GKlose

In "The Complete Walker", didn't Colin Fletcher talk about backpacking in the buff?

Time and time again, you'll hear the expression "organized chaos" to describe a regular troop meeting. Under close observation you should probably see things being accomplished, with youth leadership taking care of things. Adults, ideally, might be sitting around observing, one-on-one conferencing (such as SM conferences), or taking care of committee business. The important thing, though, is that it isn't Cubs. It shouldn't be like Den Leaders and Cubmasters organizing, running things and entertaining youth. For example, our troop recently hosted an overnight for a group of Webelos.

I could see the possibility that a donation could be adjusted upwards if it is indeed tax deductible. Guy

I've been a district membership chair (on a subcommittee of 1, more or less) for the last year. I've spent the last year trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. Along the way, I've been talking to just about everyone I meet, asking them for their ideas of what they want from the district membership committee, and what we should be doing. It's been an interesting year. I could probably write several pages on what I've discovered over the last year, and in fact I plan on writing a strategic membership plan Any Day Now (we're always focused on the tactics, without a clear-cut str

"Yes, but five 12 year olds would have a heck of a time carrying a 300lbs all muscle linebacker 5 miles out after he broke his leg." Interesting point, it is. I recently did a Wilderness First Aid course taught by SOLO, and one of the teachers is an active member of (as I recall) Androscoggin Rescue in the White Mountains. Anyone who has been up that way knows that weather is severe, accidents are common (see recent thread on the lost Eagle Scout), and one is never all that far from a road, distance-wise. But evacuations can, and do, take several hours. Anyway, this teacher/resc

We cycled through 3 packs along the way -- it's a long story, so I won't repeat it here. But I will offer some hindsight. The first pack was tiny, and was a "one-man show." We probably had 12 to 15 Cubs, as I recall, and pack meetings were like (as CalicoPenn put it) a "super-den" meeting. We'd plan them so that multiple achievements happened, cutting across den boundaries. The CM/CC decided he'd had enough. He only gave us about a week before he announced that he would be moving to a new pack, and at least half of the families followed. The first time I met our DE (and a UC that I d

I'm not sure of the arrangement, but a town near where I live (Boxford, MA) has a municipal park called "Boy Scout Park": http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=scout+park+boxford&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&view=text&latlng=11567810982033389553 With a little bit of digging, I'm sure you could find out more about their arrangement. Guy(This message has been edited by GKlose)

Our council had their first UoS a little over a year ago (a DE brought in the idea), and the second one was the last January. I attended both, and enjoyed both. All sessions that I attended, except for one, were interesting and useful. The one that wasn't was a case of apresenter cancelling at the last second, the replacement was overloaded and didn't teach it, and the guy who did showed up 15 minutes late and winged it. It was a waste of an hour. But other than that, everything was great and I'm looking forward to the next one (and I plan on volunteering to teach a session). A CD: I thin

I recently took advantage of the BOGO offer at scoutstuff.org. Mix & match is available, so I ordered a cotton uniform shirt and pants. They arrived yesterday, and I noticed that labels on both said "Made in U.S.A.". So, here's the opportunity. Reduced prices, even. The only difference, I guess, is that you have to use an iron. :-) Because of the reduced price, I also bought an activity shirt (made in Hong Kong). Looks like a nicely designed shirt. As I think others have mentioned, it's too bad the Centennial shirt isn't more like it. Guy

As a district membership chair, I've been keenly aware of what the packs in our district have been doing for recruiting. Yes, the primary source of recruiting has been to try and get new Tigers in every fall. But flyers (for pack open houses, or "sign-up nights") go out to every boy in an elementary school. Parents and Cubs are encouraged to bring friends and siblings. Two initiatives we've tried this last year: "It's Not Too Late To Join" -- a second round of flyers going out to schools in the Oct/Nov timeframe. Pretty much fell flat with the packs in our district. Most felt li

One of my friends, who used to be a guide at the Maine National High Advenure Area, used to wear LL Bean "canoe shoes" all summer long. They wear out, but for a week or two, they should be fine.

Has everyone caught on to the "buy one, get one" sale on scoutstuff.org (and presumably at Scout shops)? Pre-centennial uniform parts being cleared out. It wasn't clear to me, at first, that mix & match is allowed, but when I placed an order for pants and a shirt, the shirt popped up as free (once I plugged in the coupon code at checkout). guy

I'm about ready to buy a tent and have found this thread to be really helpful: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=231994 It seems difficult to beat the Alps Mountaineering "Scout direct" pricing, and it looks like pretty much everyone who has tried them is happy with the quality. Guy

I was a huge fan of the HBO Series "The Wire", and it was the opening sequence of the first show that roped me in. On the site of a homicide, a homicide detective is sitting down on a set of row house steps with a witness. The detective is talking to the witness about the deceased's "street" name: Snot Boogie. The discussion culminates with a line from the detective that goes something like "you've got allergies or some stuff like that, and you're in desperate need of a tissue and can't find one, so all of a sudden you're pegged with a name like 'Snot Boogie'?". Guy

I finished 1st Class right before skill awards were introduced. But I remember one of our senior scouts coming back from Schiff sporting a new beret, talk of a revised program and about the introduction of skill awards. Years later, when I figured out that skill awards had been axed, but that the Cub Scout Academics and Sports program reintroduced belt loops, I figured someone at national was enamored of the idea of using them for instant recognition. Guy

I live in the northeast, and the Boston Globe runs stories like this every spring. Sometimes other seasons too. Some of those stories have unhappy endings. I also used to belong to the AMC (Applachian Mountain Club) and subscribed to their quarterly journal, Appalachia. Every issue would have some story about an incident, and then the journal editors would analyze the incident and make recommendations how things could have been done differently. I always found that a fairly interesting look at what happens in my near north. Today's Globe story made a couple of points - one was that this w

In my opinion, I think CA_Scouter has a good point. Especially if you go back to his original argument. Even given the latitude the district advancement committee has via the Advancement Committee policies document, in this particular case CA_Scouter mentioned that the Eagle application was rejected twice. Not a statement like "incomplete application" but "rejected." He said the DAC will not accept an application without letters. Council says a minimum of 3. Four were provided, from SM/parent, two personal friends (military officer; high-tech company executive) and his pastor. Applic

I don't have any thoughts one way or the other, but I can relate a personal experience. My oldest son crossed over a year ago...first meeting, he had a SM conference where the SM encouraged him to read his handbook and get to work on Tenderfoot requirements. He also described the advancement process the troop uses (PL signs front section of book, SPL/ASM signs back half of book, etc). The SM called me over to make sure that we went over the personal safety booklet. My son then worked on a few 2C requirements at summer camp, and finished them shortly afterwards, for an October Court o

For me, BSEE '83, MS '85. But I don't particularly consider myself geeky. If you met me, I think you'd think more "doofy." Guy

It's definitely geekier that you even know they are pseudocode (and not real code). Then again, I'd be guilty as charged too. Guy

How about a "for instance" -- Say you have a new scout just coming into the troop, and he goes off to summer camp with the troop this summer. First day of camp, he's faced with a swim test. If he passes and is labeled "swimmer" hasn't he met parts of both 2nd Class and 1st Class swimming (other than the "other stuff", of course, such as safe swim defense, simple rescues, etc)? Through suggestions here in this forum, I've caught on to the idea that several rank requirements are "graduated". For example, first aid requirements begin with "how do you treat a minor cut?" as a Cub Scout,

About a year ago, I registered with a troop committee about the same time that I agreed to join the district committee as membership chair. There's been no training, and I've spent pretty much the last year trying to figure out things as I go along. It started with me asking as many questions I could think of -- to the Key3. They've been patient and helpful. As a troop membership chair, I did something that made sense to me, but seems to have surprised others: I wrote a membership plan. It started with a bunch of random thoughts about what could we do better (such as reconnecting wit

Neil -- there's a lot more detail in the "guidance" thread.

I still haven't figured out how a young scout can get to Eagle (via T-2-1 and Camping MB) without camping outdoors. Am I missing something? :-) Guy

Our council holds it in the spring, too, and it has worked out well (I've gone with both of my sons, last year and the year before). The only problem has been that the council has been unclear on Webelos 1 and 2, or Bear and Webelos 1. Since your council is being much more clear about it, I don't think you'll be as confused as I was. (one of my sons went as a Webelos 1, and ready to start on his second Webelos season; my younger son went just after he finished earning the Bear badge, but due to his age, he was compressing the Webelos badge and Arrow of Light into one season -- he recently