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MattR

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Posts posted by MattR

  1. I'd like a backpack with wings. It sounds like a great premise for a skit, but maybe a bit esoteric and confusing for a scout camp statue.

    My first thought was "the girl has eagle wings?" When a plaque is needed to explain the art then maybe the art isn't working so well.

    • Haha 1
  2. 1 hour ago, prof said:

    I grew up in the CAC. I don't think my family could afford scouting at today's prices. 

    I saw a posting where CAC is sponsoring an air show as a fundraiser in October. The parking fee is $150. And you can't walk in, you must drive (and pay the parking fee). I wish them luck, but I think attendance will be poor.

     

    Bring a school bus with all your friends?

    But yes, it's unfortunate that the BSA is going through this denial phase that things have changed and they'll have to change with it.

    • Like 1
  3. 4 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

    No sports team has ever had the convention for over 100 years that coaches wear anything in particular

    <thread stealing>

    Check out Major League Baseball. Any coach or manager that steps onto the field has to wear a uniform. BTW, there's a difference between a MLB manager and coach

    Yes, a minor edit to your post. Just pointing out an unusual American custom. I like that one.

    </thread stealing>

    • Like 1
  4. Try divying up responsibilities. When the game is swarm ball and everyone decides and does everything together then most watch while a few actually get anything done. If there's a duty roster or multiple things to do at the same time then more scouts will be getting things done and the shy scouts will have to help out.

    So, split up making menus from figuring out gear, for example.

    • Like 1
    • Upvote 1
  5. 25 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

    I'll reserve judgment until I read their plan for implementation.

    There is a chance (albeit a very slight one, IMHO) that national may have an elegant solution.

    I know, I know... I'm laughing at what I just wrote, too.

    A Scouter can dream, can't he?

    I dreamt I had a solution for you but then I thought about it some more and it fell apart.

    This is going to be an auto pay nightmare. Who knows when a scout quits? What happens if a scout misses a payment? I can't imagine what the service will be like. It was hard enough dealing with Comcast.

  6. We just ran our own summer camp and the scouts really enjoyed it. The reason we did it was the local camp was $450 for the week and we could do that for a quarter of the cost. We also focused on the doing part of MBs, there were no discussion reqs covered. We got on the bikes or canoes and rode or paddled. The scouts enjoyed cooking the food and the schedule was made up on the spot, depending on the weather.

    The scouts said they'd like to alternate this with another camp we go to that's a bit of a drive but well run and still reasonably priced.

    We're lucky in that we have adults with skills.

    • Upvote 1
  7. Ask it how to increase membership.

    Ask it how to sign up more volunteers in an environment where fewer people are volunteering (a topic for tonight's committee meeting).

    Ask it how to simplify the program and still keep the fundamentals of an outdoor program and the Scout Law.

    Just a hunch but we probably need to ask it a 100 questions to get a few good ideas.

    I'm ready for someone to find that aha moment and I know it won't be me.

  8. 38 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

    The patch and the medal are two different awards.

    The patch is the National Outdoor Achievement Award (NOAA), and it has six separate areas of requirements for which you may earn a segment:  Camping, Aquatics, Hiking, Riding, Adventure, and Conservation.

    The National Medal for Outdoor Achievement (NMOA) is much more difficult, and includes several NOAA (with devices) as requirements.

    Okay, so it sounds like they changed the award. It went from all or nothing with a medal to optional parts with patches and segments. If you get all the segments now how far off is that from the medal of old times? My guess is very few people were doing the entire set, kind of like that super duper environmental award you could get (with something like 3 or 5 projects). Nobody was completing it so it was dropped. I tried getting some scouts interested and that was a big fail.

    Scouts get eagle because their parents harp on it. More of that is not interesting to the scouts. They do the outdoor activities because it's there and they're doing it with their friends. It's not to get a medal. I've seen scouts not even bother with filling out the paperwork for the 50 miler award. I'm okay with that. They already got the memories from the trip. That's all that's really important.

    • Upvote 1
  9. Just my view but the middle picture looks like an older version of the other 2 pictures. Less cheeks! More chin. Just a hunch but the first and last photos are when you started, or maybe the first 2 years and the middle photo is when you were in a couple of years older. Looks to me like a webelos aged scout, neckerchief or not.

  10. Welcome to the forum,  @tree123 .

    In my opinion, if the scout is carrying his or her share of the gear, and the scout is sleeping outside then I'd be okay with them not carrying a tent. There is really no point in having a tent in the Grand Canyon in the summer, other than keeping the scorpions off, and jusr the bug net will do that.

    As for snow camping, it doesn't need to snow but I'd say there needs to be snow. Snow creates challenges not seen in cold weather. And again, the scout should be sleeping outdoors.

    But that's all just my view.

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