anarchist

Wow...nice fund raiser, good cause...with good "community visiblity"...bet the contribution will be "token" size but what the Hey.... In our District, many moons ago, a large very prestigeous golf tourney started...Originally several Troops were approched by club "members" to help out for a "contribution"...The contributions were actually pretty darn good...Then Council stepped in and "took the dough"... seems troops were not approved to "do direct contributions of cash"...but we were still asked to supply troops to hump the trash and do the grunt work...Now many fewer troops participate.

d2smith, members of the PLC should "shoot" all adults trying to enter the PLC outside of the SM or assigned ASM. (just kidding) One adult is plenty to keep the scouts on track. PLC is for the patrol leaders to advise the SPL as to the status of their programs and to seek assistance when needed to further their goals. It is not a place for parent to make suggestions or direct the planning of the troop program. SPL parents, in particular, should be tied to a coffee table in a room way down the hall. Boys need to grow and all too often we parents "hover" too much. The SM sh

Eagle732, this one is simple...(sorta) There is nothing "bad" about a mega troop. It should be pretty evident that they are doing "enough things right" that a bunch of families want to take part in the "good times". The smaller troop might have enough "issues" that negativily influence scouts or parents to select the mega troop or it might just be struggling and most folks want to go where things are already working well. How can a program that is "jumping" and seemingly offering a rewarding program for 100 boys be considered "bad"??? I know I would not be comfortable there but

fgoodwin, the greeks (not geeks) were right..."All things in moderation"! I personally never thought guzzling was appropriate for water! Branch water should be slowly sipped, after carefully purifying with quality Kentucky Bourbon (can't have anyone getting a dose of guardia, now can we). anarchist

jblake47, Fuel stoves vs wood/charcoal is not just a national park problem. Many state and local parks now do not allow 'policing up' wood for fires...last year in Virginia there was a state-wide fire ban that included charcoal (even in grills) in state and national parks! No stoves meant cold meals. And your "in the box" comment is just plain outa line...try doing the boundary waters for ten day on a no cook menu...not too many happy campers I'll bet! But then maybe all your AARP body can handle is a weekend trip, so two cold meals and some gorp is all you need...(I know, not kind

uz2bnowl, wow! chill out, don'tcha know todays problems are the direct result of the over active right wing reactionaries who hated loosing even the appearance of control and power...Why, they even embraced the Comrade V.I. Lenins favorite mantra..."If you tell a lie long enough...it becomes the truth"...think george and dick and donnie and alberto...after all did the "flower children" ever torture anyone? (except their parents!?) I'm with OGE...if you did the '60's right it's really fuzzy....man peace Anarchist

Gern... wanna really blow your budget and maybe your mind take a look around to see if you can find a MSR Hubba Hubba...I love mine...40 inch height, just over two pounds ..but really pricy... I looked at the REI tent last week... they had one set up without the fly...it seemed a bit "less than wind proof" sorta shaky...Maybe with the fly "on" it firms up a bit but I couldn't get anyone to install the fly for a non-buyer...(made the mistake of saying I had all the tents I needed and was just curious)...They were too busy (in the middle of a store wide sale) to locate the fly and aske

missing profiles?? I just checked mine which I filled out in 2002 and it is still up and running...wonder whats up? Anarchist

CPR vs. CCC (aka CCR) current research led by University of Arizona cardiac researchers has prompted American Heart Association (its not just an AP story)to endorse dropping the rescue breathing portion of CPR for continual chest compression at the rate of about 100 per minute...current evidence shows a tripling of survival rates... Which even with CPR were dismal (usually 5% or LESS). There are lots of situational differences, but for adult victims who are observed "going down" the survival rates have risen from just over 5% to the neighborhood of 16-17% when continual chest compressio

Kenk, A lot of it has to do with adult support and troop finances. Our Troop has the luxury of doing it either way- but it was a long time coming and a lot of work. Light and lean has it's own set of issues...most expedition stoves are twice to three time the cost of a coleman "double burner" and even the much loved MSR Dragonfly is really only a three person (maybe four) stove...and meals for more than six people end up being time killers and usually fairly un- inspiring... If you have a few hundred dollars to spend on kitchen gear for each 6-8 scouts go for it! But keep

It has been said that we laugh at some humor...to keep from crying....

us3packrats, What scoutldt said...check out the first class scout section of the hand book...our CC asks scouts to identify the meaning of each "part" of the badge in BoRs...no one "fails" but they all know what to expect next time... Anarchist

trout on the middle James??? smallmouth, rock bass, blue gills, pickerel, catfish,even long nose gar...but trout???? (don't think so...unless some one drops them in) great river.... but trout are up in the hills. Anarchist

Joni$TA, I wouldn't think a thing of it...not my business...or yours, frankly. The Eagle is not a "troop rank or award" it is the scouts award...first and formost. (though something could be said about all the folks who helped him get there...). Make the offer and move on. Our troop will provide the site and set up/ take down labor, and we pay for beverages and a large sheet cake but the real size, shape, and timing of the event is left to the Eagle and his family. Many times it is delayed so important relatives and guests can make the trip...It is the boys party and he can do what h

SctDad, Real cowboy coffee...for truck camps the Adult kitchen (mine) puts on a 40 cup plus coffee boiler (throw away percolator parts...just added stuff to lose! Fill with cold water, add one handful of grounds per two cups of water(fresh is best...folgers or maxwell works almost as well). Place on fire as it reaches temp (for your breakfast coffee) put in a few left over egg shells (the calcium carbonate helps tone down the acid in the coffee). Gently boil (not rolling) until the aroma covers your camp... hint...just before serving- pour one cup of cold water into the spout.

Longhaul, the patrol method is what BW is try to get to...not the troop method....and in most cases the Guides do "give up" a certain amount of older scout involvement as a cost of being Guides. Just as the SPL is no longer in a patrol, the Guides are guides not members of patrols for their POR time. In our troop we encourage our guides to participate in high adventure program as long as they have their NSP activities covered. It is why we try to have two guides for each NSP. That way one can take some time "off" for older scout activities or school sports etc., while his buddy guide take

wow your council won't sell rank patches without advancement sheet-go figure??? Then Call another scout shop! We keep a whole parts box of "expected to be needed" patches for all ranks (except Eagle of course). Our Council is tight on the rank pocket cards but sell us patches (and pins) all the time. The SM or NSP ASM will let the "patch" guy know what they think we need in the up coming months and the order goes out... In our troop almost without question if a Scout "passes" a board during a meeting (and occaisionally at a campout) he is given his rank patch that night in front of his pe

Lisabob, food waste is sorta natural with groups of boys...check out not only the school cafeteria but watch the plates coming off the table at your favorite restaurant...lots of waste going in the garbage.... That said, I agree that your son should have the issue brought up at the next PLC... In our troop (we push hard for good meals that are appropiate to the weekends schedule), our SPL checks and approves all menus at our last meeting before each campout (or before). Since he does not have to prepare meals or clean up (he eats with the adults as a perk of office)...One of his

CaveEagle, As has been said there are allergies and there are ALLERGIES and for some reason the nut allergies seem to frequently border on death sentences. For some folks the slightest exposure can result in a massive reaction. So as a unit you need to investigate all there is to know on this boys problem. Your unit needs to understand that sometimes eating food from a really well scrubbed and well rinsed pot that was washed in the same hot soapy water used by the scouts to clean a knife used in a jar of peanut butter can kill some folks...and the picture gets just gets plain scary.

Welcome pixiewife, agree with B.W. on the cocoa...kids get enough sugar don't they? Try tosend a few packs of lipton or knor instant soup (not "cup of soup"). Try for low sodium (he probably gets enough salt in his regular menu...)You are looking mainly for tasty broth that he will drink and take the "chill off" without a salt or sugar over-load. I would also encourage the use of two piece rain suits rather than ponchos...better in storms, more comfortable and they can act as wind breakers in a pinch...even though I usually have a poncho stashed somewhere! love my headlight...so

Missing arrow, If the "set" includes the D.O. shown when I checked your web reference....that D.O. is problematic for outdoors chefs...the D.O. shown is a typical indoor (for oven use) piece of Iron (seems to have Lodges self-basting lid)...to be really useful, an outdoor D.O. needs a flat lid preferably with a raised lip to hold your coals....Just FYI anarchist

how many parents? As many as we can lay hands upon! As long as they get the training and "buy in to" our program. We are a medium sized very active troop. 40-55 boys currently our troop does: - a week at summer camp (30-40 boys including the New Scouts/brown sea program) - a "week" at high adventure camp (philmont/seabase, etc.) - a week long 100+ mile canoe adventure -several weekend canoe trips -a white water raft trip -two real cave crawling trips (courtesy of our grotto member dad) -three district camporees -three patrol only camping weekends (times 4/5 pat

fundraising is getting old... on an average year our boys are asked to do two fund raisers for scouts (not including the FOS dance)... -then there is the candy bar sale for church -and the wrapping paper for PTA -then the fruit for the FFA - then the discount cards for the wrestling team - then the band dinner - then the christmas "stuff" sales for the high school "class" -then the work session in the stadium kitchen for the football boosters -then the mulch for the atheletic department -not to mention the donuts for the soccer team -or the drinks and popcorn for th

JeffD, another way to do the "top" is cut in a bit of shortening, some brown sugar and "mashed" nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds) into your cake mix -then sprinkle over fruit as before...yum... a fine and safe Thanksgiving

points to ponder... we ask each family to provide a few boxes of pasta and several homemade deserts...several scouts usually make a few cobblers out back, also. we hit costco for price breaks and buy sauce and meatballs and rolls in large sizes. we approach several large restaurants for "help" with industrial sized bags of salad...some is discounted some is "gifted". -local newspaper runs a story for us (we usually write it)-just before and usually afterwards -sandwich board advertizing out front two weeks in advance. -flyers at local stores, schools, churches, meetin