Who Must Be Obeyed was a recipient last year. I wasn't on the committee but somehow managed to get on the wrong side of her for signing the certificate!! I was informed that it didn't look right with my signature?? If you ask me it is about as long as it is wide. A little like my dog house. Eamonn

Am I that transparent? Eamonn

Yesterdays papers telling yesterdays news?? Eamonn

Not knowing where you are located might be a fly in the ointment when it comes to people sending you stuff. Sad to say I am aware of a good number of Scouts in packs and troops that are in the same boat that your friend is in. So while I would hate to come off sounding mean or stingy I for one feel that I have to look after the Scouts in our area before I can go further afield. Has your friend asked the council if there are any funds available? At times people donate money which is marked for a specific use. Then there is the chartered organization - Will they lend a hand? They could run a fund raiser to raise the money for books and uniforms. Maybe a article in the local newspaper about them being a new unit and all the things that they are doing and hope to do with a mention of looking for experienced uniforms might draw some interest. A letter to the local churches that hold sales asking them to put Scout uniforms aside might help. Strange as it may seem a good well run program is about the best way to get these Lads in uniform and up to date with their books. I have ran a troop in the inner city where money was very tight. The troop was over 80 Scouts. More then 60% were non-white. The Scouts came from subsidized housing where drugs and a lot of not so nice things happened. But every Scout was in uniform. Why? Because the parent or parents thought that the program was important enough to invest in. A Boy Scout Handbook at $7.95 is less then two packs of cigarettes. While we did have a uniform bank there was nothing that will ever beat the look of pride in a young Lads face when he arrived at a troop meeting wearing his new uniform. He may have waited for a birthday or till Christmas - But he got it and it was his. My 2 Cents. Eamonn