hops_scout

Well, this one can be locked already, it appears.

I did not do the trust fall activity during COPE this year. I really didnt like it when I saw it, but I did get up there and try. When I was ready, I went through the commands. As I was starting to fall, I guess instead of falling straight back, my feet picked themselves up and moved and I panicked. I was going to try going again, but we had run out of time. Many of the people in my group couldnt understand how I couldnt do the Trust Fall activity, but wanted to jump out of planes and helos, and just rappel off of the climbing tower (which I love doing so much:))

I would like to know why you guys think that Scouts get a bad rap? And how you think those things could be changed to fix it. I'll start.. I feel that people my age think there are too many rules Also, I think to many, patriotism and volunteerism is not cool Your turn:

Hey all. I'm in the chat room right now if anybody is interested. I'm bored (already this morning) and would love to chat with anybody. There's quite a few people on here today, stop by MSN too:) http://groups.msn.com/boyscouts and click chatroom.

I love what this place is coming to... DONE

I dont know for sure so here's my suggestion: Watch a baseball game tonite and see if they show the Color Guard. See how they do it if possible. That is basically the same thing, right?

We are chartered by the VFW. They provide us with a place to meet and a shed which is currently full of junk. Of course they provide us with more than just that, but that is what you see all the time, ya know? Anyway, if we needed it, we could probably get just about anything as long as it was reasonable. My computer teacher was saying how they are looking for a basic website and that she heard they had plenty of money so if our computer club ever needed anything in return for their site, that it probably wouldnt be a problem at all. This makes me think that we may be able to get a website and space, etc from them if we asked:)

Disregard the last post due to restrictions on the space I have available. I received an email tonite from the owner of the server I use that I was 4 megabytes over the limit!

Finally got around to uploading some pictures. I must have used up most of my webspace on one page alone! http://bh2.htc.net/~hopper When it takes you to the second page, you'll see the link. WARNING-LONG LOADING TIME EXPECTED

That is just WRONG! I cant believe he actually thought that they were doing nothing wrong.

I believe it is someting around 70 or 100. Something like that:)

I've got another question which relates to this... Caving-- is there any rules about helmets for this event too other than that it must be certified or whatever IE- held onto by an instructor, etc to keep track of it?? It should since it falls into a similar category though I hope it doesnt b/c that would make my helmet completely wasted.

I'm a "Scout's Scout" according to my Scoutmaster. If you dont believe me, ask Purcelce when he gets back:) Dont think that will be a problem;) Anyway, even with that "title" I wouldnt even know where to start half the time:)

If I was to, say, carry ANY medicine at school even if it was Aspirin or whatever, it'd be an automatic 3 day suspension at our school! They consider it to be drugs that most would think of being like weed, etc.

I'd love to be a staffer, but I'm already committed too much during the summer for the next three years at least. The area I'd want to be on staff, though, would be COPE:)

Our tent numbers vary on not only size of the tent, but on the type of outing it is. If it is a 2 night backpacking trip, for example, we're going to try getting at least 3 into each 4 man tent we have just to conserve weight. If it's just a regular weekend campout, we'll only put three into a tent if there is an odd number. At summer camp, most people shared, but if you had a two person tent, you were by yourself. That is because of BSA policy about long-term camping and square footage, etc.

Be Prepared, I wasnt aware of the new rules saying that. I dont remember which ones I have; I'll have to look.

Camp Joy 2004 This year, Boy Scout Troop 323 attended Camp Joy near Carlyle, IL. Joy, run by staff from the Okaw Valley Council out of Belleville, IL (www.okawbsa.org), is the councils main Boy Scout camp. Some of the physical features of the camp include being well-sized, a dining hall with room for a couple hundred, a new health lodge, a COPE tower and course including a zip line, and lots of camp sites. Also, it has a lake which includes the waterfront run, this year, by our very own Purcelce. Camp Joy served food restaurant-style where everybody eats each meal in the dining hall. Also, each meal includes songs, Announcements (everybody leave now)J, and lots of sweat. Offering many merit badges, Camp Joy is run by a dedicated staff that works hard to make things happen so the boys go home with some advancement completed. While there were only a handful of Eagle-required merit badges, many different interests could be satisfied. My Experience This year, I was the troop quartermaster while at camp. I also helped supervise the new boys and to run the campsite while the SPL returned home for an evening for a parade. I only attended three classes each day, but each morning was spent challenging others and myself as a part of the COPE experience. I decided to take COPE this year because it was the first year that I went to camp where they offered it. I also wanted to challenge myself plenty and learn as much as possible. COPE was extremely rewarding, I thought, for everybody involved. On Monday, my mom even came out and participated in one challenge. Finally, on Friday, I challenged myself a little more by attempting to climb the toughest side of the tower as well as complete the easiest side blind-folded. I was unsuccessful to complete the fourth side, but was able to climb and then rappel the first side while blindfolded. My time, on the way up, was just over 40 seconds. The tower was about 34 feet or so. Also, I enrolled in Environmental Science and Rifle Shooting. Sadly, I was unable to complete either one of those merit badges while at camp, but hope to get them done soon so I can advance up to the rank of Life. My Scoutmaster said he was going to try and talk to the Camp Director about seeing if another Scout and I could come back out to camp in the next couple of weeks to try qualifying for shooting. I shot perfect on Friday, but those were the only two targets I was able to qualify on so I need three more still. Next, I helped with a few flag ceremonies. First, since Monday was Flag Day, we had planned to retire two flags that had become unfit for duty. Turns out that the ceremonies for those were pushed back until Tuesday due to time restraints. To go along with this, we had planned to raise one which was still in shape to fly once more. The rope on our pole in camp was worn and we were going to replace it, but as the new rope was raised up, the knot came out dropping both ropes to the ground. After many attempts to pull it out of the ground failed, I attempted to climb the pole. On the first try, I reached the top, but while trying to place the rope in the eyelet, the rope fell once again. Then, as I began the descent down, I fell about 3 quarters of the way down the pole landing on my ankles and then onto my back. Dont worry, Im fine. My ankles were a little bit sore, but theyre fine now. Finally, one of the other boys was able to get the rope through. The other ceremony I helped with was one in which was hastily prepared for. We found out that we were in charge of closing just about 15 minutes beforehand. And then, we had to run from the campsite to the flagpole in order to be on time. Staff was preparing to do it when we got up there with a bout a minute or 2 to spare. Another older Scout and I took control and got it done properly with compliments from the program director and the rest of the staff. Also, I was nominated into the Tribe of Manasa. Im not sure of the spelling, but it is similar to Mic o Say, etc. It is to recognize outstanding campers and leaders. The hardest part about it was that we couldnt speak for a day and a half unless safety or health were at stake. This was at the same time we had gotten about an inch of rain! Next, one thing I forgot to mention Im not a lifeguard, but I played one at campJ Now I better explainJ I went to give Purcelce a little bit of a hard time, etc, and he turns around and puts me to work. It was boring, but didnt really bother me too much. For one hour, I sat up in the tower near the water just keeping watch over the water checking things out. The next hour, I supervised the White area and was in charge of it during Buddy Checks. Mainly, I was just there to add an extra set of eyes on the water. Purcelce is extremely funny!! Plain and simple. I enjoyed the time I spent around him. The only thing I dont understand he just retired from the Air Force; I thought Air Force people didnt like the waterJ Anyway, Ive got lots of pictures if anybody would like to see. Ill link them up later. Overall, camp was a lot of fun though my feet hurt now and Im ready for bed. I just spent the last 30 minutes typing this out.

I dint know where to put this one, but this works I guess. At camp last week, I enrolled in the COPE class. Lots of fun...anyway, on one day, our instructor told us that he had a free climb such and such time, etc. Good deal, I like to climb. He said I could use my helmet which is almost brand new. On Thursday, turns out that he was wrong in that we were only allowed to use council gear and the only personal gear that could be used were gloves. What do you think about that? I'm going to go look up and see what the National climbing guidelines say b/c this made me a little bit mad. In my opinion, anybody should be able to use their own stuff as long as it is useable. My helmet is BRAND NEW, it has seen one climb and one rappel TOTAL! Their helmets are 6-8 years old! I believe the Program director (one who corrected the instructor) said it was a COPE committee policy. Do many councils have that kind of rule?

Cell phones are all bad and arent just used as phones!!! Got a quick story for ya since I just got home this morning from camp. Thursday night we had to walk from one side of camp to the complete other (I'd estimate 2 miles about) over rough terrain in the woods w/o a flashlight.!!!!!:) The only light we had was from one of the boys' cell phones! Hopefully, I'll have more for ya soon.

I picked up a cot from WalMart for 25 dollars that folds up just like those chairs that a lot of people have.

Eamonn, you're really missing out:) No baseball:)

I saw a couple of "Boy Scouts" that were actually Cub Scouts;) Fox News Channel was wrong;)

Like I said before, this hasnt been discussed with anybody before this thread. Let me clear up a few things I guess:) --Field is owned by the local high school, but is used by the American Legion team, the Khoury (sp?) League, and a few more at times. --I'm already partially in charge of maintenance in that my dad is one of the coaches and I've always helped with it. That is the reason I have the interest in it. --Money probably wouldn't be too hard to get a hold of because our Athletic Booster Club is very supportive and much of the stuff I think I would be able to get donated through a variety of sources. --Havent talked to anybody about it, but I spend a great ammount of time out there. If anybody is going to know what needs to be done, I'd be one of them. Few things you dont know about me is that I love doing lanscaping work though I see it as a hobby and not a job or something I would really want to do as a job. I spend a great ammount of time on the field doing various tasks to improve the field. Thanks so far and keep the ideas/opinions coming!

I plan to do as much of that as possible.