gwd-scouter

Thank you folks for your messages. This is indeed going to be a very special night for Patrick and our family. Mike and I have spent so many years taking Scouts to camp, watching the staff grow from children into young men, and sharing wonderful memories with our sons. Eric and Patrick have worked on staff for such a long time it just seems like the perfect place for Patrick to celebrate his achievement.

Our older son, Eric (Eagle 2001) has something special prepared for Patrick and will be pinning on the medal. Where are my tissues, I am probably going to cry.

Nothing has changed so much in Scouting that we as Scout Leaders can't handle. We can still teach anything we want to teach these guys, within the G2SS of course. Want to teach them signaling - go for it. Just because it isn't a requirement anymore doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun for the guys to learn. Primitive camping instead of car camping? Our guys love it!

Frankly, I tend to see beyond the requirements in the handbook that the Scout has to do as more than teaching them self-reliance. Who cares really if a guy can tie a half-hitch? Will that ever save his life or make him more self-reliant. It is the occupation of learning the skills that is important and then, even more important, his ability to teach those skills to another Scout. It is at that point that the boy starts to become the man, the helpless fella learns he can help out another.

I will be leaving with the Troop for summer camp this Sunday, so I wanted to take a moment to wish all the Scouter Dads a Happy Father's Day.

Oh my, I have to agree with the "no technology" at summer camp. We have a troop in our district that for the past few years that have brought a DVD and projector to show movies on the side of a building, then upgraded to a flat screen, along with a slushie machine.

Funny thing. They have invited our guys to join them, but our guys always hang around our campsite in the late evening. Let's get real. This is summer camp. It is still possible to take boys into the woods for a few days or a week and expect them to do without all the comforts of home. It is even possible to expect the same of the adults.

It's nice to know I can count on you to be here with me at the end. LOL(This message has been edited by gwd-scouter)

It has been almost a year since Patrick earned his Eagle. Just trying to get our own family schedule together made it impossible for us to have his ceremony. You see, he wanted to have so many of his summer camp staff buddies and they were all in college or working.

So, he's having his ceremony this Tuesday night at summer camp. He and his older brother are working there again, all of the boys in our Troop will be there, and many of the other Scouts and leaders from our District (most of our Troops camp the same week). He's invited the entire staff, so it is bound to be a wonderful evening.

What a memorable evening it will be. Celebrating with my son along with his brother and father in a place where we have, as a family, spent so much of our time.

Optimism, patience, and a sense of humor.

Hey Pack, I thought you were taking a break from Scouter?

Scouts behaving poorly? Not sure about that. I see nothing wrong with piggyback rides, and running with a stick, while not wise, doesn't warrant any kind of discipline. At least that's my take on it. You can certainly use both things as examples in a talk with the Scouts about how their actions, even those that just seem fun and not harmful, can lead to accidents.

As far as angry Dad goes. Been there. I tell my new parents and remind others periodically that before they go nuts when little Johnny comes home and tells them about some abuse he suffered on a campout, to give me a call, tell me what they heard, and give me time to find out the whole story. I remind them that little Johnny may not always tell them everything that happened - especially if he played some part in the incident.

An example: A few years ago new Scout complained to his parents that older Scout took his shoes and wouldn't give them back forcing new Scout to walk around in his socks all day. The truth? New Scout was throwing his shoes at other Scouts and older Scout (my son) caught new Scout's shoes and kept them and asked New Scout to sit in his tent for five minutes - a timeout. New Scout did not sit in his tent to calm down as asked, but ran around the campsite. Yes, without his shoes. At this point, older Scout came to me to intervene which I did.

Once his parents were told the truth of the event and new Scout fessed up that he was indeed throwing his shoes at the other Scouts, parents calmed down. Unfortunately, new Scout's behavior caused so many of these types of conversations that after two years he quit Scouts.

First, I don't think membership in the OA should disrupt a troop program. The dates for the Fall and Spring Fellowships are known well enough in advance for a troop to plan around them. If a guys has campouts back-to-back (one OA, one troop) and chooses the OA trip over the Troop trip rather than doing both, perhaps it's time to take another look at the Troop program.

The elections can lead to problems if they are not run correctly. Hurt feelings is certainly a result at times, but if explained properly by the election team and if the Scoutmaster in advance talks to those guys that may be eligible but just aren't ready for it, then that can help alleviate hurt feelings if not elected.

I do know of a few SMs in my area that do not even mention OA to the guys in their troop. I think that's wrong since OA is another opportunity for the guys and shouldn't be up to the SM to decide that none of his boys are going to even be given the chance for elections to join.

We have a few boys eligible each year and they are usually all elected. Of course, you will always get the "flappers" or "sash and dash" guys that want to join because of the honor they think it will bring them and not because of the cheerful service and fellowship they can share with their fellow Arrowmen.

From my experience, the boys that join the OA and participate fully in the program all benefit from it. And, the guys in our Troop that embrace the OA have no trouble attending both OA and Troop functions - even if they are two weekends in a row.

Thank you friends.

I've been at the Mayo Clinic this past week for my second visit. Got my answers and now will just have to accept that while my health issues are not life-threatening they are certainly life-altering. I suppose acceptance is just one step in the process.

The way I am looking toward the future is that the door to my Scoutmastership may be closing, but other opportunities will become available to use the knowledge and experience I've gained over the years. As I'm sure is true everywhere else, our District is always begging for Unit Commissioners and for people to fill other spots on the District Committee. I will also likely continue to be involved with our Troop in some way. I always tell others that working with the boys in the Troop is my form of therapy. Whenever I'm feeling down about my situation, spending time with the guys and the adults just makes me feel better. I may have two sons, but I have dozens of boys and have served hundreds over the past 16 years. How can I give that up?

Thank you for the warm welcome back. I am looking forward to participating again in the forum and hope that sharing my experiences will help others, just as so many of you have helped me.

I have to disagree with the notion of keeping non-perishable items on hand for those that sleep late and miss breakfast. What kind of message does that send? No big deal - sleep as late as you want - we have your back. Yeah sure, just watch as others decide they don't need to wake up on time either.

We've had Scouts over the years that were clearly not morning people. I've had parents question why the Scouts wake up so early on a campout. You know, it's the weekend after all. Over time and because of consequences like missing a meal or missing out on an activity because the guys were late getting started or took too long cleaning up, we don't have a problem with the oversleeping much anymore.

Hello Scouter Folks. I've been away for quite some time dealing with my health issues. Some of you may remember that I was diagnosed with lupus about two years ago and it has affected so much of what I do. Most notably, I became unable to attend campouts with the Troop as I would like - can't sleep overnight on the ground anymore. I do visit if the Troop is camping somewhere in reasonable distance, but it is just not the same - at least not for me.

Our Troop has been fortunate to get a wonderful new group of ASMs last year and a few more just last month along with five new Scouts. Our numbers are still around 24 which is such a great improvement over just a couple of years ago when we had only myself, my husband, and one other ASM, and only nine boys.

The older boys that I trained in the new ways of the Troop are on their way out and their successors have learned well from them. I see these new leaders already showing the way to their younger charges. What a fantastic Troop!

I announced to the Committee a few months ago my plans to step down as SM. I feel that the SM should be reasonably able to attend as many campouts as possible (if not all), and I just don't see any future possibility of my health improving enough to do that.

Funny thing is they don't want me to go. Neither do the boys. "Mrs. B., you have to be here when I get to Eagle." Frankly, I will miss the boys - they are MY boys. But, the time will come. The troop is in very good hands. Our ASMs are trained and totally behind the boy-led, patrol method, our Committee is now fully "stocked" and trained.

I have done what I set out to do six years ago. Yes, it may be a bit of self-congratulation, but my goal was to create a troop that had an awesome program, boys learning to lead each other, adults mentoring but not interfering, and a Troop that others wanted to join. We're there.

I just wanted to post to let those of you that have followed my saga over the years how much I appreciate your encouragement, advice, and friendship.

Yours in Scouting,

Karen

We use troop master software and it keeps very nice records for number of nights camping. We had one scout recently who got the 100 nights award. We do not count family camping nights as another poster suggested. Only troop-sponsored camping. Our troop runs somewhere around 20 nights of camping (6 for summer camp, 14 others - most two nights, but a couple of one-nighters) per year, so it takes a guy about 5 years to earn the award.

"eagle732

PM me with a good email address for you. I think we may have emailed this summer however I can not find your email address. Thanks "

Well, she obviously had the time to make this post on 12/26 so I figure she had the time to update on what was going on with the appeal.

Happy it all worked out. Merry Christmas to you, too.

shortridge, while I agree that any Den Chief really committed to the job, would in a years time more than likely earn the Den Chief award. What I was trying to point out was a refute to the comment that a Den Chief could earn the award without even trying, just by serving for a year.

I've known Den Chiefs that did a great job working with their Den at weekly meetings, but never served on staff at day camp or resident camp, never helped out with the Pack's pinewood derby, and so on. Maybe because they weren't asked or didn't know about it. Perhaps the fault of their Scoutmaster or Den Leader who may not have known about the award or the requirements needed to earn it. I've overheard Scouters talking about the DCSA stating that all the boy has to do is work in the POR for a year.

So, agreeing with you that it's an easy award to get for a Den Chief "worth his salt," it still takes work.

I would like to offer some clarification here about the Den Chief Service Award.

It is not easy to earn by simply working as a Den Chief for one year. The Den Chief, besides attending weekly den meetings, assist the den at monthly pack meetings and other things, must also complete four of the following: help Webelos transition to Boy Scouts, serve as staff at a Cub Scout function such as day camp, resident camp, serve as staff for a cub scout special event (we use pinewood derby for this), help in recruiting new cub scouts, help cub scouts transition to Webelos, recommend another scout to serve as a Den Chief, advance one rank.

Not an easy award to earn and certainly not one a boy could earn by simply working as a Den Chief for a year.

(This message has been edited by gwd-scouter)

Hi kittle. Both of my sons served as Den Chief. Best POR as far as they are concerned (I agree).

Unless something new came along, there is no workbook that I remember although there is handbook, similar to Patrol Leaders Handbook which outlines the responsibilities of a Den Chief. For both sons, the Den Leaders they worked with gave an update to their Scoutmaster every month or so - in younger son's case the SM was me! Both also earned the Den Chief Service Award. Perhaps your son's SM is thinking about filling out the paperwork and checking of completion of the requirements for that? If so, earning the Den Chief Service award is not a requirement for getting credit in a POR serving as a Den Chief.

Hope this helps.

dg98adams - I love those answers!

Recent email from a Mom whose son had been removed as ASPL because he hadn't been to a meeting or outing for two months and didn't reply to emails or phone calls.

"I don't think it's fair that he was removed from his job, he's been too busy at school to think about Scouts. Stop sending him emails and calling and he will get in touch with you when he's ready."

That was over a month ago. Still haven't heard from him.

That's great that you speak another language and can wear the interpreter strip. I have not seen the strip on any scouts, but have seen it on many scouters.

Oh yeah, in response to OakTree's question: I sign all my emails Mrs. B., whether to scout or parent.

Hi everyone. Thanks for the interesting replies. Was watching my son at last night's meeting. He was very late arriving because he had a band concert at school. All the boys ran up to great him. He was all smiles asking what they had been doing and if they were ready for this weekend's campout. When he gathered them all together to close the meeting, he gave them a few reminders about the cold weather, what to bring, and then asked if I had a SM minute during which he timed me and the guys congratulated me on being 4 seconds shy of a full minute. I loved that.

He's doing exactly what I imagine any of us as scout leaders could hope for. Earn Eagle, yes, but then keep on going having a good time, helping and encouraging the younger guys, showing them what scouting is all about. Maybe he will decide to do BORs so he can get his palms, maybe not.

What comes after Eagle? How about just continuing to do what Boy Scouts do?

He loves this Scouting stuff. I am very proud of him.

OK, I'll fan a bit:

JoeBob, you say you can't tolerate slavery in today's world. At what point in history could you tolerate it? Oh yeah, let's all dream back to the good ol' days of southern chivalry and charm.