Herms

My father, my oldest boy and I have used Cabela's Alasken II external frame for years. I like the "bench" underneath for the sleeping back, it's lightweight with lots of external pockets and a divider on the inside that unzips. The back comes off really easy (I use the just the frame for carrying out elk meat) and the hip belt is wide and thick. Don't know if they still sell it. Here is a link:

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0015826515447a.shtml

Lots of great websites to get ideas (besides the roundtable and Scouter magazine pull-out):

http://usscouts.org/usscouts/bbugle.asp

and

http://macscouter.com/

have a ton of great ideas.

I have not interest in watching it nor will I let my kids watch the garbage.

I have not interest in watching it nor will I let my kids watch the garbage.

We are headed out to Oklahoma (from New Mexico) to Hale Scout Reservation. Looking for Scouters who have been there for program, campsite, bug spray, humidity etc. recommendations.

Good camp. "Pond" is big enough to get the boating done. Didn't have any boys work on canoeing last year so not sure of the program. Would improve the counselors at the Handycraft Lodge and the Scout Craft (specifically Pioneering).

I have to concur with most everyone else. Tigers/Wolves/Bears day visits. Webelos bring them camping! Can't think of a better recruitment tool!

We use them during the Fall, Winter and Spring (maybe not even this year) campouts, but anymore it is so dry out West here that the fire danger in many of the forests prevent us from having open fires. We've even had a couple of campouts that we couldn't use a cookstove!

A great one I did with my boys (some years back) was to get Nascar helmits out of a bubblegum machine and have the boys drill holes in the tops. Would work good with those football helmets you get in the machines and doesn't take much time at all. I don't know if I would do it for EVERY months pack meeting, but maybe for specific events (ie. Pinewood Derby, Blue and Gold, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween etc...)

How about reducing the amount of merit badges boys are ALLOWED to take at camp. I've seen boys go to camp and get 5, 6 merit badges in one week. If camps were to limit boys to two maybe three merit badges it would releave some of the burden on counselors.

Daddy_O

Beav wasn't lying about the drugs. Saw a boy my son used to hang with just two years ago (they attended the same private school) and he now has super-long hair, piercings etc. and my son told me he is heavy in to drugs now which is why they don't hang together anymore. So they can change fast.

Next I coach two different sports, so I LOVE sports. But if time is the issue, drop a sport and keep scouts. With that said to get the full value of the Boy Scout program use a "boy led" troop and let him go camping (get him to a doctor who will run a battery of test to find out what specifically your son is allergic to). I don't mean to sound harsh, but if all he wants to be in Scouts for is to get his Eagle badge, go down and buy one and give it to him. It is the knowledge, skills and fun that he gets in Scout which gives the Eagle badge meaning. Otherwise it is just a piece of cloth with colorful thread.

Also the Senior Patrol Leader patch in a "boy led" troop. They work their cans off!

In addition to the others mentioned, the Hornaday Award Knot. Three Eagle sized conservation projects approved through National. There have only been something like 1500 of the medals awarded.

The UMM or COR never want to audit the book. We've offered. They are VERY supportive of the Troop (not financially but with the use of their facilities)! BTW I am not Methodist.

Don't even know what to say but, WOW!?!

Gold,

Your dead right, been a long day.

I am a registered Independent. I vote for the candidate who more closely resembles my personal value system such as: anti-abortion (just can't see destroying a possible future Scout for ANY reason), and small federal government (struggle is what has always made this country strong). These two examples would lead a person to believe that I lean Republican which is true, but I have voted for Democrats before and will again (though not this presidential cycle).

I think a person would switch parties because they FEEL strongly about a specific subject, politicians included.

It comes down to how honest you FEEL a politician is. Are they telling you what they think you want to hear to get elected, or do they really believe in what they are saying? And then how does that fit in with your personal value system.

No one likes war. War is a horrific affair, bloody and expensive. Sending our men and women into battle to perhaps die or be maimed is an unconscionable thought.

Yet some wars need to be waged, and someone needs to lead. The citizenry and Congress are often ambivalent or largely opposed to any given war. It's up to our leader to convince them. That's why we call the leader 'Commander in Chief.'

George W.'s war was no different. There was lots of resistance to it. Many in Congress were vehemently against the idea. The Commander in Chief had to lobby for legislative approval.

Along with supporters, George W. used the force of his convictions, the power of his title and every ounce of moral suasion he could muster to rally support. He had to assure Congress and the public that the war was morally justified, winnable and affordable. Congress eventually came around and voted overwhelmingly to wage war.

George W. then lobbied foreign governments for support. But in the end, only one European nation helped us. The rest of the world sat on its hands and watched.

After a few quick victories, things started to go bad. There were many dark days when all the news was discouraging. Casualties began to mount. It became obvious that our forces were too small. Congress began to drag its feet about funding the effort.

Many who had voted to support the war just a few years earlier were beginning to speak against it and accuse the Commander in Chief of misleading them. Many critics began to call him incompetent, an idiot and even a liar. Journalists joined the negative chorus with a vengeance.

As the war entered its fourth year, the public began to grow weary of the conflict and the casualties. George W.'s popularity plummeted. Yet through it all, he stood firm, supporting the troops and endorsing the struggle.

Without his unwavering support, the war would have surely ended, then and there, in overwhelming and total defeat.

At this darkest of times, he began to make some changes. More troops were added and trained. Some advisers were shuffled, and new generals installed.

Then, unexpectedly and gradually, things began to improve. Now it was the enemy that appeared to be growing weary of the lengthy conflict and losing support. Victories began to come, and hope returned.

Many critics in Congress and the press said the improvements were just George W.'s good luck. The progress, they said, would be temporary. He knew, however, that in warfare good fortune counts.

Then, in the unlikeliest of circumstances and perhaps the most historic example of military luck, the enemy blundered and was resoundingly defeated. After six long years of war, the Commander in Chief basked in a most hard-fought victory.

So on that historic day, Oct. 19, 1781, in a place called Yorktown , a satisfied George Washington sat upon his beautiful white horse and accepted the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.

What? Were you thinking of someone else?

Awesome!!

Obviously you know about Camp Geronimo there in Arizona. For next year you may want to look at some of the below camps.

-- A great out of state camp for you would be Camp Cris Dobbins in southern Colorado, north-east of Colorado Springs. Good program, good facilities, great staff.

http://www.denverboyscouts.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=11109&orgkey=51

-- My brothers troop likes Camp Blue Mountain near Blanding, Utah. Great program but it is a "Cook your own" camp.

http://www.utahscouts.org/ssi/story.php?file=/outdoors/camps/bluemountain.txt

-- Camp Alexander west of Colorado Springs. Good program, facilities and staff.

http://pikespeakbsa.org/campa/

Have you thought about taking the train to the closest city and rent vans from there? Our boys took the train out to Emerald Bay this summer (don't have to worry about the 500 a day thing) and it worked out great! (and ended up being cheaper!) At our GDOP the boys have decided to go to Camp Hale in Oklahoma. Heard lots of great things about this camp but a little outside 650.

bkale,

Looks good and so glad that you are taking this on. How are the orders coming?

Had one of my older Boy Scouts comment the other day that his American Government class is a breeze so far because he had already learned most of it from doing the Citizenship in the Nation MB. The more our childern learn about the Declaration, Constitution and their government to better citizens they will be.

Keep up the great work!

bkale,

Looks good and so glad that you are taking this on. How are the orders coming?

Had one of my older Boy Scouts comment the other day that his American Government class is a breeze so far because he had already learned most of it from doing the Citizenship in the Nation MB. The more our childern learn about the Declaration, Constitution and their government to better citizens they will be.

Keep up the great work!

Genealogy can be a fascinating hobby. I also go in to it several years back and you can learn all kinds of great things about you families past. One famous relative of mine was Henry Wallace, the 23rd Vice President of the United States. FDR changed his running mate to Truman for his second term and as we know died 59 days in to his second term. I found that my great uncles in a history book of outlaw gangs from the 1890's, and I have traced my wife's family to an old Scottish clan dating back to 990. We got a chance to tour the old castle. She was walking the same halls her 15th-great grandfather walked over a thousand years ago! Another of my families lines were part of the big German-Russian migration of the 1800's across PA, OH and finally in to KS, learned a bunch about the history of the times and reasons for the mass movement.

Genealogy is a great merit badge for boys of any age to work on, and maybe get them started on a health life long hobby!

Gold Winger

I've read your posts and you seem like a smart guy. Wah? Wah?

Does a baseball bat get more dangerous as it gets bigger (BB gun to .270)???? A pipewrench (15 pound bow to 85 pound compound)??? If you don't teach kids to respect a smaller weapon will they respect a larger one?

Wah! Wah! attitudes about small weapons by adult leaders are what can get a kid killed! Cub Scout, 1976, Durango, CO killed by a 15 pound bow!!!!!!!

Some years ago I went to a Girl Scout outdoor training weekend. Spent most of the weekend DOING the training (Orienteering, fire starting etc.) instead of being trained! The problem I expierenced with the 6 years I spent in the Girl Scout program when my daughter was in (she is in Venturing now) was the lack of knowledge by most of the trainers. I know many of the Girl Scout policies are different then Boy Scouts, but it was the lack of basic skills that bothered me. What was sad was that I offered to be a trainer for the local council but was told that they wanted a woman to provide "the example".