Eamonn

Our Council High Adventure / Jamboree Committee held a rally last night. At the start of the rally there were four spaces for next years Sea Base trip, by the end of it all four were filled, each with a $650.00 payment. Put me in mind of the movie; Field Of Dreams. Eamonn

They got my attention. So many of our youth are following this kind of music. It is too easy for us Old Folks to ignore it. But as this track shows, it isn't all bad. Eamonn

Laurie I think that any adult picking on a youth is wrong. While I have been informed that we no longer use the term "Save Haven" I have always thought that Scouting was a safe place. A place where no one gets harmed. This Leader was totally out of line. To use the Scoutmaster Minute to make a child feel worse then this poor kid already - Ranks up there with unforgivable sins.

Going back ? Have to admit to not liking to revisit places. I kind of like them to remain as they were and they never do. This may change when and if I have Grand Kids. Last year I took OJ home to England. We went to the Newsagents Store that my Dad owned - Now an Indian Restaurant!! The Apartment /Flat that we lived in when we were fist married. Now owned by very rich friends of Prince Charles. Going back might be ok, when you are really old. But only you know when you are really old. At 37 you and the Mrs. Ought to be building new things/ memories that when the little Steele Grand kids come along you both can bore them with. Eamonn

Seems to me that a lot of the basics were not covered to start with. While Philmont is a great place, it may not be where every Scout wants to go. Sometime back our district activities committee went with a Hiking Camporee, the Chairman belongs to a troop that does a lot of hiking. Sad to say the other troops are not that way and the camporee was not the greatest. For a leader to pick and choose a hard trek just because he wants to do it, is just not right. Sometime back there was a lot of talk in these forums about " The Troop I serve." When we forget that we are only here to serve the wants and needs of the youth. It is time to give it up. There have been Scouts who have dropped out of trips and events, in most cases they know before hand what the consequences are. Be that the loss of the deposit or in some cases the entire amount of money. This is explained to the parent at the very start. It seems that this was not done in this case. In fact it seems as if we have a Scoutmaster who is running a program with only himself in mind. As for any adult picking on a Scout. This is plain Bull. Eamonn

Thanks Dave. The Pack in my case is chartered by a VFW post. It would have been ok if the VFW had asked for the flowers. But when the pack did so as representtatives of the BSA, they crossed the line. Eamonn

I'm with KS Eamonn

Do not call the DE. Do not call the Charter Rep. Do call Pack Committee Chair. Do Call Unit Commissioner, Look at all the stuff that you are doing already. Do you really have time to be the Wolf Den Leader? What will happen if the Cubmaster steps down. I have mentioned STAR in the forums. S = Stop T = Think A = Act R = Reflect. Slow down and take a look at the Cubscout Leader Book. Eamonn

So what do you think? Eamonn

Have to admit to never used Packmaster. When we gave a den a number it was their number for ever they changed rank but were always the same den. This worked as there were times when we had more then one den in a rank. We never had a lot of luck with Webelos Scout Patrols, yes we picked a name wore the patch but that was as far as it went. Eamonn

Hey Dave Sometimes you get it just Right. This is one of them there times. Great post. Heck We Can both quit. Eamonn

Last year at the end of the School round up / Sign up for Scouting Night we had reached our goal. We had a few problems with the Boy Scout goal. We ended the year with a 5% growth in Cub Scouts and plus 3 in Boy Scouts along with plus 5 in Venturers. Sad to report that is not the case this year. At our DCM last night it was reported that we are still 124 Cub Scouts away from the goal. Last year the DE and I danced a little jig. No such joy or jig this year. Are we alone? How did you do? Eamonn

Keeping track of English monarchs is every English kids nightmare, but boy am I glad we don't keep track of our prime ministers. Reading what has been posted it seems as if you guys really know your presidents. I spend my time in the car with NPR on the radio mainly to catch the BBC World Service. Today the big topic was the Cummings Report. This report is saying that both Tony Blair and George W. Bush went too far with the war. Still I think George W. is doing ok. There is now some conjecture that Hillary Clinton might run and that Wes Clark would be willing to be her running mate. This is juat to easy and would be a really gray area?? Eamonn

Oh Well. Here is yet another thing that our district / council is not doing right. All money earning apps have and do go to the council service center. In all my time on the district committee I have never seen one. This will be a big help as I'm about to become the Big Bad Guy and I'm going to remind the units that they can not go asking for donations. We just had a case where in order to reach our community FOS goal we phoned any and every business that had ever donated. One call was to a local florist. They explained that they were no longer donating money but would be willing to donate flowers. At that time we had no need for the flowers. However along came the council recognition dinner and we had need of a center piece. Pam my DE,who was the advisor for the dinner informed the chair (As it happened it was Her Who Must Be Obeyed.)to call the florist and remind them of their kind offer. The call was made and the florist informed us that they had already donated to the Cub Scouts, they went on to say how upset they were that we kept on coming back time and time again. Yes, a pack had gone begging and got a nice arangement for a door prize. I think if we had the money earning apps coming to the district committee we could put a stop to this. As to the Finance chair telling units how to spend or what to do with their money, it will never happen. We have sent him to visit units that didn't understand how to make a budget.He does this as a warm and cuddly chap who is giving a helping hand. Not as a District Officer!! Eamonn

Much as I try to keep an open mind and not become too much of an old stick in the mud. I have had a problem with Rap Music. Heck I can even play the odd Country and Western song. But somehow Rap and me just never hit the right note. Well at long last I have found a Rap (or is it Rapp) song that I really like from a group called the Black Eyed Peas, the song is called Where is the Love. I think you could plan a really great Scouts Own around this song. OJ, thinks that the old man is getting cool in his age. I may end up in jail, I have copied it to a mp3 Eamonn

When I was a Scout we used to have baked beans for breakfast. Punch a couple of hole in the can, let the can sit by the side of the fire. Meanwhile fry up some bacon, pork sausages, mushrooms and fried bread top this lot with a couple of dippy eggs. Serve with mugs of hot sweet tea with milk in it. Half the beans will be stuck to the can. To make up for this you can fry up a few extra slices of fried bread, best cooked in the bacon fat. If you are still a little peckish open a few cans of tomatoes and fry them up as well. If you have any sausages left, make a batter of Eggs, flour and milk thick enough to coat your finger. Heat some oil in your DO,add the batter then the sausages. Cover and cook for 30 mins. This is a real toad in the hole. Leave the sausages out use beef drippings in place of the oil and cook - You will have Yorkshire Pudding. As to American Baked Beans I like to wash off the red stuff that comes in the can. Add ketchup, brown sugar, yellow mustard,molasses, a diced onion, a few dashes of Worcestershire and some uncooked bacon. Cook for about 90 mins. Hot dogs can be added, cocktail franks if you have important people coming for dinner. Eamonn

Sometimes I hate this machine. I did have the Who on the CD player. Maybe a little too loud and the Moon got to me. Sorry. As I have said before I go out of my way not to be part of Eagle Scout BOR. There are times when I get caught and do serve. One of my pet questions is to ask the Scout how many of his Merit Badges did he go out of troop for? Not that this has any bearing on the Scout. But I like to see if all the time and effort that the Advancement Committee put into keeping the list is worth while. At times it does seem like a waste of time. Eamonn One Click

OGE has a real good list. If I might be so bold I would add 7.Does his or her best to live the Oath and Promise. 8. Is able to laugh at him/herself and with the Scouts. 9. Never ever falls into the "We have always done it that way" trap. Eamonn

Cooking is and ought to be fun. Cooking away from home away from watchful eyes can be wonderful. Foil cooking is good, as each "Chef" can make his packet his way. The foil can be washed and packed out. Making a good stew in one of them Roasting bags, works and when your done you have your washing up water or the water for your tea ready to go. Scouts like to do things with food at camp that they can't do at home. Cooking eggs in orange skins, cooking bacon in paper bags - I know that Her That Must Be Obeyed, would frown. I'm not a lover of paper and plastic. If I were more up to date I could put this down to LNT, but in my case it is down to me being cheap.

Take 6 or 8 Scouts. Take a book with over 200 different Activities. Ask them to choose one and only one that they all want to do. Then ask if Merit Badges ought to be done at Troop meetings. If all you are doing at your Troop meetings is First Aid and Knots, take a look at the pages of Scouting Magazine (The ones in the middle) Eamonn

Get your mitts on a copy of Scout Pioneering by John Sweet. You might have to go on E-bay or to the Canadian Scouts to get a copy. But it's all good stuff. Did you ever get the book that I sent you? Eamonn

Yes the story is unfortunate. But wouldn't it be great if the reason that the Scouts reported it was due to the movies; A Time To Tell or It Happened To Me? Eamonn

Much as I hate to be pedantic. I see Merit Badges as something that each boy decides to do or not do. He also decides when he wants to do it. As I do the rounds visiting Troop meetings, there are way too many Adults who think that they know best or that the boys need more direction. This is out and out Humbug. Yes, as you follow your plan of what the troop is doing there are things that fulfill merit badge requirements and yes we need to let the boy know that he has completed these. But the final word as to him wanting to take this to the next level is his. Eamonn

Much as I hate to be pedantic. I see Merit Badges as something that each boy decides to do or not do. He also decides when he wants to do it. As I do the rounds visiting Troop meetings, there are way too many Adults who think that they know best or that the boys need more direction. This is out and out Humbug. Yes, as you follow your plan of what the troop is doing there are things that fulfill merit badge requirements and yes we need to let the boy know that he has completed these. But the final word as to him wanting to take this to the next level is his. Eamonn

Much as I hate to be pedantic. I see Merit Badges as something that each boy decides to do or not do. He also decides when he wants to do it. As I do the rounds visiting Troop meetings, there are way too many Adults who think that they know best or that the boys need more direction. This is out and out Humbug. Yes, as you follow your plan of what the troop is doing there are things that fulfill merit badge requirements and yes we need to let the boy know that he has completed these. But the final word as to him wanting to take this to the next level is his. Eamonn