ASM915

Just received an email from a Scouter friend in Southern Cal. about the fires. He just adviced that the LA are Council will more then likely be lossing it's Camp, with two other Councils' looking at the same fate. Also The Orange County area Council has suspended all Scouting activity for the next two weeks, except for their ocean based program. Everyone keep them in your thoughts and prayers. ASM915

Joni, We're in the same boat. Our youngest son, originally diagnosed with Bipolar with ADHD tendencies was also diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, poss. Asperger's. Luckily we haven't had to worry about upper body strength issues. We do have to worry about dehydration and overheating more rapidly then the normal Scout, due to the medications. As for the Alpha Smarts, we're talking using a word processor for written assignments because of the fine motor skills issues and terrible penmanship, and of course he wants to be the Scribe. Back in March or April, we turned in a lett

Several years ago, we took a canoe trip down the river that runs through our town. We were about a mile down river when we heard one of our boys (my 20 Y/O son and ASM, he was 11 then), start yelling "BLACK BEAR, BLACK BEAR!!!" Now we live in northeast Ohio, suburban/ rural, lots of farmland. On very rare occasions, we may have a Pa. mother bring the cubs to Ohio to grow up. You know, a better neighborhood and such. Sorry Eamonn. But the closest we''ve ever had one come is about 30-40 miles east of here. Now the river bank was somewhat heavily vegetated. As we come around the bend, s

"If people think God is intersting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything to talk about. Otherwise they should just sut up about it." Richard Dawkins, Evolutionary Biologist, Oxford Universty. Pacsaddle, you should like that one. Anyway, there''s a mew movie coming out in Feb. 2008,"EXPELLED" with Ben Stein, http//www.expelledthemovie.com/video/php that should cause some real intersting conversations here. So everyone has 4-5 months to get their debate material together and their arguements formulated. More Ed and Merlyn fodder.

Ed, Ed, Ed, You sly fox you. So your okay with Allah and Gaia and the others, eh? If memory serves me right, several months ago you were upset with me, insisting that you were totally against a nondenominational or interfaith prayer that only stated to GOD. You stated that it had to be the GOD of your denomination/faith and that a generic reference was not good enough. I didn''t realize you were Muslim and believed in Allah, or is it Earth-based Pagan and Gaia? Or does your faith change daily? LOL Wingnut, does that mean we have to stop playing Stratego too? Darn!! And ot

Gonzo, Heck with the flashlights. Just break out the old tiki torches. Oh, then the parents won''t have to worry about the ant mounds, just the fire. LOL Eric PS: Welcome to the forum Volker. Where are you located?

Lisa, Been there. I agree with Dan and Beav. First thing that popped into my head was AS. My youngest attends a charter school for ADD/ADHD, Bipolar, Autistic Spectrum and AS kids. The AS kids can be all over the spectrum depending if there are other co-existing conditions which complicate matters. About 7 years ago I was very involved in the schools outdoor program for a year. We had one AS in the 7th grade class. By the way the school was set up as a Pack/Troop ran during school. This lad was big, over 6 feet and probably a solid 275 lb's. He had trouble with the social cues, inter

Speaking of proper Lifeguard training and skills, A couple of years ago, one of the Cleveland TV news crews did ran a story on the safest and not so safe beaches on Lake Erie. Cedar Point Amusement Park Lifeguard staff had a unique response to missing swimmers. They had a net system set up that when they had a report of a missing swimmer, two or three guards responded to each end of the beach swimming area. At each end was a net that would reach from a few feet off the beach out to a 100 to 200 feet off shore. The nets were weighted on the bottom so they drug along the bottem of the lake. The

I apologize in advance, this is not a scouting question. I need some information on gas prices for the Rt 77, 26 and 95 corridors, from Ohio to Hilton Head, as well as from Wytheville Va to Ashville NC to Gainesville Ga, down the west side of the mountains. Our prices jumped 20-30 cents to $3.09 this afternoon in Ohio. Any information is appreciated. I leave tomorrow afternoon. Thanks, YIS Eric Prather (ASM915)

After midnight, anything whether it be Old Gray Eagles, Beagles or Owls, all look the same. And yes Beagles can become a bird of the feather with the right trajectory off the boot. JUST KIDDING. I would never do that. I'm sorry of a PETA person, Prefer Eating Tasty Animals, that is. YIS, ASM915

Beavah, Can't you prove your comfort level in the water doing the face down survival float, just as easy as trying to float on your back? The again, howe many 11 y/o's do you know that are comfortable with putting their face in the water for a prolonged period of time. Maybe the BSA Swimmer Test should allow you to float in any position you can, face or down. And a rest stroke? Why does it have to be the Elemtary Backstroke? Aren't the Breast and Sidestrokes also resting strokes? I like the Breaststroke because I can see where I'm going. I love all the macho guys at the mil

One of the Ohio Council's has projected $1500 for their Council's contingency as of todays date.

One time my son took on the ASM handling the Camping MB, over proper clothing. The ASM was an axid backpacker. He didn't like my sons choice of weather related clothing, stating that the certain item wouldn't keep Dave either warm or cool. Dave had it listened for both conditions. Dave went back the next week loaded for bear (internet articles) and diplomatically explained to the ASM about carbon filiment clothing. The best youth taught program was last year at NOAC at the LNT Trail in the TOAP area. Most of the Trail instructors were less then 14 years old, and man did they know their st

All right, I'll try this again. Don't know if I hit "CLEAR FIELD" by mistake, or was dinged by the moderator. One nighters are a waste of time. We've had several of them over the last two years because of the band (WB's) and sports (BK's). Man, I just remembered, that season starts next Friday. Unfortunately, the new SM wants to do one nighters September thru November because of football. Two of the four older Scouts are in band. At least we have no ball players this year. The problem is our team is usually a state contender, and everyone has to go to the game. Sports and band are a

A question for the masses. I would like ideas on how to make the AAD and PPXI programs more interesting for the Scouts. I would like to structure the programs so they don't come across as having to sit in another class, especially since the boys are in school all day as it is. What does your DCCS and or Councils CCoS do to make the programs more interesting for the Scouts? How do you tie in the great out doors? If you run weekend retreats and camp-outs, what kind of activities do you have? What kind of projects do you do that keep the Scouts motivated? How do you make the classroom

Jambo, Not trying to draw you into a debate here. I agree with you on politics, but how is a SM to stay out of Religion when we are to lead by example with "DUTY TO GOD" and being "REVERANT"? It does not state anywhere that the SM is to teach/preach doctrine. That would be impossible to do, unless the Unit was maybe a LDS Unit where all the members were of the same denomination. Most Units are a mix of different denominations as well as religions. A SM should be able to sit down with any Scout of any faith, and hopefully carry on a discussion about that Scouts faith and beliefs. H

As per posts from other boards on WSJ, most Scouts from other countries wear their neckers with any clothing, even when out of uniform. It is the neckers that identify them as Scouts. Wonder what would happen if we proposed to the boys, "Class A's without neckers, or Tees or Polos with neckers. Make a choice", which they would choose. I have old BSA neckers from the 70's, Special made Leadership Corp neckers, OA neckers, etc. Wonder what would happen if we did like the rest of the world, with event neckers instead of patches.

Class A shirt with official patches and hardwear, official shorts and socks. I vary with Dockers (1 or 2 dye lots off of the official color if you can even tell) which makes it easier coming from work. Brotherhood sash with the 1975 pewter NOAC medal (the only thing allowed to be worn on the sash, been there since '75). Neckers. Medals when appropriate. Labor to Memorial Day, Class A for troop meetings, all Council, District and Lodge events, during travel to camp and events. I like wearing the neckers, but have a hard time getting others to wear them. Went out before my time and now it's

A variation on the carwash idea. If you have a moderate to large size company in town, you can offera "Get Your Car Washed While You're at Work" day. Charge $5 per car and $10 for trucks, Suv's and vans. The same can be set up with a church with a large congregation. Only problem is that with the church, they're not there all day. Earlier this year, another posters Troop did a Hoagie sale. The local deli sold the sandwiches to the Troop in bulk at a discounted rate, $2.50 - $3.00 and the troop sold them for $4.50 - $5.00. The Troop posted signs along the roads leading up to the sale sites

CRW, From the little inof presented, it sounds like the SM dropped the ball. As stated in other posts, some Troops notify the Scouts immediately of their election. If the Troop is like ours, and likes to keep it a secret until tap outs, the SM should at least notify the parents so they can make appropriate plans for their Scout to be present at Tap Out when ever it is held, summer-camp or another weekend activity. We had one family that was on vacation the week before summer-camp. Their plans were to return early the week of camp, but because they were made aware of the honor, they made sure

Let's look at this another way. POR is not the only requirement to get the rank. If the Scout is not fulfilling the requirements for the job description: 1) We can always remove him from the postition. 2) We can attempt to mentor him in the position. OR 3) Inform the young man that he has not met our expectations for his position, so there for we will see him 6 months from now at his next Scoutmasters Conference, and we expect him to be fulfilling his positions obligations. If he needs help, we will help him if he asks. Otherwise we'll be seeing him again 6 months later at the next SMC

BEWARE!!! The DAC informed us tonight at the District Committee meeting that somewhere in Council, a District EBOR rejected an applicant on the grounds of NOT carrying out his duties in his POR. The Council EBOR appeals team followed suit, only to be shot down by National. The reason, The Scout had held the position for the required 6 months even though he didn't do anything. As the DAC then stated, "Like I've told everyone in the past, IF HE ISN'T FULFILLING HIS JOB REQUIREMENTS FOR HIS POR, FIRE HIM BEFORE HE HOLDS THE POSITION FOR 6 MONTHS AND GIVE IT TO SOMEONE ELSE". Any co

7 Ranges Scout Reservation Kensington, Ohio Buckeye Council Camp Algonkin (main camp) 25 sites 366 two men tents Only one site open during seven weeks of camp. Camp Calumet (outpost camp) 5 campsites Bring your own tents Can hold around 100 people Camp Akela (WRC) The week our Troop was in Calumet, Akela had two sessions averaging 70 Webelos plus adults per session. Reservation totals: Scout camp - 500-600 Scouts/Scouters per week times 7 weeks = 3500 to 4200 for the summer. Add Akela figuring 100 per week = 700 Webelos. Add 250-300 extra

Tonight at the District Committee meeting, a situation that happened at summer-camp came up. An 11 y/o Scout, that per his parents request, was not to ever have a knife in his possession due to psychiatric related issues, tried to buy one at the trading post. He was initially turned down because he didn't have a Totem Chit card. The scout then went to Scout Craft and earned his card without the leaderships knowledge. The scout then went back to the trading post and purchased a knife without any questions being asked. The Scout later in the week was involved in an altercation (luckily without t

What are the other three Scouts POR within the troop? Did the Scouts' decision to go to the OA event drain the Troop's youth leadership or were there other older Scouts or Scout in POR that were able step up and take over? Was the OA event a recently scheduled event, or has it been on the calender for several months or even over a year? Some OA calenders and events are planned out two or three years in advance so Troops can plan around them and prevent conflicts. OA is very busy from May to Sept. Some run tap outs and Ordeal every weekend, some tap outs every Wednesday but Ordeal t