hacimsaalk12

geez, you just gotta love a forum that criticizes everything about your scout troop, even though they dont really got a clue whats going on in it. after seeing the last post, i think ill just take my business elsewhere, where they are more accepting.

bye FOR A LONG TIME.

our Red & White is pretty much a tureen dinner at which we have a court of honor, recruit MB counslers, give a run-down of whats going on, ect. it is our most formal COH of the Year.

i ( along with my ASM) am in charge of planning the red & white. we are going for a camping theme. i need ideas for decorations and places i could get decorations. i alos need a skit that is kinda new, but isnt too childish. if you could help me out, id apprectiate it. I need help IMMEDIATELY, as it is this coming weekend.

thanks

hacimsaalk

we're going to Camp Hank Forker on Custaloga Town Scout Reservation. hopefully this year will go better ( no SPL choking incidences like last year). i also might be going to algonquin wilderness area this year.

i agree with the previous two responses. think of the obvious also though. ( ex.- rotten trees, weather, trail conditions, animal encounters, crime rate, ect)

well, i would have to say that you guys remarks are about 1/4 true. i am in a mostly troop method troop ( we are really trying to change it to patrol) but, back to the subject, i think i should know what it is like. i think some of you guys need to open your eyes and experience this method sometime, instead of slamming something you dont know much about. ya know, we may not be run that well ( as you say), but we have an awesome time.

it kind of reminds me of how everyone sterotypes rednecks. everyone thinks they are stupid, gross, un cultured, ect. well, guess what, i'm pretty much as redneck as you can get, adn we arent like that at all.

welcome aboard! i hope u enjoy yourself. hopefully we can be an asset to you.

i have been whitewatwer rafting twice. once on the yough, and once on the Cheat. By far, the Cheat is the better river.it is a class III-V+. We ran it at 5+ feet. I think it was somewhere around 7 (they stop running it at 8). it was one awesome ride. i would only reccommend this trip for for STRONG swimmers. we dumped in a hydrolic on Big Nasty. i got caught in the hydrolic, and really had to swim my butt off to get out of it. it is really a beautiful river, out in no mans land.

The yough is a good beginner run. its a III-IV (occassionally V)we ran this river at high water too. it was a good run, but nothing compared to the cheat.

this fall, my high adventure is planning on doing the either the Lower or Upper Gauley.

in our troop we camp out every year in January/February. we cook, eat, and clean up as one group. we pitch our tents & camp in groups of at least 2. sometimes we camp in a group of as many as 4. i dont know about convience or anyhting, we put the boys together for body heat. i know nothing about 2 boy patrols.

""in our troop we dont cook in patrols, unless it is neccessary. we cook as a troop b/c we have found that in our troop it works better."

Is our purpose really to find the most efficient camping methods? Or something bigger? "

when you say something bigger, what do you mean? teamwork? leadership? reliance on others? im just wondering.

i know we probably should change up our method of cooking, but we're having enough problems getting simple things done (mostly b/c of leadership.), so i dont think now is the time to try to change that.

A. our fees ($175-200) pay for the week that we are at summer camp. nothing else

B. our fees for weekend camping trips (the money that goes to council) is used for electricity, water, snowplowing,ect. most of the cleanup & fix-up work is done by OA, so they dont need money for that.

C.I believe it does. out of the camps in the area, we have one of the best programs. the staff we have may not be the very best (a lot are 16 - 20, but there are a bunch of older more experienced people thrown in), but they relate well with us scouts, and they do their darnest to teach us well. our food is good & bad depending on what the cooks are serving. the facilites are pretty good. the grounds are beautiful. in the off season, everything is about the same, except the camp is pretty empty, & the pool is drained.

(this is how our camp is. im not saying all camps are like this.)

in our troop we dont cook in patrols, unless it is neccessary. we cook as a troop b/c we have found that in our troop it works better. the only times we cook as patrols is A. We have an extremely large group on the campout or B. It's a cooking contest. id just find out what works for you. if patrol cooking works better, go with that. if troop cooking works better.

the +'s to troop cooking: more hands to help, most of the time making for faster results, more help cleaning up, and it also helps to unify the troop, b/c they realize that if they dont help each other, they dont eat.

the -'s to troop cooking: more dishes to clean up, more pans needed to cook.

i dont know much about the +'s & -'s of patrol cooking, as our troop doesnt really use this method.

i dont know of any companies off hand. in our troop we rent a trailer from the local college (because my dad works there). i think if you got a bunch of guys w/welders together, and started welding something together, it might come out all right. if nothing else, raise some money and buy one.

in our troop the people who drive pay for their own gas. if we go on a big trip, then we raise money to pay for it. to save on gas, most of them have switched to smaller, more economical vehicles (for example, instead of driving a F250 around, he bought a small ford. instead of driving around a Nissan Frontier, my dad bought a Toyota Matrix w/ AWD.)

thats just wut we do.

we have the same problems here. gas prices are up, and families are having trouble paying for everything. what we did here, was collect junk. you would be amazed at all the junk you can collect and trade in for money at the local salvage yard. (by junk i mean metal suck as old cars, old buses, fridges, ect.)

also, cut as many things out that u dont need, as u can.

i found out tonight how the power of the boys can work. i was the only one running for SPL. another scout (who was first class) wanted to run, so they let him. the scouts made their decision, and even though i was the one with a higher rank, they picked him. i am in no way sore at them for this. i know he is a great leader. this just goes to show that there really shouldnt be any limit on it, the boys will decide their leader themselves.

i agree with scoutldr. parents in this day and age need to just learn when to let go. sending a cell phone with them on every campout does not teach them anything. they just learn to rely on the phone too heavily.

i have the greatest parents one could ever ask for. i have never once had a cell phone with me for the purpose of "checking in". i have even went to nh hiking on the AT for a week, calling only once to let them know i was out of the MTNS. not having a cell phone has not made any differnce in me, except showing me that my parents has trust in me, and that the know i can handle it.

i think scouts would and could go farther if their parents werent always throwing a cell phone in their hand telling them to call once a day every day.

i personally believe that only scout leaders should have cell phones on campouts. almost all scouts do not have the discipline to use them responsibly. most cant keep track of them responsibly. if it gets lost/stolen then the parents get mad, and the scouts start pinting fingers. it is not a good situation.

there is absolutely no reason why little johnny should have to call mommy every night. if he needs to talk to her that much he should stay at home.

as far as im concerned the only thing on a campout that has batteries should be a flashlight

in our troop the bylaws say that the spl must be Star rank. most of the time these scouts have had a real taste of the scouting experience. they know what is expected and wht to expect. i will agree that this inst always true. right now we have a scout who is life rank, but doesnt have the maturity, know-how or experience to run the troop. sometimes you need a younger boy to run the troop. in our case it is better to have an older one.

what your troop needs, they will vote into office.

i figured this would be a good topic to post this under.

our troop is looking at going to an out-of-council camp. we are located in NW PA. we would like to drive a max of 13-14 hours. it must have a good program, good staf, be reasonable priced, and most of all, have good food.

all ideas welcome

" (115 or more wouldn't surprise me). "

talked to one of the scouts from our council troop. he said heat index of about 130 (not sure how true this is)

"she guestimated 1200 or more felled by heat."

same scout i talked to saaid 1526 (this i believe totally)

" I heard numerous persons refer to it afterwards as the "death march."

same scout called it the same exact thing.

this just makes me wonder

welcome to the forum. grab a chair and pull it up to the fire. be careful you dont get too close

welcome to the board!! pull a chair up an dstay awhile.

semper- id really watch out for that posion ivy.

amazing, here goes.

i found it amazing that our aquatics director would have the guts to choke our SPL during a water polo match, then kick him out because he threw him over a rope.

that was REALLY amazing

i am the leader of the High Adventure patrol in my troop. i am looking for different things to do. the first thing i thought of was a high adventure base or camp. does anyone know of a good high adventure base or camp?

thanks

hacimsaalk12