fgoodwin

Oregon high court rules for Scouts, against atheist mother http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8K0R7JG0.html 09/08/2006 By TIM FOUGHT / Associated Press The Oregon Supreme Court rejected Friday the discrimination claim of an atheist whose son was required to attend a Boy Scout recruiting session in a Portland public school. The Scout oath requires members "to do my duty to God and my country," but simply providing information to pupils in public schools isn't discrimination under Oregon Law, the court said. Reversing a lower court, the justices denied the claim of Nancy Powell, whose son, Remington, was in elementary school when the dispute began in 1996. He is now a junior in a Portland high school, a lawyer in the case said. The justices said the recruiting process on school grounds treats all students the same. "It is in the later enrollment in the organization that the Boy Scouts differentiate among those who do not profess a belief in the deity and those who do," the court said. "That enrollment, however, is not done by the school district, nor is it done in any public elementary school activity." Dissenting, Justice Rives Kistler said the Scouts' offer "appeared to be open to all the elementary school children without limitation," but that wasn't the case. "That offer, both in fact and in operation, divided the elementary school children into two groups: those whose religious views agreed with the Scouts' views and those whose views did not," he wrote. David Fidanque, executive director of the Oregon ACLU, whose lawyers argued for the Powells, called the decision "shameful" and "callous." He pointed to a footnote in which the court said it didn't see how state law "prohibits an organization, even a hate group, from making a neutral presentation to students, or how such a presentation, even by a hate group, necessarily would subject a person to differential treatment or discrimination." He said the Powells were disappointed by the decision but were pleased that one result of the long case has been to prompt some schools to prohibit the recruiting.

I know this news article is an imperfect representation of a complex situation, but I have to wonder why the Troop would not allow the boy to go to summer camp with a disabilities specialist? Why insist that the father attend if he simply cannot? Are other dads in the Troop expected to meet that same requirement? I mean, this isn't Cub Scouts -- a boy doesn't have to have a parent with him on every campout. And it seems the boy's dad was willing to be there but for this one instance, then arranged to have a specialist attend in his place to be responsible for the kid -- what's wrong with that? As detailed as this article is, I suspect there is still much more to the story.

Jeff: Maybe Scouting has changed its policy. When I was an ass't DL back in 2000-2001, I didn't get the Program Helps, and I didn't get them as CC. I did get them as WDL (2003-2005). I can't say how they actually implement the DL position; I just make the suggestion to ensure they get the Program Helps.

When I train new Cub leaders, I always urge them to register as a den leader, not an assistant. This way, they get a copy of the program helps in their Scouter magazine.

You're welcome -- HMNS has an email list, if you're interested: http://www.hmns.org/get_involved/e_newsletter.asp

ATTENTION All Boy and Girl Scouts The Houston Museum of Natural Science fall 2006 schedule of Scouts classes is ready and available for purchase! We have classes for Cubs, Webelos, Boy Scouts, Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes & Senior Girl Scouts. The Bird Study Merit Badge for Boy Scouts is now a 2-day program which includes a Friday night class at the Museum and a field study session on Saturday. October 7th is Earth Science Family Day at HMNS. Scientists and engineers that specialize in all types of geology will be in the museum with plenty of things to see and do. Scouts can fulfill many of their geology and earth science-related badge requirements with special activities just for them. For schedules and more information on classes and events, go to our web site! http://www.hmns.org Click on "education", then "scouts". Help us spread the word! Please forward this email to anyone you know that might be interested in our programs for Scouts. Questions and comments can be emailed to scouts@hmns.org

Ten Reasons To Be An Adult Leader http://melrosetroop68.org/blog.html Friday, September 01, 2006 It is that time of year. Boys around the country will be joining Boy Scouting for the first time this month. And new parents will be asked to help their troop by becoming an adult leader. There are many reasons not to be a leader, but let me give you ten reasons why you should become a Scouter. (These are not in any sort of order.) 1) Be a positive influence in a boy's life. I think we can agree that there are many youth out there who can benefit from more of this in today's world. 2) Learn new skills. You are never too old to learn a new skill. And to tell the truth, I don't think a person can ever learn too many skills. 3) Teach boys new skills. There are few things in life that will make you feel more proud then when you watch a boy or young man using a skill that you have helped them to master. 4) Make new friends. Not only will you form friendships with the boys, but you will also form new friendships with other Scouters. 5) Help your community. You provide this service through your unit's service projects and by helping boys grow up to be better adults. 6) Spend time in the Great Outdoors. You really do need to get out of that recycled-air, stressed-filled office enviroment at least once a month. 7) Have a good laugh. Working with Scout age boys can be fun and funny in many ways. Just remember to laugh with the boys, not at the boys. 8) Go traveling. There are thousands of places to go that provide a great Scout Outing. And do not forget the opportunities to go to a National Jamboree, Philmont, or the other high adventure bases. 9) Get some exercise. We could all use more exercise. Just try keeping up with a group of Boy Scouts. 10) Be a kid again! Scouting gives adults the chance to have just as much fun as the Scouts themselves. Make sure that you do! Well, those are ten of my reasons for being an adult Scout Leader. I am sure that some of you reading this could add some more to the list. I invite you to leave a comment and add those reasons. posted by Scoutmaster Steve J. B. at 5:43 PM

Too late to give my son the Airfix fix http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/09/01/do0102.xml http://tinyurl.com/h8gzw By Tom Leonard (Filed: 01/09/2006) Although he is only four, it is already clear that my older son has inherited two character traits from me: a fascination with militaria ships, planes, tanks and soldiers, especially soldiers and an unfortunate impatience, specifically a tendency to hurl stuff across the room when things don't go right. Or glue right. For if there was one area where these two facets of my personality clashed most spectacularly, it was when I turned my hand to the fiddly task of putting together an Airfix kit. I flew a lot of Airfix planes across my bedroom in my youth, but none of them was ever ready to fly. Most fathers harbour ambitions for their sons that are rooted in their own childhood, and the news that the plastic model manufacturer's parent company has gone into administration will surely bring dismay to thousands of men hoping to pass on the Airfix fix to their offspring. Now I may never know if Joe will be able to do what I could not to finish off a Second World War plane, paint, decals and all. Any plane, even the Mosquito night fighter, which you only needed to paint black and had virtually no fiddly bits apart from the machine guns. Even that, if I remember correctly, proved beyond me and perhaps lies half-finished at the back of the toy cupboard waiting for a new generation of Leonards to take up the challenge. I had already introduced Joe to my old Airfix "OO scale" soldiers those tiny little ones, usually yellow, that caused pain out of all proportion to their size when you invariably stepped on them in bare feet and it looked promising that he might one day graduate to bigger things. But those bigger things currently lie locked away in a French warehouse, after Airfix's principal manufacturer also went into administration. British administrator is talking to French administrator perhaps, it being Airfix, in Morse code but insiders fear that nobody will want to buy the company if they have to wait two years to get hold of the model moulds. The Hull-based company has been making models since 1949, but has been struggling for some time since the early 1980s in fact, when the hobby went into rapid decline and Airfix itself briefly went into bankruptcy. Some blamed computer games, others the declining birth rate, and some even the oil crisis of the late 1970s that pushed up the prices of plastics. Perhaps it was political correctness, although there were encouraging signs namely the huge success of the red-blooded Dangerous Book For Boys that more traditional "war toys" were coming back into vogue. Personally, I'd point the finger of blame at our low attention span culture. Airfix kits demanded commitment and concentration, not to mention a rock-steady scalpel hand, if you weren't like me simply to give up on the instructions, glue the wings to the hull, stick on the decals any old how and leave the other bits to get stuck in the Hoover. Despite all the general trickiness and awkwardness, at least as far as boys were concerned, Airfix kits ruled the toy market for decades in a way that no single manufacturer could dream of doing now. Did girls ever make them? Possibly, although I never met one and the vast majority of the models were war-related. In the 1960s and 1970s the Airfix glory years kits were stacked from floor to ceiling not only in every toy shop, but also in newsagents and ironmongers. Of course, the contents, often dull grey and wrapped in a clear plastic bag, never matched the racily illustrated boxes, but most schoolboys soon got over that. And some were inspired in a far more fundamental way than simply wanting to progress to a more complicated model. Bruce Dickinson, the singer of the heavy metal group Iron Maiden and now a commercial airline pilot, said his interest in flying began when he started building Airfix kits. Up there in the skies or out on the high seas, he cannot be alone. In all, Airfix produced 850 kits, including trains, motorcycles, figures and spaceships. While few enthusiasts must have progressed towards the dizzy heights of the 1/24th scale Spitfire or Harrier, there was usually a clear progression path, says Jeremy Brook, secretary of the Airfix Collectors Club. You started with the little soldiers, snap-together Normandy gun emplacements and Foreign Legion forts, then perhaps tentatively took up a tube of glue for the first time and got to work on a tiny Sherman tank. Then on to the first rung of the plane ladder occupied by Spitfires (always the most popular Airfix kit) and other Second World War fighters. Next came the bombers (many more parts than the fighters), followed maybe by the much fiddlier and more complicated 1:600 scale ships, which, with their cotton rigging and microscopic signal flags, were ideally left out for the elves to finish. It may have been the smell of the glue, but simply looking at the instructions was enough to give me a headache. Other nightmares? First World War planes, says Mr Brook. All those cross struts between the wings and apparently the upper wing never fitted properly. But it would be unfair to suggest that Airfix kits were just for children. Many boys' memories of putting together a kit will have been of peering over their father's shoulder, watching him assembling it. If he was lucky, a boy might be allowed to put on the decals at the end, but woe betide him if he stuck the wing flashes on the hull. Inevitably, child-assembled models are harder to find. Dad might hang his creation from the ceiling or put it in a glass case, but, for the boys, there was no finer send-off than blowing a model to pieces in the garden with an air rifle or stuffing a banger into the cockpit. Hal Iggulden, co-author of The Dangerous Book For Boys, never got to touch the Airfix Stirling and Wellington bombers that his father a former Stirling pilot made until, aged 20, he accidentally sat on them. "He didn't say a word," says Mr Iggulden. "I fixed them and presented them back to him and he simply said: 'Thank you'." Mr Iggulden says his book benefited from a resurgence in interest in activities that fathers and sons can do together. Airfix, he says with regret, would fit perfectly into that revival. That said, he believes plastic models will come round again. He may be right. As long as fathers want to show off to sons, men will surely still reach for the sky in little grey plastic planes.

Elizabeth, thanx for the heads-up. Looks like a great article!

Ten ways scouting outranks television http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2006/08/30/news/lake_life/lakelife03.txt http://tinyurl.com/pex7t By Don Grillo Wednesday, August 30, 2006 10:12 AM EDT Any time of the year is a good time for parents to enroll their sons in Scouting. But most boys join Scouting in September and October. During this period, annual recruiting programs are conducted by Cub Scout Packs and Boy Scout Troops throughout the Cayuga County Council. Boys are attracted to Scouting for the obvious reasons - camping, hiking, uniforms, pinewood derby races, earning badges and awards, making new friends, learning new things and having fun. Parents want their sons to join Scouting because it is more than just a program. Scouting is a life changing experience that helps build character, values, community and family. The 12 traits that make up the Scouts Law reads like every parent's wish for their children - trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. Along with the motto of be prepared and the scout slogan do a good turn daily, scouting sets expectations of cooperation, respect and good will - all success factors in helping build lifelong personal and family values. These days there is a great deal of competition for kids time and a family's time - some good, some not so good. Take this example. What are the top 10 reasons why scouting beats TV, hands down? 10. No wires, no remote, no batteries required 9. Scouting burns more calories 8. Scouting is socially interactive 7. Scouting doesn't have commercials 6. Scouting builds character 5. You can't build a campfire in the family room (The fireplace doesn't count) 4. Scouting builds families 3. Scouting provides positive reinforcement and creates positive change 2. Scouting has no place for violence And the No. 1 reason why scouting beats TV, hands down: Scouting is the ultimate reality show! For hundreds of local youth that reality show will start this fall. A new Boy Scout who joins in September can travel to Wellesley Island State Park at Thousand Islands with more than 150 local scouts and leaders to join 3,000 other scouts for a 2006 Brotherhood Camporee Weekend. A new Cub Scout who joins during our county-wide school night on Sept. 21 can bring his family to Spook-O-Ree V, a Halloween themed adventure at Scout Camp Rotary on Saturday, Oct. 21. All new scouts can join more than 400 others in November for one of our communities' most rewarding service projects - Scouting for Food. These events and activities are only highlights of the things that scouts do on a weekly basis. Parental involvement is one of the strengths of scouting that makes it unique. Parents appreciate and enjoy having the ability to become involved at different times and levels in their child's scouting career. Siblings and extended family members can also benefit by participating in family-based activities and programs, not to mention the positive effect a scout can have as a role model, especially to younger family members. Call 252-9579 or stop by the scout office at 7235 Mutton Hill Road, to find out how to begin your son's scouting experience. Don Grillo is the scout executive for the Cayuga County Council Boy Scouts of America.

Bikes Are Flying Off the Racks, Not Down the Streets http://www.gorctrails.com/board/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=83 http://tinyurl.com/hkl98 Worried Parents, Sprawling Cities Reduce Riding By Elaine Rivera Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, November 17, 2003; Page B01 Like most of his friends in Eldersburg, Md., 6-year-old Nate Diamond has a bicycle. It's black and has training wheels and spends most of its life in the garage. He wheels it out maybe once a month, to ride only as far as his mother can see. "He doesn't ride it very much," Sally Diamond conceded, as she considered a display of new bicycles outside an Alexandria bike shop. "There's more traffic, and people aren't as nice as they used to be." Still, she and her husband, Tom, were shopping for a bigger bike as a Christmas present for Nate -- thus contributing to two apparently contradictory trends: Even as sales of children's bikes soar, children are riding them less and less. "It's not like when we were kids, when you'd just take off and go two miles to the store or wherever," Tom Diamond said. "Those days are gone." When kids do ride their bikes, it is often a pale version of that childhood tradition. They ride endlessly around a single block or cul-de-sac, up and down the same street or, in busier neighborhoods, up and down the driveway. It is a far cry from days gone by when generations of children arrived home from school, jumped on their 10-speeds or banana bikes and rode -- no helmets, no chaperones, no deadline except dusk or dinner. "Parents just don't feel comfortable anymore letting their children go out and ride their bikes alone," said Bill Wilkinson, executive director of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking. "Our communities are not designed for it." Neighborhoods and schools are built for cars, rather than pedestrians or cyclists. In a world that feels ever more dangerous, parents drive children everywhere to make sure they're safe. And in two-career families, less free time for parents means less free time for children as well. "There's soccer or swimming or music lessons," said Wilkinson, whose organization lobbies parents to get their children to walk and ride more bikes to combat obesity. "Most kids are never out of direct supervision of an adult." The result is a documented decline in bike riding, according to an annual survey by the National Sporting Goods Association. The organization surveys 10,000 households annually on biking participation among people ages 7 to 17. It found that about 20.4 million children in the United States rode a bicycle six or more times a year in 1991, and 16.8 million did so last year. At the same time, more children's bicycles are being sold. That is partly because they are cheaper than ever, according to Matt Wiebe of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News magazine. Wiebe said more than 80 percent of sales are made at Wal-Mart, where bikes can be found for a little as $30. "That's the cost of a decent basketball," Wiebe said. Although there are no aggregate figures for bike sales, Wiebe said the trend is tracked through imports, which have spiked over the past five years. There has been "phenomenal growth" in the import of juvenile bikes, those with wheels 20 inches or smaller, at the same time that suppliers and retailers report leaner inventories. But buying the bike doesn't mean riding the bike. "It's like when we go out and buy the exercise equipment or join the health club," Wilkinson said. "We think we got the benefit out of it." Connor Wayne, 8, spends more time on his scooter than his bike. Either way, Connor volunteered as he scooted along beside his parents on a walk through their Alexandria neighborhood, "I'm not allowed to go around the block by myself." His mother, Kristi Wayne, said she and her husband have been discussing when -- if ever -- they should let him take off on his bike alone. "We don't know at what point that would be," Sean Wayne said, casting an uncertain look at his wife. "Times are different now." Times and traffic are both different. "Before urban sprawl happened, kids could walk or bike to school," said Angela D. Mickalide, program director at the National Safe Kids Campaign. Despite the increase in traffic, she said, bicycle-related deaths among children 14 and under have declined by 60 percent in the past 15 years. Four hundred children were killed in bike accidents in 1987; the figure dropped to 168 last year. Mickalide said children who do ride these days wear helmets and take other safety precautions, such as having adult supervision. Another reason for the decline, she said, is that children aren't riding bikes as much. Arlington parent Ed Fendley, a cyclist himself, says there is a different type of risk in not allowing children the freedom to ride: loss of independence. "I don't want my kids not to know how to get around on their own," said Fendley, who noted that his son, Zack, 12, rides a mile to school and two miles to lacrosse practice by himself -- wearing a helmet, of course. He said that building his son's sense of independence is as crucial as the daily exercise. "He's not dependent on his mom taking him everywhere," Fendley said. "I don't want my kids to grow up that way -- that the way they've gotten around is in the back of their mom's minivan," he said. "Independence is just as important for their health." But Fendley, who was chatting recently with other parents about how to convince their children to ride their bikes more often, might be the exception. Mary Skocz, president of the PTA at Wakefield High School in Arlington, doesn't have bikes at her home. She stopped buying them because they kept getting stolen. Her son, Tim, 16, walks to school a couple of blocks away. Skocz marveled at how times have changed. She remembered growing up in Butler, Pa., where the bike rack on Main Street was always full after school. "Kids biked or walked everywhere," she said, adding that nobody locked their doors, and it was the car that sat in the garage for days on end. "It was a big deal if your mother drove you to the swimming pool," she said. "You would have to be getting over a broken leg -- that was a luxury service."

The Bicycle Loses Ground as a Symbol of Childhood Liberty http://www.helmets.org/wsjstats.htm The Wall Street Journal September 9, 1996 GREELEY, Colo. -- In July, 12-year-old Cody Gillenwater and his father rode a tandem bicycle 925 miles to Phoenix. A few weeks later, his mother wouldn't let him bike by himself to a tennis class five miles from his house. "I think about the traffic, and I think about my kid getting snatched," says Marty Gillenwater, who doesn't want her only child to become another "face on the milk carton." Getting a bike used to be a kid's passport to freedom. Those who grew up in the decades through the 1970s fondly recall long summer days spent on their bikes, when they would reappear at home only to eat and sleep. No more. Many parents, even ones in quiet suburbs or serene middle-American towns like Greeley, simply don't allow their children to ride far without supervision. "I wish I could go wherever I want," says seven-year-old Alexis Fleming of the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas, as she sits in her living room, her father's arms around her. The only time Alexis can bike around her neighborhood is when her family goes on walks. Then she must stay on the sidewalk and go no more than two houses in front of her parents. Wistfully, she wishes aloud that she could ride all the way to the end of the block, then back to the house. "I'd stop at the stop sign," she promises. Spoken Fears What has put the brakes on Alexis and other kids, parents say, is a nagging fear of the potential dangers lurking outside their front yards. Heavier traffic and even the passage of helmet laws are constant reminders of the perils on the roads. Highly publicized kidnappings have only upped the paranoia. The irony of this isn't lost on a generation of parents who themselves pushed the boundaries of independence but don't feel comfortable with their kids doing the same. "I don't protect them from risks," explains Alexis's father, Steve Fleming, of his four children. "I just provide an atmosphere that's more controlled." So now, biking is yielding to more controllable surrogates -- supervised play groups, structured extracurricular classes and an explosion of organized sports -- that leave children with considerably less free time for discovering the world on their own. Alexis and her three siblings, for example, are kept busy with a schedule that includes not merely the old standard, baseball, but also swimming, tae kwon do and gymnastics. Alexis gets the dance lessons her mother never got as a child, while brother Zach, 8, can already do a double flip off the diving board. Still, Mr. Fleming looks back with longing on his own childhood in Colorado Springs, when he could ride wherever he wanted by the age of six. "I was a man of the world," he says. Flattening Sales Bike makers, too, have felt a noticeable shift. Sales of 20-inch bikes, those typically bought for children eight to 10, dropped to three million last year, down from 4.2 million in 1993 and a peak of 5.2 million in 1987. Some of this is attributable to rising competition from in-line skates and video games, but parental curbs on how kids use bikes is unquestionably a factor, says Bill Smith, vice president of marketing for Huffy Bicycles unit of Huffy Corp. His nine-year-old son has tough restrictions on where he can ride his bike. "I had more freedom when I grew up in the Bronx than my son does today in Dayton, Ohio," Mr. Smith observes. Parental fears -- and dwindling use -- do have an upside. Last year, 242 children five to 14 died in bike accidents, a decrease of 59% from 1975, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The decline came despite a 14% increase in the number of children in that age group since 1986. Meanwhile, though the child population has been steadily rising, the number of children kidnapped, murdered or ransomed by strangers has remained constant at about 300 a year during the past 15 years -- a statistic that doesn't make parents feel any better. "I don't think there's any question that public awareness of the issue is rising," says Ernie Allen, president of the National Association for Missing and Exploited Children. Fighting the Tide Some parents try to put aside their fears, but it isn't easy. Jill Parker of North Potomac, Md., allows her nine-year-old twin boys to ride around a bike path in the subdivision where they live. "They need to know they can do things without restrictions," she says. Still, Ms. Parker admits she worries every time the boys pedal off. "I'm scared to death about weirdos being out there and grabbing the kids," she says. Greeley, a tree-lined farm town of 60,000 about 40 miles north of Denver, seems about as far from those kinds of urban nightmares as a place could be. But Sgt. John Gates of the Greeley Police Department says the anxiety cuts across class lines. He says he sees fewer kids riding bikes on the affluent west side of Greeley than when he was growing up there, but adds that bike riding is even less common in the working-class east side. Some worry that the loss of independence can carry a price, cutting into a child's confidence and willingness to venture into new territory. Linda Robbins, who rarely allows her nine- and 11-year-old daughters to ride more than a block or two from their Greeley home, has noticed that her girls often have difficulty making decisions. She wonders whether there is a connection. "They ask me really simple things," she says. " 'What should I wear to school today? What movie should I watch?' " It can take just one incident to alarm a town, and Greeley had one this spring when a 12-year-old schoolmate of Cody Gillenwater's was struck by a car and killed after biking through a stop sign. Cody was so bothered by the death that it took him weeks before he was willing to ride past the accident site on his regular bike rides with his father, Bill. Once there, Mr. Gillenwater made a point of talking about how the accident could have been avoided. Both the Gillenwater parents are passionate recreational bike riders -- the family owns nine bicycles -- and they often ride with Cody. At the same time, their own experiences have made them more aware of the dangers their son faces as a solo cyclist. Three years ago, for example, Mrs. Gillenwater was riding by herself in the country outside Greeley when a man standing by the roadside exposed himself to her. While Mrs. Gillenwater laughs about the incident now, it also makes her aware how vulnerable her slender 5-foot-2-inch son could be. "He's a kid still," she says. "He likes people." Cody only shrugs when asked about his mom's bike rules. "Sometimes it does bother me," he says. "But drivers are not aware of what they're doing nowadays." Still, Mrs. Gillenwater goes the extra mile to keep Cody riding. Every morning she takes Cody and his bike by car across a busy highway to the elementary school where she works as a librarian. Then, Cody puts on his helmet and rides two miles to middle school with his friends.

Top 10 Texas Destinations for Outdoor Adventures http://gotexas.about.com/od/outdoorsintexas/tp/OutdoorAdv.htm http://tinyurl.com/pkfon From Danno Wise Your Guide to Texas for Visitors Texas is a big state, with plenty of room to roam. Due to its varied terrain and wide-open expanses, Texas offers visitors a tremendous variety of outdoor recreational opportunities. 1) Hueco Tanks State Historic Site http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/hueco_tanks/ Hueco Tanks offers a variety of outdoor activies, most notably camping and rock climbing. However, one of the biggest draws to this historic site are the prehistoric pictographs that dot the cave walls there. Visitors and campers must make reservations at least two days prior to visiting. Pictograph tours are also avaible by advanced request. 2) Big Bend National Park http://www.big.bend.national-park.com/ Designated as an International Biosphere Reserve, Big Bend offers a variety of outdoor recreational activities in a primitive setting. Backpacking, mountain biking, fishing, boating, hiking, nature watching, camping - you name it, if it can be done outdoors, it can be done in Big Bend. There are three campgrounds withing Big Bend, all at an elevation of 1,800 feet or higher. Although there are a number of sites within each of these campgrounds, they fill fast and reservations are required. 3) Padre Island National Seashore http://www.nps.gov/pais/index.htm Padre Island National Seashore stretches from Corpus Christi south some 75 miles to the Port Mansfield Cut - offering some of the most remote seashore to be found anywhere. Semi-primitive campsites are available at Malaquite Beach and provide toilets, rinse-only showers, and picnic tables. Primitive camping with no facilities is available at both North and South Beach. 4) Enchanted Rock State Natural Area http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/enchanted_rock/ Located just north of Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country, Enchanted Rock is one of the largest natural rock formations in the United States, with a dome that rises 425 feet above the ground (1825 feet above sea level). Designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1970, Enchanted Rock is also part of the Texas State Parks System and attracts thousands of visitors annually. Walk-in sites with tent pads and water are available, as are primitive hike-in campsites. 5) Devil's River State Natural Area http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/devils_river/ Located just north of Del Rio on Texas' famed Devil's River, the Devil's River State Natural Area offers a variety of outdoor activities in a remote setting. Canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, fishing and swimming are just few of the many activities available. 6) Garner State Park http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/garner/ Located on the Frio River in Concan, Garner State Park is one of Texas' most popular summer getaways. Whether it's swimming, fishing, paddling, or tubing, most visitors to Garner find a way to get on or in the water. However, there are also "dry" activities such as miniature golf, birding, nature trails, hiking and more. 7) Del Rio/Lake Amistad http://www.drchamber.com/ A town which is named for the river it is built near, Del Rio serves as the hub for water sports on the upper stretches of Texas' Rio Grande River. In addition to the traditional water sports, many tourists head out of Del Rio in search of adventure aboard a houseboat. 8) Lower Laguna Madre http://www.windsurfinc.com/ With miles of shallow, calm water in the Lower Laguna Madre and strong winds coming off the Gulf of Mexico, South Padre Island is a windsurfer's dream. Additionally, kiteboarders, surfers and anglers all find plenty of reason to spend time on this narrow bay between Port Isabel and South Padre Island. 9) Lake Buchanan http://www.lakebuchananadventures.com/ Located in the scenic Texas Hill Country, Lake Buchanan offers a wide variety of outdoor recreational opportunities, including kayaking, hiking, camping and more. 10) New Braunfels http://www.newbraunfels.com/ The very spot where "floating the Guad" was invented, New Braunfels offers excellent access to Texas' famed Guadalupe River. Float tubing, kayaking, swimming and fishing are just a few of the recreational opportunities available on this stretch of the Guadalupe.

Discovering A World Beyond The Front Yard http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/26/AR2006082600627.html http://tinyurl.com/zombx Some Parents Defy Trends, Allow Kids to Roam Unsupervised By Tara Bahrampour Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, August 27, 2006; Page C01 One day a few years ago, Khady Lusby's twins were 5 and playing by themselves in the park that abuts their Arlington house when another mother called her at home. "She said, 'Do you know your boys are at the playground playing?' And I said, 'Yes, I know,' " recalled Lusby, who is from Senegal. "She said, 'Oh, you know this is not the way we do things here,' meaning in America. I just made a joke: 'Well, I'm African -- wherever I go I take my African way,' and she said, 'Well you can be reported.' " Undaunted, Lusby and her husband, who grew up in Hagerstown, continued to let their three boys, now 11 and 6, go to the park alone (though at the creek they are to take along a sibling and walkie-talkies.) Their neighbors, Mark Katzenberger and Mona Leigh, have a similar philosophy, allowing their two children to venture to the park on their own and walk to school unaccompanied by adults. But the couples make up a small minority: parents who, despite prevailing trends, believe letting children play outside is ultimately less dangerous than what will happen if they never get to explore. In some urban neighborhoods across America, children still pour into the streets to play, the older ones keeping an eye on the younger ones as they have for generations. But for a while now, to drive around America's suburbs is to see tidy but empty blocks, devoid of the kickball, hide-and-seek and aimless wanderings of earlier generations. For many parents, the thought of allowing their children out unaccompanied invokes spasms of horror and even accusations of child neglect. It can be difficult for individual families to buck the trend without facing criticism. "When parents start to tell me about how their kids' lives are programmed compared to theirs [when they were young], they're very apologetic," said Roger Hart, director of the Children's Environments Research Group at the City University of New York. "But they say, 'You know, if I let my kids go out by themselves to the center of town, my neighbors just wouldn't accept me as a good parent.' " Many parents speak wistfully of their own childhoods, before play dates and soccer practices, when they left home in the morning and roamed freely. But those same parents say that was a more innocent time, with fewer kidnappers. "Can't do like you used to anymore," said Patricia Shackleford, who grew up in Arlington playing on a block with 50 other kids until nightfall. Now she drives her children, 12 and 9, to the playground and waits while they play. "Got to supervise them." Cesar Llerena, watching from a bench as his children played at Alcova Heights Park, said he does not think it is responsible to let children walk to school, even if it is only three blocks away. "Someone might drive up" and kidnap them, he said. "It hasn't happened here, but it has happened." Has the world really become more dangerous? In some places, yes. Cherita Whiting, Advisory Neighborhood Commission chairman for Ward 4B in the District, said her Riggs Park neighborhood was full of children playing when she was young. Now, she said, drug dealers, drive-by shootings and speeding cars in the area have scared parents into keeping kids indoors. "It's really a shame," she said. "A kid should be able to play without worrying that some fool is going to be racing up the street because they did something wrong." As for kidnappings, Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said the number of abductions by strangers has remained steady over the years and is lower than many people imagine. "I do not think there are more," he said. "I think the numbers have been very consistent." According to center statistics, about 115 of 260,000 child kidnappings a year nationwide fit the classic scenario most parents fear: children snatched by strangers. Most kidnappings are done by family members or by people the children know. Still, high-profile cases of abduction by a stranger have sowed fear, especially since cable TV and 24-hour news have made the details easier to disseminate. Jane de Winter, president of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, said she lets her children walk to a nearby park, but she theorized that she and other parents worry more because they know more about potential dangers. "In my neighborhood . . . there have been people who have been registered sex offenders, and that puts a damper on whether parents want to let their kids outside," she said. Regardless of whether there actually are more sex offenders now, she said, "once you know someone is there, can you responsibly let your kids be out there without an adult?" Hart calls such fears an example of "moral panic" -- a collective fear fueled by the mass media until it becomes self-perpetuating. But he said there are also valid explanations. "In a more globalized world, people feel generally less secure about place, because the world becomes more and more anonymous as it becomes more mobile," he said. "It feeds on itself, and if you watch more and more television, you have more sense of these dangers. And there's less and less engagement with community. Outside has become more dangerous, because there's no longer multiple eyes on everything." Accordingly, the freedom to explore and improvise -- which he called crucial to children's cognitive development -- has been reduced dramatically. "They can no longer go as far, alone or with their friends, as they used to, and they can no longer be spontaneous in their planning, in their decisions about what they're going to do," Hart said. "Once you have adults having to be the supervisors, that means kids' schedules have to be coordinated with adults' schedules." According to Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods," the radius beyond which children are not allowed to roam shrank by 89 percent in 20 years. "For tens of thousands of years, kids went out and played in nature, and we are reversing that in a matter of decades," he said. Some communities in Europe are trying to reverse that trend, creating, for example, cul-de-sacs that make it harder for strangers to pass through. In the United States, when children walk to school or play in a park unaccompanied, Allen recommended a "buddy system" that pairs them with other children. His center also encourages "block watch" programs in which adults take turns keeping an eye on children playing on the block. Rebuilding neighborly connections is crucial to safety, he said. "In a world where so many houses are air-conditioned and so many people spend their lives inside, we've lost the use of the front porch. . . . People [are] so isolated in their jobs and their lives that they cease to be neighbors." Darlene Allen, president of the District PTA, said that in her Southeast Washington neighborhood, children never stopped playing outside, though adults now look out more for each other's children. And in Brookmont, a neighborhood near Glen Echo in Montgomery County, Carol Beehler sends her three children out with 30 or so other toddlers through teenagers who play outside, sometimes closing the street off for impromptu hockey games. "I'm always kicking them out of the house," she said, adding that kids have played on her block since she moved there 20 years ago. "They're supposed to be within yelling distance," she said, adding, "I'll probably get a call now from Social Services." Children from other areas have been shocked by the practice, she said, recalling a friend of her son's from a "big fancy neighborhood in Potomac" who came over when kids were running through sprinklers in the front yard. "He said to me, 'Wow, where I live, only the workers are out.' " Strolling recently through Mace Park, along Four Mile Run in Arlington, Katzenberger pointed at where the grass dipped into a creek, sheltered by trees -- a favorite playing area of his son Clyde, 10, who has named it the Mysterious Beyond. Other parents have warned him against letting his children play there. "I know that people are really afraid of their kids getting snatched," he said. "But the probability of a child getting snatched is so low that I think you're doing your child a disservice by letting them stay inside and not grow, not be creative, not be exposed to the Mysterious Beyond." Lusby agreed. "If we're always there, surrounding them, they will never see past us," she said. "We're not raising children in a bubble. You have to let them learn from their mistakes. They cry and you reassure them and they go back, and that's the way it should be. Otherwise, they have these blinders, and their world is not as wide as it should be." At home, Katzenberger and Leigh showed off the tarragon, basil and tomatoes they had planted out front, and the wooden porch they built this summer -- both undertaken with a specific goal. "We're trying to turn the neighborhood around," Leigh said. "You build a stoop, and you sit out on your stoop." Katzenberger added, "It might happen that we're going to be sitting out there and someone might stop by and have a beer." "So we do," Leigh said. "We sit out there every day and say hi to people and do gardening and so on, and I feel that we've made a difference in how much people are out and about."

I believe there are good people with deeply held beliefs on each side of many issues -- I try to remember that just because we differ in our opinions, doesn't make anyone a bad person. The way things are going, I think that advocates for gay rights will eventually win the day. This article points to some possible unintended consequences when that victory ultimately comes.

Gay rights vs. religious beliefs http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/15345126.htm Posted on Thu, Aug. 24, 2006 Commentary By Roger T. Severino Live and let live. A simple concept, to be sure, but can we apply it to the growing conflict between gay rights and religious beliefs? The answer increasingly seems to be no. Recently, Philadelphia ordered the local Boy Scouts of America chapter (the nation's third-largest) to renounce the national organization's ban on openly gay members or begin paying rent on its city-subsidized headquarters of 78 years. Some thought this issue was settled by the Supreme Court in 2000, when the Boy Scouts won the right to exclude members who rejected the Scouts' moral vision, specifically those who advocated for or engaged in homosexual conduct. That victory, however, came at a cost. The Boy Scouts were banned from an array of government programs and government-affiliated campsites across the country. It appears that Philadelphia has now joined that list. Make no mistake: Losing its rent-free home will hurt the Boy Scouts' charitable services to 40,000 local children. Maybe some of the 75 other community groups that receive free rent from the city can pick up that slack, maybe not - but this illustrates a broader point: If the gay-rights movement is willing to trample on the moral beliefs of the Boy Scouts for the sake of "tolerance," will religious institutions that also provide social services and oppose gay rights on religious grounds fare any better? Consider the latest battle over same-sex marriage. Congress recently debated whether to amend the Constitution to define marriage exclusively as the union of husband and wife. In that debate, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.) described the attempt as "bigotry, pure and simple." But Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) supported such an amendment precisely because it would stop state and federal judges from joining Massachusetts in declaring same-sex marriage a civil right, one that inevitably will infringe on the rights of religious believers who disagree. As Sen. Sam Brownback (R., Kan.) has argued, religiously affiliated social-service organizations will soon be forced to choose between "violating their own deeply held beliefs and giving up government contracts, tax-exempt status, or even being denied the right to operate at all." Since the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a public-interest law firm that represents all religious traditions (including those for and against same-sex marriage), we do not offer an opinion as to which result is ultimately best for America. But as a matter of religious liberty, the arguments of Sens. Santorum and Brownback cannot be ignored. Like the Boy Scouts, religious institutions that oppose same-sex marriage will find themselves no longer welcome as partners in a variety of government social-service programs - from family counseling, to addiction programs, to job-placement services - and may even lose their access to public land for religious retreats, just as the Boy Scouts have lost their access to public land for their Jamborees. In the employment context, religious institutions would be prohibited - on pain of "marital status discrimination" lawsuits - from firing an employee who publicly rejects the institution's opposition to same-sex marriage by obtaining one. Religious employers might even be forced, against their principles, to extend health and retirement benefits to their employees' same-sex spouses. Religious universities that provide married-student housing would be required to provide rooms to everyone legally married, including same-sex couples, even if the university objects on moral grounds. And this problem is hardly speculative or alarmist - it's already happening on a small scale, even before the legal redefinition of marriage makes it much more common. For example, fair-housing laws have already been applied in New York City to require Yeshiva University to open up its married-student housing to same-sex domestic partners. But the loss of these rights and benefits pales in comparison to what many houses of worship fear - the loss of tax-exempt status. In the 1982 case of Bob Jones University v. United States, the Supreme Court found that when a charitable organization's policies become "at odds with the common community conscience," its state and federal tax exemptions may be revoked, even if the policies are religiously motivated. This decision allowed governments at all levels to revoke the income or property-tax exemptions of religious institutions that "discriminate" against same-sex couples. All it takes is a court, legislature, or tax bureaucrat to find that the "community conscience" demands it. If courts continue to weaken religious-freedom protections - and if legislatures continue to fail to fill the breach - there might soon be nothing left to stop the state from steamrolling over all religious conduct that dares to oppose gay rights. Live and let live indeed. --- Roger T. Severino (rseverino@becketfund.org) is legal counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington.

I know its not "politically correct" to say this, but the fact is, the CM (or SM) reports to the Committee. The Committee is responsible for recruiting unit leadership, including the CM (or SM), with approval by the COR. And the CC chairs the Committee. That doesn't mean the CM (or SM) "reports" to the CC. As a former Pack CC, I found my role was to support the CM by ensuring that the Committee lined up whatever resources were needed (e.g., fundraising, reserving facilities, arranging training, etc.). The CC and CM (SM) ideally should work as a team. The CC and Committee are responsible for the background stuff like budgets and paperwork, while the CM and DLs were responsible for delivering the program to the boys in a Pack Meeting or den meeting. If the CC and CM (SM) can't work together as a team, then its time to sit down with the COR (and a UC, if you have one) to come to a mutually acceptable arrangement. Remember: is all about the boys -- its not about adult egos.

Hunt, thanx for the report. I used to live in Montgomery County, MD, which I understand instituted a "no backpack mail" policy a year or two after I left. So I can't speak from personal experience about how such a policy impacts Cub Packs, but I can't imagine it would be good. In any event, I appreciate your offer to keep us updated on this.

I'm a UC; our District Commissioner sent these out to the Commissioner Corps. and said they were "mandatory". He wanted units to complete them whether or not they were done in a "little-three" setting (CM, CC, UC, or SM, CC, UC). I have my doubts whether these are in fact "mandatory", but rather than argue with my DC, I sent them out along with the flood of other stuff I'm asked to send my units (school nite flier announcements, popcorn training, RT announcements, etc.)

Nature-deficit disorder is ruining our kids http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060816/OPINION/108160053 http://tinyurl.com/zchy3 by jim stiles August 16, 2006 No matter how old I live to be, there will never be a place so full of mystery and adventure as a place of my childhood called The Woods. The stories that grew out of those trees still kindle powerful feelings, even after all these years. My friends and I knew the place was haunted. It had no boundaries, and in our 10-year-old minds, it went on forever. Jump ahead a few decades to a familiar topic: the commercialization of wilderness. What created the demand for such a cornucopia of sporting gear and planned "adventure activities"? There was a time when all a guy needed to go for a hike was a reasonably comfortable pair of shoes and an army surplus canteen. Now it requires a wardrobe and a gear checklist, just to walk to the corner. I recently stopped at a sporting goods store, looking for a canteen; the sales clerk looked at me blankly. "You know," I said. "A canteen. A water bottle." "Oh," he replied. "You mean a portable hydration system." Portable hydration system? How did this happen? When the plethora of guidebooks flooded the recreation market and introduced eco-tourism 15 or so years ago, I was puzzled by the need of so many adults to be told how to have fun outdoors. When I first looked at a canyoneering Web site, I noticed that the photographs of every tour and its paid participants revealed healthy young men and women who should have been able to walk the mile and a half required without adult supervision. And then it occurred to me: These people had never done anything without adult supervision. I thought about my niece and nephews, who, even 15 years ago, weren't allowed to go out and play in the neighborhood because the world was apparently a dangerous place. We were all at my parents' farm one winter, just after Christmas; it was a perfect 160-acre spread in Kentucky, with hay barns and spring-fed lakes and forests full of poison ivy and grape vines to swing from and limestone ledges loaded with fossils. It was a kids' paradise. But my nephews and niece came to me and said, "We're BORED, Unca Jim," so I proposed that we go outside and explore. They thought that was a pretty dumb idea, but I made them go. I took them to the barn and taught them how to build forts out of hay bales. We walked to the pond and punched holes in the ice with big rocks. They thought all this was fun, but it had never occurred to them. And it occurred to me that it was late to discover random recreation. The poor kids, I thought. They have no idea what they've missed. But I hadn't noticed, not being a parent myself, that almost all kids were like my little relatives. Now those kids are young adults and about to have families of their own, and they have no hope of passing along any of those free-spirited adventures that I was so blessed with as a child. To them, such stories are hearsay. True to the American way, someone has been able to attach an affliction to this condition. It's in the title of a book by Richard Louv: "Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder." As writer Bradford McKee described the disorder in the New York Times, "The days of free-range childhood seem to be over. Parents can add a new worry to the list of things that make them feel inept: increasingly their children, as Woody Allen might say, are at two with nature." Children who are obsessed with computer games or driven from sport to sport, Louv maintains, miss the restorative effects that come with the nimbler bodies and sharper senses that are developed during random running-around in wild places. Modern science will no doubt spend millions on research and development to produce a medication to cure this ailment, when all the afflicted really need is a walk in the woods. But the farther these "de-natured children" stray from a spontaneous natural experience, the less likely they are to ever discover a world that seems to me, impossible to live without. With an ever-growing billion-dollar industry dependent on these dependent souls, it is in every sense of the word, a co-dependent relationship. A fool parting with his money is a necessary component of the amenities economy, and one likely to grow ever more foolish and expensive with every passing sunset - an experience that may someday arrive arranged and conducted by the "Sunset Adventure Tour Company." --- Jim Stiles is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). He is the publisher of the Canyon Country Zephyr in Moab, Utah.

Parents File Lawsuit Against Boy Scout Troop http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_229153706.html Aug 17, 2006 12:28 pm US/Pacific (CBS) LOS ANGELES The parents of a high-functioning autistic boy plan to re-file a discrimination lawsuit Thursday against a Pacific Palisades Boy Scout troop. The lawsuit claims the troop would not let the 11-year-old boy go to scout meetings or on a camping trip unless his father came along, and that as a result, he was unable to move to the next scouting level. The head of Boy Scouts of America's Western Los Angeles County Council, Ross Harrop, said the organization is "dedicated to meeting the needs of its individual scouts, and has a history of reaching out to families with special needs children." The federal suit is being brought on the family's behalf by the Disability Rights Law Center. N. Jane DuBovy said in a statement that she and her husband "know that our child is capable of handling the rigors of scouting with minor accommodations." The suit, filed Wednesday, was refused by the court for a technical reason when it alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, when it It was refiled this Thursday, said Brenda McGann of the disability law center.

PS: Like I said, I'm doing the best I can to raise my kids. You are free to raise your kids as godless atheists if you want -- you won't get an argument from me. But I know that won't stop you from thinking that people of faith are brainwashing our kids. YiS, Fred

Court Ruling Prompts Ban on Groups Sending Fliers Home With Students http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/16/AR2006081601613.html http://tinyurl.com/lymmy By Lori Aratani Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 17, 2006; Page B02 Montgomery County school officials announced yesterday that they are temporarily banning outside groups such as parent-teacher associations and the Boy Scouts from distributing fliers about activities and events in student backpacks. The decision comes less than a week after a federal appeals court ruled that the school system's policy for flier distribution was unconstitutional because it gave educators unlimited power to approve or reject materials. The case is the outgrowth of a dispute between the school system and Child Evangelism Fellowship of Maryland. The group filed suit in 2001 after the school system denied its request to distribute fliers about its Good News Club programs, in which students learn about the Bible. System officials said they were concerned because the materials were religious. System officials said the court's decision left them with only two options until a new policy could be developed: allow all fliers to be distributed or allow none. Educators said allowing all fliers to be distributed was not practical. "Temporarily suspending the distribution of fliers is the only real option the court left us because opening the floodgates on backpack distribution would overwhelm our staff and turn them into professional backpack stuffers instead of professional educators,'' said Larry A. Bowers, chief operating officer for the school system. Now only materials from the school system and other government agencies are allowed to be sent home. PTAs and community groups such as the Boy Scouts may display their fliers on tables in school buildings but may not send them home with students. "It's going to have a devastating effect on communication for PTAs to parents,'' said Jane deWinter, president of the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations. "We're very, very concerned about this. " The Board of Education is expected to rework the policy in the fall.

I can't speak for everybody, but in my case, I grew up in the church, left it in college and during the early years of my marriage, but came back when we had kids. I came to the realization that, as an adult, I had the freedom to choose which faith (or none) that I wanted to profess. Unchurched kids don't have the information to make that choice intelligently. So my wife and I agreed that we should bring our kids up in a church, and then let them decide as they grew older which church (or none) that they wanted to attend. My rationale was basically along the lines of: its easier to expose a child to faith early in life, rather than later. In other words, I thought it would be very difficult to bring a teen-ager to church if he or she had never been as a child. But if my kids had been going to church all along, then decided later in life to stop, I'd be OK with that. Maybe my position isn't logical, but I can identify with the position of the author of the article. I think kids are better off in the long run by being exposed to faith as soon as possible, rather than later. I know not everyone agrees, but that's how my wife and I are doing it.

Boy Scouts founder loved view from Brooklands http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/NEWS03/608150307/ http://tinyurl.com/zweel By IRENE PLAGIANOS SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original Publication: August 15, 2006) When Daniel Carter Beard first came to Suffern in 1928, he was already nationally renowned for his role in founding the Boy Scouts of America. The naturalist, with his signature white buckskin clothing, soon became a "unique, beloved character" in the community, said Ramapo Town Historian Craig Long. From Flushing, Queens, Beard and his family moved into a secluded 13-acre estate along the Mahwah River known as Brooklands. Though a number of different owners lived on the property before Beard, Frederick Howell, a New York City businessman who worked in the sugar industry, constructed the elaborate manor he called Brooklands. The grounds included a greenhouse, servants' quarters and a garage that could hold eight cars and was equipped with a turntable. The name of the estate, said Long, is most likely derived from its riverfront location, as well as Howell's hometown of Brooklyn. Beard, known as "Uncle Dan," lived in Brooklands until his death at the age of 90 in 1941. After a number of years, the once-extravagant home was divided into apartments and eventually torn down in 1978. In 2001, 9 acres of the original estate were transformed into Brooklands Park, creating a verdant sanctuary in honor of Beard's dedication to nature. A bronze plaque and signpost are mounted in the park in Beard's memory. Though he traveled extensively to expand the Boy Scouts, Beard felt content on his wooded property. He told the New York Times in a 1936 article, "On my place at Suffern there are beaver, deer, raccoons, 'possum, rabbits, woodchucks and all kinds of birds and animals. They keep me pretty busy looking after them." Born in Cincinnati in 1850, Beard, the son of an artist, spent his childhood in Covington, Ky. After earning a degree in engineering, Beard moved to New York City, where he studied at the Art Students League. He became an illustrator and created the drawings for Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court" and "Tom Sawyer Abroad." He also regularly contributed his illustrations to a number of magazines. Along with Beard's love for art, he had great passion for the outdoors. He felt it was important for young boys to have the opportunity to enjoy and learn about nature, according to his New York Times obituary. While living in Flushing, he actively campaigned for the creation of safe parks and playgrounds where children could take pleasure in outdoor recreation. A park and a junior high school in Flushing are named in Beard's honor. In 1905, Beard founded nationwide scouting programs known as the "Pioneer Boys" and the "Sons of Daniel Boone." Five years later, the groups merged with the Boy Scouts of America. Beard served as the organization's national scout commissioner for many years and remained actively involved with the Boy Scouts until his death. Throughout his life, Beard also wrote dozens of books about nature, camping and scouting. More than 10,000 people attended Beard's funeral at the Brick Church Cemetery in New Hempstead. "It's fitting that a beautiful piece of nature is preserved in Beard's honor," said Long. "The park gives the community another great, scenic place to enjoy the environment."