Gold Winger

Why?

I view dry socks as a necessity. Wet socks promote softening of the calluses on the feet which can lead to some incredible blisters.

How does one go about forming a new council? Is it even possible in today's Scouting universe? Suppose that the troops in my district were very dissatisfied with our council. Suppose also that Daddy Warbucks had a son in Scouting (Little Orphan Andy) and told us that if we formed a new council, he'd donate a few million to the coffers of the new council. Could this be done? Would all of the troop in our geographic area suddenly become part of the council? Pedants need not participate.

Maybe the adults need to look at their role as ADVISORS again.

Good gosh! How 1950s I learned how to do laundry as a Cub Scout and it is a good thing that I did because my wife didn't understand how to separate colors (colours to you). FWIW, steam dryers are nothing but a scam to take more of your money away from you. It uses more water and you can tumble out wrinkles on low in just a few minutes, not the 15 that the steam dryer takes. Heck in 15 minutes, I can starch and iron three shirts.

http://www.bsa-alameda.org/ Amazing isn't it. One district councils and two of them within a few miles of each other.

I would think that your lodge would provide them.

"Do parents really worry about their son when he is at camp?" I never did because I was there. Not that I worried about my son, I went as a member of the leadership corps and because it is fun. If the SM had said, only two adults go, I'd have probably stayed home in favor of one of the helicopter parents. Do parents worry? Yep. How else can you explain the parents who call every day to see how Johnny is doing? Or the parents that drive 200 miles to see their son for an hour on "family night." I saw parents who couldn't let go of their children for an hour. They had to sit with them at every meal, had to spend time with them every evening, usually with the child winding up sitting at the adult campfire. It our society. Parents drive the kids to the park which is a half mile away because Bobby could get lost. It continues on into adulthood now. Look at what the parents of college students do compared to what our parents did. I know parents of college grads who are involved in their child's job hunt process. I really think that it all comes back to the fact that since most parents are there for their children growing up since they delegate that duty to "professionals" they can't let go.

" At this point, about 95% of our pack decided that the boys were now terrified, that staying wasn't worth it, and taking what they could carry, threw their gear in their cars and departed rather than spend the night in the dining hall. " What a much better solution! Bad storm coming so you get into your cars and hit the road. Make sense to me.

Ours was much like deerfieldmom's. A big piece of felt from a fabric store with felt number attached and the various oversized cub scout patches from the Scout Shop also attached. It also doubled as a table cover at pack meetings and other functions.

My district does a unit of the year based on quite a few criteria. Things like camporee attendance, Klondike, summer camp are counted. Service projects play a big part. Improvement over last year can play a big part too. Any unit that wants to play submits a form and the Dist. Commish makes the decision.

Talking about having patrols is not the same as the Patrol Method.

I was too afraid of my older brother to have done anything like that.

Exactly, Hopper. But hiking alone is not the best way to get in shape for hiking. Jimmy Conners once said, "You don't play tennis to get in shape, you get in shape to play tennis."

Ev, read the Koran.

Motivation makes up for a lot, expecially as a Cubmaster.

Still apples and orange.

" The staff worked us not as "live it again", but rather as "here is how you can best assist your child." Apples and oranges.

Based on that idea, football players would never visit a weight room or run wind sprints.

I loved playing Scout when I went to Scoutmaster school as did most of my classmates. We played silly games, sang songs, tied knots and sometimes did our best to disrupt the meeting. In fact we were told to put ourselves in the shoes of an 11 year old boy in a new environment. To help with that feeling, pains were taken to make sure that your patrol include no one from your unit if possible. 95% of the students left the class with great sense of joie de Scouting

Strength training is as important as aerobic workouts. Hiking will tax your legs, back and shoulders. Getting ready for Philmont I did 100 reps a day on the leg press machine, decreasing my weight every 20 reps. Then I did the leg extensions and leg curls. I too have a bad knee but I found as my muscle tone developed my leg was better able to support the bum knee. I also did abdominal curls, arm raises for the deltoids and bench press. Of course, before I did all of that I hit the stair machine for 20 minutes and then did 20 on the treadmill.

" but accept the fact that some kids will chose a soccer tourney over a campout." Alas, the parents of those kids still want the same rewards as the kids who shows up for everything.

You are to be applauded for your desire to stick around. The CC for my son's pack quit the day that her son crossed over, didn't even finish out the year. I've been thinking of all the Scouters that I know and there are only a few who are involved without having kids in the unit. Most were Scouts and became ASMs after they turned 18 and just stuck around. I do know two SM who have no children but in both cases were asked by their church to help start a Scout unit. Both said that they'd do it for a few years. One's been in place for over 30 years and the other for nearly 10.(This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

"The first thing I'd do differently is to recruit people who have experience with running trainings in their day jobs, whenever possible. The second thing I'd do differently is to insist that they be brought onto the training team well in advance, rather than 2 days before, or worse yet, the day of the training." Don't know about that. Sounds good but the worst teachers that I ever had were college professors (some of the best were college professors as well) as well, likewise a state teaching credential doesn't indicate an ability to teach, it shows that you passed a test. When I first joined the district training team, there were meetings weeks in advance of the event to get up to speed on the material and with tips on how to present the material. I recall one fellow saying, "I have a masters in education," I don't need to come to your meetings. He was dis-invited. What makes a good teacher? Enthusiasm for the subject. Knowledge of the subject. The ability to express concepts in different ways to connect with the students. Where do you find good teachers? Everywhere. The fellow who signed me off as a shooting instructor was a high school teacher and he was horrible. The guy who first taught me how to drive on a track was an engineering student.

Wow! As a young man, I did many things like this. Squirt lighter fluid right onto the hot coals. Lysol torches. And much, much more. Gotta because careful when playing with fire. It is very unforgiving. My heart goes out to all involved. The parents, the burned Scouts and the "adult" who started the whole mess. They'll all have to live the consequences.