gwd-scouter

What an amazing weekend! Project started Friday afternoon with the arrival of a bunch of Scouts with work gloves and shovels. Patrick had arranged for a generous Scouter to come with his bobcat to dig up the old sidewalk. Scouter and bobcat had not arrived, so Patrick got the guys to start busting it up with sledges and hauling the pieces to the dumpster. Then the bobcat arrived. I could tell Patrick was relieved. Not only did our fellow Scouter make quick work of digging up the old sidewalk, but he took the time to dig up one of the areas in the gardens that the Director asked to have r

I have always enjoyed this forum and read everything. Sometimes the discussions take a sour turn, but I have learned a lot from this valuable resource over the years. I especially enjoy seeing all the new folks come online and share their stories.

For added fun - every year at summer camp we host another troop in our campsite one evening for a campfire. Last year, along with the tradition of roasting pineapples, we all wore Hawaiian shirts and greeted our guests with flower leis.

Don't forget the neatly stacked clean underwear returning home in the footlocker. I remember that from both my boys after their first year at summer camp. Gross! I can't say precisely what the parents in our Troop expect when they join or even after their sons have been in for a while. Those that have been with us for a while have come to expect that their sons will have fun, work hard, learn, and, oh yeah, have fun. Advancement comes as a part of the process. From what I've heard from the parents of our new Scouts, they liked our troop because of our high expectations. They liked ho

Place a whole pineapple on a very hot bed of embers, charcoal or wood. Every five minutes or so, rotate the pineapple a bit (use the leaves on top as a handle). Once the pineapple is black on the outside all the way around and you can see juices starting to ooze out, it's done. Usually about 30 minutes depending on the heat. Slice away and eat. Hot, juicy, sweet, yummy!

Pack - there is a BIG difference in your District Advancement guy and ours and the process. Ours meets with the candidate during monthly roundtable meetings to go over the proposed project - after all the other signatures are secured. He will make suggestions about things to include or perhaps rewording for clarification. Now, the stuff you posted about Council. It's been a year since our last Eagle Scout so things may have changed. I was able to simply fax his application to the office and the registrar called to tell me everything was fine. Then he had his BOR, got his signature from Di

There is no limit on the number of guys each scout can elect. Each scout voting can elect all the names on the ballot, some of them, or none of them.

In our area open fires are banned for a great part of the year, so no campfires. When we do have them, songs and skits are very popular. Just had a campout a few weeks ago with all our new Scouts. Patrols planned their skits and it was a lot of fun. Fortunately, we have a good group of older Scouts that actually enjoy acting goofy and leading silly songs, so that encourages the younger guys. At summer camp our Troop invites another Troop to our campsite one night for a campfire. We usually invite an out of council Troop. Stories are shared, a couple of pineapples are roasted on the fire,

I read about the onerous process other Council's put on Eagle candidates. Thankfully, our Council's process is not so difficult. The only thing that gets sent to Council is the Eagle application. They do ask that it be sent before the EBOR so that everything can be checked. Simple enough to fax it up there, the registrar checks the dates, and sends a message back that everything is OK. EBOR is held. Application is signed and then taken or mailed to Council to sign and then off to National. I've sat on EBOR's in our district and the reference letters are never asked for. Nope, council doe

Using my observations of my two sons: Eric was 14 when he did his Eagle Project, Patrick is almost 16. Patrick has done more on his own and worked through the bugs and problems he encountered along the way better than Eric did. It may not just be about age. When Eric was in the Troop, it was very adult-led and PORs weren't much more than a patch on the sleeve. Patrick, on the other hand, has had more experience in organizing things and working with people. Not to mention a couple of summers working at camp and a lot of activity with the OA - things I think have helped him, too.

Actually, I'm amazed at how much he's organized on his own. Working with the Railroad Museum Director, the city to arrange for a dumpster, a private contractor he's arranged to come with his Bobcat to dig up the old sidewalks, the guy donating the bricks and another donating sand. He makes a lot of phone calls when he gets home from school and before I get home. He's home this week for spring break and happily the weather is going to be terrific tomorrow and Saturday. He just sent me an instant message. He's frustrated. Seems everyone is responding to his emails, facebook invite, et

Yeah, I thought about it after I mentioned having 20 guys show up at the same time may not be a good idea. Should have left it alone and let him deal with it. I'll make a better effort to control myself.

Well, I do receive the eye-roll when I ask about writing to his senator as his last remaining requirement for Cit Nation. Guess he'll get around to it eventually.

Younger son, Patrick, will start the work on his Eagle project this weekend. He's been planning the project since December and has spent a lot of time on the phone, on email, and in meetings with the organization for whom he's doing the work. Now it's time to get dirty. I have tried to stay out of things, being his Scoutmaster I do not want any appearance of favoritism. The thing is, I know full well that other guys' parents help them out in planning and coordinating Eagle projects. Not necessarily doing any of the work for them, but reminding them to make phone calls, advice on schedulin

As I said in another post, I am taking things much too personally these days. Time for me to go away for a while.

Maybe feeling a bit the same, but not for the same reasons. Been suffering with lupus for three years now. I am tired. I am very tired. I absolutely love being involved with Scouting and have for the past 15 years. But, again, I'm tired. I am very tired. Maybe it's just something in the air or maybe because I've been in some ways ignoring the pleas from my body to take it slower, my normally thick skin and let it go nature is weakening. I take things much too personally these days. The Troop is at a place I envisioned several years ago. A good set of junior leaders that

Since this thread was spun from my post about budgeting, guess I'll wade in first. I do not see how having a budget for food purchases (even if adult mandated) in any way takes away from attempts to be a boy-led, patrol method troop. I just don't see what the problem is in teaching the boys to work within a budget. I daresay budgeting is a lesson many Americans were not taught well. Boy-led does not mean the adults abdicate their responsibilities to teach, nor does teaching equate to adults micromanaging. I would wager that everyone on this forum in some way guides their scouts in things

Guess we will just have to disagree on that, Stosh.

Does anyone ask their SPL to attend monthly roundtable meetings? A lot of information is given out at roundtable, many times info that has to then be passed down by the SM to the PLC. Seems like it would be helpful if SPLs attended and got the info directly.

I think imposing a budget does teach the boys a valuable lesson. We all must learn to live within a budget - or at least we should. If no budget is imposed and the per boy cost for food is high, the pushback will not come from the Scouts - it will come from the parents. In our Troop, I know of only two Scouts that actually use their own money to pay for trips and food - my son and another older Scout. I do wish the "Scout is Thrifty" law - a Scout pays his own way - was taken more seriously (or given any consideration) by parents, but in our Troop it just isn't so. As for our trip costs a

Lifetime warranty? I didn't know about that. Have a pair of switchbacks on which the left ankle zipper broke. Do I have to return to Scoutstuff or will my Council shop give me a replacement?

We would have a big problem getting to the 50% if all the new Scouts abstain. We started with nine Scouts and in the course of a couple of weeks received twelve new Scouts (just had another new guy walk through the door last Monday). So, you see, new Scouts make up more than 50% of our Troop. I am going to ask around at roundtable tonight and see what suggestions I get from the adult OA members and experienced Scouters.

Ever since the switchback pants came out, we've never had a problem with the guys wearing the full uniform. I can see why they like them better than the old style. The guys wear them on campouts and backpack trips. Hardly ever see blue jeans anymore. Younger son and a friend work on camp staff and wear the Venturing uniform. They both have worn the gray shorts/pants to school. Guess it's because of the color - they don't look like Boy Scout pants. Then again, both these boys along with a few others are known to wear Boy Scouting Tshirts to school, too. So far, a few of our Scouts hav

our patrol budgets are $10 per Scout. Same for the adults. Sometimes they go over a bit, but are very proud when they buy everything they need within their budget. They eat very well on that budget, too, so do the adults. Long ago, older son was in a Troop that did it differently. They had no budget. The Scout that buys the food brings the receipt to the next meeting and the boys are told they must pay their share. Not knowing any better, I wrote out a check after every campout for whatever amount I was told. Gotta say, I got a bit peeved when those amounts were in the $20 range, and this

Indeed. A well chosen Scoutmaster's minute will probably gain the Scouts' attention more than a long lecture.