anarchist

NO! NO! NO!, Beavah...the correct answer is "OFF with their heads!" ;>) !

jlucas77, gosh I hope you have deep pockets...or good welding skills! a single boat trail will cost you @ $800-$2,000 depending on material and features. A quick look at some of my old research (I bought an eight boat trailer with gear carrier) shows there maybe another fly in the ointment...width of the trailer. You mentioned 48 inches wide...the smallest I found was 53/54 inches wide. Most were 56-60 inches wide...almost none had a gear carrier box... Not being an engineer I am not sure if it is a stablity issue or simply one of using industry standard high speed axles (hig

mikecummings157, Antietam is a nice trip. Not as "flashy" as Gettysburg but well worth the trip. There is a group NPS primative campground you can use but it has to be booked (by mail I believe) well in advance...first come first served! It is on the edge of the battlefield and was almost as nice as McMillan Woods at Gettysburg...and just as hard to reserve! Depending on when in the spring you go, you can frequently hear turkeys gobble in the early AM. Good hiking trails and as was said above... have your boys brush up on the battle (of Shapesburg if you're a Yank and Antietam i

OGE Thanks for the opportunity... One of the recurring themes of my brothers in the "a Scout is active in the troop" cadre is that the scout hardly shows Scout spirit if he does not take part in "Outdoors Adventures"...(third and fourth line of star/life/eagle section). Which is (or should be at any rate) also one of the easier elements of scout spirit to evaluate...so how do we square that with the "eagle" who is missing in "in-action" for two or three years? Anarchist

Knot Head Some people love to sleep in Hammocks and the military style nylon with netting and a tarp cover can be great... But like everything else- it depends...Can you hang it up? Several National Parks (and State Parks too) no longer allow ropes to be attached to trees...We had a ranger approach us in a snow storm (even) to say our cooking tarp had to be taken down because we tied it to the trees...(sorry, having left our "air anchors" at home we had found a need to use the trees....) Then of course there is the "odd happenings" phenonena...for instance : on our annual 100

robvio, not knowing where about in Kentucky you call home its hard to do an hour/miles estimate but I can tell you that the Blue Ridge Mountains Scout Reservation near Roanoke Virgina in Pulaski county is worth the bus ride. We drive by our own council reservation to get there and this year encouraged the boys to try a new camp next year...but at the end of the week we had 100% of our camper wanting to go back to blue ridge next year they have so many different offerings it is incredible. They also pull it off each year with pazzazz! This year we had boys doing Brownsea, camp powha

sending a scout home... We have done it once in fifteen years...the scout was a problem child with self control issues. Added to which, his parents were going through a nasty divorce (and he play each of them like fiddles). He did not want to go to camp but Mom and Dad thought it would be "good for him". He stole money...and was caught, he "borrowed", and broke another scout's fishing rod then attempted to slide in into the tent unnoticed and when the SPL called a green bars meeting about the problem the boy threatened to hang himself...complete with putting a rope around his own neck...

calm down folks...its getting too heated for such a lofty question. Eagle projects can be great fun...they can also be great pains in the butts! Personally, I like them and used to supply the bulk of the tools and heavy equiptment needed by our scouts. So lets look at the problems... "Group one", here seems to want dump the requirement all together. ( a person could say "why not, we have watered down the eagle program so much that it is just too hard for the boys) "Group two", seems to think its all the twits (adults always are the problem) doing their "adult run" scouting thing

ManyHats, Not knowing where you are I hesitate to mention this but you might want to check the local health department...In our neck of the woods we have an annual "town day" and we used to sell water, sodas and popcorn (both packages and freshly popped). For years and years we generally set on on one end of the main street and another group selling popcorn set up at the other end. We made more profit on water and fresh popped popcorn than sodas! A few years ago the Health department started sending sanitation inspectors around and closed down a bunch of stands for not having potable

bluestationwagon Munson is what you or your crew make of it (as long as weather cooperates). And having a good mate (councelor) goes a long way also...like having one demonstrating "shark fishing" with his bare hands.... You have a day of "Deep Sea fishing", paddling the mangroves, snorkling day light and night time ops and if you luck out and are their during lobster "season" your crew can snorkle for lobsters and really suppliment your meals! We do both keys and Munson depending on what the boys want and only one year did I hear conplaints. We sent two crews (back to back) to Munson

Hint, not familar with the requirements...even "out chere" in the sticks most of our boys never get aound to Farm Mechanics, but... what are you near in NCAC... are you in VA or Maryland? As a "virginney boy" I could recommend a couple of machinery shops in Leesburg or Warrenton or Manassas...they'd propably help or he can come down to my place and putz on my 50hp new Holland....'bout an hour or so "south" of the NCAC HQ.(non rush hour drive time) let me know if I can help... anarchist

IMHO You can Never can have too many adults...if you utilize them correctly. Except for our annual family beach camp, we generally figure out how many boys are signed up for an outing and how many adults are available for transport. In as much as many of our camps are literally hours away our adults generally camp in their own area and stay out of the program side of the weekend unless they are part of the program...if we have 30 boys we might have between 5 and 7 drivers...45 boys might mean 7 to 11 drivers depending on types of vehicles available. (we have lots of suburbans, mini vans, exc

OGE, I love ya man,...but standing up to her was not a viable option...she simply made the troop miserable...she would not listen to anyone! She had three sons in the troop, the SM and Committe did not want the controversy to effect her other two sons, both she and her husband were ASMs (in fact he had a heart attack at summer camp one year before coming to our troop and was viewed as a very special guy)! Both parents were quite active, having come from another local troop due to "differences" with the SM (evidently he was another of those "twits" we love to denounce). These folks had gobs o

Wow, I can't help but recalling the old saw..."you can lead a horse to water...." And once again this forum thread is full of "it's the adult's fault" if the scout fails to do his job. Having never been a SM (and not feeling I could ever do the job well) perhaps I am missing something. I have seen many good and a few not so good SMs in my years of serving our troop. One of the best SMs I ever had the pleasure to work with had several excellent experiences with SPLs but he had one boy (who by all appearances was Mr. Super Scout). Our SM just could not find the "right button to push".

gosh, First, Can we hear everyone say "Forida and Michigan were right!" The great Democratic Party, home of "let every vote count!", refuses to allow States to choose primary dates which would make their votes important to the candidate selection process. Choosing instead to protect a very non-democratic caucus event and a pretty non-representative new england state's monopoly on being "first"... Then because they (democratic demi-gods) don't like a real horse race ...all the grand pooh-bahs in the party blather on and on about how Hilary should pull out even before West Va.,

WildernessStudent, Another legal matter being asked of non lawyers... since this is a liability question a medical/malpracice attorney would be the best place to start...And find out where the Peach State comes down on the subject...GET IT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH! And then you have to understand that if you are treking in Virginia the law there prevails so you need to be prepared...unless we have a Ga lawyer on board here -most forum legal opinions are worth less than a grain of salt...Get the legal reading from someone who knows the law...not a forum. Epipens are great things and a

btps, you might want to check with Local VFW, American Legion, Moose lodges, Elks, Lions as well as the local chamber of Commerce...These groups frequently have large Halls and most are quite supportive of scouting...That could get you a place to meet. Then you can try local business leaders to see if you can get help with supplies, copying, even snacks... Local pizza places might cut you a deal on pizzas that you sell for some profit to the starving Scouters...etc... good lick Anarchist

Knot Head, depending on the area you live in there are usually several places to extract "labor only" staves. Old farmsteads, working farms, country roads, timbered (clear-cut) wood lots, contruction sites. A few calls and maybe a visit to introduce yourselves is usually all it takes. some farmers have old fence lines being damaged by saplings that they just have not had time to "get to" and would welcome a troop cutting forty or fifty trees down, some road ways five to ten years after being built have lots of two, three even four inch trees that the land owner would love for someone

Lisabob, I too, like small units (patrols and troops for that matter)if they are committed. Hows this for an Idea...multiple High adventure patrols! If your patrols generally stick together from NSP on it is very possible that as members of a patrol hit 13 or 14...nearly all of them will soon be "there" in the same scout year. I can see nothing wrong with several small patrols of older boys planning extra activities that interest them. You might find one goup want lots of water time...kayak/canoe trips, white water rafting, fishing, etc. While another group wants long distance hikin

Kahits, Sorry in advance for the long post but something about this thread gets under my skin! Gosh sometimes you can't do anything right...a troop hosts a couple of camporees and the boys in that troop take it seriously and end up winning and somehow they are percieved to be dishonest or the fix is in (in someway). Is what I am getting from this post? First in my experience most troops do not "jump" at hosting a camporee...Our District offers three camporees every year (Fall, Winter, and Spring)and the extra work and planning turns most units off. Usually the district starts be

light weight gear can cost much more than basic camping gear (truck camping or even canoe camping). Some new troop have difficulty with raising funds and rather than buy two or three backpacking stoves per patrol at $60 for each stove (or higher), find themselves buying a coleman (or other) propane two burner for $25-$35. Other backpacking gear tents and flys all tend to be pricier than heavier gear also (dining flys, cook sets, lanterns, tents...). If funds are an issue, Your troop should determine where it wants to be several years out and do some long range planning...if dollars are flowin

firemedic... first sorry you don't like the XTs. We have 21 -XT 2s and 6- XT 4s ...have had most of them for five to eight years of heavy troop activities...we love them. First thing we did when we got them and every fall since has been to seal all seams with seam sealer. As to your "problem"...If the ground cloth is tucked under...just how does water get between the ground cloth and the cover? It should not be able to..unless the tent site is in a depression that allows water to run under the tent or some section of the g.c. was not really tucked all the way under...Or the boys left th

thebigguy, some confusion...venture patrol or simply a powerful troop program..just what are you looking for? The goal of "self-planning" should be done by all patrols (as much as possible). Even for troop events -the troop sets a general program and patrols should tailor the opportunity to their needs as much as possible/practical. Our "high adventure patrol" is usually the oldest boys in the troop (for the most part our patrols stay together from crossover to age out)...sometimes boys are pulled into the High Adventure patrol if their patrol decides to split to other patrols

Lisabob, as the old joke about the economist goes...."well on one hand...and then, on the other hand...." It really depends on the troop, the finances and the boy's own drive. For years our high adventure activities were catch as catch can...tents (eureka timberline XTs) were divided between two boys (main tent body to one scout, poles fly and stakes to the other) or they used light weight dining flys and bug nets were used instead of tents. Seasons and activities were selected to allow for use of minimal sleeping gear (say a blanket or thin sheet and a pad)as well as minimal extra c

MarkS, wow, And I thought our last SM and CC were fraud helpers (enablers)... I have a hard time seeing how a boy could complete his tenderfoot or second class requirements with two campouts a year...let alone first class. A couple of years ago we lost several very good (active) scouts who felt the "feel good" advancement policy then favored by the "two biggies" was unfair to scouts who did their work... Example: on the exit interview for my own (youngest) son ...(we try to talk dis-affected scouts into continuing or at least letting us know how we failed to keep their interest) the