LeCastor

20 minutes ago, Stosh said:

Family camps????  Have you gone over to the dark side?

Haha!  No, I just thought this was a good way to get my family over to visit Brownsea Island and in a fun way.  I don't know how it would work logistically to take a Troop, for instance, over to Brownsea for a camping trip.  Since it's under the management of the UK's National Trust.  I gather that's like the Park Service in the USA?

Maybe @Cambridgeskip can give us some insight?

With the relatively new conservation-specific projects required for Boy Scout advancement, I'm curious what kinds of projects your Scouts are getting into.  As a conservation professional, I have been approached in the past by Scouting units looking for ideas.  So I'm hoping you could share some successes from your respective units.

Also, I'm starting to feel the gears spin in my head regarding the 50th anniversary of Project SOAR (Save Our Air and Resources).  Not sure if BSA is looking to commemorate that anniversary, but I think it would be pretty fantastic to resurrect it and re-focus our efforts on cleaning up waterways and planting trees.  

I hear you!  A few years back I did the same thing and took a 12-month hiatus from active Scouting.  Best wishes to you!

As a Wood Badger and aficionado of Scouting, both present and past, I have long dreamed of one day making my "pilgrimage" to Gilwell Park near London, England.  Also, I am now thinking it would be fun to take my family to Brownsea Island where we could participate in their family camps.  

Has anyone made the journey over to either of these historic sites?  For our British brothers and sisters, is this something your Scouting groups enjoy?

Welcome, @cyphertext!  Glad you've decided to officially join the circle.    Do you currently have an active role in Scouting now that your son has moved on?  

22 minutes ago, Stosh said:

Shoot, I didn't know there was a Hillcourt museum near Syracuse.  I was out there a couple of years ago and would have stopped in. 

Yeah, it was pretty cool!  And I got some sweet patches there.

It's really cool that a whole new generation of Scouters are getting exposed to Bill's legacy now that he has that nice write-up in Scouting.  If any Forum readers haven't read this article I encourage you to do so.  Then, if you want to know more, read Nelson Block's biography here.  Then, find yourself a copy of the 1st edition Field Book and get to reading!  You'll be glad you did.

2 minutes ago, Stosh said:

I visited the BSA museum in Irving, made a special trip for it to see what they had.  They had nothing on Percy Keese Fitzhugh nor Bill Harcourt.  It was kinda sad to see, but then again, the gift shop was almost as big as the museum part that was sad as well.  Did like the Rockwell paintings however.

Hillcourt does deserve mention in the national museum and I hope that he will get that in the new museum being built at Philmont Scout Ranch.  Back about three years, I made a pilgrimage of sorts to the Bill Hillcourt Museum near Syracuse, NY.  Pretty cool place!

3 hours ago, MattR said:

I found, and bought, a 1941 edition of the Handbook for Patrol Leaders for $5. It's in great shape. What blew me away was that it's almost 600 pages long. I started reading it and it's good. Bill's writing style is infectious. Someone should republish it.

I know, it's not I&P, but that's where I am today.

I think we should talk about Green Bar Bill a lot more!  My collection includes all editions of the Handbook from his pen/typewriter, the Handbook for Patrol Leaders, Handbook for Scoutmasters, and while it doesn't belong to me, I check his Nature Hobbies book out from the basement of the public library from time to time.  Also, I enjoy his biography of Norman Rockwell.  If you're into Wood Badge you should check out the YouTube video I posted in the Program forum.  At the end of that video Bill talks about the demise of the 2nd edition of the Fieldbook, which goes away from loads of Scoutcraft/Woodcraft and focuses on going light and general backpacking in the 3rd edition.  Worth a look!

Yes, it was very nice to see the write-up of William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt in this month's Scouting.  When I came back to Scouting as an adult I visited a Troop near my house and after about a month the Troop Committee asked me if I'd be their Scoutmaster.  What a dream come true!  Though, I wanted to make sure I knew as much as I could going into it, so I re-read my 9th edition handbook and really started to get into the other writings of Green Bar Bill.  He became my personal guide.  We in the BSA owe a debt of gratitude for the efforts GBB made to keep the outing in Scouting and for bringing us Wood Badge here in the United States.  I my opinion GBB is a legend and one of the absolute greats of the BSA and world Scouting.  

For those who are interested, I found a neat video of GBB visiting the first Wood Badge course in an Ohio council, course # EC-390.  GBB gives a nice overview of how Wood Badge came to the United States in the late-1930s and then officially in 1948.  You may watch that monologue here beginning at roughly1:11.  Also, don't miss the part at the end where GBB talks about the demise of the 2nd edition of the Fieldbook at 1:42!

25 minutes ago, dwb9881 said:

How about a little advise a helping hand so to speak. I have 30yrs in Boy Scouts attained Eagle, wear 3 beads and I could list on for quite awhile, like many others. My daughter has been in a Crew and is not happy, so I am in the process of starting a new one. Yes I have everything I need youth (8), adults, and parents who are willing to help. I know how its supposed to run and the issues why she is unhappy. But with as much as I know I am still a nubbie  the program. I have read books, flyers, posts but still searching for anything I can learn. Before you say reach out to the Council, or a DE. Venturing is very small in our council and my resources are few. Please anything will be a help from meeting ideas to activities to well anything. I am not afraid to fail I am afraid to fail because I did not do everything I could.-----Thank you 

Thanks, @dwb9881!  In our newly formed Venturing-specific Roundtable breakout session, we already have planned for next month (February) three presentations on adventures that have gone well for Crews in the past.  With several new Crews in our District, this will be important information for experienced Crews to share!  Also, I like your idea about meeting ideas.  

Thank you for your many years of service the Scouting!  

36 minutes ago, BrerFox said:

Had our first Crew meeting yesterday. Enthusiastic group of youth. Excited to get started and Lead the Adventure! 

Welcome, @BrerFox!  I'm glad to hear you had a good meeting!  As a District Commissioner, I would be glad to know if your District is providing guidance to Venturing Crews.  From past experience, I know Venturing is often overlooked at the District Committee/Commissioner level.  We hope to change that locally!

@vlca, welcome to the Forum and congratulations on formulating a unique diversity ticket item!  I wish you the best in your quest for this knowledge and hope you'll eventually share the link to the eBook.

@5thGenTexan, that's a cool find!  Glad you have all your Cub stuff still.  I'm not one for putting my uniforms in shadow boxes--more likely to put patches in those things--but do like to fold them nicely and place in a plastic tote.  With that said, I think places like Michael's have pros who could give you advice on creating a nice shadow box.

4 hours ago, Col. Flagg said:

I'd hold on to it. It costs nothing to pop it in a tote and store in the attic. I recently found similar items from my dad. I wasn't going to wear them as a kid. As an adult I treasure them being there...especially as I lose him.

I'm with you, @Col. Flagg!  My old Scout uniforms, handbooks, and other accoutrements are very important to me.  I also hold onto my grandfather's 1939 Lone Scout membership ID card, handbooks, jackknife, etc.  There are countless totes, like the one you mention, in my upstairs closet and I find myself looking through them often.

I see from your avatar that you might be a Chartered Organization Representative, which would lead me to understand why you are asking this particular question.  If you are curious about a Scouter, with regard to his/her criminal background, the local Council should be able to find out based on their background checks.  Considering this Scouter is currently registered, it would behoove the local Scout Executive to know if one of his/her registered volunteers is not following the Scout Oath and Law.  

If a Scout in your unit has been arrested for charges, as mentioned in your original post, I would recommend contacting your District Executive for counsel.  This particular Scouter forum might not be the best place to discuss this issue any further.

Yours in Scouting Service,

LeCastor

Hi @naranza65!  

As a Scoutmaster, I had several young Scouts who were involved with various activities outside of Scouting--mainly sports--and I always told them the door was open whenever they could come to Troop/Patrol meetings or campouts/activities.  @RememberSchiff has a great idea about having an older Scout tutor your son.  I would hate to hear that you had to remove your son from his Troop, where I'm sure he's having a blast, right?  It wouldn't hurt to speak with his Scoutmaster about this and just share your feelings.  

After all, a Scout is Helpful!  His Patrol mates or a Troop Guide ought to be able to lend a helping hand. 

Since last night at Roundtable, the momentum seems strong for the District's Venturing volunteers.  I've set up a District Venturing Facebook page and invited all the appropriate folks, so I have high hopes that this push (so early in 2018) will have ripple effects going forward.  

In the summer of 2017, I attended the Philmont Training Center's District Commissioner training and we were fortunate to have a visit by Charles Dahlquist, National Commissioner.  As many have seen, Commissioner Dahlquist wears his green Venturing uniform exclusively.  He is making it known that he supports Venturing and wants to stress the need for Commissioner support of Venturing throughout the country.

Now, as I transition into the DC role, I'll need to find a Venturing Roundtable Commissioner to take the reins and truly make the Venturing Roundtable sustainable.  I think Venturing RT Commissioners are like hen's teeth, though. 

As the outgoing District Vice-Chair of Membership and the incoming District Commissioner, I helped get six new Crews started as we moved into the rechartering season and now am hoping to make sure these new Crews get all the support they need to be successful.  

This evening I hosted the first Venturing-specific breakout at our District Roundtable and all Crews were represented by at least one volunteer!  I think the most important thing was for these folks to meet each other and know there are people they can lean on for help moving forward.  I also facilitated a discussion on the ALPS (Adventure, Leadership, Personal Growth, Service) model and shared some tips for recruiting .

To date, our district has done very little to promote or support Venturing, instead focusing on Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting.  With these six new Crews, though, I want to make sure they are successful AND sustainable, from a membership recruitment standpoint.  As District Commissioner, I know it's my responsibility to make sure ALL units get the support they need.  We can't afford to let six new Crews founder with little to no help and guidance from the District.

Do your Districts/Councils provide enough support for your Crews?  What kinds of things would you like to see offered from your District's commissioner corps?

When I was a boy and began my Scouting journey as a Bear, my grandfather, who was a Lone Scout in rural Nebraska in the 1930s, began to give me small pieces of Scouting memorabilia.  Some include an original 1929 copy of Green Bar Bill's Handbook for Patrol Leaders, several Scouting jackknives, backpacks, and a mess kit utensil set I still use on camping trips.  Of course, the really important stuff my grandfather gave me was the woodcraft, campcraft, and general life knowledge he shared with me over our relatively short time together on this Earth.

Since I became an adult Scouter, I have taken joy in finding used uniform items on eBay or the thrift shops because, to me, they tell a story, or stories depending on the age of the item.  Who wore this or that?  Where did they do their Scouting?  As I write this post I'm wearing a vintage red wool jac-shirt that belonged to some unknown Scouter before me.  To me it's fun to wonder what adventures this jac-shirt was a part of.  Now, in a way, I'm carrying on the adventure of this uniform item with my own Scouting experiences. 

Do any of you have historical, or not quite so historical, uniform items that you wear?  Do you know the stories behind these items?  

Typically, I try to stay far, far away from this particular I&P sub-forum but the words" Naturalist" and "Environmentalist" caught my nature-loving eye.  

What we call ourselves (or others) is of little concern to me anymore with regards to environmental issues.  When it comes down to it, we all rely on clean water and clean air.  We all need nutritious food, which is grown in (hopefully) healthy soil.  And we need to have a clean living space free from hazardous wastes, such as garbage and biological byproducts, mucking up the works.  

I don't see how a naturalist couldn't be an environmentalist.  And I don't see how anyone couldn't be an environmentalist, based on the paragraph above.  In our society, unless you live in a cabin off the grid foraging for food and hunting your own game, we rely on energy to power our homes (heating/cooling), energy to power our laptops so we can pay our bills, register for the winter Klondike, feverishly check Scouter.com, etc., and farms to provide us with our sustenance.  So we drive SUVs, Teslas, Priuses, or ride bikes.  We all consume stuff and things.  

Finger pointing doesn't do us much good.  Denying climate change doesn't help anyone.  Actually, screaming about climate change from the top of the Empire State arguably won't do much either.  We are well past the point of no return when it comes to going back to any sort of previous level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  

I think it comes down to a philosophy of how to live your life in such a way that you are leaving the Earth better than when you got here and, on a day-to-day basis, making sure that your neighbors have the same clean water, air, soil and junk-free living space you enjoy.  

@@LeCastor

if you catch this...I'm still wondering how you used it.  Did you read the transcript or just take some excerpts from it....or did you play the video?

Hi!  Sorry for the delay.  That was a LONG time ago, but I recall explaining that it was a speech given by the admiral and I listed what he said and based my SM minute around the general premise.  Reading the transcript would be too long for one minute. 

Is Luddite a derogatory term or is it okay to use?

I think you may use it.  Though, I don't consider myself one (necessarily). 

@@SSScout, I'm going to your RT next month! 

A few years ago I was tapped to be the Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner, a role in which I served for exactly one year.  I tried to help our Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner keep the sprawling announcements at the beginning of RT down to 30 minutes instead of a full hour.  Also, I tried to engage the Scoutmasters/Assistant Scoutmasters in the Boy Scout breakout sessions with a fresh, new training item each month.  Much to my dismay, RT remained a time for Scouters to find a pulpit and preach to the District.  Even the District Executive droned on and on for 15-20 minutes about one thing or another. 

So, what the heck is Roundtable for anyway?  Is it for training (I though it was)?  Or is it a place to network (I thought it was)?  Or is it a place to show off your uniform (it seems to be)?

I don't want to be bitter but there are some changes going on in our district/council that are attempting to rein in the Scouter preachers and regain some semblance of training and networking.

One of the biggest changes I've noticed is that, moving forward, we will no longer have paper flyers.  Instead, all announcements and brochure-type information will be collected and emailed to all registered Scouters via Constant Contact.  The older Scouters are furious because they "don't check email every day" and/or "don't have the email."  (I'm not trying to be offensive to the older generations! )  

It's to the point now that I just don't want to go anymore but do anyway because I'm a Unit Commissioner and want to see my unit Scouters and help them stay connected.  Perhaps I'll see that the new changes will be good and that everyone will be a little more informed.